Five Earths, All in a Row

[Prince Charon]

Originally Posted by warellis

Is that nickname some pop culture nickname? Those have kinda been overstuffed for the Inp-Earth stuff I feel.

Not so much pop-culture in this case, as 'what a lot of people in the USSF call it'.

[Prince Charon]

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), Operations Division

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Japan.svg.png

The Operations Division of JAXA is explicitly not a military organization, despite being an armed force. They are, officially and legally, peaceful explorers and scientists, who are only armed because space has been proven to be a hostile environment, full of dangerous beings - and even so, most of their weapons can be made to serve peaceful purposes.

Ranks

Enlisted insignia are as USN rates for the same OR-code, replacing the eagle with a chrysanthemum, and the crossed anchors with crossed telecopes. Officer insignia are as RN ranks for the same OF-code, save for the shoulder insignia, which are those of IJN officers before and early in WWII (ignoring the 'officers commissioned from the ranks' section, and replacing the Cadet's anchor with a telescope). In the specific case of flag officers, the number of chrysanthemums is altered to better fit with common practice, with Sho Sho (Rear Admiral equivalent) having two, Chu Jo (Vice Admiral equivalent) having three, and Tai Sho (Admiral equivalent) having four. Officer Mess Dress and similar uniforms use the shoulder insignia for officers of the same ranks during WWI, with the modern number of chrysanthemums for flag officers.

The commanding officer of a vessel, regardless of rank, is addressed as 'Senchou', thus avoiding the confusion that exists in English. An officer commanding multiple vessels without having a higher rank than the other COs may be designated 'Kantai Senchou' (Fleet Captain), for the duration of the assignment.

Approximately equivalent rank-titles are in parentheses next to the Japanese ranks.

OF-9 Tai Sho (Admiral)
OF-8 Chu Jo (Vice Admiral)
OF-7 Sho Sho (Rear Admiral)

OF-5 Tai Sa (Captain)
OF-4 Chu Sa (Commander)
OF-3 Sho Sa (Lieutenant Commander)

OF-2 Tai I (First Lieutenant)
OF-1 Chu I (Second Lieutenant)
OF-1 Sho I (Third Lieutenant)

WO-1 Jun I (Warrant Officer)

OF(D) Sho I Kohosei (Midshipman)

OR-8 Joto Heiso (Chief Petty Officer)
OR-7 Itto Heiso (Petty Officer First Class)
OR-6 Nito Heiso (Petty Officer Second Class)
OR-5 Santo Heiso (Petty Officer Third Class)

OR-4 Joto Hei (Senior Seaman)
OR-3 Itto Hei (Seaman)
OR-2 Nito Hei (Seaman Apprentice)
OR-1 Santo Hei (Seaman Recruit)

Department colours:

Administration: Red
Sciences: Forest Green
Security: Purple
Astrogation: Blue
Engineering: International Safety Orange
Medical: Mustard Yellow
Steward: Brown
Communications: Black

The space service uniform is a white counter-pressure technurgical spacesuit with various insignia & patches, and department colour piping, the female variant appearing to be more formfitting (though in fact, it's simply designed to look that way). The collar contains a deployable, transparent plastic hood which can serve as an emergency space helmet. The small lifepack attached to the collar contains enough air for fifteen minutes, and has hardpoints to easily connect to a standard eight-hour life support pack in an emergency (it is against regulations to give a space assignment to anyone who cannot properly attach the standard life support pack in less than three minutes, among other required emergency drills).

The utility uniform is a somewhat loose jumpsuit resembling the space service uniform, though less fancy, and in medium grey.

The full dress uniform, both mess and parade, resembles IJN dress whites with JAXA insignia, and department colour piping.

[Prince Charon]

European Union Space Forces

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...Europe.svg.png

This service, founded on December 1st, 2013, replaced the ad-hoc 'European Combined Space Forces' that previously existed.

Many EU members' space military services exist purely or primarily as components of the EUSF, and in some cases, do not even have insignia of their own, beyond national designators.

