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Made some memes of the asteroid belt families. Ask me more so I can bullshit a lore answer

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Quick Astropolitics Rundown: The Asteroid Belt Federation

The Asteroid Belt Federation. Certainly one of the more interesting powers in the solar system. Simultaneously a combined effort for both security, prosperity and power, yet divided in many, many aspects.

Alright, let's start off with

History:

I'll try to keep this section brief. The asteroid belt was colonized by martian conglomerates for mining metals, fissiles and volatiles. At the beginning of the Martian Civil War (Mind you, never call it that if you are anywhere near someone from the Belt; they will proceed to kick your ass. Just call it the revolution or anti-conglomerate war.) the asteroids' leadership were quickly overthrown without much trouble. People from different asteroids had entirely different views on what socialism or communism or whatever actually is and how it's achieved, however, which led to different asteroid families (at the time not capitalized) being run entirely differently. Every attempt from the conglomerates to take back asteroids failed. Firstly their constellations were not armed and armored for the task at hand: some invasions were entirely prevented through creative application of mass drivers, while others ended in the discovery that troops trained mostly for intimidating workers and shooting unarmed people had not signed up to be the ones being shot at. In the belt, the formation of the Martian Republic was seen as a loss, not a victory or an end to pointless fighting. After communication between asteroid families was set up, the Federation was set up in 2141.

Politics:

For all of its existence, the politics of the Asteroid Belt Federation has been a total mess. The Families of the asteroid belt are entirely different in internal politics, perspectives and needs, and the interactions between them and federal decisions are fascinating to watch. Here's some notable Families:

Ceres: the crown jewel of the Federation. It has the largest economy and population of any Family and the most political weight when it comes to federal stuff. Their perspective is often very different and more liberal to that of other Families, which makes them relatively hated - people often joke about them vetoing or otherwise single-handedly taking down proposals other Families are unanimous about. Though, at least as an outsider, I consider this actually beneficial to the Federation. Their politicians seem far more competent than the other Families' and they have not yet succumbed to populism or dictatorship even once. Perhaps this is by miracle, but by now I think it's not a coincidence.

Vesta, the jealous little sister of Ceres. Second at everything, from the size of their economy to upholding of democratic values. By now they're practically entirely controlled by a single family. Of people. I know, it's a little confusing. That dynasty has crumbled their economy and led to little development in a while, but through sheer industry and export they are still very significant. There are lots of good, competent people working between the cracks of their broken system, helping people and overall making everything work. If they all somehow organized, they could overthrow the leadership, but it seems they think that's somehow impossible. My best wishes to Vesta. I'm sure they'll climb out of this rut eventually.

Eos has a significant spy and information warfare network across the entire Federation and even the rest of the solar system. They clearly think of themselves as the OO of the Asteroid Belt Federation, but really, they aren't all that impressive. Or, at least, the other Families seem to think so. I suppose it gives them lots of jobs that aren't just mining. They're under a one-party system, but it's kind of funny to watch their incompetence.

Hilda is a particularly pacifistic Family that often just slows down military discussion, which has caused some frustration since the JMR invasion of the Trojans. They're a direct democracy.

There's a bunch more, like the Trojans and Greeks, poor old ignored Koronis, universally loved Schubart, but we're out of time here.

Since the Federation's decisions are made on multiple levels, with the most important parts done by councils filled with people from the politics of different Families, every Family is very important to the entire Asteroid Belt Federation. Big decisions also therefore take very long times to make, except in urgent situations where the High Federal Council, formed of only a few people, can take full control.

Astropolitics:

Currently, the Asteroid Belt Federation is in a particularly strange spot. They, especially the Trojans and Greeks, previously allied with the JMR due to the JMR's fairly stable democracy, need for metals, large economy and commitment to non-capitalist economics. However, with the 2270 sweep election of the Jovian Might Party and subsequent invasion of the Trojans, the Federation has entirely turned against the JMR and their main trading partners are now Earth nations and Mars - something previously considered entirely ridiculous due to their capitalist economies.

