Redemption: A Game of Tactics and...

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REDEMPTIONA Game of Tactics and Consequences

Project Lead: Paul FrackDevelopers: James Kottan and Eric Politowski

Editor: Garrett Guillotte

Art Direction: Sarah FrackCover Art: Dani Kaulakis

Interior Art: Jenna Fowler and Eric PolitowskiLayout: Garrett Guillotte

Special Thanks:

© 2014 Silent Spirits Game Studio. http://silentspiritsgames.com/

All Rights Reserved. Silent Spirits Game Studio, Redemption, and their associated logos are trademarks of Silent Spirits Game Studio. Blank character sheets, record sheets, checklists, and tables may be copied for personal use; all other

reproduction of this publication without express permission of Silent Spirits Game Studio is prohibited. Any similarities to other works, events, or persons, living or dead, in this fictional work are unintentional.

RecruitsRachel KellyIrene Viorritto

CadetsGeoff LambbankueiAlexander RijnbeekGregory HorrellSuresh KumarScrewberryCarl T KleihegeRussell G CollinsJustin PyfromNathaniel BrengleSusan DavisAngelo PileggiShane McleanJeremy KearJuliette L. C.TheoMichael Beck

Ben MaddenIan BorchardtBen HallStephen WilcoxonJonathon BehrEdward KabaraZalzatorwraith808Erik WhiteBrad RobinsBrennan DawsonDavid DorwardBrandon TaylorDrewSouthTimothy NewmanJesse WhiteCameron BlackwoodHerman DuykerCharley BrandumChristopher LaveryFrankschtaldt

ChiefSean MitchellArlene Medder

LieutenantThomas LadegardSteven MoyMichael Gallagher

Lt. CommanderMorgan WeeksDoug GrimesMark SMatthew John Bates IIJacob SegalJosh RaseyDustin D CameronChris SnyderAlex and Amanda FuxKaytie StecklerJames Robinson

CommanderChris ChambersCecily Sobota

Executive OfficersAaron DavisT.S. ReedJaenenChris TownsWade GeerDominic R G CornerChristopher L.

EricksonTimothy J. PhinRichard LiberaChris MarcellusJenny Inman

Communications Officers

J. Patrick WalkerBobby and Karen

JonesJoe & Ceil FrackM. Zachariah Fraser

Rear AdmiralsRichard ClaytonLaura Carruba

Vice AdmiralSteve Guminski

SpecialistsGareth Stephen LewisLeo FlyamerLaura Drew

Santa's HelpersMichael “Necrocain”

CarverBrent “Calus” Levin

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Redemption: A Game of Tactics and Consequences

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ContentsThe War 2

Amid Blood and Stars 5What Is a

Role-playing Game? 6History of The War 7The Fleet 12Glossary 20

The enemy 24History of the Shohan 26Biology and Society 28Technology 32Military 34

The STarS 38The Infinite Frontier 40The Places You’ll Go… 42The Terran Sphere 45Occupied Worlds 55The Front Lines 62The Fringes 64Life on the Twilight Edge:

The Spacer’s Way 65Piracy: Living on the Edge 71

The homefronT 74History of the Terran Sphere

76Life in the Terran Sphere 87The Halls of Power:

Terran Sphere Government 92

The Underground: Crime and Punishment in the Sphere 97

Religion 99

The fourTh PoPulaTion 104Major Powers 106Minor Powers 124

BaSic Training 138Introduction 140Roll Play 141Quantifying

Character Attributes 143Action Points 145Tags 145Refresh 152

commiSSioning: characTer creaTion 154

Designing the Character 156Shaping the Character:

Tags 157Stats: The Building Blocks 159Skills: The Arts

and Sciences 160Character Points 163Tracks: Counting Coup 164Character Advancement 164Sample Characters 166

on PaTrol: comBaT 174The Basics 177Declaring Combat 177Combat Phase 1:

Start of Round 178Combat Phase 2:

Character Actions 180Combat Phase 3:

Aftermath 186Scaling 187Electronic Warfare 188Edits and Combat 189Recovering from Damage 189Mass Combat 190Space Combat 192

By oTher meanS: SocieTy and WealTh 196

Social Manipulation 198Civilian Organizations 200Wealth 201

The WorkBench 206Designing and

Manufacturing Gear 208Core Design 208Size Matters 209Defining Capabilities 210Ships of the Line:

A Design Exercise 219

The armory: equiPmenT 222Ready-to-Deploy Gear 224Armor 226Weapons 229Computers 234Power Supplies 235Manufacturing 236Biotech 237Drugs 238Creatures 239Vehicles 240Space 246Starship Accessories 264Programs 266Shohan Technology 267Resistance Technology 271

SPecial oPeraTionS: PSionicS 272Gift of Gifts 274Strain 275Astral Projection 278Psionic Skills 279Apocryphal Skills 284

for your eyeS only: gm ToolS 290

What is a Campaign? 292Mechanical Aptitude 296Sector Generator 297Racial Tag Creation 304Shohan Racial Tags 306Antagonists 307

index 311

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Chapter 1

The WarNovember 20, 2653

Terran Sphere Standard Calendar

Captain, helm reports we’re at stable one, third battle group holding formation just inside the grav shore.”

“Thank you, Ensign. Officer of the watch?”“Sir?”“Signal the Admiral that we’re in position, as ordered. And

have Weaps load ordnance. Go heavy, and set condition one. We’re expecting a major incursion here.”

“Aye, sir.”Standing on the bridge of a Resolute-class frigate wasn’t

nearly as interesting as the docu-dramas back home on Terra would have had their audiences believe. On holovision, it’s all flash and glory, breathtaking visuals in planetary orbits, and high action and adventure. Despite the business of this system, looking over the holotank now, Captain Rowe saw a great deal of empty space. There were markers indicating ships, the seven planets, their moons, and other sundry collidable objects for navigation to worry about, but that wasn’t why they were here. Somewhere out there, not yet on the scopes, were the Shohan.

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They’d already made several systems go com-pletely dark, starting with Minerva. The pattern of the contact losses lead in this direction, and Artemis III was the biggest population center in the Sphere outside of the Core Worlds. The outlying colonies had been taken almost unopposed. Local system defenses were always light down here—the Kriak seldom, if ever, ventured this far core-ward, so the Navy proper was deployed elsewhere to keep checks on them.

The Shohan offensive changed all of that. All signs indicated the next attack would come here, and Fourth Fleet was here to stop it. Now, it was a waiting game.

“Sir, Weaps reports a full kinetic load in all star-board launchers, and the Admiral has ordered the fifth battle group to support the rear of the forma-tion, Eyes reports they’re maneuvering into posi-tion now.”

“Very good, Ensign. Have Signals launch a few booster satellites to improve FTL sensor pickup, and have them start scanning for any contacts. All signs point to this corridor, but they might try something shady, and I want to see it if they do.”

“Aye, sir.”Hurry up and wait, indeed. Intel had gone over

the sketchy reports from the system defense forces of the colonies that had been hit, and come up with very little. Shield technology was the common fac-tor, usually combined with words like “invulnera-ble” or “unbreakable”. Well, Captain Rowe thought, we’ll see about that. The Fleet has a few more tricks than the renters and dirtskimmers down at this edge of the Sphere.

“Captain! Signals reports unidentified con-tacts… In orbit over Artemis III. Confirmed as Sho-han. Full fleet, multiple dreadnaughts!”

“Acknowledged. Looks like the Eggheads got it right. Sound general quarters. Weaps, when the Admiral marks a target, get us a firing solution on the primary, and prepare to…”

“Captain… Additional contacts… Multiple dread-naughts, it’s another fleet! Five light-minutes inside the grav shore. Repeat: Second Shohan fleet, not in orbit, they’re breaking contain!”

“Get me the Admiral. We may need to reposition the battle group for…”

“A third fleet has just jumped in, Captain, oppo-site direction to the second, same distance… And a fourth, outside the grav shore, massed destroy-ers! They’ve surrounded the bulk of the Fleet, but… they’re not moving yet… Orders, Captain?”

This… can’t be. In all the time the Sphere had been in contact with the Shohan, they’d never seen this many ships. Intel didn’t think they had this many, period, let alone ready for deployment in a single theatre. They couldn’t have been this badly mistaken about the enemy strengths, could they? Seconds were ticking away, and the Shohan seemed to be simply holding their positions, but no targets were assigned… No orders were coming in… Where was the Admiral?

“Captain, we’ve got Admiral Pérez’s ship on Ansible, they’re saying to…”

Signals’ voice died mid-sentence, and the rest of the bridge went silent as the information scrolled across. “Second battle group off grid”, it so innocu-ously stated. The corresponding lights in the holo-tank flickered out as the information updated. Space combat was supposed to be slow. Maneuver into posi-tion, find a firing solution, loose the ordnance, and wait for Signals to confirm a hit. Speed of light comm delays kept things nice and slow. The Sho-han hyper cannon was anything but. A full battle group dark before Signals could even confirm the enemy was firing.

