Difference between revisions of "Sozvezdie Soviet"

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Revision as of 02:50, 23 December 2010

Soviet Air Force-In-Exile
Военно-воздушные силы в изгнании
Flag Roundel
Motto: "To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield"
Capital
(and largest cityBase)
Korolev Air Force Base, Kandor City, Luna
Common nicknames VVS
USSRAF
Those Commie Bastards
The Fen Socialist's Eating Club
Membership Fenspace Convention
Government Soviet-style democracy
 -  Generalissimo-For-Life S. Malaclypse Fnord
Independence from United States 
 -  Declared October 13, 2008 
 -  Kandor Treaty March 28, 2010 
Population
 -  2015 estimate 250 
Known Allies United Federation of Planets, Crystal Millennium, Stellvia Corporation, Gearheads
Political influence Minor
Major Achievements Three first landings inside the Solar System: Mercury, Triton, Nereid

Five first approach interstellar missions: Tau Ceti, Epsilon Indi, Delta Pavonis, Sirius, Procyon

First AI-only combat squadron

First all-AI astroball team
Stereotype Daredevil explorers & combat pilots mixed with politically annoying filmmakers.


The Soviet Air Force (in Russian, Voenno-Vozdushnye Sily, or Military-Air Forces, acronymed VVS) is a minor fen faction founded by the crew of the ex-Soviet Space Shuttle USSR Ptichka.

History

The faction was unofficially founded 25 September 2008, shortly after Ptichka's first full-power ground test. The party celebrating the newly functional (if not yet flying) Shuttle wore on into the night, and somewhere around three in the morning on the 26th the few crewmembers still awake and (not quite) sober declared themselves to be the Soviet Air Force "in exile, awaiting the day when the bourgeois capitalists are swept from the Earth and stars!"

The joking declaration was more or less forgotten until 12 October, when agents of the American government stormed the hangar where Ptichka was being refit. The ensuing standoff ended with Ptichka and her crew running for atmosphere with a good chunk of the US military establishment hot on their heels. In orbit, the crew took stock of their situation. They had successfully evaded capture by the Americans, but in the process had lost almost everything but what was aboard Ptichka. None of the crew had any serious connections to the Trekkies or Warsies, and were effectively cast adrift. It was at this point that somebody remembered the half-drunken declaration of the Soviet Air Force. Not having any better prospects, the crew took a vote. In a 5-2 motion, Ptichka's crew dissolved and reformed as the Central Committee of the Soviet Air Force in Exile. The Committee's first act was to appoint (over his strong and rather loud objections) shuttle commander S. Malaclypse Fnord as Generalissimo-for-life.

Newly organized in the face of adversity, the VVS next focused on establishing a niche for themselves. Since most of the people in Fenspace were too busy building The Future to really take a hard look around them, basic scientific research fell to the wayside. Into this niche is where the VVS flew, first making contract deliveries for CNES, NSAU and other small 'Danelaw space agencies, then building on those successes to begin operating independently.

An old habit of randomly breaking out a video camera and taping things paid off unexpectedly in early 2009, when a hastily-edited YouTube video of Ptichka's stop at the Ceres waystation became a flash hit on Earth. The realization that people - even mundanes - would pay to see real images of space meant that the VVS now had a new revenue stream. The Ceres video was rereleased as Lonely Planet: Ceres, with generally higher quality video and audio. Downloadable through the VVS' Luna-based website, Lonely Planet proved a modest success.

The lure of the space beyond the solar system proved irresistable to the Central Committee, and as the Trekkies had proven that FTL flight was possible the VVS were among the early interstellar pioneers. Ptichka made her first interstellar flight in 2009, journeying to the Tau Ceti system and surveying the planets there. A second interstellar flight to Epsilon Indi in 2011 sealed the VVS' reputation as explorers of the first magnitude.

The VVS were part of the initial group headhunted by the SOS-dan for their political and military support. The decision seemed odd at first, as the VVS was only lightly armed compared to the Republic Navy or even ten Browncoats selected at random. However, the extremely devious minds on the Central Committee more than made up for the lack of armament. Ptichka was refit with moderate weapons and put to work as a convoy escort and fast strike vehicle, earning several battle stars for her effort. Meanwhile, the Committee reached out to the Senshi militia, offering advanced equipment in exchange for commandos.

