Utopia
Utopia is a colonized exoplanet and is the fourth planet of the Heofon system. Initially a barren, rocky world when first discovered in 5435 A.D. It was the subject of an extensive terraforming project by the Wilder-Grosz Group after purchasing the planet. After the withdrawal of The Human Concordat, the planet suffered from a world war that turned the planet into a wasteland. This in turn lead to NAIs into occupying most of Utopia's landscape and warfare.
History and Background
Utopia was one of the most verdant and mineral rich planets during the Concordat era. The withdrawal of Earth’s support in the year 5790 hit the colony hard. Utopia fractured into five power blocks that maintained a state of nearly constant warfare. Events came to a head when one power launched a nuclear strike on a rival, prompting a planet wide exchange. Labeled the “Great War”, this conflict turned the surface into a radioactive wasteland.
The survivors were forced underground, and forged new settlements called Deep Cities. For generations the surface was functionally uninhabitable, and the ruins of the once great cities dotted the landscape. This however did not end the conflicts between the major powers. Further conquest led to unions and the five powers eventually became three. The ensuing years of constant warfare honed the remaining three powers into highly militarized and technologically advanced states.
Steelgate is the largest and most aggressive. They leveraged their military force and vast mineral wealth to conquer as much of the planet as they could. While ground was taken and given by all factions, Steelgate claimed the most territory each passing year.
Kogland turned into the industrial hub of the planet and was the first to use Near Artificial Intelligence (NAI). They were the first to deploy automatons which revolutionized warfare across the planet. With the automatons, the dwindling population was able to continue waging war against each other without risking surface contamination and unnecessary lives.
Greenway is named such because it was the first place where plant life began to grow after the Great War. Greenway was the weakest power and developed a reputation as being a group of religious fanatics devoted to returning Utopia to its former glory.
The independent states are loosely considered a fourth power, but they’re usually too disorganized to be treated as one power. They are nearly impossible to negotiate with as they typically cannot even agree with each other.
When the Earth’s Colonial Expeditionary Force (CEF) arrived, they quickly threw their support behind Steelgate. Nine bloody months later, Utopia was effectively dominated by Steelgate. However, Steelgate is effectively dominated by the CEF. All nations are given a voice within a unified governing body, under Steelgate, to include the collection of independent states that previously had no voice. But any illusion of inclusive governance however is just that. Utopia is not truly free, and its fate is determined by its “gracious” subjugators. Some are starting to quietly question the false freedoms. Whispers of a resistance movement have begun to gain traction.
For Kogland and Steelgate, the CEF occupation has brought great economic prosperity. Kogland does still resent Steelgate’s influence. To quell unrest amongst the different powers, the CEF has been moving more power away from Steelgate, much to Steelgate’s frustration. Greenway and the independent states have ultimately benefitted the least from the occupation.
As the buildup for the War for Terra Nova began, the CEF demanded that a Utopian expeditionary force join them. The major powers were forced to donate units and develop weapons for the coming assault. They were also promised the spoils of war via land ownership on Terra Nova, and many on Utopia are happy to pledge legions of automatons in exchange for fresh verdant land.
Automaton Life
Because of their low population after the Great War, the Utopians embraced the use of robots for much of their labor and fighting. There are more robots on Utopia then people. Almost all robots and computers are run by NAIs, which is a technology first perfected by Utopian engineers before the Great War. Now, even piloted armigers have NAIs in them. They function in a similar capacity as Terra Novan ONNets for piloted machines. However, for automatons they are programed to take over all functions and be the brain. These “brains” are about the size of a soda can and can be linked together for more processing power. More sophisticated NAIs are larger. The Gilgamesh Heavy Tank has an NAI that is the size of a small car and is considered a full AI.
The NAI matrix is the cornerstone of all Utopian electronics. Even the simplest of personal data processors are run by NAIs, and it is not uncommon to hear people talking to their computers or heavy equipment as if they were somehow alive. Of course, the NAIs are not truly sentient. They are just very complex personality algorithms that can change and learn over time. Each NAI will develop its own personality quirks.
