In-Reply-To: [email removed]
(this may also have ended up at traveller-request ... sorry)
Alternate traveller timelines:
Here's the one I was going to go with, but have now discarded:
1119 Antares re-allies with Julian Protectorate to form a new
republican federation (Coreward Federal Republic). Brzk is elected
first president with little opposition. The Menderes Corp granted a
series of federal monopolies to keep them quiet.
1120 Margaret concludes pact with Dulinor. Her domain emerges as a
Hiver client state - the Hive is attempting to establish a stable
buffer state to protect military and trade interests between the hive
and the Imperium.
1121 Military coup in Illelish. Dulinor assassinated. "Pact of Dlan"
brings together CFR, Daibei, Margaret, Vland, Illelish, Gushemege and
Core factions to agree ceasefire. Verge is reincorporated into
Illelish.
1121 Daibei overrun by new Solomani push. Craig disappears. Solomani
agree border with key Aslan clans in return for land grants in the new
Daibei and Reaver's Deep territories. The Aslan are effectively given
those worlds with the largest non-human minor race populations to use
as they wish. In return for the peaceful concession of Daibei, the
Solomani agree terms - "Peace of Terra" - for ceasefire with remaining
factions, basically legitimising wartime gains. The entirety of Daibei,
Reaver's Deep and the Rim, along with Diaspora and the Old Expanses as
far as the old Solomani border are ceded to the Confederation.
1122 new Zhodani core expedition
1122 Deneb joins the Pact of Dlan. The treaty is extended to seek
agreement on the reunification of the Imperium, possibly under a
successor to Lucan. All parties except Vland agree to abide by the
conclusions. Two years of relative peace see Vland, Deneb and the CFR
force back Vargr forces in Lishun and Corridor.
1124 Gushemege falls to Lucan's reconstructed Vengeance Fleet.
Strephon disappears. Pact of Dlan collapses. Margaret agrees private
terms with Lucan. Remaining factions (CFR, Vland, Illelish and Deneb)
unite to declare renewed war on Lucan.
1124 partial return of Solomani home expeditions with word of a new
major race with a vast empire two sectors spinward of the hierate.
1126 Pact fleets retake Capital. Lucan flees but is found and killed by
bounty hunters some weeks later. "Pact of Kashuggus" establishes a
Fourth Imperium consisting of Lucan's remaining possessions, Illelish,
and Gushemege under the commander of the Illelish forces. Vland, CFR
and Deneb acquire their independence. Margaret declines to join the new
Imperium, and her domain becomes a semi-autonomous region of the Hiver
Federation.
worlds are barely sustainable, and the remaining powers are in no
economic condition to repair them. The results: a massive refugee
problem; piracy; general economic collapse. There are relatively rich
and safe areas around Capital and Dlan, but they are all the more
resented for that. On the other hand, the CFR, Vland, Deneb, Delphi and
the Solomani Confederation are all fairly stable, albeit quite
distinct. Each of them is primarily occupied with reconstruction,
especially the Solomani, whose political rifts are becoming more and
more pronounced. Oh, and:
1125 A ship misjumps into the Palasha system, Massilia. All the crew
are dead, and half of them were Hivers. Transponders and flight
documentation indicate the craft is set off from Usdiki in 1124, bound
for Glea. Further investigation indicates that the human crew are IRIS
agents. In the hold is a highly sophisticated pseudo-biological robot,
with the features of the late emperor Strephon ....
Why discard it? I decided to stay with the GDW program ... The intro to
Survival margin implies a fairly stable political arrangement 60 years
after the Star Vikings; I'm hoping that GDW sees the light and
publishes at least SOME details of that stage of the timeline by the
time that the Virus hits my campaign. Any guesses, anyone, on what
happens next?
Alastair's TV question:
the series was Cover Up, according to a colleague at work ... the theme
tune was Bonnie Tyler/Jim Steinman "What I Need is a Hero" (or
something like that) and Hexum was replaced by his (Australian) best
mate after he accidentally shot himself.
Finally:
Picked up FFS at the weekend. Am I mistaken, or were there not meant to
be rules for robot design? And they're not there?
Mark