Ranks

The rank titles in the EUSF vary from language to language, as does the style, being more-or-less Air Force style in English (RAF, not USAF), Polish, and Romanian, Army style in French, Danish, and most other EU languages, and Navy style in German, Italian, Portuguese, and a few others. The insignia, however, remain the same, as long as one is serving as part of the EUSF, rather than part of one's home nation's space service (ranks that do not properly fit the numbers given below are granted the insignia of the nearest equivalent rank). These insignia are based on a presentation of possible EUAF ranks from 2002, though that site is the only reference to it that I can find.

In peacetime, the Chief of Staff of the EUSF will be ranked OF-9, even if that officer's parent service has no OF-9 ranks. Likewise, in wartime, the Chief of Staff will be OF-10, even if that officer's parent service has no OF-10 ranks

OF-10 (five stars)

OF-9 (four stars)
OF-8 (three stars)
OF-7 (two stars)
OF-6 (one star)

OF-5 (four wide stripes)
OF-4 (one thin stripe, three wide stripes)
OF-3 (three wide stripes)

OF-2 (one thin stripe, two wide stripes)
OF-1 (two wide stripes)
OF-1 (one wide stripe)

OF(D) (one thin stripe)

OR-9 (four yellow bars)
OR-8 (three yellow bars)
OR-7 (two yellow bars)
OR-6 (one yellow bar)

OR-5 (four red bars)
OR-4 (three red bars)
OR-3 (two red bars)
OR-2 (one red bar)
OR-1 (no insignia)

The EUSF has no uniforms of its own at this time, merely adding EUSF rank insignia and service patches to the uniforms of the spacer's home service.

Spacesuits are likewise those of one's home service, though there is some pressure to standardize spacesuits for all EU services, or for just the EUSF.


Thoughts?

[warellis]

Seems okay. Can't think of anything wrong.

[tshiggins]

Okay, here's the vignette I've been thinking about. I initially thought of a different approach, using a Inp-Earth set of characters. However, I remembered that I wanted to focus the vignettes of villains and opponents, in the interest of creating adventure-seeds.

So, I kicked around the idea, some more, and then re-read the entire thread to learn more about the Cytherean "She-Devils" and other extraterrestrial threats. I've linked them to Mongo, and given them a nasty history with the Martians.

I've also tied together the Ice Warriors and Mysterons in a way that seems sorta logical, anyway. I could also see the Changing Martians as oppressed enemies of a Mysteron-Ice Warrior patriarchy.

Anyway, here we go. I know I took a fair number of liberties, Charon. I doubled down on Martian chauvinism, deliberately, by having them focus on destruction of the males -- whom, as warriors, they would consider the greatest threat -- than on the slaughter of fertile females, as the most efficient form of genocide.

Let me know if you want me to change anything.

The Weeping Sky

Duchess-Militant Vuvara of the House of Drogan retained her icy demeanor by sheer force of will, as the Venerean house servants gently, reverently, lowered the body of her chief concubine, Doran, into the light-bridge generator, for his final journey.

He’d been a good man, kind and gentle with the children, but firm when necessary. He took his household responsibilities seriously, and she’d needed to perform little in the way of psychic surgery to reinforce his loyalty to the house.

Most Cytherean men married out of a sense of duty to their home matriarchy, which arranged the match to a suitable house for the purposes of economic and social alliances. Most men sincerely devoted their lives to their children, their wives, and the creation of an orderly household. Oh, a few certainly proved smart and aggressive enough to join the military – and even rose to high rank. But they were rare (and highly-valued) exceptions.

However, those rare exceptions notwithstanding, Cytherean men devoted themselves to the nurturing of children and the propagation of the race, for the duration of their short lives.

But Doran, it seemed, had genuinely cared for her. His mind had always responded to her touch with the warmth of affection and perhaps even…. No. She would never feel that again; best not to dwell upon what had been lost to the inevitable progression of the Wasting.

