Merchant ships in the Three Galaxies do not generally travel straight between destinations. Instead, they tend to travel in what one might call trade routes. There are many reasons for this. Some areas of space have few inhabited systems or even have hazardous conditions. In addition, it makes a lot of sense to trans-ship cargo. Have a number of larger trading routes which the cargo is then broken up into smaller loads and carried on smaller merchant vessels.

The Icaria system is on the juncture of multiple trade routes. A dozen major trade routes all converge within a few light years of the Icaria system. Otherwise, there are not many life supporting systems within several hundred light years of the system. In theory, ships might just pass through that space but in practice ships tend to stop at systems in such positions and they become major hubs of trade.

In addition, the leaders of the system were forward thinking. They built major trans-shipping orbital warehouses along with repair facilities. While no attempt was made to charge fees for traveling through the space controlled by the Icaria system, the warehouses and repair facilities generated enormous income from the system. In addition, with the system extremely prosperous, some of the best and brightest minds

The system is in a position which links several far flung areas of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds although the system itself is independent. Much of the trade traveling through the space controlled by the system is between different areas of Consortium space. Even before this, the system was a link between various areas Human Alliance controlled space.

It is economically one of the most powerful systems in the Three Galaxies. There are only a few systems which could be considered more powerful economically including Phase World itself and some of the most powerful worlds within the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. There is the suggestion that with a few years, the system of New Tirol will also be among these systems with its stable wormhole.

As a result of the systems economic power, there has also been the danger of another power trying to seize the system. There are a few minor powers reasonably close in cosmological terms who might try for a quick grab. In addition, the Trans-Galactic Empire might attempt to capture the system. This would potentially be extremely devastating to the Consortium of Civilized Worlds. As a result, the security of the system has always been of extreme importance.

The attempt to keep the system is by two primary means. One of these is having defense treaties with the Human Alliance. These actually predate the formation of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds but the leaders of the system have worked hard to keep the treaties. This includes allowing Human Alliance warships free passage through their space. Warships of other governments, including the Consortium, need to get permission before passage through the system. Of course there is little issue with Consortium forces and several independent defense forces are given permission almost as a routine.

A second is by keeping a massive fleet themselves. The fleet is one of the largest fleets under a single system within the Three Galaxies. It is also one of the few to operate battlecruiser class warships. The huge shipbuilding first started in support of merchant trade allowed the construction and maintenance of such a large battle fleet. The system keeps a total of four active fleets with about one fifth of the system’s vessels in stand down status at any one given time. While the system is extremely wealthy, a much larger fleet might start to hurt the system economically.

The system has been offered membership in the Consortium of Civilized Worlds several times. In the case of most systems, the systems have to beg the Consortium to join. The population though, even though they are economically tied to the Consortium, considers themselves fiercely independent. As a result, the offer has been rejected every time it has come up to a vote.

Background:

Initially surveys missed the system of Icaria. The area of space it was in is largely composed of systems which either cannot support life or it is extremely marginal. Many of the systems are red dwarf systems with a few white dwarf systems and neutron stars. Still, the system itself was extremely attractive with an orange yellow star, a beautiful life supporting planet, and plentiful and rich asteroid belts.

A group of colonists decided to settle this new system, largely from the Human Alliance. It was a well supported settlement expedition. Many came from systems which were considered too populated with a mixture of people who wanted a fresh start. The location of the system was far outside of Human Alliance space and was not likely to be of much interest. As a result, those who settled the system were of an independent spirit.

At the time, the system was a very nice system generally but there was nothing economically special about it. As a result, while the system grew slowly in both population and its own economy, it was still a comparative economic backwater only sparsely settled with only a few million in population. The system always kept friendly relations with the Human Alliance and was economically dependent on the larger power.

It was not long however before a trade route between two far flung areas of the Human Alliance passed within a few light years of the Icaria system. By going through the Icaria area of space, significant time could be saved. Even though tiny compared to what it would be in the future, large numbers of ships passed close to the system with a number stopping off in the Icaria system.

While not all in the system welcomed this, the vast majority embraced it. Most of those who did not welcome this left the system for less settled areas of space. Even so, the population of the main planet exploded with the new settlers being largely welcomed. A number of trans-shipping orbital warehouses were constructed and new industry in the system grew rapidly. The first major university in the system was also started around this time. Many of the new settlers were engineers and scientists looking for a place where they could make a name for themselves.