“Captain? Orders?”The crew were terrified. She could hear it in

their voices, and she couldn’t blame them. They’d anticipated engaging and trapping a single Shohan fleet—the few reports from the previous systems that had been hit pointed to that pattern. Now, they were being surrounded by four of them. The consoles were lighting up with information, the sweat was run-ning down her back, and as of yet, third battle group hadn’t come under fire, despite suddenly becoming the center of the Fleet’s formation. The battle plan was broken already, and some of the other squad-rons were already breaking formation and firing at random. Nothing yet breached the shields on any of the dreadnaughts, and the Shohan ships were def-initely waking up from whatever had caused their post-jump inactivity.

“Captain, orders are in from Admiral Pérez… We’re to break plan and head for the grav shore… Full Withdrawal Order confirmed.”

Evacuation… The order was almost unpalatable as Captain Rowe looked out over the consoles, and at the holotank. The glowing icon of Artemis III was still there, and the tank drawing flashes of light over it. Fourth Fleet’s ranks had been swollen greatly as it was deployed here to protect it, and now, they were abandoning it. She suddenly didn’t want to look at the info displays.

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Chapter 1: The War

“Captain? Orders?”“Full withdrawal… confirmed. Helm, set bearing

two one three and fire the main engines. Weaps, get us a solution on the nearest destroyer to that head-ing and transmit that targeting data to the rest of third battle group. Then open fire.”

The dull thud sounded through the ship shortly. She felt it through the deck plating, and checked her consoles to confirm: full salvo fired, next loading. The rest of the third battle group was joining, all coming about to the new heading. They were break-ing formation and running.

The battle had barely started, and they’d already lost. This was the largest fleet deployment in the history of the Sphere’s Navy, and the best they could muster was leaving the shining jewel of the Coreward Colonies in their exhaust wake as they ran…

“Captain! Admiral Pérez has gone dark! Admi-ral Marikesh reported unconscious… Captain Shet-ley on the Houyi assuming command of first battle group. They say immediate evac of all ships… We’re to head back to Zanzibar!”

“Helm, full power to engines, get us out of here! Get Nav to work on the data for immediate jump to Zanzibar! Weaps, keep firing! Break through that destroyer line!” The chorus of “aye captain” rained in.

“May Gereon protect…”The bridge shook like a toy in the hands of a

misbehaving child. All the crew were knocked off their feet, and the blinding flash told them what had happened before they could even look at the con-soles. It was just as well, since they’d all gone dark.

“Hyper cannon hit! Get your EV suits and head to the lifeboats! All hands, abandon ship!”

Amid Blood and StarsWelcome to Redemption. We’re inviting

you to step into the future, a little over 500 years from now. Many things have

changed: humanity has grown past its terrestrial origins to live among the stars. One small step on the Moon became many; robotic mining drones cracked the door to space open, then the Fusion Revolution swung it wide open, giving humanity the power to visit, then colonize, the reaches of the solar system.

But the old axiom “bigger is better” hasn’t gone anywhere, and far be it from humanity to ever be satisfied with the status quo. Faster-than-light (FTL) travel broke all of the old rules and became commonplace, and society moved with zeal into the stars. Earth became Terra of the Sol system, and—some rough patches aside—most of humanity lives under one government: the Terran Sphere Confederacy.

The start of the 27th century was a good time to live in the Sphere: technology had opened new frontiers in the stars, humanity had overcome many of the prior eras’ causes of strife, the Fleet had secured its worlds and shipping lanes, and we managed to co-exist with most of our major alien neighbors.

That’s right—humans are not alone. We’re simply one of a diverse group of space-faring races in what’s known as the Fourth Population of our

corner of space, preceded and even patronized by ancient races whose origins predate all known history. Most of the species we’ve encountered met us peacefully with only one real exception, the Kriak, but even that conflict has mostly calmed down. Some races like humanity more than others, but most are content to at least leave each other alone, if not outright cooperate with one another.

That was, of course, until The War. Humans have historically had a hard enough time getting along with ourselves, but throw alien civilizations into the mix, some of which have been sailing through the stars far longer, and all is not sunshine and roses. There were multiple skirmishes with Kriak clans and disputes with some of the others, but all of those pale to “The War” with the Shohan.

Who are the Shohan and the Kriak, and why are we fighting them? That’s where you come in. This is your adventure, and this book is your guide.

Redemption is a military science fiction role-playing game, and in these pages you’ll find all the setting background, rules, and inspiration you’ll need to plot your course from the Terran Sphere to The War’s front lines, the threatened Colonies and anarchic Gap, and even to the Fringes and unknown worlds that lie beyond the edges of the starmap.

Welcome to the future, and enjoy the ride!

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What Is a Role-playing Game?A role-playing game (RPG) is several

things at once: board game, storytelling, improvisational theater, and problem

solving (and equally likely, problem creating). The foundation of any RPG is the “party,” or group of characters, with each player creating their own character. Consider these characters the lead roles in the story you’re creating, and your players to be the starring actors. The setting and minor characters are portrayed by the Game Master (GM), who also resolves any rules disputes.

Action plays out in the imaginations of the players and GM. The story is guided by the GM using setting information from this book or by filling in areas we’ve deliberately left open to interpretation. Together, you’ll step out of your world and into another, for whatever great (or terrible) purposes you can conceive. There is no predetermined goal, no scoreboard, and no winner—only the continuation or conclusion of an interactive story: yours.

As an RPG, Redemption aims to emulate and support military science fiction stories. This genre covers the effects of conflict on a society, often through the viewpoint of military personnel directly engaged in conflict. Military sci-fi also frequently tackles the effects of war on noncombatants and civilians.

In depicting said conflict, such stories frequently extrapolate future military technology and tactics as they describe the battles and campaigns in which the characters take part. The experiences and philosophy of the authors color moral questions of the conflict; authors of many classic works in the genre carry on a debate about the morality of war in general.

In Redemption, the Terran Sphere is struggling for its continued existence. The War started for reasons unknown to most in the Terran Sphere and GMs are free to devise their own reasons for the attack, but faced with the seemingly inexplicable invasion by the cryptic, overwhelming Shohan and losses only recently halted in a brazen stand at Zanzibar, there are few places in the Terran Sphere unaffected by the conflict.

Does this mean that all parties have to be military units? Not necessarily, but military combat is one of the main features of Redemption’s

system, with expanded rules for representing large-scale battles both planet-side and in space. Military characters can range from lowly soldiers on the ground to intelligence operatives deep behind enemy lines, from engineers and medics keeping the front lines running to captains and admirals directing entire fleets. The War is fought at all levels, and it’s all covered herein.

For civilian parties, the effects of the war may be more subtle but no less present. A homefront game should be powered by emotion—fear for absent loved ones and the future of humanity at large, desperation in displaced populations fleeing the aftermath of battle, and the political machinations by factions to capitalize on The War’s impact on humanity’s collective psyche and rally public opinion in their favor.

What Do We Need to Play?

First and foremost is you: the players, preferably a group of you with one acting as the GM, to provide focus. You provide the characters, the GM guides the story, and off you go.

This book provides sheets to organize and record character information. Dice provide the means to gauge characters’ abilities and represent the innumerable forces that influence their fates. Specifically, each player and the GM should have three six-sided dice (3d6), three eight-sided dice (3d8), and three ten-sided dice (3d10).

GMs should take plenty of notes before, during, and after play to track developments in the story and setting at large. Unlike some other RPGs, Redemption doesn’t keep detailed track of things like character placement or precise combat ranges; miniatures and maps aren’t strictly necessary for gameplay, though some groups may find they add to the game’s immersive qualities.

The real key is an open mind and active imagination. Your group must be open and willing to suspend its belief in reality and consider concepts that are impossible today—alien emotions and cultures, spectacular and terrifying technology, and a scale of space and time magnitudes of order greater than modern science fully understands.

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Chapter 1: The War

But frankly, if you didn’t have that, you’ve probably stopped reading.

Who Is My Party, and What Do We Do?

You and your party are a group of individuals—human or alien, from whatever walk of life—thrust together by the extraordinary circumstances of the 27th century. Redemption is modeled at its core to help players represent a military unit, but you are not limited to this by any means. A war doesn’t just affect soldiers, after all.

Maybe you’re stuck on one of the Shohan-occupied worlds acting as part of the resistance. Maybe you’re free traders who happened to be on the wrong side of the Sphere when the war started, and now you’re being hunted. Or maybe you’re a band of mercenaries on the other side of known space deciding whether to help or prey upon fleeing refugees. It’s up to you, but ultimately this game is designed for a strong group dynamic, be it on individual, battlefield, or space scales.

Many RPGs have “character classes”, or archetypes designed to give a character shape, direction, and a specialized set of skills. Redemp-tion does not have these: you’ll find lists of skills and mechanically driven character options known as Tags in this book, and you’re free to take as many or few as you or your GM wish. The party as a whole will also have a few Tags applied to it to drive home the group dynamic.

Your party is your team, and you’re heading into a hostile universe together. We recommend that players create their characters together, or at least discuss and build around their roles in the team. If the party is going to function together as

a unit, it’s good for everyone to know what kind of job they’re doing.