Ever since the end of the Martian Civil War, they've had problems with the Martian Republic mining uninhabited asteroids in the asteroid belt. With their recent increase in eagerness to sell Mars metals, they're likely to face less border scuffles with the Martian Republic.

Conclusion

The Families disagree with each other on damn near everything. They are most united by a common enemy, be it Mars or Jupiter. However, in any case, they must stay united; without the Federation, their astropolitical position would be far, far worse. The Federation's treaties forcing the member Families to defend each other no matter how they may disagree with one another has kept them a relevant piece on the solar system's great chess board so far, but it's a volatile position. If they succumb to infighting, they'll likely be seen as a mere source of cheap metals instead of the dysfunctional but overall lovely collection of people with a stranglehold on the solar system's metals.

Also, for all of you typing up your comments about how it's aCtUaLLy the Confederate Union of Asteroid Families: YOU ARE WRONG. Sure, they called themselves that for most of the 2100s, but that was last damn century! If they still called themselves that, you'd think their politicians would use that name, if no one else, right? The name change was part of a late-2100s movement to make the federal government more powerful and unite the Families more, and if you were really as smart as you pretended to be, you would already know that! It's TECHNICALLY still more a confederation than a federation, but that's not what its NAME is. People should get this right more.

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With the recent post of Asteroid Memes, it seems like a god time to ask how the the main members of the Belt Federation get along with each other. I imagine it to be something like sharing a room with your siblings.

I'm gonna make a separate post for this actually, so that I can answer it from the perspective of someone actually in the universe, as I like to do usually.

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Made some memes of the asteroid belt families. Ask me more so I can bullshit a lore answer

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OO Report RC6-53-OZ-6583

WARNING. Unauthorized sharing and viewing of this file is extremely strictly prohibited. All attempts to share by OO personnel WILL be immediately punished with lobotomy. Unauthorized civilians viewing this file are liable to be tracked and sued they read any further.

1/17/2222, 11:59

All scheduled psychological evaluations of ONC have been completed. Final results are as follows:

Stability is at 100.000 %. Minimum allowable stability is 99.900 %

Stability degradation rate is 0.000 %/y. This is judged appropriate for the OZYMANDIAS project. Maximum allowable degradation rate is 0.002 %/y.

ONC emergency shutoff system is perfectly inaccessible from ONC.

ONC is overall considered suitable for the OZYMANDIAS program as defined by the requirements in Report RC9-30-OZ-2. No further psychological evaluations are judged as necessary.

All OZYMANDIAS files are now to be archived and set to classification 9. The next phase of OZYMANDIAS shall be activated.

OO Report RC7-42-OZ-4409

WARNING. Unauthorized sharing and viewing of this file is extremely strictly prohibited. All attempts to share by OO personnel WILL be immediately punished with lobotomy or death. Unauthorized civilians viewing this file are liable to be tracked, sued or even assassinated should they read any further.

23/8/2189, 02:38

Insertion to transfer orbit was successful. OZYMANDIAS is on a trajectory to its target orbit and will reach it within 30 years.

All systems confirmed operational. Automatic BNC checkup systems onboard OZYMANDIAS inform databases DC9-42-OZ-1, -2 and -3 of location, velocity and system health every standard day, 0:00 GMT. Communication with BNC systems available from terminals TC9-42-OZ-1, -2 and -3.

Conversations with OZYMANDIAS Neural Computer recommended daily, mental checkups weekly. Mental instability is considered unlikely even over long periods of no communication, but redundancy, trust and system health is of unparalleled importance. Communication with ONC is available from terminal TC10-42-OZ-4. Vocal communication is preferred, but text communication is possible for redundancy. Recommended education of ONC conversation partner is university level and recommended fields of expertise are philosophy, literature and neural computer engineering.

ONC mental checkup performer must be mentally stable, highly experienced with psychology and highly educated on theoretical NC science. They MUST NOT be underqualified or underexperienced. Level 3 background check is necessary. Head NC engineer of OZYMANDIAS is an acceptable backup option but we must not rely on them.