Damn the cold ruthlessness of the saurian Martians, anyway, for bringing this cursed disease. Damn them to some eternal, frozen, torturous hell – them and the machine-intelligences that arrogantly commanded domination, and used Cytherea to test their accursed plagues. Mysteron intelligences that, stymied in their efforts to conquer Terra by that world’s complex biology, had turned their attentions to the system's other planet capable of supporting life.

They’d learned a lot from the Terran diseases that destroyed the Martian invasion force, nearly 100 years ago.

The duchess-militant took the hand of her eldest daughter, Vira, and stepped toward the polished levers at the base of the generator. Vira’s face, with the soft brown eyes she inherited from her father, matched her mother’s icy discipline.

Vuvara clicked the safety levers to “stand-by” and watched the dials ratchet up as the capacitors charged. As they neared the red-zone, the older woman slid her lever to the “Ready” position, and glanced at her daughter. Countess Vira’s hand quivered a moment, but then her lever slid sharply down to “Activate” and the body of her father flashed to its component atoms.

The… remains rode the bridge of light through the eternal cloud-cover, as the sky began to weep its chilly tears. The light-bridge took the soul of Doran on its two-year journey to the True Home, where it would be reborn into the paradise from which the Cythereans had been forced to flee, lo these many centuries past. That sacred home had appeared, briefly, less than a decade ago, only to disappear again when those Terran adventurers dared step foot on its holy soil.

The soul of Doran would be reborn into the body of a warrior, and fight to free the True Home from he who had usurped the usurper – the one called Gordon. It was he who had kept the True Home from the rightful domination of this benighted system.

The mother and daughter moved the controls of the light-bridge back to their “safe” settings. They turned and, followed by the members of the household (some of the men and children ill-disciplined enough to betray hints of grief), strode out of the Temple of the Lady of Discipline.

The princess and her heir entered the carriage, together, and the Venerean driver smoothly pulled away from the curb.

“That was mostly well done, daughter, but you must have care to maintain your emotional reserve,” Vuvara said.

“Yes, mother.”

“I will spend the rest of the day at my office. Some of the reports from our monitoring stations have proven somewhat concerning, of late.”

“…Yes, mother.”

“You have meritorious thoughts that I should consider?”

“No, mother. We live for the Bright Future, and not for the Dark Past.”

“Excellent.”

The carriage entered the drive and passed through the lush, green-gold arches of the latisa trees, before it slid to a smooth stop in front of the Home. The Home that would never again echo with his laughter… No. Focus on the Bright Future.

Vira waited a moment for the Venerean footmen to open the carriage door, and she stepped down to the warm flagstones of the portico. Vuvara’s last view was of her daughter standing calmly in the cool rain as thunder grumbled in the distance, while the other family carriages began to arrive.

Vuvara turned her attention to business. She drew her armillacom out of her case, spoke the code phrase, and the spherical display lit up. The princess sorted through the latest reports, and touched the file with the most recent observations of the future Terra.

As she read, agitation began to ripple through her calm, to the extent the Venerean driver began to hunch down over the wheel. Vuvara spoke a command, and the privacy screen went up. That would be better for both of them.

Vuvara continued to read. The denizens of the future Terra increasingly displayed profoundly disturbing technological proficiency, of the sort no one had expected given the dearth of orbital assets observed immediately upon the manifestation of the portal. Their encryption protocols mostly remained unbroken, despite the Cytherean’s (apparent...?) technological advantage.

There simply wasn’t enough time, even in the 40-hour Venusian day, to sort through the sheer quantity of material. Lately, the future Terrans – led by these “Americans” and their allies, had launched a disturbing number of space-craft and orbital habitats and… Oh, by the Goddess of the Lash…

Vuvara’s nails flickered, and the screen of the armillacom lit up with the face of the Archduchess Leticia, commander of the Ministerium of Clandestine Excursions.

“Ah. Vuvara. I take it you have seen the report of the recent observations of the future-Terra?”