Many of these decisions depend on what scale or mode of play you’re planning to explore. You could be a group of marines: boots-on-the-ground, front-line soldiers in the hottest parts of the war, getting your hands dirty. On the same scale but in a very different mode, you could be an intelligence group or members of an occupied resistance: less face-to-face, direct combat and more subterfuge, espionage, and trickery.

Maybe you’re looking for larger-scale conflict: you’re officers, or one of your party is an officer, commanding a unit, its deployment and disposition at your discretion. Perhaps the party crews a vessel in the Fleet, one with some degree of autonomy but still interacting with the command structure—or perhaps you are the command structure, and entire battle groups or fleets are at your disposal.

Alternatively, perhaps your group isn’t on the sharp end of The War at all. The Terran Sphere’s infrastructure, commerce, and political groups are focused on The War, much like World War II consumed the daily lives of entire nations, not just their soldiers. Merchants trying to scrape a profit out of a profoundly non-negotiable wartime economy, diplomats trying to encourage other alien nations to help the Sphere against the Shohan, refugees fleeing from the war and into the Fringes, pirates preying thereupon, mercenaries hiring themselves out to an overtaxed Fleet— military science fiction does not mean your party has to be a formal military unit, but it does mean The War is affecting your party as much as it affects the entire Sphere. Whatever your group’s role, it’s time for them to get involved.

History of The WarThe Confession

Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned… it’s been longer than you’d care to know since my last confession, but… I need to talk, and under the

seal of confession is about the only place I can.For five years, we’ve fought the Shohan since they

attacked us. We’ve mostly lost, though I think we set them back on their heels at Zanzibar. In that time I’ve sent dozens of teams to their deaths, all to find out the

answer to a single question: Why? Why attack us? We’ve had barely any dealings with the Shohan. We’re nowhere near their worlds! But suddenly, out of the blue they attack us, and I’ve sent out probe after probe, team after team, all to find some reason, some moti-vation behind this war… not a single one came back.

Until today.A team I’d given up on finally made it back. Half dead, their ship barely holding together…

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God, it’s a wonder their drive wave didn’t implode on them.

Father, what they’ve told me, what they’ve seen, how they’ve changed… if it’s true, then God help us, we’re in deeper then we ever imagined. And God help me, because I’m going to send those boys right back into Hell, because I have even more questions, and I need answers, for all our sakes.

The Loss of MinervaWhatever the reasons for the war, it began on Minerva. In the Terran Sphere, no one knows what happened when that distant colony went silent. The Shohan cited no offense nor announced any discovery before breaking more than a century of peace to wage their silent, unflinching war upon the worlds of humanity.

The planet of Minerva is only three-quarters the size of Earth and barely habitable. There was evidence that it had been terraformed by an unknown race in its distant past, and by the 27th century the planet was in a state of severe ecological collapse. Still, life remarkably high on the Terran biocompatibility index clung to that world. Biogenesis Inc., the holder of Minerva’s terraforming contract, believed the planet would become a valuable colony world if it could be stabilized, but after 50 years of technical failures, ecosystem rejections, and accusations of embezzlement, the company had only an expensive boondoggle on its hands and a Terran Sphere Confederacy audit team in its books.

Determined to salvage something from the project, Biogenesis approached the Shohan. From ancient Third Population records, it was known that the Shohan had once been regarded as master terraformers. However, it had been millennia since then, and the Shohan now were remote figures to the races of the Fourth Population. Still, representatives from Biogenesis intrigued the Shohan ambassador to the Terran Sphere, both with the chance to ply a craft for which they had been renowned and collect artifacts Biogenesis had acquired and offered as payment. The corp struck a deal, and the Shohan came to Minerva.

At first, it appeared that the Shohan were making considerable progress in stabilizing the planet’s biosphere for Biogenesis. The Shohan even seemed to enjoy the opportunity and approached Biogenesis about the possibility of further collaborations. However, on February 14,

2653, all communication from Minerva stopped. No responses were received over the faster-than-light Ansible communications relay, and ships were forced back by a Shohan blockade of the system. The Shohan said nothing, refusing all attempts at communication. Ambassador Davi, the Shohan representative to the Terran Sphere, was recalled without explanation, and the Terran Sphere waited for what would come next.

They would not wait long.

Zhujiangjin and the Initial Assault

The first world to fall to the Shohan was the Colony of Zhujiangjin, a lightly populated water world near the edge of Terran Sphere space. Nearly three months after the blockade of Minerva, a Shohan fleet shocked the Terran Sphere by jumping directly into Zhujiangjin’s orbit.

At first, the local defense forces couldn’t believe their eyes. The gravitic drives that power faster-than-light travel on Terran Sphere starships can’t safely penetrate a system’s “grav shore”, or the major gravity of a destination system’s star. The Shohan showed no such limitation, leaping into the system past the mass shadow of the star into the planet’s, and made it look easy.

For an hour, their massive golden dread-noughts hung silently above the world, ignoring all requests for communication. Eventually their answer came: one by one, the Shohan vessels opened fire on the few ships of the system’s defense force. Although they fought gallantly, the swiftly harried defenders resorted to ramming the Shohan in a desperate attempt to cover refugee ships that had managed, against all odds, to break free of the Shohan blockade.

Despite their courage, even that failed. The defense forces were destroyed or brushed aside by the Shohan and the refugee ships were intercepted long before they reached the system’s grav shore to escape. The last transmission from Zhujiangjin reported Shohan forces landing at the capital, shortly before the system’s Ansible relay was destroyed.

The assault at Zhujiangjin played out again and again as the Shohan methodically advanced across the Hubward colonies of the Terran Sphere. The best weapons of the Terran Sphere were absorbed with contemptuous ease by force

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Chapter 1: The War

fields whose technology was unknown to the young races of the Fourth Population. Silence followed the Shohan march as the tenuous lines of communication across the void were severed. The Shohan could detect the use of Ansibles, something long believed impossible by most scientists of the Fourth Population, and they were merciless in routing out stores of tangle necessary for the Ansible relays.

As colonies fell, refugees fled the Shohan advance. Many escaped to the Terran Sphere’s Core systems, hoping to find safety and shelter there. Others ran all the way to the Fringes, believing that no Terran Sphere world was safe from the Shohan, and the only option was to hide. In some cases, entire colonies fled out into the darkness hoping to escape the Shohan. Many have never been heard from again.

Others chose to remain on their home worlds even in the face of the Shohan advance, believing they could hide on the worlds they called home and escape Shohan attention. Their fates are, likewise, a mystery to the rest of the Terran Sphere.

The Fall of Artemis IIIAfter the fall of Zhujiangjin, the Terran Sphere Navy realized its weapon technology was inferior to the Shohan’s. The Admiralty believed the only chance to mount a defense was to concentrate enough firepower in one place to overwhelm the Shohan’s force fields. The Fleet chose to make its stand at Artemis III, the largest colony in the region.

The Fourth Fleet, under the command of Admiral Pérez, transferred every available warship to defend the Colony until it accounted for three-fifths of the Terran Sphere’s total battle strength. Admiral Pérez, seeking to avoid being trapped in planetary orbit by the Shohan, set the fleet in a parallel solar orbit to Artemis III, ordering ships to randomly change speed to prevent the Shohan from jumping directly on top of the Fleet. Pérez hoped the Fourth would catch the Shohan between his fleet and the Colony’s planetary defenses.

On November 20, 2653, the Shohan jumped directly into planetary orbit, just as they had at Zhujiangjin—and just as Admiral Pérez had predicted.

As the Fourth Fleet raced to attack, a second Shohan Fleet jumped into the system. And another. And another still.

With the arrival of the three additional Shohan fleets, the Fourth Fleet was surrounded. The Shohan had brought to bear twice the mass of ships they’d employed over the preceding months, meeting the Terran Sphere ships on equal numbers with superior firepower. Despite the Shohan advantage, the Fourth Fleet almost escaped as the Shohan ships seemed immobilized in the aftermath of the jump, responding only as the Fourth Fleet stood on the cusp of escape.

At first, individual Shohan ships sloppily maneuvered into pursuit, but Shohan strike groups rapidly reorganized to meet and block the Terran fleet’s escape. The fast Shohan destroyers swept through the Fourth Fleet, herding Terran ships into the beams of Shohan dreadnoughts, turning entire squadrons into glittering, flaring wreckage as the Shohan massacred the largest fleet the Terran Sphere had ever assembled.

As his ships fell, Admiral Pérez broke his remaining ships into squadrons aimed at ramming through weak points in the Shohan destroyer screen that contained the Fourth Fleet. Despite his best efforts, only five of the dozens of warships broke through Shohan containment, Admiral Pérez’s flagship not among them.

Command of the survivors fell to Admiral Marikesh aboard the Sigurd until she was injured in the fighting, then to Captain Shetley on the Houyi. For a brief few moments, it appeared that the survivors would limp home. The grav shore and escape via FTL beckoned. At that last moment, a Shohan dreadnought jumped directly on top of the surviving squadron, the threat of its guns blocking the last survivors’ bid for freedom.