GREAT JUSTICE was also the impetus for the VVS' expansion project. Until 2012 the Soviets had been the core group of nine on Ptichka with a handful of support people scattered about, mostly friends and family who were in on the original caper but weren't in the area on launch day. The Committee had kicked around expanding the VVS before, but the demands on their time kept them from exploring the option. Suddenly thrust into the front lines of a war, the Committee realized they needed a hell of a lot more support than they had, and so began the great leap forward.

Politically, the VVS supported GREAT JUSTICE from the Convention until mid-2013, when questions regarding Commander Suzumiya's leadership caused a major schism in the OGJ command ranks. The Soviets ended up backing the group headed by Stellvia owner Noah Scott, a decision that led to the creation of the Nikaido Foundation.

Deep Space Exploration Forces
Exfor-shoulder-patch.png
EXFOR shoulder blazon
Active 2013 - present
Part of Soviet Air Force
Garrison/HQ Korolev AFB
Nickname EXFOR
Ships USSR Ptichka
MCU Columbia
GCU Yuri Gagarin
MCU Xenu Express
MCU A Series of Unlikely Explanations
Commanders
Commander Col. Kat Stewart
Deputy commander Lt. Col. Zib Stewart
Operations manager Minerva Weatheral


Extraterrestrial Combat Command
X-COM Blazon.png
X-COM shoulder blazon
Active 2013 - present
Part of Soviet Air Force
Garrison/HQ Gagarin Crater AFB
Nickname X-COM
Colors Red and Yellow
Units 1st Air Army Squadron A (Azu Squadron)
1st Air Army Squadron B (The Rocketeers)
1st MARS Company
2nd MARS Company
3rd MARS Company
ROU Frank Exchange of Views
ROU Laugh While You Can Monkey-Boy
ROU Complaint Department
Engagements Boskone War
Commanders
Commander Col. KJ DeRosia
Deputy commander Lt. Col. Shad Houben
Aerospacecraft flown
Bomber Tu-95X "Cosmo Bear"
Tupolev Tu-22M "Backfire"
Fighter VVS Factory Ga-XX "Firefox"
Interceptor Ga-15 "Fearless"
Transport J4500 University Coach
Ga-38 "Canary"
Ga-77 "Crashdown"


Government/Law

The Soviet Air Force is largely democratic. All members with sufficient sapience to understand the ground rules are allowed to debate and vote on most decisions affecting the VVS as a whole. Each independent spacecraft or facility qualifies as a "soviet," which can vote on issues relating directly to them. The Central Committee acts as a ratifying body, much like the UN Security Council or American Senate. The VVS soviets can override a Committee veto, but it requires a 2/3rds majority of all soviets to work[1].

The VVS Uniform Code of Justice follows the Articles of Convention to the letter. Violating the UCJ means a court-martial followed by (if found guilty) turning the offender over to whichever jurisdiction the offense was committed in, usually the Kandor City police.

Organization

Originally, the VVS was an one-horse faction based almost entirely onboard Ptichka or at their apartment/hangar building in Kandor City. After the expansion project, the force split into two seperate commands under the overall control of the Central Committee and the Generalissimo.

VVS Central Committee

The Central Committee is the primary executive/administrative group for the Soviet Air Force overall. The Committee oversees budgets, maintains the faction webservers, pays the property and payroll taxes, acts as the main buffer between the VVS and the world at large and generally does their level best to keep the whole organization from keeling over at a moment's notice.

The Committee also handles things that are considered "outside the perview" of the major branches. The most notable of these is the Black Mesa research facility at 2700 Baikonur. Everything involved with Black Mesa is classified at the highest level and as the research is not directly connected to EXFOR or X-COM the Committee takes direct control.

At present the Committee is composed of the original crew of Ptichka, on the grounds that a) it was their idea and b) they were there first. As the VVS expands it is likely that the nature of the Committee will change.

VVS Central Committee is based out of Korolev AFB, Luna, the site of the Soviet's first home base. Despite the expansion project there are no plans on moving the Committee to a new location at this time.

Deep Space Exploration Forces (EXFOR)

The Soviet Air Force's main focus has always been the exploration of deep space. Despite their forays into combat operations during the Boskone War and afterwards, the Central Committee is more interested in putting resources towards exploration and research. The Deep Space Exploration Forces (abbreviated EXFOR) were established in 2013 during the VVS expansion project.

EXFOR's primary mission is to explore the outer reaches of the Solar System and the Local Neighborhood, seeking out new life, new civilizations, etc. and bring back plenty of hard data and quality video to impress the proletariat. The VVS documentaries are a signature trademark of the faction; every EXFOR mission has video shot, most of the raw footage ending up on public video websites like YouTube. The best footage is - when anybody has the necessary time - assembled into feature films or Discovery Channel specials.

