Altus

Played by Kerrus

National Overview

System Name: Altus

Planet Name: Gehenna (Altus IV)

Government Type: Single Party Governance

Currency: The Altan Standard (Roughly equivalent to League Credits)

Primary Export: Heavy Metals, Rare Minerals

National Animal: Altan Lemur

National Flower: Red Trillium

History:

As with most expanse nations, Altus found its beginnings in the exodus from Earth. While the Posthumans ever evolved and moved away from Earth, the governments of the then solitary world had a responsibility to their people to try and manage the growing problems. While seemingly nigh impossible to stand up to the posthumans deification that was running rampant in those days, some governments nevertheless attempted to shield their peoples from the various conflicts that sprang up during the Exodus. However, it was not to be. Too many were out for their own gains, and cared little of whom was trampled by the bureaucracy- and it is here where the initial ideal that would result in Altus' formation arose. It was decided that the only way to survive the trying times was to depart Earth. Distance would lend perspective, and in distance there would be a measure of protection from those who sought to use the people with no regard for their freedoms or values.

This was a time of vast and arcane technologies- a time where the Posthumans were still unevolved enough to care about those from whom they had arisen. One such entity was contacted, and a massive vessel was comissioned. Launched through a one shot wormhole, the vessel travelled for months, heading towards a suitable Earth-like world.

But it was not to be- sometime during those few months, the remaining Posthumans that gave a damn about human life bootstrapped themselves into a higher form that didn't see the value at all (or had simply moved beyond such values). When the Posthumans left Earth, their technology began to break down. One of the first victims of this breakdown? The wormhole machine guiding a dozen longshot missions into the deep expanse.

Some found no world, and had to build their own. Altus was lucky in that, for a given value of luck. A star system with eight planets, including one with a viable atmosphere, and all the resources needed to set up a colony. There was, however, one problem: It was on fire.

Geologically unstable, the planet the expedition dubbed 'Gehenna' was covered in sparse flora and fauna, mostly concentrated around the poles. Acid rain swept the major continents, and only few specimens of indigenous life were found outside the polar regions.

Nevertheless, Gehenna was the only option the expedition was willing to consider. More surveys were made before the expedition finally picked a location to set down.

The City

The City is a massive posthuman constructed structure occupying the northern hemisphere region of Gehenna. Built primarily below ground, it appears to serve as both an arcology, as well as a repository of native life- an Ark, if you will. To the beleagured colonists, The City was their salvation, if only they could turn it on.

Entry was, for a relative value, simple. The structure appeared to have been constructed with human access in mind, and the doors and airlocks operated on some sort of mechanical backup. The colonists moved in and began exploring as soon as possible. It was hoped that the expedition would be able to find some sort of main control facility, and by there they would be able to access the rest of the arcology. But human minds are different from those of the Posthumans, for there was no central control facility. Rather, the posthuman hand that had constructed it had done something... interesting.

The Ruler

For modern day Altus, authority over the management of the people of the City, and their wellbeing is managed by one person- a grand authority enforced by providence. To the initial colonists of Gehenna, there was a need to access the City's various subsystems as well as turning on or off the various functions of the arcology- adjusting light and weather patterns, as well as tasks as simple as opening otherwise locked doors or entry points.

While the initial thought was that there had to be a central control facility, it was discovered by the man whom would become the head of the Altan Government that the Posthumans had moved beyond such trivalities. During his attempt to breach the inner core of the structure, presumably looking for its power source, he was struck by what was initially thought to be an electrical discharge, and put into a coma for two days.

Two days later- exactly 48 hours to the milisecond, the man awoke- awash in responsibility. Apparently 'picked' by the City as a living overseer, all authority over the mundane systems of the structure was granted to this man in biological form. With a wave, lights turned on and off, and with a simple command, doors opened.

Such power is heady, however, and it is a careful balancing act that each inheritor of this authority must manage. There were, interestingly enough, other advantages to this position- one did not age, and one's mind gained the ability to process and record far more data then an ordinary, or even most transhuman level beings. On death, all the memories, wisdom, and knowledge of the Ruler is retained, and vested into the next valid cantidate. This has resulted in a living memory and knowledge being passed from ruler to ruler, allowing each to better understand the city he rules, and the people to whom he has pledged his responsibility.

The Breakdown

The Breakdown barely affected Altus- isolated as they were and with relatively limited contact with their neighbors, they simply kept on working. Survival on Gehenna outside the City was a supremely difficult task, and most of the efforts of the growing populace were devoted to bettering their understanding of the planet and its dangers. Within the city was a strong economy, and above it, far into the sky was a growing orbital infrastructure. While the lack of contact from their neighbors was worrying, it was not the source of trouble that it was to other nations.