However, the Shohan made a rare error and jumped closer than they intended. As the survivors and dreadnought sped toward a collision, the Shohan again drifted without response. As the Fourth Fleet survivors frantically vectored away from it, Captain Shetley, with only moments to divert the Houyi from a potential collision with the dreadnought, flipped his frigate and seared the dreadnought with his ship’s drive plasma.

As the survivors watched in shocked surprise, the drive plasma ripped through the dreadnought’s protective force field, leaving the massive Shohan ship vulnerable. The survivors unloaded every munition they still carried into the prone behemoth, pounding it into wreckage as they raced past to freedom—suddenly carrying with them the most vital intelligence of The War.

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Despite Captain Shetley’s accidental intel victory, the Massacre of Artemis III remained a catastrophic tactical and strategic defeat for the Terran Sphere Confederacy. The Fleet’s battle strength had been devastated and could no longer offer even the pretense of protection against the Shohan. Responsibility for the Colonies’ protection would fall to fragmented system defense forces.

With no other tools available, they resorted to turn-and-burn tactics, diving suicidally close to Shohan ships to score desperate hits with their drive plasma. Shohan weaponry reduced most ships to wrecks before they could close to the knife’s range required, but enough ships inevitably got through the Shohan’s defensive screen, and their advance began to slow.

Meanwhile, the loss of Artemis III, once considered a jewel among the younger Colonies, sent a shock wave of panic through the populace. The trickle of refugees to the Fringe became a flood as people sought to avoid the inevitable arrival of the Shohan in the skies above them. The panic threatened to send the Terran Sphere into utter turmoil until Prime Minister Femandes Mei made a personal appeal to the entire TSC for "Calm, Courage, and Unity" in the face of the Shohan, a message echoed by heads of state across the Confederacy. While many still chose to flee, authorities succeeded in bringing a grim calm to the people as The War ground onward.

Despite the nearly mortal wound, the Fleet began to rebuild. Admirals summoned ships from Sol and Alpha Centauri to fill gaping holes in capacity while ship and weapon designers across the Terran Sphere laid down new plans to capitalize on the intelligence Captain Shetley and the other survivors had paid such a high cost to gain.

The Battle of ZanzibarAlthough the Shohan assault slowed, it continued to grind away at the Terran Sphere, capturing Colony after Colony until it finally reached the Core Worlds. Their first target: Zanzibar, one of the largest ship-building hubs in the Sphere. Losing those yards would effectively destroy the Fleet as it attempted to rebuild, and signal the fall of the Terran Sphere.

Fortunately, those shipyards had not been idle.The Defiance class—small, barely cruiser-sized,

simply built and sturdy, with oversized engines designed for speed and maneuverability—carried the first fruits of the Terran Sphere’s weapon

research: plasma cannons. Tied directly to the ships’ engines, the oversized cannons drew enough power to buck the ship when fired. The concentrated plasma would tear through even a dreadnought’s shields, at least in theory.

Surprise is hard to generate in space. It’s too easy to spot what the other side is doing, and usually there’s enough time to react long before it happens. However, when the Shohan jumped within shooting range of Zanzibar’s shipyards, their FTL mobility worked against them. The new Defi-ances burst forth from hiding spots in the shipyards or hollowed-out freighters, and once again, the Shohan were slow to respond. Only a few Shohan ships moved to intercept the defenders, and as more of the Shohan sprung to life, the battle became not a clash of grand strategies but a brutal brawl, the Defi-ances dancing through the space version of a knife fight as they twisted through destroyer screens to strike larger, slower dreadnoughts.

The Defiance-class hulls, with their combination of maneuverability and firepower, had found a sweet spot, exploiting a weakness in the Shohan fleet’s makeup. In battle, their crews pushed them for every scrap of an advantage they could as more Shohan ships began to jump in and reinforce the initial strike force. However, the fleet had saturated the system with the little Defiances, and while dozens died striking their blows, dozens more remained to meet the new arrivals. The Shohan force fields, once terrifying in their invulnerability, were seared away; what Terran frigates remained after the losses at Artemis III lent heavy fire support, launching wave after wave of new plasma warhead missiles, their impacts rocking the damaged and vulnerable Shohan invasion.

After taking a tremendous barrage, one of the Shohan dreadnoughts splintered under the weight of fire; one behemoth after another crumpled under the assault until a fifth dreadnought tumbled away from the battle, its once-golden hull darkened and seared.

Shohan ships began jumping out of the system, retreating for the first time since The War began. The Terran Sphere had won; the Shohan could be beaten.

The Shohan retreat from Zanzibar helped restore order to the Terran Sphere. The flood of refugees and self-imposed exiles slowed, and as the Defiance design spread throughout the Sphere, the Fleet could repel more Shohan attacks. The once-inevitable advance had been stopped.

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Current SituationIn the wake of Zanzibar, the two sides have settled into a grim and bloody stalemate. The Fleet, armed with Defiance cruisers, has held the line, but at a high cost. Amongst many stars drifts the cooling wreckage of Shohan and Terran ships alike. After the first few battles, the Shohan have learned a new appreciation for the Terran Sphere Navy and seek to avoid future losses like those incurred at Zanzibar. Instead, they focus on consolidating their control of worlds they seized in the initial assault.

The Terran Sphere has meanwhile been unable to advance into Shohan-held territory. The Defiances remain a potent weapon, but their lack of endurance makes them a poor choice to carry the battle to the Shohan without substantial support. Whatever their limitations, they have succeeded in giving the Terran Sphere time to develop and deploy the new, heavier Redemption-class frigates from shipyards across the Confederacy, and for the fruits of Project Leapfrog to reach the front lines. The TSN is for its first offensive of The War.

The Fleet remains split on the best way to advance into occupied territories. Some admirals push for a deep strike to the Artemis system, the largest of the colonies taken by the Shohan and site of the most crushing defeat of The War. Others believe the Fleet should take a more cautious route by moving against one of the smaller, less defended Colonies, arguing that many of the new ships and technologies remain largely untested, and the Shohan may have other weapons they have yet to deploy. The Terran Sphere must decide before the Fleet and the Confederacy lose the opportunity to turn The War’s tide.

While The War rages Hubward, the Fringes of Terran Sphere space—chaotic in the best of times—are in a state of turmoil. The initial assaults proved so devastating that many people fled the Terran Sphere to seek shelter amidst unknown stars. Many hoped to hide from the Shohan during their conquest of the Terran Sphere, but all too often this their situations went from bad to worse. Pirates and other threats in the Fringe overran safe havens and ragtag refuge fleets alike. The few ships the Fleet can spare from the front to patrol these regions face the monumental task of safeguarding these people and convincing them to return to

the Terran Sphere. Additionally, there are signs that Kriak clans are once again massing, and rumors abound of a new Kriak Prophet who senses weakness in the Terran Sphere and a new destiny for themselves amongst the stars. A new Kriak crusade could be a death blow to the Terran Sphere were it to happen while war with the Shohan still rages, as the Terran Sphere would be hard pressed to defend itself on two fronts.

Project LeapfrogIn the aftermath of the Battle of Zanzibar,

the Terran Sphere salvaged their first pieces of Shohan equipment and ships. The Sphere instituted Project Leapfrog as the overall authority on investigations into captured Shohan technology and sponsors many projects to either reverse-engineer or counter Shohan technology.

To date, the project’s greatest success has been the reverse engineering of the Shohan force field technology. Terran Sphere force field tech is not as versatile, with limitations on the size of the field and a faster depletion rate than the Shohan equivalent. Nor are they close to having the finesse to produce a Terran equivalent to the Shohan Tse blade, a much smaller version of what appears to also be force field tech used as a combination melee weapon and personal firearm. Still, the capacity allows Terran forces to meet the Shohan on more even footing. Terran-built force fields have been integrated into the new Kavacha marine armor and Dragon-class escort ships.

Project Leapfrog is headquartered at Zanzibar, where the wrecks of Shohan dreadnoughts from the battle there are still being explored, with other major research teams based in the Sol and Alpha Centauri systems. Leapfrog recovery teams quickly scavenge the wreckage after battles for material to send back to the labs.

Dr. Wilhelm Chen, renowned as the man who cracked force field tech, is the project’s director. Despite his taciturn nature, his success gives him enormous influence inside

and outside of the Fleet.

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Under the cover of this turmoil, special teams deployed by Project Leapfrog travel to ancient and dead worlds in hopes of salvaging technology for the war effort or gaining insight into the Shohan and any weapons they have yet to deploy. These worlds are frequently hazardous due to ancient works left idle too long or more modern interlopers.

Finally, there are the occupied worlds them-selves. Recon probes that survive long enough to report back still show settlements and some level of activity, but the population remains completely cut off from the rest of the Terran Sphere. Teams sent to infiltrate behind the Shohan lines never report back. There are always rumors of a single, unnamed team making it back, but Fleet Intel manages to keep news of any successful recon missions under total secrecy.

People survive on occupied worlds, but that existence is precarious. The Shohan silently blockade every habitable world in the territory they have seized, leaving many worlds without vital supplies modern technological bases need. For many, the Shohan’s golden behemoths are distant oppressors, unmoving in the face of any entreaties from the planet’s surface. On other worlds the Shohan have taken a more active role; some humans react to the Shohan’s unique biotechnology, which invades the new host and creates a human-Shohan hybrid known as an Altered. These Altered, who can use otherwise unresponsive Shohan weapons and armor, are hunted down by the Shohan, and if captured are rarely seen again. Escaped Altered tell of enduring countless experiments.