Several other trade routes through Icaria controlled space were soon established as well further boosting the system’s economic power. It was during this time was when the Human Alliance first pushed the system to join even though there were no Human Alliance systems nearby the Icaria system. There were serious concerns what might happen if the system was to be captured by somebody unfriendly to the Human Alliance.

There was no real effort to strong arm the system however they did spend huge amounts of money to attempt to convict the population to join. To be sure, there was a certain percentage of the population who voted for joining the Human Alliance. Still the vote was overwhelming against joining the larger power. While the attempt failed, this set the pattern that would be repeated every few decades first by the Human Alliance and then by the Consortium of Civilized Worlds.

Even so, the Human Alliance wanted to prevent anybody else from capturing the system. The leaders of the Icaria system were well aware of this as well. There were several systems which were not that distant in cosmological terms which might attempt to seize the system. In addition, there were a handful of multi-system powers which were even more of a threat.

A defense treaty was hammered out between the leaders of the Icaria system and the Human Alliance. One might consider the treaty mostly one sided with Human Alliance agreed to help the Icaria system in case of attack but the Icaria system not necessarily expected to do the same. As economically powerful as the system was becoming, it simply was not powerful enough to deal with some of the threats which might threaten the larger power. Still, the treaty was not completely one sided with Human Alliance warships able to pass through Icaria space without challenge.

The Icaria system did not want to be completely dependent on the Human Alliance. It was decided to significantly expand the Icaria navy. Prior to this, the system only had a handful of corvettes and destroyers. A secondary reason was to protect the new trade routes from pirates and general escort duties. Otherwise, the lifeblood of the system might very well be strangled.

The designs of the new warships were largely based on Human Alliance designs although there were significant differences as well. Vast majority of systems on the ships were from the larger power. At the time, it was decided that the system would not develop its own indigenous fighter industry but instead rely on Human Alliance fighter designs. It was around this time when the Icaria navy began training with the Human Alliance navy and became a profession organization that few smaller navies can match.

A comparatively nearby power known as the Xoder Empire. It was a major power but consisted of half a dozen systems. Even so, their fleet outnumbered the fledgling Icaria fleet. However, the Icaria ships were far more modern and crews were better trained. There were several engagements with the final battle devastating the Xoder fleet. The Icaria did not come out unscathed however and it is estimated that they lost twenty percent of their ships with far more being damaged.

The Icaria system never kept a large standing army and instead invested most of their resources in their fleet. As a result, they could not have invaded the Xoder Empire if they wanted to. In addition, the population disparity would have made it impossible even if the Icaria system did maintain assault forces. Instead, it was decided to broker a peace treaty with the Xoder Empire having the Human Alliance make sure that the terms of the treaty were enforced.

With the lost of prestige, it was not long before the leaders of the empire were ousted from power. The new leaders were far less interested in taking over the Icaria system. Eventually under threat themselves, the system joined the Consortium of Civilized Worlds virtually ending it being a threat to the Icaria system.

Even so, there were plenty of other threats against the Icaria system. Throughout the years, there were a number of minor skirmishes although none were the threat that the Xoder Empire were. Initially the system operated two fleets but this was later expanded to four. In fact, even though a single system, the fleet rivals many multi-system powers in size.

One threat though was far from a relatively small power which the Icaria could deal with on an equal footing. This was the Trans-Galactic Empire. The Kreeghor ruled empire has tens of thousands of attack vessels and thousands of cruisers. In comparison, even today the Icaria navy only has a few hundred destroyers and a few dozen cruisers. Luckily however, much of the Kreeghor forces are required to keep the population under control and the Human Alliance acts as a counter to prevent the empire from immediately trying to seize the rich system. Of course, there is always risk and the system has done whatever possible to support those who distract the huge empire.

Around the same time which the Trans-Galactic Empire started becoming a threat to the Icaria system, the Consortium of Civilized Worlds formed. It was the formed by the union of the Human Alliance, the Noro, and the Wolfen. The system was well position between areas of space dominated by the Noro and Wolfen as well and further trade routes were established converging in the space near the Icaria system.

While the population of system still considered itself fiercely independent, this was countered by a strong entrepreneurial spirit. As a result, members of these other races were welcome on the planet as well. While many remained transients, a number decided to settle permanently.