“Yes, lady. Radio traffic between future-Terra and local-Terra has doubled, yet again, and the one belligerent, this ‘Third Reich,’ grows increasingly unstable.”

“Yes. Our initial estimates that the war, there, would last at least seven of our years, or four of theirs, has recently undergone revision. We suspect the war will now last little more than three of our years.”

“Does this affect the timeline of our excursion?”

“It does. We must accelerate, before the future-Terrans deploy too many orbital assets, and while they remain distracted by the conflict with this ‘Third Reich.’”

“Has the destination changed?”

“No. This place in the city of Atlanta, this ‘Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’, remains our primary target. The males, there, remain the most likely to prove useful. Do you plan to come to the rotunda ministerium, today, considering…?”

“Yes. I retain my capacity for calm.”

“Very well. I will arrange a briefing for you, to go over our updated plans.”

“That will be most excellent, lady.”

Lightning flashed, quite close. The storm had nearly arrived.

[VulpesFulva]

Oh, that's nice, that is.

[Prince Charon]

Very interesting. Some bits were very jarring, like you associating the Mysterons with the Martians that invaded in 1895 - the Mysterons are TL12^ and isolationist: as long as you don't, say, bomb their city, they're content to just talk, but they tend to overreact massively and strangely to perceived attacks, which makes the Martian races nervous about fighting each other too heavily on or near Mars, in case they hit a Mysteron outpost or individual by accident. This also makes other races cautious about doing so.

As for the other Martian sophonts, the Changing Martians are TL(0+11)^, (1+10)^, or (2+9)^ biotechnologists, the Ice Warriors are TL10^, and the Ululating Martians from War of the Worlds were TL8-9 (purely mundane tech, if slightly divergent) during their invasion, are now early TL9, and have little to no influence over the Ice Warriors.

I hadn't expected anyone to think of the Cythereans being from Mongo and forced out of their homes, rather than voluntary colonists from an empire much further away that suffered an unknown disaster some time in the past (well after the one Mongo suffered), but I can see where the idea would spring from.

These issues can be blamed on me not saying things, I think. I hadn't realized how much I've left unsaid.

Ignoring those bits, the story does work quite well, though the disease would likely be the work of a single clan or association of clans, rather than the Ssoranthhuul (Ice Warrior) Culture as a whole. The Ul'luhuu (the Ululating Martians' name for themselves, though other Martian races call them Sarmaks) would likewise be inclined to use Venus to test anti-human diseases, as long as they could do so deniably.

Also fits with something they're going to do later in the planned timeline, that I'm going to put in a spoiler box in case anyone wants to be surprised:

Spoiler:  

The Cythereans ally with the Axis powers a bit before the Ice Warrior Clan Korsshethh does, but are far less open about it, at first. Later, they regret being involved at all.

A bit of clarification of terms relating to the Ice Warriors:

Ssoranthh: Singular; 'One Ssoranthh walked into a bar. The bar broke.'

Ssoranthhu: Plural; 'A platoon of Ssoranthhu can take a company of Cythereans, all else being equal.'

Ssoranthhuul: not sure of the proper grammatical term, but it refers to things associated with the Ice Warrior race as a whole; 'Ssoranthhuul technology is quite advanced.' 'The Ssoranthhuul Culture is thousands of years old, but the modern government would not be wholly unfamiliar to their ancestors back when they first became a united race, rather than a lot of squabbling clans.'

[tshiggins]

I'll make a few responses, here. But, please remember, these are my perspectives, but it's your setting. What you say, goes. :)

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Very interesting. Some bits were very jarring...

(SNIP)

I think to have a TL12^ civilization in this setting may be a serious mistake, and as I looked at the source material for the Mysterons, I think the original show-runners perceived they'd gone too far, as well. The Mysterons went from "disembodied energy-beings" to AIs housed in a mainframe. I see no problem with their ability to alter the minds of their opponents (that's just psi, and detectable), but nanotechnology capable of rebuilding a destroyed city, instantly? That's way, way too much.