Some occupied worlds fight the occupation. Cut off from the rest of humanity, these resistance movements scrape by with improvised weaponry and the Altered. Resistance groups rarely strike openly as the Shohan have them outgunned, and Altered or not, captured fighters are almost never heard from again. Instead, they strike from the shadows to punish the Shohan and look to the stars for the Fleet’s return.

The FleetHumanity found many things when it first

spread from Earth. Not the least of these were new worlds not previously known,

or even imagined, by those who gazed up at the night sky. Many were habitable, and mankind spread from its origins to these new worlds. Many, it turned out, were already inhabited, and thus was the great philosophical question—“Are we alone?”—answered once and for all.

Humanity made peace with many of the alien races, but not all. Old-time mariners were right all along: out here, there be monsters indeed.

To keep humanity safe, enter the Fleet. For-mally called the Terran Sphere Confederate Navy, the Fleet evolved from old Earth militaries to suit the paradigm of an interstellar civilization. Rather than serving a single country, the TSN keeps the monsters off the edge of the map—where they belong. The War, however, is the most dire situa-tion the Fleet has ever faced. The brass is loathe to admit that the devastating losses suffered at Arte-mis III, and to a lesser extent at Zanzibar, have left the Fleet short on materiel in the midst of their greatest threat.

Altered Beyond the Occupied Worlds

Currently, the Altered are almost exclusively found in occupied systems. Canonically, this is because Project Leapfrog has instituted numerous safety protocols around their handling of recovered Shohan biotechnology and has managed to avoid potential contamination. Their safety, however, may have deprived them of an important clue regarding the Shohan and their intentions.

GMs who wish to make the Altered more widely available can blame an accident in handling Shohan biotech for the creation of an Altered in the Terran Sphere. The Alteration process is not foolproof, and many people die as their immune system attempts to fight the invading biotech, their own bodies becoming alien to their immune system. Any program to create Altered soldiers must balance ethical issues against the needs of the current—and

admittedly dire—crisis.

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However, from tragedy comes opportu-nity—salvage teams have added the wreckage around Zanzibar to the Fleet’s already vast min-eral wealth, keeping the shipyards churning out newer and more powerful ships while present-ing opportunities to reverse-engineer Shohan technology.

The victory at Zanzibar also inspired a wave of patriotic zeal across much of the Sphere, driv-ing enlistment to an all-time high right when the Fleet needs it most.

Founding and StructureThe Terran Sphere Navy was not always a single force dedicated to the defense of the Terran Sphere and its inhabitants. The Confederacy founded the Fleet relatively recently in Sphere history, and to this day it isn’t entirely unified.

The Fleet is composed of what used to be very separate, even warring, groups, primarily the Joint Earth Security Force (JESF) and Alpha Centauri Space Navy (ACSN). Once the Colonial Wars (see Homefront) subsided and cooler heads prevailed, the forces elected to combine elements of both groups.

The JESF evolved from the old Earth mili-tary tradition of an “Air Force”. Air extended into space, and as many of the top military officials believed their rank structure and traditions should be adopted.

Meanwhile, the ACSN dates back to the early days of colonization when the Kriak, a nomadic alien race, first began to raid the newly founded colony on Hawking’s World. As the settlers orga-nized a defense against Kriak raids, many of the ruling heads of what would become the ACSN were more romantically inclined than their JESF counterparts, and the fledgling force adopted a “black water navy” mentality for the ACSN with a rank structure derived from old Earth naval terminology.

The Colonial Wars that preceded the Terran Sphere ultimately forced these two forces with differing philosophies, rank structures, and ship types together. Losses in that war were heavy for the ACSN, but catastrophic for the JESF; as a result, most of the forces inducted into the newly-founded Terran Sphere Navy were from the ACSN, and their organizational structure, ranks, and tra-ditions were adopted by the TSN and are still used today.

This created a force with several traits of an unhealthy workplace: disparate backgrounds, rival academies, and inconsistent rank structures and codes of honor. Many JESF personnel still go by their old ranks, and some even wear both forces’ insignias, which is against TSN regulations and sometimes confusing in action but often overlooked given the Fleet’s more pressing concerns.

CompositionNeither the JESF or ACSN was ready for the full commitment of merging given the high level of distrust, so both forces still exist as separate enti-ties while contributing to the TSN.

Enlisted RanksACSN/TSN JESFJunior Crewman Private 2/cCrewman Private 1/cPetty Officer CorporalSenior Petty Officer SergeantChief Petty Officer Staff SergeantSenior Chief Petty Officer Master SergeantMaster Chief Petty Officer Sergeant Major

Commissioned RanksACSN/TSN JESFEnsign 2nd LieutenantJunior Lieutenant 1st LieutenantLieutenant Lt. Major*Lt. Commander MajorCommander Lt. ColonelCaptain ColonelCommodore Brigadier GeneralRear Admiral Major GeneralAdmiral GeneralFleet Admiral Star MarshalAdmiral of the Fleet

* To avoid confusion, the JESF eventually eliminated the rank of Captain. The decision was not well received.

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The Fleet must ensure it has the personnel to continue functioning and cannot rely exclusively on two groups that, to this day, still don’t fully trust one another. As the Sphere spread out further from the home systems, the military academies at Ceres in Sol’s asteroid belt and Hawking’s World in Alpha Centauri started graduating some of their cadets directly into the TSN. To the surprise of many senior officers of the JESF and ACSN, many recruits specifically requested a role in the TSN.

The JESF and ACSN still exist as separate enti-ties, charged with the defense of their home sys-tems—Sol and Alpha Centauri, respectively. Before the war, personnel who’d graduated from the acad-emies with the express intent of joining the TSN comprised most of the fleet:

TSN Pre-War Makeup 54% TSN 21% ACSN 20% JESF

5% Other

The “Other” category consists of anything from local system defense force personnel to vol-unteers or defectors from non-TSN fleets, such as Chiron allies or former pirates going the straight and narrow. Some are temporary additions, often called “tourists” by the lifers within the Fleet. Tour-ists tend to maintain whatever rank they held on their previous assignment, and those who stay on eventually gain permanent rank within the Fleet.

There is another source that may be more prev-alent than the Fleet itself would like to admit: The Free Haven of Humanity. Haven began as a splin-ter faction that rebelled during the founding of the Terran Sphere and, after a long period of exile, returned as raiders and agents provocateurs deter-mined to destabilize their old foe.

Since Havenites look like Terran Sphere natives, they only need a decently forged set of credentials to join the Fleet. Not all of them are infiltrators wait-ing to spring intel back home, though; some want to come back to the Sphere despite the pariah sta-tus attributed to Havenites. These recruits are very careful about concealing their actual homeworld.

The Shohan invasion, and subsequent devasta-tion of TSN forces, dramatically shifted the Fleet’s balance:

TSN Post-War Makeup28% TSN 31% ACSN 34% JESF

7% Other

Now that the JESF and ACSN form the major-ity of the Fleet’s personnel, their long-standing mutual mistrust and animosity creates plenty of tension. However, outright hostility is mostly avoided by the Fleet being on full war footing. Rather than open arguments in briefing rooms or crews coming to blows with each other in the mess, the rivalry manifests itself as a competi-tive framework between the two—whose ship can pull the tighter maneuver, which squadron makes the best grav shore landing, whose crews score the most kills. Most COs know both services must work together to defeat the Shohan and come down hard on anyone who lets this “friendly rivalry” escalate into anything truly disruptive.

Signing Up and Shipping Out

Recruitment has averted the need for compulsory military service, and advances in medical science have extended the quality and length of human life since we’ve hit the stars. Given these advances, the old Earth four-year commissions have long since become 10 years. Since the Shohan invasion, however, most of these contracts extend to “as long as the conflict requires.” Since the conflict is why most current graduates enrolled in the first place, this new wording hasn’t caused much of a stir.

Most Fleet officers are trained at one of four major academies:

Ceres Military Institute: Often nicknamed “The Rock” due to its location, this is the major contributing military institute to the JESF. A large part of the curriculum changed to serve the TSN directly since the end of the Colonial War, but Ceres remains the JESF’s training grounds. Since the JESF and TSN are organized in very different ways, the two programs are effectively separate tracks within the Institute. This has lead to some philosophical divergence, and some point to this as a major contributing factor to the “Earth First” mentality beginning to crop up within the JESF.

Hawking’s World Naval Academy: The pri-mary academy for the ACSN has also converted to a heavily TSN-direct structure. Since the structures of the ACSN and TSN are similar, the two pro-grams aren’t as separated here as they are at The Rock, producing fewer factionalized nationalists.

St. Gereon’s Hub Naval Academy: Younger than the other two academies, St. Gereon’s Hub

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was founded well after the end of the Colonial War and sends most of its graduates directly to the TSN. However, since many of the applicants are local and the Hub’s proximity to the Gap makes pirate activity rather commonplace, some prefer to help their home system more than to be shipped off to fight the Kriak or Shohan.