When the leaders of the newly formed consortium saw how many people were flocking to the Icaria system and how valuable it was economically, the Consortium offered membership as the Human Alliance had done previously. Just as with the Human Alliance, the offer was put up to a popular vote where it was rejected. Even among those who comparatively recently joined the population, the vote largely went against the offer. As one might expect, they did vote for joining the Consortium by a much larger margin that those who had been on the planet for centuries.

One issue has been that several leaders would like to create a strong defense treaty with the Consortium in a similar manners as they have with the Human Alliance. The military leadership is especially supportive of such a defense treaty. However, there have been several issues. There is some reluctance in the Consortium civilian leadership, although not so much the military, because they feel it will interfere with getting the Icaria system joining the Consortium as a member world. Second, there have been some resistance with the Icaria government itself.

Besides the planet of Icaria, there was a second rocky world which is in many ways similar to the planet Mars in the Sol system. Known as Kasos, there was little effort initially to terraform. However, with the population steadily growing, there was an all out effort. The planet needs constant maintenance to support life however in recent years several million people have settled on this second planet.

Recently, the system has begun a massive upgrade to their fleet, replacing warships with newer vessels. While the navy eventually expanded to operating four fleets, it was decided that operating a larger force would not be economically viable and it was decided to maintain fleet sizes at what are current levels. Still, these new warships are among some of the most advanced warships within the Three Galaxies. In large part, the designs have also broken away from the standard designs of Human Alliance including new weapon systems.

Population:

As the planet was settled from the Human Alliance, the vast majority of the population was human. Initially most of the settlements were also human. A small percentage of the population were of other races however. With the formation of the Consortium of Civilized Worlds, the percentage of other races began to grow.

Other than humans, the most common races are Noro and Wolfen. The other race which are a significant portion of the popular are Catyr and Oni. Otherwise, there are several hundred different races which make up less than ten percentage of the population of the planet. It is believed that there is a significant number of changelings on the planet however it is still believed to be less than one percent.

While humans do tend to dominate the planet and system due to making up around sixty five percent of the population, the average citizen of the system has very little prejudice against those of other races. There are however some active groups which are against non-humans, although to a lesser extent immigrant in general, but they are a small parentage of the human population. They are often baying about how much they are being discriminate against.

Total population of the system is around five billion. It has a much larger transient population than most star systems with several million usually at any one given time. There is some concerns with population growth and there has been some discussion of caps on immigration.

	65%	Human
	12%	Noro
	8%	Wolfen
	4%	Catyr
	2%	Oni
	9%	Others

Economics & Demographics:

System taxes are comparatively low, lower than they are in most places in the Consortium. Much of the tax base comes from customs fees charged for the use of the trans-shipping facilities. There are also fees for using the system’s shipyard facilities and docking fees. Merchant lines located in the Icaria system get tax breaks as far as using the system trans-shipping and shipyard facilities. Due to the massive traffic passing through the system, this fuels the system’s economy even though these fees are comparative low.

Due to the system being an important hub of trade within the Three Galaxies, unemployment is usually extremely low. Still, there is almost always people who end up falling through the cracks. There are a variety of services meant to support these people including education programs and medicine.

As trade is the lifeblood of the system, a full third of the population either lives in space habitats or works in space. Even in the Three Galaxies, this is almost unknown where ten percent or less usually is involved in the space community. There is also a huge amount of transient population and the system is a popular stop over for ship’s crews.

Supporting the trans-shipping, the system has massive orbital warehouses. In fact, the number of these orbital warehouses is constantly growing. While most of the these warehouses is in orbit around the planet of Icaria, the planet of Kasos also has a sizeable orbital warehouse infrastructure

Industry is more spread out although both planets have a sizable portion of the industry located both on planet and in orbit. However, several of the gas giants have large industrial facilities along with manufacturing in the asteroid belts. In the asteroid belts there is also large scale mining.

Interestingly, there is some political pressure from some of the wealthy involved in trade who wish to have the already low taxes lowered further. They often pitch towards the comparative poor even though the reduced taxes would result in lowering social services in society. Luckily, they have been unable to get too much traction.

Agriculture: Most planets within the Three Galaxies are self sufficient although a number of worlds do import large amounts of agricultural products. Early in the history of the planet, it was self sufficient in terms of agriculture however today it does import about one third of its grains. Virtually all of its fresh produce is grown on planet however with massive greenhouses. It is most likely that the system could grow enough food to support the population if necessary however.