I'd make them an isolated TL10^ AI civilization, with minds similar to what is possible in THS, but with resource constraints that make them paranoid about revealing their presence. Still, they would have access to thoughtform spirits to enhance the technology they do have.

I'd give them more limited biotech (early TL9, at the bleeding edge of experimentation), which they've used to create bio-tech dermal armor for their Ice Warrior clients/patsies. The limited biological variability of the mostly-barren Mars means they still must determine how best to deal with those from more robust (and virulent) biomes.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

As for the other Martian sophonts,

(SNIP)

I think TL11(ish) is too high for the setting, honestly, so I'd make the Changing MartiansTL10(ish) but with retarded biotech -- that creates a common theme that says Mars' limited biome affects the technological development of every race that lives there.

Do the same for the Ice Warriors. Yeah, they grow their own dermal armor, and have that seriously nifty "areoforming" fungus. However, if you make the fungus an efficient means by which to pull CO2 and methane out of the atmosphere and sequester it, you can eventually have a frozen planet. That doesn't require TL11 or TL12 biotech, either. It just takes longer (although not as long as it would have, because of the help from Mars thoughtform spirits).

As for the Ululating Martians, I figured you meant for them to have been the ones from DP-Earth's War of the Worlds but, really, could they stand against the Mysterons or the Ice Warriors, or even the Changing Martians, given the technology differences? That seemed too much of a stretch, to me, and their presence made Mars seem way too crowded, as well.

What I'd do is steal a notion from the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and make the Ululating Martians extra-solar interlopers on the Mars of Stp-Earth, opposed by native Barsoomians. They've been slowly building up for an invasion of Stp-Earth, on Wells' original schedule, but the appearance of the portal has forced them to accelerate their timetable, too.

It seems to me it would work better if the Changing Martians were the indigenous Martians of the DP-Earth system, while the Ice Warriors and Mysterons were interlopers from elsewhere, who found themselves on a barely habitable planet due to unforeseen circumstances.

Honestly, if you make Mysterons TL12^, then the only reason they don't rule the DP-Earth system, outright, is because of GM/setting-designer fiat. TL11^ Ice Warriors have the same unbeatable edge, as do the Changing Martians.

Cut all three back to TL10(ish), and the serious energy and resource constraints of Mars become problematic in a way they simply wouldn't, for TL12(ish) -- or even TL11(ish). It also gives the Mysterons every reason to back one faction in an ongoing war with another and, if the faction they didn't back is starting to do well, it motivates them to find a bolt-hole.

That motivation starts to border on desperation, when the portals open and suddenly they face a potential enemy with technology that's much closer to their own.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

I hadn't expected anyone to think of the Cythereans being from Mongo...

(SNIP)

Oh, I definitely knew I was taking yet another liberty, and that it departed from what you'd written, to some extent. To me, it seemed more elegant to work with what you'd already done, and create cross-ties and conflicts using the parts of the setting that you'd already thought about.

When I took those liberties, it gave a greater sense of moving complexity. Yeah, the She-Devils of Venus were a problem for the Selenite civilization, and will likely prove a future problem for the various Earths, but their real enemies are the Martians -- at least, currently. Everything they do is just a means to defeat that primary foe.

Also, if you make them exiles from Mongo, you give them reason to interact with yet another major aspect of the setting in a way that didn't exist, before. That provides yet more cross-linkages, yet more dramatic potential. It's also helpful, in that it means you can more easily flesh out the history of what you've already done, rather than try to incorporate yet another random variable.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Ignoring those bits, the story does work quite well...

(SNIP)

Irk. Why would the TL 8-9 Sarmaks bother to do so, deniably, in your original thinking? If they do something the TL12^ Mysterons, or TL11^ Ice Warriors, or TL11(ish) Changing Martians don't like, they'll just get turned into road-kill.