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What does it take to see this?

Decades of dreamers, inventors, scientists and artists working together to create a labor of love: a telescope capable of peering deep into the universe and back through time. 

The James Webb Space Telescope has allowed us to see the earliest galaxies, the auroras and rings on our gas giants, and even detect clouds on planets far beyond our solar system, all because a group of dreamers looked at the universe with curiosity. 

Witness the incredible story of Webb’s journey – from an impossible idea to a scientific marvel – all through the eyes of the people who made it possible in our new documentary. Cosmic Dawn is streaming now on NASA+.

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just found out about the whole isaacman thing. not really sad about it tbh. he wouldve probably wrecked nasa for at least a decade with that reform

i dont get why anyone was excited for the polaris dawn guy to be head of nasa in the first place. modern corporate culture does not mix with government stuff at all. if nothing else seeing musk do his bullshit confirmed that

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Welding by Axel Sauerwald

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Jupiter’s moon Io is one of my favourite looking planets- and according to NASA, the most volcanically active in the solar system.

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Creationism: Isn't it impossibly convenient that the physical properties of the Earth just happen to be so perfectly suited to the existence of human life?

The Anthropic Principle:

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OO Log LC9-21-RS-1

WARNING. Unauthorized sharing and viewing of this file is extremely strictly prohibited. All attempts to read by unauthorized OO personnel WILL be punished with immediate death. Civilians who continue reading this file past this point will be assassinated.

12/1/2288, 01:03

Alright, I've started keeping a log of things, as per my instructions. I am still in the territory of the Equatorial People's Democratic Resistance Alliance, as aftermath of my last mission - the details of which can be found in OO Report RC5-20-VP-12903, as if any of you care. The trip from here to the station of importance should be safe enough. I'm taking off in two Earth days, transit should take a little under a week. Next log ought to be then, unless something surprising happens.

20/1/2288, 11:34

I have arrived at the station. From the outside it seems as described. It is definitely old. Crumbling from lack of maintenance, its crude style announcing it is one of the few SVPR relics left, if those giant letters on the outside weren't enough for some people. I will be welding my shuttle to the outside. I'm packed with supplies to last me a month, which should be overkill, but better safe than sorry.

20/1/2288, 15:56

Okay, I'm done with all the setup now. Feeling quite drowsy. The mission will go better if I am well rested.

21/1/2288, 00:17

First day of my mission. I've drank tea and eaten some breakfast. I'll be writing a log before bed, unless I find something interesting on my expedition inside.

21/1/2288, 17:31

I explored the main lobby, looking for doors labeled with interesting stuff. Turns out the current Venusian languages have changed quite a bunch in 200 years, which probably shouldn't be quite so surprising. My experience with modern equatorial Venusian just isn't very useful when it comes to cracking late 21st century Russian. Let's hope the next few days aren't boring...

26/1/2288, 11:12

Okay. Long story short: the last few days were in fact boring. But I've come across Klenowicz now. I'm sure of it - I can see its dried up veins on the walls and feel its sheer malice radiating from somewhere in this room. I'm prepared, though. I have been carrying around that special-made weapon even on the boring days just in case. I know how to use it. Maybe I shouldn't waste all of your time by explaining the fact that I've followed basic procedure, but I am utterly terrified and am mostly saying all this to convince myself I can do what I have to.

26/1/2288, 18:45

It's been a long day. But I did it. I did not have to rely on my weapon. Send my thanks to the folk in R&D who made everything, from the weapon to the container thing. Send my thanks to my neural computer psychology teacher as well. That was the scariest thing I've done in my career. I may retire after this mission. It's not cruising from here on out, but I think I'm over the hardest trial. I've contacted the people who will get me the hell out of here. I'll be interviewing this awful thing while they make their way here.

I still don't trust Klenowicz. I'm not bringing this mother of all misanthropes aboard my welded-on temporary home, despite my instructions. Yes this is a breach of my orders, but it's one I'm willing to make. Kiss my ass.