The first official mission under the EXFOR banner was the 2013 Delta Pavonis expedition. The Pavonis expedition was also the first VVS mission involving a full fleet of starships, multiple backers from both Fenspace and Earth, the deep-space trial of the VVS-designed, UFP-built Gagarin class light cruiser and the first fen operation to make the cover of National Geographic. EXFOR followed up the success of the Pavonis mission with survey missions to Sirius and Procyon and a followup mission to Delta Pavonis to rknzvar gur Gnaaunhfre negvsnpg ybpngrq va beovg nebhaq gur bayl unovgnoyr cynarg va gur flfgrz.

EXFOR is based out of Korolev AFB, on the outskirts of Kandor City, Luna. Ships that are unable to ground at Korolev are parked in standard lunar orbit or move to open space at the Lagrange-2 point behind Luna. EXFOR also maintains unmanned science stations on Mercury, Titan, and in orbit around Proxima Centauri.

Extraterrestrial Combat Command (X-COM)

The Extraterrestrial Combat Command (abbreviated X-COM[2]) was offically set up in 2013 as part of the expansion project. The original force had been an armed Ptichka and a platoon's worth of Senshi. Once the expansion project grew to the point where Ptichka wasn't needed as a front-line ship, she was returned to research duties and X-COM stepped in to take up the slack.

The VVS is unique in their profligate use of unmanned combat vehicles; nobody else in Fenspace or on Earth uses UCVs like the Soviets. Because of the nature of handwavium AI, the Central Committee realized early on that a handwaved spacecraft doesn't necessarily need a human pilot to function. In the beginning of the expansion the VVS focused on handwaving "plug and play" AI cores, partly because it was easy to do while on the move and still get the new recruits properly trained. The AIs could also network and operate machinery, giving the VVS the extra "hands" needed to get production lines for new ships up and running.

Soviet front-line combat operations are almost all AI-driven. Active warships have human control spaces in them, but unless there are direct orders to the contrary the ship's AI is in total control.

Most of the human membership of X-COM is either at the staff level (the Central Committee) or part of the Militarized Armed Response Senshi (MARS) force. MARS was formed as a joint commando operation between the VVS and the Senshi Militia during Operation Great Justice. The partnership continued through the end of the Boskone War, and the MARS units became a normalized part of X-COM as a marine unit.

X-COM is based out of Gagarin Crater AFB, on the lunar farside. Active forces are rotated through OGJ on 3-year assignments performing convoy escort, general patrol and the occasional show of force or military exercise. Rumors that MARS units have been used in black operations against Boskone remnants and/or intrusive 'Danelaw interest remain rumors.

Relations with other factions

Generally, the Soviet Air Force has good relations with the major factions. Their important role in Operation Great Justice, and their major shareholder status in the Nikaido Foundation and the Space Patrol keeps the VVS operating at "great power" status, despite its relative small size.

Soviet relations are particularly good with the Crystal Millennium and the United Federation of Planets. In the former, joint operations with the Sammies during GREAT JUSTICE led to the formation of the MARS units. In the latter, EXFOR's drive for increased interplanetary and interstellar scientific work impressed the Federation Council with their fervor, and Utopia Planitia's license for Gagarin-class cruisers helped spur expansion of the Martian shipyard industry. Relations are also good with the Blue Blaze Irregulars; while there aren't any Blue Blazers currently employed by the VVS, the force is always willing to share information or provide assistance to any BBI operation at any time.

The goodwill felt towards the VVS is not universal, however. The Central Committee has never been shy about expressing a strong fan-separatist line, and this makes certain individuals on Earth and in Fenspace nervous. Most fendane-aligned factions (aside from Stellvia Corporation, oddly enough) tend to be wary of the VVS, particularly since their expansion from a one-ship microfaction to a sizable fleet. Mundane governments (especially the United States) are also wary of the VVS and their growing military power.

EXFOR retains good relations with JPL, ESA, ISRO and JAXA, but has been in an undeclared blood fued with TSAB since early 2012. (TSAB is convinced that the VVS was directly responsible for Project Artemis, which isn't really true; it was a collaborative effort, Ptichka was just the point end of the spear.)

Some anti-AI microfactions have filed protests with the Central Committee over their heavy use of autonomous vehicles in combat operations, often with many citations of Frankenstein and The Terminator as "proof" that AIs shouldn't be allowed weapons. The Central Committee's replies have been less than diplomatic, which only furthers the bad feelings.