If they're that far behind, technologically, they probably can't deny what they've done to the other Martian races, and if the Mysterons are so set on isolation, then they'd have already slaughtered the Sarmaks, out of hand, for drawing the attention of DP-Earth. They would certainly do so, now, given that the Cythereans (as presented) have technology superior to DP-Earth's (at least, a little bit), and psionic mind-control powers, to boot.

If the Mysterons are so technologically superior that they could easily rule the entire DP-Earth system, and the only reason they don't is because they're ultra-reactionary isolationists, then the only reason they haven't already exterminated the Ululating Martians is because of setting fiat. It just doesn't ring true, in ways the rest of the setting so nicely does.

Best to drop everybody's tech down two or three levels, make the Mysterons the motivating force behind the failed War of the Worlds in DP-Earth, and move the Ululating Martians over to Stp-Earth, where their TL8-9 is actually a big deal for that system's pending War of the Worlds. If the Sarmak have normal tech, then it's comparable to Inp-Earth tech, and it enjoys the same rapid enhancement as Inp-Earth tech, because the foundation technology is already solid.

I think that's interesting. You could do a lot, with that. :)

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

Also fits with something they're going to do later in the planned timeline, that I'm going to put in a spoiler box in case anyone wants to be surprised:

Oh, I like this, and here's why:

Spoiler:  

When Inp-Earth moves to DP-Earth, in force -- which they will -- they'll go ahead and land diplomats, ranking officers and information to help the Allies put the fork in the Third Reich (and dictate the terms of peace to Stalin and Tojo). However, they'll also deploy "temporary" orbital assets so as to prevent any more attacks on Inp-Earth by an increasingly-desperate Third Reich (or Hydra).

That orbital interdiction also serves an additional key purpose. It prevents DP-Earth nations from launching against Inp-Earth assets permanently stationed on DP-Luna.

Think about it. The Selenites are the victims of a genocidal assault, but retain sovereignty of DP-Luna in a way that's tough for even Stalin or Tojo (or even Hitler, if he wasn't already dead) to deny. They have specifically requested the assistance of Inp-Earth, and have specifically stated they don't want help from anybody else -- including nearby DP-Earth.

That's a solid-gold gift, wrapped in a ribbon of pure diamond mesh.

As a bridgehead into the DP-Earth system, DP-Luna is unbeatable. It has an established, sophisticated infrastructure (in need of repair, admittedly), technology to acquire, and launch economies that make every other planet in that system easily accessible.

The leaders of Inp-Earth take that gift; hell, yeah. For every craft that lands on DP-Earth, at least three will land on DP-Luna. Moreover, the Selenites get the best sweetheart deal in all of human history.

Every single one of them becomes wealthy and comfortable, with free travel to anywhere on Inp-Earth they'd like to visit, and there will never be any trade-barriers between Inp-USA, Inp-Europe, the Inp-British Commonwealth, Inp-Israel, or Inp-Japan.

Once she sees that, I'd think Queen Hippolyta of Thermiscyra would express her unreserved approval of the matter. The winners of WWII(2) on DP-Earth will absolutely hate it -- but by then the probably realize they can't overcome Inp-Earth technology, Inp-Earth has an unbeatable position in the high-ground, it would be ethically questionable even to try (given the stated wishes of the Selenites, once those become known), and it's a fait accompli. They'll give grudging approval, too.

But that also means the Martians and Venusians also understand the reality they face, too. With permanent bases on a developed DP-Luna with a sophisticated support infrastructure, it's only a matter of time before Inp-Earth vessels come calling.

Originally Posted by Prince Charon

A bit of clarification of terms relating to the Ice Warriors:

(SNIP)

This is useful information.

[warellis]

Tshiggins for what you've written regarding the Cythereans, what TL would you put them at in your snippet? And what differences in equivalent TL might they have once Inp-Earth reaches their level, in your opinion? Like the Dsp-Cythereans were at TL9 and Inp-Earth reaches general TL9, what differences might be noticed between the two groups in their application or look of their technology?