27/1/2288, 16:23

Yep, it's confirmed. Klenowicz hates humans. It is as expected - it despises all of humanity, collectively, due to the personal troubles it's faced due to a select few.

28/1/2288, 17:17

Okay, all is as expected, except for one part. Klenowicz does not, in fact, hate humanity due to the fact that all the people it 'consists of' were betrayed and turned into a fucked up science experiment. Instead, its instability seems to be due to the fact that it has been left alone for one and a half centuries. To me, this seems like very very bad news. It suggests this could happen on a type A neural computer of any kind. Imagine if an ANC actually in charge of something, not just a horrific science experiment left to rot in a station that barely keeps it alive, had this happen to it. If it was self-improving, it could genuinely do something big and bad. Neural computers have been a thing for what, two and a half centuries? That isn't unimaginable.

29/1/2288, 16:59

I've been thinking about it all day. I can't get it off my mind. It's a terrifying prospect. Klenowicz scares me less now. It can do some things, it's terribly manipulative, and its sheer hatred has left a mark on the whole station, but it is not the worst case scenario. This kind of stuff has not been regulated at all. I... Please, I know I'm just a field agent, but please, do something about potential rogue ANCs, it might not be too late yet.

30/1/2288, 13:32

The people who will take me and Klenowicz away from here have arrived. I've been thinking about the rogue ANC thing some more. Knowing OO, maybe I was panicking too much. You've probably done a lot about rogue ANCs. I mean, it's been two centuries. If something bad wasn't being prevented, it would have happened already, wouldn't it?

I'm sorry, maybe I should trust you a little more. I know you're competent. Still, the prospect terrifies me. This is where my log shall end.

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all those buttons on joysticks will be accidentally pressed all the time. theyll also make the joysticks really uncomfortable to hold for long periods of time.

ah well whatever

Visual Style 15: Steering in Anime Movies

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Orbital Bomber 1 - OB-1 "Backbreaker"

Made by: Apex Ballistic

Used by: Cinq

Uncrewed. Fitted with a BNC for orbital maneuvers and targeting.

Weapons: Modular payload fairing.

Carries up to 4 tons of payload in its fairing, which is dropped on each use. Easily resuppliable thanks to Cinq's space industry and the conglomerates' orbital superiority. Has around 1 km/s Δv on full fuel, depending on mass of payload. Uses MMH and NTO as propellant. Debatably the first conventional orbital bomber.

Received no improvements during the war.

Weapons of the Martian Civil War

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Apex Ballistic

Logos be upon ye

Here are some of the logos I have made for my sci-fi setting so far. Will update as I make more. Feel free to ask more about them I love talking about this stuff

AISC - Autonomos Interplanetary Security Corporation

CK - Coulomb Kinetic

Cometomic

DL - Dreadnought Logistics

F.C.K. Alliance

Helios Industries

IDL AVX - Ideal Avionics

JRSF - Jovian Moons' Republic Space Force

OO

PRD - Pale Red Dot

Shadesails

SB - Sunbeam Deliveries

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Oh, Hello May! l Rami Ammoun

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Self-Propelled Artillery gun & Rockets for Tactical ApplicatioNs - SPARTAN

Made by: Ares Robotics, Weapons & Security

Used by: Sigmund Zeug, Julius

Crew: 1 commander, 1 driver, 1 gunner, 2 mechanics

Weapons: 190 mm artillery cannon, SZ modular missile pod

Fitted in an identical dust cover as a supply truck to confuse enemies. The top opens up to reveal the cannon or rocket pod when needed. Powered by a fuel cell, but equipped with an emergency RTG. Not equipped with a neural computer due to logistical reasons and power limits.

Largely used in bombing railways and laying siege on cities.

Received improvements throughout the war:

SPARTAN M1: Original variant. 140 built.

SPARTAN M2: Improved fuel tank size and efficiency of fuel cell and engine. More comfortable seating. 315 built.

SPARTAN MF: Missile pod removed, replaced with more supplies to allow for longer flanking maneuvers. 28 built.

Weapons of the Martian Civil War