The Soviet Fleet (2015)

Prefix Ship name Registry # Class Type Service Commissioned Ship's Emblem
USSR Ptichka WTF-023 Unique light explorer EXFOR 2008 Ptichka crew patch.png
LOU Inappropriate Response XC-002 Mook assault transport X-COM 2012
LOU I Blame The Parents XC-001 Mook assault transport X-COM 2012
GCU Yuri Gagarin NX-100 Gagarin heavy explorer EXFOR 2013 Yuri Gagarin emblem.png
MCU Xenu Express WTF-024 Unique medium explorer EXFOR 2013 Xenu Express emblem.png
MCU A Series of Unlikely Explanations WTF-025 Unique medium explorer EXFOR 2013 Series of Unlikely Explanations emblem.png
LOU Minor Collateral Damage XC-005 Mook assault transport X-COM 2013
LOU i've got a big stick XC-004 Mook assault transport X-COM 2013
ROU Frank Exchange of Views XC-003 Backfire corvette X-COM 2013 Frank Exchange emblem.png
ROU Laugh While You Can Monkey-Boy XC-006 Backfire corvette X-COM 2013
MCU Columbia OV-202 OV-200 light explorer EXFOR 2014 Columbia crew patch.png
ROU Complaint Department XC-007 Backfire corvette X-COM 2014
GCU Laika NCC-104 Gagarin heavy explorer EXFOR 2015 Laika crew patch.png
ROU Sincere Exchange of Grievance XC-008 Thug destroyer X-COM 2015

Craft Inventory (2015)

EXFOR
Vehicle Origin Type In Service Notes
Buran Soviet Union experimental 1
OV-200 Soviet Air Force-In-Exile explorer 1
A310 France airliner 1
Gagarin-class United Federation of Planets general contact unit 1 Design licensed by UFP Starfleet
DC-8-71 United States airliner 1
Ga-38 United States
Soviet Air Force-In-Exile
shuttlecraft 6 Design licensed by Artemis Corporation.
Energia Soviet Union mothership 1 Construction expected to begin mid-2015.
X-COM
Vehicle Origin Type In Service Notes
Ga-15 United States
Soviet Air Force-In-Exile
fighter 7 To be mass-produced through 2020
F-EZig Fenspace fighter 10
Tu-95 Soviet Union bomber/carrier 4 3 operational, 1 reserve
Tu-22M Soviet Union rapid offensive unit 2 6 to be built through 2018
J4500 Univeristy Coach United States troop transport 4 More to be ordered as needed
Miscellaneous
Vehicle Origin Type In Service Notes
Kestrel Mk. III Soviet Air Force-In-Exile asteroid racer 1 KJ's personal transport
Cirrus X-3 Soviet Air Force-In-Exile jetpack 1 Dee's personal transport

Motif

Soviet Air Force hardware tends to fall into one of three categories:

  1. USSR/Warsaw Pact aircraft.
  2. Experimental aerospacecraft.
  3. Custom-built spacecraft.

Very few of the vehicles used by the VVS are of original manufacture, particularly the Soviet-era warplanes. Most of the really interesting Soviet hardware devolved onto the satellite states when the USSR collapsed, and since none of the satellites had the infrastructure or money necessary to keep them in anything resembling flightworthy shape, a lot of impressive technology was sent to the breakers or simply corroded away in abandoned hangars. This is not to say none of this stuff is available, mind; the VVS managed to purchase three Tu-95 bombers in good condition from the Ukranian Navy. However, in many cases the VVS purchases the blueprints from the appropriate design bureau and (since 2012) manufactures the airframes themselves at their Gagarin Crater, Luna facility.

The same is true for the experimental Space Race gear the VVS likes to play with. In most cases, the original hardware (when it still exists) are all one-off pieces, usually housed in a museum with curators with no sense of humor about the whole thing. While this can sometimes be overcome, as was the case with the VVS' most famous (and infamous) acquisition Ptichka, generally it is again easier for the VVS to simply purchase the plans for the necessary equipment, then build it themselves or farm the construction out to another Fenspace firm like Artemis, Hephaestus or Utopia Planitia.

VVS custom designed ships are (to date) mostly exercises intended to keep the Central Committee's minds sharp during long interplanetary or interstellar transits. A "standard" custom design will take an existing concept (either a mundane or genre vehicle) and then modify it - often quite extensively - to fit parameters. So far, only one VVS design, the Yuri Gagarin class, has translated from drawing board to reality.