Industry: As previously described, the system has large scale industry on the planets as well as around the system. Still, something on the order of 90% of industry is in space, either in orbit around the planets or in the asteroid belts. In actual technological terms, the system is among the most advanced within the Three Galaxies with the system drawing many of the best and brightest from the Consortium and elsewhere.

The system has several large shipyards, able to build ships up to the largest merchant ships in the Three Galaxies. In addition, there is even more industry geared towards refitting and repairing merchant vessels passing through the system. The system also produces warships for sale although mostly limited to corvettes. Their corvettes are some of the best small warships operated within the Three Galaxies. Otherwise, their sales of warships is mostly limited to hulls being retired from active duty. The system is willing to however refit warships for other navies and even mercenary companies.

Trade: In addition to the system being home to use amount of trans-shipping, the system also supports several large trade firms. There are also several large cargo brokers and large amounts of cargo are bought and sold within the system. Taxes are charged on these transactions.

While there are no large mercenary companies operating from Icaria, several have offices. In addition, there are several smaller mercenary groups operating from the system who specialize in escorting merchant ships. These firms largely operate corvettes in this role.

While the system produces merchant ships and light warships, other ships can also be found for sale. Often these other vessels can be far cheaper than Icaria built ships although few are as advanced designs as those produced by the system’s engineers.

Even though free trade has always been a cornerstone of the system, this does not include either cargo known to have been captured through piracy and does not include slavery. In either case, all cargo is seized and treated appropriately. The government takes a very dim view of this in either cases. Otherwise, there are a handful of other restricted or banned cargo types.

Medicine: Similar to the system’s industry, some of the best medical care in the Three Galaxies can be found on Icaria. In womb genetic therapies are available along with advance regeneration technologies.

Anti-aging drugs are commonly available to the population, even what is considered the lowest classes. Of course, they might be consider upper middle class compared to many other systems. It is possible in the future, this might create concerns with overpopulation.

Education: As with most space faring societies, the system has almost universal literacy. It is likely that greater than 99.5% of the population is literate. Technical education, at the basic level of an associates degree, is free and about ninety percent of the population are educated to this level. In addition, there are several of the most prestigious universities in the Three Galaxies in the Icaria system. For those who are unable to afford this education, the government heavily subsidized education. In addition, the system heavily subsidizes the universities to promote scientific grown both practical and theoretical. This includes the arts.

Media: The biggest issue with the media has been that there have been concerns with the Human Alliance and Consortium to manipulate the media in order to try to get the population to support joining them. While relationships are generally friendly between the larger powers and the Icaria’s government, there have been concerns. As a result, there have been various laws passed to prevent outside ownership of the system media as well as restricting the amount of advertizing allowed by those outside the system as well. This has lead to some criticism that the system government is trying to control the media itself. There is a government run media as well although most of the media is run independently.

Society of Icaria System:

The society of the Icaria System is one of the most upwardly mobile in the Three Galaxies. There are plenty of opportunities where somebody can start off as a poor immigrant and end up extremely wealthy. Even those who tend to be on the lower rungs of society or even unemployed tend to live comfortable. While not officially considered a “Utopia World”, it very well be described as one.

There is also a strong independent spirit where those of the society do not want to join the Consortium of Civilized Worlds or be taken over by another society. Even so, the society itself is not xenophobic and welcomes newcomers including those of other races. There is however a certain segment of the society that one might be considered xenophobic. They are really against all new settlement however they are especially against races other than humans and resent that the human population is only about sixty-five percent.

Similar with most advanced societies, there is little bias as far as sex or sexual orientation in the society. With the commonly availability of anti-aging drugs, there is little interest in having families right away. In addition, birth control is available freely and there are few unexpected pregnancies. Small families are the norm in the society. Interestingly, unlike some societies, there is no particular stigmas towards one of the parents staying home to raise a couple’s children. Same sex couples have various means of having a family as well including what are called “tube children” and there is adoption.

Social Structure: There is comparatively little stratification within the society of the Icaria System . Of course, there are those more wealthy than others. There are some who would like to change that who want less comforts for the poor and they do have some backing but have been so far unable to get much progress.