Also where is Mongo located? Because Charon's writing has the Cythereans having an interstellar departure point? I noticed the duchess mentioned they'd been living on Venus for "centuries".

What diseases are rampaging through the Cythereans?

What is a light bridge generator and how does it work?

[tshiggins]

Originally Posted by warellis

Tshiggins for what you've written regarding the Cythereans, what TL would you put them at in your snippet? And what differences in equivalent TL might they have once Inp-Earth reaches their level, in your opinion? Like the Dsp-Cythereans were at TL9 and Inp-Earth reaches general TL9, what differences might be noticed between the two groups in their application or look of their technology?

I'd put them at about TL7+2^ or so, for most things, with technology far more dependent on thoughtform spirits, and therefore their understanding of physical reality has limits that create odd gaps in their knowledge. You want them to have tech that looks like something from a 1960s Grade-B sci-fi exploitation flick, but that works better.

Given the thoughtform spirits' attraction to living things, I think bio-tech, in general, would be retarded in all the other Earths, as compared to Inp-Earth. What's the motivation for understanding the germ theory of disease, when a shaman or priest/priestess can heal by laying on hands, because the people around him or her believe that should be possible? If the local priestess can increase crop yields by even 20 percent by blessing the fields, then would an innovator try to figure out better field rotation and fertilizers, or try to figure out a better way to appeal to gods and spirits?

So, yeah. Space travel equivalent to TL10^, because of spirit-enhancement of engines and power-plants, TL9(ish)^ for most things -- including psionic abilities with techno-spirit enhancement -- and early-mid TL8 biotech. They have a solid understanding of the germ theory of disease, and can and will vaccinate against known contagions, but the idea of genetically-engineering diseases blindsides them, and the utility of the human genome project probably never even occurred to them, at all.

That's why they want to infiltrate and suborn the CDC, so badly. The lack of biotech awareness -- the struggle to even conceptualize biology as a technology they can improve -- is killing them.

Originally Posted by warellis

Also where is Mongo located? Because Charon's writing has the Cythereans having an interstellar departure point? I noticed the duchess mentioned they'd been living on Venus for "centuries".

Prince Charon has said Mongo is in orbit around the brown dwarf, Nemesis, located about 1.5 light years beyond the Sol System heliopause. He hasn't said which direction, that I could find. If you make them refugees, exiled in a rickety, old, overcrowded space-craft with limited resources, then you have reason to try to find a place to live in whatever system you got yanked out of hyperspace into. Especially if the yank broke your hyperdrive.

If the hyperdrive didn't break, why stay in a place that wasn't your destination, and if you have the means aboard to repair the vessel, why not just do that and then keep going?

Originally Posted by warellis

What diseases are rampaging through the Cythereans?

I figure it's similar to a genetically-engineered version of Kaposi's Sarcoma or something like that, which primarily affects men, but can (and does) spread to women. I thought that viral infections would be more problematic, given the limited knowledge available to the Cythereans. The only way to beat them is to treat symptoms and provide general support for the organism, until the immunity system figures out how to kill them.

That's the sort of thing I'd think the Cythereans would have little patience for or understanding of -- especially if they're used to psionic treatment of illness or injury that just works.

Originally Posted by warellis

What is a light bridge generator and how does it work?

It's basically a big honkin' LAZOR cannon with a fancy name, used to dispose of the infected dead in a suitably dramatic fashion. It also works great as a means of merciful execution. Charge the capacitors, pull the lever, and whatever sits or lies on the lens instantly disappears in a flash of coherent light. All that's left is some traces of carbon, which the Venerean servants diligently polish away.

I picture it with fancy steampunk-type controls.

I stole the idea from Brian Daley's, Requiem for a Ruler of Worlds. That's how they cremated the body of the guy whose death initiated the plot. In the third book of the trilogy, the protagonists mentioned that somebody had been executed via the same method.

It's a cool way to go, and very quick, if somewhat energy-intensive. :)