The Soviet Air Force also employs a handful of one-off fenships, mostly craft intended to fill a specific role while production lines were built and brought online. These one-offs tend to be surplus airliners bought from transport companies or boneyards, usually because the aircraft could be easily converted but sometimes because the aircraft triggered the Central Committee's sense of humor. A good example of the latter is the Xenu Express, a heavily-modified DC-8-71 bought by the VVS in 2012 solely because it would annoy the Scientologists who had moved into a nearby compound.

Vehicle Designation System

The Soviet Air Force being a democratic, largely AI-staffed organization dedicated to sticking their noses where they don't belong, it was almost inevitable that they would gravitate towards the Culture novels by Iain M. Banks. To this end, the VVS decided to lift the spacecraft designation scheme from the Culture books and use them for Soviet ships:

EXFOR Designations

  • Contact Units (CU)
    • Limited Contact Unit (LCU) - craft with less than 50mt dry mass.
    • Medium Contact Unit (MCU) - craft with between 50-100mt dry mass.
    • General Contact Unit (GCU) - craft with >100mt dry mass.

X-COM Designations

  • Offensive Units (OU)
    • Limited Offensive Unit (LOU) - specialized combat vehicles.
    • Rapid Offensive Unit (ROU) - fast medium multi-role attack craft.
    • General Offensive Unit (GOU) - heavy multi-role attack craft.

The "USSR" designation was retained solely for use by Ptichka, as the Central Committee deemed her historical significance as the Soviet Union's last great technological achievement outweighed the internal benefits of a redesignation.

Service Vehicles

Of all the Culture designations, the VVS refuses to use what is perhaps the most impressive of them, the Service Vehicle (*SV). In the Banks novels, the General Services Vehicles are the Culture's backbone, gigantic sentient spacecraft capable of intergalactic travel and housing millions of people. When the Central Committee decided to use the Culture ship nomenclature for the fleet, they decided to hold off on declaring any VVS spacecraft to be a SV until they had a ship worthy of such a name.[3]

Soviet Air Force members (January 2015)

Central Committee

Also known as "the Ptichka Nine," or "Sandwich's Seven."

  • S. Malaclypse Fnord - CinC, VVS (2008-current); captain, USSR Ptichka (2008-current).
  • D. R. (K. J.) DeRosia - Chief Engineer, USSR Ptichka (2008-2013); CinC, X-COM (2013-current).
  • Elena van Oorebeek - Co-pilot, USSR Ptichka (2008-2013); captain, GCU Yuri Gagarin (2013-current).
  • K. Stewart - Science officer, USSR Ptichka (2008-2013); captain, MCU Xenu Express (2013-2014); captain, MCU Columbia (2014-current); CinC, DSCOM (2013-current).
  • P. Stewart - Science officer, USSR Ptichka (2008-2013); co-pilot, MCU Xenu Express (2013-2014); co-pilot, MCU Columbia (2014-current).
  • R. Houben - Master-at-arms, USSR Ptichka (2008-2013); commander, Azu Squadron (2013-current).
  • J. Renken - Flight attorney, USSR Ptichka (2008-2013); head of ground operations (2013-current).
  • Ptichka - Systems control officer, USSR Ptichka (2008-current).
  • Dee - Engineer, USSR Ptichka (2009-2013); chief engineer, GCU Yuri Gagarin (2013-current); head shipwright (2012-current).

EXFOR

  • Sora Hasegawa - Chief Engineer, USSR Ptichka (2013-current).
  • M. L. Weatheral - EXFOR Operations Manager, Korolev AFB (2014-current).
  • (Another 30-50 people scattered across the various explorer ships, most on loan from one university/organization or another.)

X-COM

  • (Between 15-30 shipmind AIs and one company-strength MARS unit.)

Ground Operations

  • GLaDOS - Operations manager, Korolev AFB (2009-current).
  • (Variable; usually 40 people scattered across Korolev AFB and Gagarin Crater AFB.)

Notes

  1. Most of this is still theoretical, as the VVS expansion is only a few years old and still quite small. In practice, the VVS follows military hierarchy with the Committee as the general staff.
  2. The Central Committee has always had a sense of humor about these sorts of things, so yes, the combat wing of the VVS is named X-COM exactly for the reason you think it is. The amazing thing is that the VVS got there first.
  3. For the record, the only thing approaching proper SV status in Fenspace is Greenwood. Grover's Corners comes close, but falls short of the scale necessary to be a true Service Vehicle.