The average NAI matrix has enough processing power to run an entire factory with minimal glitches. Although, they are usually only given control of a single robot unit or house, devoting all their extra processing power to safety and self diagnostic subroutines. Because of this, Utopian robots tend to be overly capable of their duties. Many have a tendency to bleed off extra processing power by exploring and finding more tasks to accomplish than just their assigned work, just like their creators. There are a few famous stories about automatons deciding for themselves to go out into the world on their own self decided missions. While many of these stories have been debunked as myth, there is one documented case of an automaton taking command of hundred of other automatons and striking out into the Utopian wastelands to never be seen again. To this day, that group of automatons has not been found.
Because of the automatons’ ability to work in dangerous environments without rest, and requiring minimal maintenance, Utopians have been able to enjoy a much better standard of living. Without them they would still be struggling to peace together their infrastructure. Automatons are the reason Utopia has Deep Cities.
Deep cities are massive underground complexes originally only intended for temporary use when the planet was first being terraformed. After the nuclear war, they were heavily modified and expanded to support larger and larger populations. Some Deep Cities are capable of holding a hundred million people or more. They have served as homes, fortresses, bomb shelters, factories and power bases for a dozen generations. They are self-sufficient countries of their own. Each grows its own food and provides energy through a series of advanced geothermal and fusion generators. Everything is recycled keeping outside consumption to a minimum. Spare parts are manufactured in the cities’ factories and most maintenance is handled by automatons.
Weapons of War
The blasted surface of Utopia has prevented traditional military forces from existing since the Great War. Utopian armies are built primarily around automatons, or “autos” for short. These drones are not true artificial intelligences, but they can act like it. They even have personalities and banter with each other. Many types of autos can be found on Utopia, ranging from simple devices with wheels, legs, hover systems and even flight systems. There shapes and styles range from insects, animals and humans, to vehicles, tanks and aircraft. The most common auto seen on Terra Nova is the N-KIDU.
The term N-KIDU was coined by Steelgate and is used to refer to one of their latest lines of automatons. They are very much in line with typical automaton technology found on Utopia. N-KIDUs themselves are then broken down into mission profiles such as Commando, Recce and Support, which are the three most commonly seen N-KIDUs on Terra Nova. They are generally directed via human commanders in the field. Some automatons receive an NAI that is advanced enough to allow them to take charge themselves as automaton commanders. These automaton commanders are referred to as Pazu variants or Pazu upgraded automatons.
Human commanders are usually placed in combat vehicles called Armigers, which are similar to Terra Novan Gears, albeit they are generally more expensive and higher tech than the average trooper gear. Armigers are normally classified by their mission profile, and those profiles are analogous to the N-KIDUs they are nominally paired with, such as the Commando, Recce and Support Armigers.
The armigers are new designs. They have been developed by Kogland and are powered via advanced batteries. It was the CEF that secretly leaked the design information to Steelgate, who in turn developed the N-KIDUs to be paired with them. This ensured Steelgate’s inclusion into the project. The result was a competition between the two that spared no expense as they each vied for the most glory. The CEF happily accepted both as part of Utopia’s contribution to their cause.
Utopia also fields Augmented Power Environmental Suits (APES), dubbed “APE” for general conversation. This represents older technology that has been around since before the Concordat era which continued to advance as time went on. Their performance is quite good, but they are considered “the older design” by many pilots. Most prefer armigers over APEs. But the pilots that are issued APEs happily make do. Many of them take great pride as they are commonly used for special operations that are better suited for a human’s touch.
MAR-DKs are larger, walking combat automatons. They are becoming more available as automated factories churn them out at amazing speed. While there is not much collected data back about them being used in the field, the limited information so far shows them to be terrifyingly capable war machines.
And if that were not enough, the Gilgamesh Heavy Tank, dubbed “Super-Tank” by some, rivals the CEF’s very own intimidating HHT-90 Overlord Hovertank for size, armor and sheer firepower.
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Map of Utopia
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