That is not to say that Altus did not suffer- with the sudden cessation of trade, the people of Altus had to look elsewhere for resources they could only normally procure through contact with other worlds. Fortunately, Altus had one advantage that made it both a saviour... and a target.

Almost as though precient, the current Ruler of the City of Altus discovered, deep within its lower regions, several operational Theta Fountains- generating a sizable quantity of the valuable Theta Dust. Research was immediately put towards applying this resource. With each successful experiment, Altus enabled another vessel to transit the expanse at reasonable hyperluminal velocities- bringing trade and news to their neighbors, and securing aid for those who needed it. This technology became one of the identifying marks of the Altan navy, who served as couriers across the neighboring expanse worlds for the duration of the breakdown.

The Magnate War

Unfortunately, Altus' good fortune made it a target of tremendous value. While protected by virtue of being behind more appetizing targets, Altus was nevertheless a source of the valuable Theta Dust- and to the Magnate Continuum, a target that must be breached.

The Magnate War saw heavy conflict both over, and on Gehenna, and the people of Altus contributed much to the formation of the League. Drawing on their expertise in the Aerospace sector, Altans constructed vast Mobile armours to support their burgeoning allies. Carried into war by ships with external latches, these massive aerospace craft made up for their enemy's technological superiority with overwhelming force. Faster then most ships, with the capability to operate in atmosphere, Altan Mobile Armours served as one of the cornerstone of the League's counteroffensive.

However, Altus did not emerge from this conflict unscathed- several times in the initial days of the war, Magnate vessels hung over Gehenna, exchanging fire with the system defence forces. Intiially, it was an operation to destroy the Altan Mobile Armour yards, although the discovery of the Altan Theta Dust was enough to drive further invasions. It was to counter this continual Magnate presence that the League blockaded a number of key worlds, forcing conflict on the Magnates- limited to slow FTL as they were. The Magnate forces were given two choices to advance their strategy- either engage the League's blockades, or take the long way around. In the case of the later, they would arrive at their destination years down the line, often out of date and accounted for. As Altus could traverse at something considering normal velocities, they enjoyed a tactical mobility that was unmatched by their enemies. They could afford to 'go around' Magnate strongholds, and strike at logistics trains or massing points.

However, it was in the aftermath of the Battle of Finnegan's Folley that the Magnates proved their perseverance. A small splinter fleet, led by the renowned strategic genius, Admiral Daedalus Canaan broke through the League defensive lines, distracted as they were by the recent action. His fleet camped itself in the Outsystem of Altus, using carried nanofabrication devicery to build a much larger fleet then they had brought initially.

While there were ongoing attempts to dicern their location, Canaan managed to keep the fleet's growing numbers a secret for just long enough.

Acting on information from the Magnate spynet, Daedalus Canaan determined that there was a large Altan vessel rotating back from the war effort which was equpped with not only a Theta Drive, but a significant quantity of Theta Dust itself. While the Altan military apparatus appeared to downplay the vessel's presence, Canaan was familiar enough with their tactics to see through the ruse.

Unfortunately for Canaan, his intelligence was not entirely accurate- he had seen through a ruse- but he had not seen through the right ruse. As he led his massed fleet against the Altan System Defence Militia, he was engaged by the very vessel he sought to capture. While the ship was undoubtably equiped with an experimental Theta Drive, and it was most certainly carrying a large quantity of Theta Dust in its makeup... it was not the destroyer Canaan thought it was.

The vessel was the Altan 'Super' Mobile Armour Final Dawn. While Canaan was immortalized in history for his keen tactics and many successful offenses, he was also remembered as a man whom made a very simple mistake: he assumed his enemies didn't have a bigger gun. The admiral was reminded rather forcibly of this oversight when the pilot of the Final Dawn, one Thomas White, rammed the SMA into the bridge of Canaan's flagship, resulting in the destruction of both vessels, and a staggering loss of life for both sides.

Modern Altus

Pending.

Rules Overview

A1: Longshot Mission

A2: Dominantly Baseline

A3: Hell World

A5: Make Do

B1: Artifact Find

B3: Active Machinery

C1: Artifact Find

C4: Extra Fabs

N1: Single Party Governance

D1: Isolated

D2: Experimental Drives

E1: Make my own bloc

L1: Be Interventionalist

L2: JITTerbugs

L3: High-Tech Bullshit

CE: Kinderfabber Surprise!