TSC School of Military Engineering: While looked down upon by some as a school for those who couldn’t hack being a “proper” Fleet offi-cer, Zanzibar’s TSC produces the many person-nel needed to keep the Fleet running. While not an entirely separate curriculum, there are more civilian-minded programs available which grad-uate most of its student body directly into the system’s thriving starship manufacturing and research industries. Those going into the Fleet get extra coursework in the more combative aspects of serving on a military ship.

Beyond HumanityDespite humanity’s peaceful relations with alien life, the Fleet maintains a human majority. Since the Shohan invasion, however, more non-human species living in or near the Sphere have started signing up. While humanity’s affairs aren’t the con-

cern of all alien races, the most common non-human species

joining the Fleet include:

Thral: As the most common alien race in the Core Worlds, it is not surprising that the Thral fre-quently serve in the TSN. The Thral are active, and even major, participants in most human endeavors in the Sphere, including familial adoptions, and the Fleet is no different. Their congenital racial claustrophobia makes life on a ship difficult, and while some tough it out, most look for a ground or station posting. Their hearty, rock-like physiol-ogy and limited ability to withstand hard vacuum, however, find no end of use wherever they end up. Their natural talent with Telekinesis also inspired many Psionic innovations within the Fleet.

Teuthid: Newcomers to the Fourth Popula-tion, the Teuthid’s multi-limbed bodies adapt very well to zero-g environs due to their mixed arboreal and amphibious background. Despite this natural advantage, most Teuthid are reluctant recruits.

While their world is far from the front lines, their system has become a major trading hub due to the presence of a functional Shivan Gate. Unfortunately, the Teuthid have little with which to defend their world from the raiders and pirates in the area and have traditionally relied on the Fleet to defend their system from the ill intentioned. With The War, the Terran Sphere has been forced to significantly reduce the forces defending the Teuthid home world, leaving the system vulnerable to raiding parties. Sa

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To prevent situation from spiraling out of control, the Terran Sphere is training Teuthid recruits to form the nucleus of a system defense force, effectively trading personnel for the few ships it can keep on station while the Teuthid gain the necessary experience. The Teuthid League has taken to hiring mercenaries as a stopgap measure, but many Teuthid are understandably not comfortable with such an arrangement; as a result, most Teuthid in the Fleet are focused on finishing their “training” and getting home alive.

Chiron: The Chiron often present them-selves as a rather militaristic race, and there is a small but growing Chiron presence in the Fleet. While their own nation is not actively at war with the Shohan, they have clashed with them in the past and still hold a lingering animosity against them. Known for their multiple person-alities, many Chiron in the Fleet are former mer-cenaries, while some are defectors from the Chi-ron military itself.

They can be bloody-minded individuals look-ing to redeem their honor. Slightly larger than humans, their six-limbed bodies bend and bow easily enough to accommodate the Fleet’s human-sized ships.

Their multiple personalities, however, often cause headaches for their human officers, and their complete lack of biocompatibility with humanity leaves the ship’s galleys in a bit of a quandary.

Altered: Should the GM choose to include the Altered in their game, almost all Altered within the Sphere not currently trapped on Shohan-occupied worlds would serve in the Fleet in some capacity or another.

“Infected” by Shohan nanotechnology, the Altered gain strength and resilience that exceeds human limits, a natural ability to other-wise incomprehensible Shohan technology, and immunity to the various minor infections that afflict most humans.

Their inherent advantages make them nat-urals for deployment, but their incredibly small numbers make them far too valuable to Fleet brass to risk on the front lines. Many would sim-ply work in research—possibly having research done on them in kind—or intelligence, but a select few could be deployed to critical worlds where their unique talents could change the course of battle.

Disposition and Deployment

The Fleet is a popular moniker encompassing the Terran Sphere Navy’s seven individual fleets, each covering different operational areas and strate-gic needs for the Terran Sphere. Fleet command is headquartered at Trafalgar Station, located in-system with, but separate from, Unity Station and the civilian capitol of Unity Prime. Unlike Unity, Trafalgar Station is a fortified structure built into a heavy asteroid, though not heavy enough to escape the need for artificial gravity.

The Fleet is directed by the Admiralty, a council of senior admirals based at Trafalgar. At the head of this council is the Admiral of the Fleets, the nominal head of the Terran Sphere Navy and typically the most senior officer of the council, and is ultimately answerable to the Senate. The War keeps the Admiral of the Fleets at Trafalgar more or less full-time, communicating with Unity via proxy.

Not all of the individual fleets are in “fight-ing shape.” The Shohan invasion has left more fleets undermanned and under-equipped than they have ever been. The Fleet is taking the respite since the Battle of Zanzibar to re-arm and redis-tribute its forces to brace itself for the next Sho-han offensive.

First Fleet is still deployed in its long-stand-ing post: the Kriak front. As the first major out-side threat to the Terran Sphere, the Kriak were met by the First Fleet. Over time, as the Fleet grew and split into the other fleets, First Fleet main-tained this post, even through the Shohan inva-sion. Trafalgar actively wants the vaunted First Fleet deployed against the Shohan, the much greater threat to the Sphere since the Kriak have stayed quiet. Enough of the old guard holds power within the Fleet, however, to make sure that First Fleet maintains its heritage of never leaving its post, including First Fleet’s CO, Fleet Admiral Laurentson.

Second Fleet was created to secure the Sphere’s home systems that weren’t already patrolled actively by the JESF or ACSN. In some cases Sec-ond Fleet flew alongside them and mediate juris-dictional disputes between the rivals. When the Shohan invaded, however, most of Second Fleet was re-deployed toward the combat zone, specif-ically Zanzibar. Given the shipyards’ tremendous

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importance to the Sphere, Second Fleet moved almost all of its fighting strength thereto head off the Shohan advance. As a result, Second Fleet is under half strength after the Battle of Zanzibar and is back to patrolling the home systems. Ironically, they find themselves relieving the many JESF and ACSN vessels being called wholesale into the Fleet. Fleet Admiral Karik was killed in the fighting, and his Executive Officer is still operating the Second under the title of Act-ing Fleet Admiral Yoshiro.

Third Fleet is stationed on The War’s front lines. After the severe casualties inflicted on the Fourth Fleet at Artemis III, Third was redeployed from its prior position along the expansive Kriak front, and most current vol-unteers and graduates from the military academies go directly into Third. The Third Fleet is the only fleet at or above its listed operational strength thanks to the relative calm along the Kriak front before their rede-ployment and the Second Fleet taking the brunt of the attack at Zanzibar. However, Fleet Admiral Alexander constantly demands that his fleet, being the front line, needs more sup-plies, personnel, and ships—without wanting the older ves-sels being transferred to bolster other fleets. He insists that if he is to be “saddled with all the new blood, then I need to have the best equipment.”

Fourth Fleet is, as far as the TSN is concerned, a fleet without ships or spacers. Even as it rebuilds its personnel base, Fourth Fleet has almost no operational war vessels. The reason is simple: Artemis III. The words “Artemis III” are seldom spoken between personnel of different Fleets out of respect for the losses Fourth Fleet took there. Of the scores of ships that swelled the Fourth at Artemis III, only five made it out, and while more have been assigned since then, Fleet Admiral Marikesh still believes its operational strength is barely enough to warrant calling it a fleet. The vessels themselves are all currently

patrolling home systems, many at Unity Prime and Trafalgar, until the fleet’s fighting strength can be restored. Even now-Commodore Shetley, the Fourth’s biggest hero, has transferred to Third upon receiving the first Redemption-class frigate. In the meantime, Fourth has taken over

most of the intelligence and black ops work-load from the other fleets. Fleet

Admiral Marikesh considers this the most logical use for a fleet with few ships but a steady stream of new person-nel. Most of these operations are run out of Zanzibar rather

than Trafalgar, the “official” home of Fleet Intelligence.

Fifth Fleet is deployed along the Shohan front with Third, but where the bulk

of Third remains headquartered at Zanzibar, Fifth is assigned to gar-rison targets that Fleet Admiral Alexander doesn’t feel are as tac-tically valuable, and thus don’t need “his” Third. The Fifth is comprised mostly of uplifted and requisitioned units, ships, and personnel from JESF, ACSN, and smaller smaller system defense forces, including several direct transfers from Chiron forces. Fleet Admiral Zhang has to orga-nize a battle-ready fleet from a patchwork of random vessels, volunteers, conscripts, and rene-gades who want to fight the Sho-han but were rejected by Third’s Fleet Admiral Alexander—which

ends up being quite a lot of per-sonnel, resulting in Fifth hav-

ing the largest population of non-human personnel in the TSN.

Sixth Fleet also contains many vessels called up from local defense fleets and second-line units, but unlike Fifth, they receive fewer transfers from the JESF and ACSN. Sixth Fleet, effectively an asso-ciation of local defense forces sharing the quiet Kriak front with First, has to make do with what-ever comes their way. That ends up being very lit-tle, since most significant assignments and trans-ferred assets to the Kriak front go directly to the better-connected First. Admiral Dax logs a formal

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complaint to this effect every standard month on the same date without so much as a confirmation that anyone in Trafalgar has even read his protests. When asked why he continues to send them, Dax says, “Every man needs a ritual.”

Seventh Fleet shares with First the distinction of maintaining its original posting: in Seventh’s case, St. Gereon’s Hub. Their standing mission is the suppression and elimination of piracy in and around the Gap. Fleet Admiral Monowai is find-ing this mission becoming utterly absurd, as the Gap is known throughout the Sphere as such a nest of piracy and other manner of scofflaws that

many believe it to be home to the pirate world of Haven. Moreover, the operational strength of Sev-enth is steadily diminishing despite having ship-yards and a naval academy at the Hub. Many ves-sels have been transferred wholesale to the First and Third fleets due to Third’s urgent deployment and First’s seniority of Fleet Admiral Laurentson. These transfers happen with enough regularity that Seventh shows a regular operational loss even in the rare moments when they are not engaged in combat. This has lead to increased, and increas-ingly desperate, cooperation with unofficial forces, including illegal weapons and technology sales to

Terran Sphere Naval Fleet FormationsThe TSN, like the ACSN that preceded it,

organizes its fleets’ ships into divisions, or formations comprised of 8 to 16 vessels organized into larger units. A division is designated with the first number of its fleet, followed by a two-digit division designation; for instance, the Third Fleet’s fifth division is the 305th. Divisions are usually a full Admiral’s billet, though lighter units may have a Rear Admiral as CO.

Squadrons, comprised of 4 to 6 ships, are designated by letters: A or Alpha, B for Bravo, C for Charlie, and so on. A division’s Alpha squadron is usually its commander’s squadron. Most squadrons are led by Rear Admirals or Commodores, but lighter divisions may be commanded by its most senior ship captain.

Ships in a task force are carved out of the Fleet and dedicated to a specific mission, such as forward recon or system garrison duty. Admiral Kitaev’s forces, for instance, are assigned to guard and rebuild the Demeter Colony and are collectively known as Task Force Demeter. The senior officer of the assigned forces commands most task forces, though a long-term task force may receive a separate CO and staff appropriate to its size who can maintain the mission while forces transfer in and out of their command. Units seconded to the TSN from system auxiliary forces are usually designated as task forces for their campaign with the Fleet.

While the ACSN built its structure on top of the Old Earth British model, the JESF retains much of their air force roots. JESF forces are organized into smaller groups rather than fleets, each comprised of several wings, underneath which are two or three squadrons. As a formation, a JESF squadron is more in line with a TSN/ACSN division, an ambiguity that occasionally causes inter-service confusion. TSN and ACSN personnel usually refer to these as Jeff Squadrons, or if they can get away with it, J Squads. Each JESF squadron is further divided into flights of up to six spacecraft.

JESF unit designations are numerical, but not hierarchical: the 14th Space Group might have the 6th Assault Wing under it as well as the 122nd Recon. As a result, JESF units have stronger unit cohesion compared to their TSN counterparts.

Meanwhile, the TSN frequently shifts its ship assignments within a Fleet to ensure any ships can quickly shakedown together. This allows it more flexibility in its deployments, in keeping with its role as a first-response force.

GMs looking to add additional flavor, and players looking for intra-party tension and story hooks, can exploit these differences for story purposes. However, don’t get bogged down in the details at the expense of pacing—every-one’s fundamentally on the same side, and these distinctions should not have a material affect on Redemption’s game mechanics.

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the “private” fleet of Abascia Station in the Gap. With his own resources so depleted, Fleet Admiral Monowai is more inclined to leave much of the anti-piracy action to this “informal” ally.

Additionally, Seventh Fleet also runs many of the “special research” missions for the Fleet, including the search for and recovery of ancient technology—anything that can give the TSN an advantage against the Shohan. Worlds in the Gap host many such sites, and since Seventh Fleet is posted at the Hub nearby, most of these hunts run through Monowai’s office. Fourth’s intelligence work may turn up a hot tip, and Fourth or one of the other fleets may run a special group to chase it, but most research missions are run into the Gap by way of Seventh Fleet.

TraditionsWith any military structure comes tradition. Given the break, both philosophical and literal, between old Earth military and what would even-tually become the Fleet, many of the traditions are relatively new. A space navy being a new par-adigm, it has evolved new terminology and tradi-tions of its own. The core values, however, haven’t really changed at all: Vigilance, Duty, Fortitude, and Courage.

Lifers within the fleet will take exception, and sometimes fists, to any found shirking these. Tourists—those on for a temporary tour, usually borrowed from local forces—learn these values, and the penalties for disrespecting them, very quickly.

The first of these new traditions evolved from engine techs referring to the gravity bubble of FTL travel as “the egg”. An offhand comment by a nameless rating has become the oldest of the TSN traditions: Breaking the Egg. Crew on their first FTL vessel are referred to as “yolks”. Once they make shorefall at the other end of the FTL travel, they’re considered to have “broken the egg” and are part of the crew. Hazing rituals haven’t changed in centuries, either, and the yolks are subject to all of it depending upon how much of a blind eye the res-ident flag officer turns to such things. Some partic-ularly mischievous captains take longer routes to the grav shores when new crew are aboard.

The ratings often have their own traditions for how they show the new crew members that they’re part of the ship, and these vary from vessel to vessel, but the typical tradition is that they are

invited to dine at the captain’s table rather than the general mess that night. Tourists are not often afforded either yolk tradition.

With active warfare on multiple fronts, death is a constant companion. Military funerals, as ever, carry a degree of ceremony. In calmer times, the deceased were shipped home to whatever family may have survived them to “Stand the Last Watch” on their home world or station. The War demands too much time, however, and the remains cannot stay on the ship, thus inspiring the new tradition of “Walking the Stars”. The casket is draped with a flag—a centuries-old tradition—and the ship’s captain speaks a few words as the crew opens the airlock and space claims the fallen.

The words are not always the same but tend to keep to the traditional: the deceased “is disem-barking, and the stars are their destination. May their light shine upon them.”

The Army QuestionUntil recently the Terran Sphere has had little need of a formal organized ground army. Its most common enemies were the Kriak and the Free Haven, neither of whom were interested in holding planets as conquerors. Marines were kept for boarding actions and clearing those last stubborn remnants of raiding parties, but large-scale ground combat seemed to be a thing of the past. Many admirals shared a bit of smug satisfaction about this point, but like so many facets of military doctrine, the Shohan have also brought this doctrine into question.

The Fleet first experimented with expanding the scope of ground combat by changing their Deep Insertion Reconnaissance Tactics teams, or DIRT teams. DIRT teams started as a specialized division of the marines, mostly for the aforementioned mop-up operations. Their role has shifted into advanced scouting functions on occupied worlds. Ideally, these operations would make contact with any resistance forces and provide some manner of aid to them while relaying valuable intel about the Shohan occupiers back to command. The success rate of these teams, until very recently, had been extraordinarily low; many of the teams never survived insertion.

What changed? The Phantom-class infiltration craft. About the size of a standard escort vessel, much of the armament was reduced in favor of stealth technology, largely reverse-engineered from

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captured Havenite vessels, and an auxiliary drive system that can run without emissions for limited amounts of time. These abilities are more than worth the nominal arsenal trade-off in the eyes of the brass. Teams aren’t just getting their boots wet now; one has even made it back alive.

Only to the Admiralty’s highest levels know what they found: a loose picture of the situation on Artemis III that has sparked a full-scale debate on Trafalgar Station. Does the Confederacy need to raise a full-size ground army?

The implications are vast. Arming limited marine forces and DIRT teams is relatively inexpensive, even though the DIRT teams are outfitted with the very latest high-tech gear.

To supply and arm a full-sized ground force to meet the Shohan muzzle-to-muzzle, as it were, is another logistical question altogether.

Several conservative admirals are wholly against the idea, having grown used to the fact that ground forces are both limited and subordinate to the Fleet. On the other hand, some of the Fleet’s more pragmatic leaders (or radicals, depending upon whom you ask) view ground forces as a growing necessity, especially now that hard intel on the Shohan ground force situation exists. As reality starts to overwhelm conservative stances, the crux of the debate becomes whether such a force would be an expansion of the existing marine corps or a fully independent, old Earth-style army.

GlossaryAbascia Station: Largest, most successful Islander

Colony outside of the Free Haven. Controlled by a Chiron ex-mercenary group and port of call for ships transiting the Gap.

Abascian: 1. Genetically altered subspecies of humanity, adapted for microgravity. 2. A resident of Abascia Station.

ACSN (Cennies): Alpha Centauri Space Navy. Officially the system defense force for the Alpha Centauri system, but effectively the TSN’s strategic reserve. Much of the TSN is based on or modeled after the ACSN.

AKV (Auntie): Autonomous Kill Vehicle. An armed drone, most frequently used against “soft” targets or to supplement a ship’s antimissile defenses.

Ansible: Interstellar communication device that uses an array of entangled particles and gravitic converters to create microscopic wormholes. Each particle represents one bit of data.

Ascendantist: A follower of the Church of Humanity Ascendant.