400 Fabbers

100 Drexlers

810 Wealth

120 Pop

400 Dust

450 Theta

860 PIP (1060 with fabbers in general production mode)

660 CIP (860 with fabbers in general production mode)

2500 Military

2500 Stockpiles

Scraphunters

+FTL Tech

++Tech

++++ Logistics

Military Fluff

Altus Military Personnel in standard League uniforms

The Magnate War

While Altus was spared the main force by virtue of being behind the League Starlanes, several splinter invasions managed to break through at different points during the War. However, it was by subterfuge that the Altans won the day. Several times they constructed a false 'City' which appeared to the invading forces as the main hub on the planet Gehenna (Altus II). With the real city in lockdown mode, the invaders headed towards this false city and deployed their ground forces. The planet promptly ate at least half of those forces, and Altan MA raids finished off most of the others.

This ruse, however, did not go off flawlessly- several times the real City was bombed by passing flights, and the Magnates severely hampered the Altan orbital infrastructure- particularly the processing plants in orbit of Altus VI.

Military Technology Application

The USS ALterprise

Battleship

   Mobility: 2 

   Evasion: 1 

   Armor: 28 

   Structure: 18 

   Hits: 160 

   Space: 239/240

   Power: 148/150

   Engineering Coefficient: 10 

   Hull Coefficient: 8 

Armour

10x Depleted Uranium Armour (80 Spaces, +20 Armour, +10 Structure, +120 Hits)

Power

10x Fusion Reactors (10 space, +150 power)

Propulsion

2x Fusion Thrusters (40 Spaces, -80 power, +2 Mobility, +1 Evasion)
2x Jump Drive (4 Spaces, -8 power)

Weapons

5x Cluster Missile Launchers (25 Spaces)
5x Anti-Ship Missile Launchers (25 Spaces)
5x Flak Cannons (10 Spaces, -10 Power)
5x Linear Cannons (25 Spaces, -50 Power)
10x Vulcan Point Defence (20 Spaces)

Destroyer Escort Ship

   Mobility: 5 

   Evasion: 4 

   Armor: 42 

   Structure: 23 

   Hits: 40 

   Space: 60

   Engineering Coefficient: 2 

   Hull Coefficient: 2 

Power:

3x Fusion Reactor (3 spaces, +45 power)

Propulsion:

4x Fusion thrusters (16 Spaces, -32 power, +4 mobility, +2 Evasion)
2x Jump Drive (1 space, -4 power)

Armour:

10x Depleted Uranium Armour (20 Spaces, +40 armour, +20 structure, +30 hits)

Weapons:

2x Anti-ship Missile Launcher (10 Spaces)
2x DP Cannon (8 Spaces, -4 Power)
1x Vulcan Point Defence (2 Spaces)

Destroyer Escort Ship (Anti-Fighter Variant)

   Mobility: 5 

   Evasion: 4 

   Armor: 42 

   Structure: 23 

   Hits: 40 

   Space: 60

   Engineering Coefficient: 2 

   Hull Coefficient: 2 

Power:

3x Fusion Reactor (3 spaces, +45 power)

Propulsion:

4x Fusion thrusters (16 Spaces, -32 power, +4 mobility, +2 Evasion)
2x Jump Drive (1 space, -4 power)

Armour:

10x Depleted Uranium Armour (20 Spaces, +40 armour, +20 structure, +30 hits)

Weapons:

2x Anti-ship Missile Launcher (10 Spaces)
4x Flak Cannon (8 Spaces, -8 Power)
1x Vulcan Point Defence (2 Spaces)

Altan Mobile Weapons

Altan Mobile Frame 'Firebird' in standard colours.

Altus Mobile Frame Firebird MK III

2 Hull Expansions (+16 Spaces, +4 External Carriage -2 Evasion)

12x Fusion Thrusters (12 spaces, 12 Power, +12 Speed, +6 Agility, +6 Evasion)

6x Fusion Reactor (6 spaces, 24 Power)

8x Armour (8 Spaces, +8 Armour, -2.64 Agility)

2x Microjump Units (2 Spaces, 2 Power)

Armament:

2x Cluster Missile Launcher (10 Spaces)

2x Vulcan Point Defence (4 Spaces)

2x Flak Cannon (4 Spaces, -4 Power)

2x Shotcannon (10 Spaces, -4 Power, ROF 4)

External Armament:

6x Anti-Air Missile (12 Spaces)

Speed 16, Agility 3.36, Evasion 8, Armor 18, 8 Hits

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