Bombardment, The: The crash of the Colonial asteroid fortresses into Earth as the final act of the Colonial War.

Celestine: The first alien race encountered by humanity. An ancient race that evolved amongst the stars and one of the three living groups of Ancients that the Terran Sphere has encountered.

Chinese Diaspora: Dispersal of the Chinese populace as a result of the Bombardment at the end of the Colonial War.

Chiron: The first contemporary race encountered by humanity, via the Terran Sphere's first activation of a Shivan Gate. The two races have long had an amicable relationship. The Chiron are known for their unique multiple consciousnesses.

Church of Humanity Ascendant: A religion founded after the Xan Exodus that claims humanity will follow in the footsteps of the Xan to reach an ascended status.

Clan Ship: Vast Kriak starships. Before their encounter with humanity at Alpha Centauri, clan ships were slower-than-light vessels home to generations of Kriak. They’re now being reclaimed and retrofitted with Hadiian faster-than-light jump drives.

Coil: Superconducting materials used in various industrial processes that require very specialized equipment to manufacture. A fundamental component of modern power storage technology.

Corryn-Shiva: Led the coalition of races that lost the War of the Ancients. What remains of them suggests they were a cruel race. Their worlds are little more than ashes and dust.

Cruiser: Mid-sized warship hulls. Cruisers are designed for long-range patrols and heavy scouting. Assault Cruisers trade the range for heavier weaponry and maneuverability.

Crusade: Periodic Kriak holy wars against the other races of the Fourth Population, usually triggered when a new Prophet emerges.

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Chapter 1: The War

Darkside: Side of a spacecraft facing away from a system’s star. A ship will usually orient itself such that its radiators are on the darkside to bleed off heat more efficiently.

Dog Bone: Slang term for the standard Terran ship layout with habitation sections at one end and engines at the other, separated by a broad length of fuel tanks.

Down the Rabbit’s Hole: Travel from the habitation module of a starship to the engine section.

Dry Terraforming Ethos: A philosophy regarding the ethics of sentient expansion acroiss the galaxy. Adherents refrain from altering life-bearing worlds and seek to either spark life on barren planets or develop space-borne ecologies.

Eggshell, The: One of the slang terms for the gravity bubble a ship rides in during FTL transits. A sailor who has made their first FTL transit has “Cracked the Egg”.

Escort: Small warship hull most frequently used in escort and raiding roles. Escort ship designs range from space-to-air fighters, to stealth recon, to ECM platforms.

EVA: Extravehicular Activity, once known as spacewalking. Often the work of drones, but a specialty of the vacuum-resistant Thral and space-native Abascians.

Evacuation, The: The Xan-supported Exodus from the most ravaged areas of Earth to the newly terraformed Mars.

Flashers: Countermeasure missile. Targets ship sensors with low-level lasers, temporarily blinding them.

Free Haven of Humanity: Founded by disaffected Colonials at the end of the Colonial War, the Free Haven only recently returned to the known stars after a long isolation. Like the Kriak, Havenites are regarded as little more than pirates and raiders.

Frigate: Heavy warship hull. Most ships this size make up a fleet’s heavy striking power. Older designs are built to encompass both anti-ship and planetary/station assault roles, while the new generation, such as the Redemption-class and LASCO, are more specialized.

G3P (Gep): General Purpose Printing Press. A sophisticated 3D printing system.

Gaians: Adherents of Gaianism, a religion based on Dry Terraforming ethics and respect for all life.

Gap, The: Officially the Trinity Nebula Autonomous Corridor, the Gap is the stretch of space between the Terran Sphere and Chiron Star League. Comprised mostly of dormant Shivan systems, the Gap is filled with Islanders, Traders, and Pirates.

Grav Converter (also, Grav vanes): Basis of gravity manipulation tech, including Terran FTL travel.

Grav Shore: The major gravity of a destination system’s star. The functional limit of an FTL grav drive, although the exact limit is fuzzy. Ships that penetrate the grav shore risk drive damage or destruction.

Gravitics: Name for the field of technology dealing in gravity manipulation.

Hadiian: A nocturnal race that has chosen to eschew planetary colonies for a nomadic existence on world ships. Hadiians have a rapport with the dead that other races find eerie.

Havenite: Citizen of the Free Haven of Humanity.Hawking’s War/Colonial War: Conflict between

the original Exosolar Colonies and the Chinese-led Coalition. Ended with the Bombardment and Evacuation, and the Xan-brokered Treaty of Mars.

Hawking’s World: First Exosolar Colony in the Alpha Centauri system. One of the Core Worlds of the Terran Sphere. Known for its Psionic Academy.

He-Three: Helium-3, a helium isotope vital to Fusion reactors. Also known as tralphium in more formal venues than a starship’s engineering center.

High Congregation Ascendantism: Mainstream Ascendantism. Shrines that follow the lead of the High Congregation on St. Gereon’s Hub.

Hot Shot: Plasma missile warhead. Developed to provide anti-Shohan capabilities to legacy weapons systems.

Houdinis: Countermeasure missile. Hides a missile launch behind a visibility-impairing Shroud. Commonly used in duels as a surprise attack, where one ship can roll away from the other to block its view of the launch long enough for the Shroud to deploy.

Imperial Chiron Star League: Interstellar Empire of the Chiron race, second only to the Terran Sphere in size among Fourth Population polities. The Star League is aggressively expansionist, leading to conflict with Mendicants along their shared border. Potential allies for the TSC against the Shohan.

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Islander: Inhabitant of an Island Colony. Stereotypically isolationist in their attitudes.

Islander Colony: A group, likely ideologically unified, that chooses to isolate itself from the greater interstellar community.

JEFC: Joint Earth Federal Council. Governing body for the Sol System, including Earth, Mars, and the various in system space habitats. Member of the Terran Sphere Confederacy.

JESF (Jeffs): Joint Earth Security Forces. Officially the system defense force for the Sol System, but effectively the TSN’s strategic reserve.

KKS (Kiss): Kinetic Kill Shot. Basic space-to-space missile that seeks to ram its target at high velocity.

Kriak: An ancient race of raiders, the Kriak are seen as little more than vermin by the other races, but tolerated for their deep knowledge of space.

Light Lugger: An in-system craft that uses a light sail powered by various laser stations to traverse a system with cargo and passengers. Effectively a space train.

Massacre of Artemis III: The mass Shohan destruction of TSN forces in the Artemis System near the start of The War.

Mendicant: A race from an extremely volcanic world, Mendicants have a high tolerance for toxic chemicals, a strong heritage of charity, and a quiet but controversial trade in slaves.

Mendicant Dominion: Political association of the Mendicant race, known for both its charity and border skirmishes with the Imperial Chiron Star League.

Minerva: A terraforming project on the verge of failure before Biogenesis Inc. invited the Shohan to participate in the project. No one knows what occurred on the planet, but whatever happened on Minerva sparked The War.

Outer Reaches: Periphery of the Terran Sphere. Many of the Colonies in this region have fallen to the Shohan advance.

Population, First: The earliest known period of interstellar culture in the Milky Way about 30 million years ago. Almost nothing is known of this time period, and no civilizations appear to have survived to the modern day.

Population, Second: Second flowering of inter-stellar civilization 10 million years ago. Little is known about this time, although the Celestines are believed to have originated during this period.

Population, Third: The previous period of interstellar civilization, beginning 3 million years ago with the Xan and effectively over after the War of the Ancients 10,000 years ago. Includes the Xan, Shohan, and Corryn-Shiva.

Population, Fourth: The current period of interstellar civilization and development. The Xan declared the start of the Fourth Population after the first human FTL flight to Alpha Centauri.

Port Station: Space habitat on the inner edge of a system’s grav shore. Acts as a stopover for starships. Armed with massive laser systems normally used to propel light luggers deep into the grav shore.

Psi Amp (Amper): A drug capable of enhancing the depth of a Psionic’s abilities. Most Ampers cause a euphoric reaction; Psionics must carefully monitor their use to ensure they don’t render themselves unconscious.

Psi Damp (Damper): A drug that diminishes or blocks a Psionic’s abilities. Frequently used by law enforcement to control criminal Psionics during incarceration.

Psionics: The Mental Arts, first taught to humanity by the Xan with the exception of Clairvoyance, which humanity discovered on its own.

Purifiers: Radical Gaian sect that wants humanity removed from the worlds it’s colonized. Attempts to disrupt colonization efforts.

Ship Spider: Maintenance and repair drones used for EVA work on a ship’s hull.

Shivan System: A star system bearing the scars of the War of the Ancients. Frequently visited by archaeologists and scavengers, who are often in conflict with one another.

Shivan Gate Network: A stable wormhole network built by the losing side of the War of the Ancients. The Fourth Population knows only a few dozen routes through the gate network, but many are important trade routes.

Shohan: A starfaring race of the Third Population at war with humanity for undisclosed reasons. The Shohan possess advanced technologies such as Jump Drives, Force Fields, and Nanotechnology. They resemble pale humanoids with circuitry etched into their skin.

Shohan Assembly: Formal designation for the 10 Shohan homeworlds.

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