Dress: Usually the society of the Icaria System takes its cues from the Human Alliance and Consortium in general. Usually however, there will be some variation in style as to not look like they are exactly mimicking the larger powers. There are some counter cultures which try to look shocking although as often as not, they also mimic the counter cultures of the Human Alliance and Consortium.

Buildings: When the colony was first set up, the buildings were mostly pre manufactured towers. Such buildings both served as administrative buildings and housing areas. As time has gone on, most of these towers have been replaced by buildings which might be just as large but are designed to aesthetically blend into the environment. The cities are designed to mix practical buildings along with large parks and forested areas. The wealthier do tend to live in much smaller homes and there are a variety of different styles, most taken from various planets within the Human Alliance but there are a number of designs which are unique to Icaria as well.

The buildings on the planet Kasos tend to be far more practical in their style with there still being some environmental issues even though the planet is terraformed. This includes various unusual weather patterns with dust storms being among the worst problems on the planet such much of it is still desert conditions.

Religious Groups: While there are a variety of religious groups and there are a number of laws protecting religions, most of the population is not really religious. Most are actually a bit standoffish when it comes towards religion. If you are religious, the general societal attitude is that it is a private matter and proselytizing is considered a bit tasteless.

Views on other Races: Most of the population is extremely accepting of non-human creatures. In general, they are readily accepted as members of society. The only cases are where members of various races pose some kind of danger. The best example is that with a large population of Catyr, there are some rules on their contact due to potential radiation dangers. Catyrs do tend to stay in their own enclaves with a large percentage being on the various orbital communities around the system.

There is however something of an undercurrent of xenophobia among some which has created both some societal and political issues. Certain political parties, especially the more conservative parties, try to take advantage of the xenophobic groups. Often these xenophobic groups are among the poorer members of the society and the conservatives use them to act against their own interests.

Of course as one might expect, Kreeghor are treated with extreme caution.

Views on Magic & Psionics: A reasonable large percentage of the planet’s population are psychic. Of course, the large number of Noro race in the population swing these numbers. Still, even among humans, a significant portion of the population are psychic in one form or another. There are various training schools for psychics in order to control their gifts and laws of unauthorized telepathic scanning but otherwise there are few restrictions on psychics.

For magic, the system is not particularly active magically. Still, there are a reasonably large number of practitioners of magic in the system because it is an important hub of trade. Several major magic schools are scattered around the planet. There are a number of laws regarding magic for public safety reasons although there are few laws otherwise with regards to magic.

With the xenophobic aspects of the planet’s population, views are mixes with regards to both psychic and magic. Some absolutely hate it especially with regards to the Noro and psychic talents. Others hate magic but not psychic abilities. There are even others seem very little issue with either group.

Laws of Icaria System:

The laws are generally similar to those within the Consortium of Civilized Worlds with generally similar punishments although in some cases a bit higher. The legal system is designed around the goal of reform whenever possible with educational programs part of the prison and rehabilitation. Due to the economy of the system, crime is generally low although there is always some. A major issue is smuggling as one might expect. Slave ships are immediately seized with slaves freed.

Defendants are considered innocent until proven guilty. Minor crimes generally bail is allowed and in many cases a defendant can be out of incarceration with some form of home monitoring There are a variety of laws protecting defendant including restrictions on eye witness testimony and confessions. All law enforcement interaction with the public is expected to be recorded. As soon as a defendant is considered a suspect, a lawyer is appointed or the defendant is given an opportunity to consult with a lawyer. There is an evidentiary hearing before even preparing a trial. Magic and psychic evidence is allowed in court although a defendant cannot be psychically scanned against their will. Some may request it in an attempt to clear themselves however. In a few cases, the prosecution has managed to prove guilt even after a psychic scan cleared them and it was show that the memories of the crime were wiped.

Court systems are a modified adversarial system. A jury consists of two professional judges and five jury members. Jury members are pulled from a cross section of society with an emphasis on the educated. Many consider jury duty a civic virtue and they are well compensated for lost time. Many employers also pay their employees when they are serving on jury duty. There is also a third judge who presides over the court but does not vote in the deliberation stage. A defendant may request a trial simply by two professional judges and may also request a change of location for the trial.

A unanimous jury finding is not required however it has to be a super majority of six out of seven of the jury group. The professional judges in the jury are restricted on their conduct during deliberation with the regular jurors expected to do most of the deliberations. They are also expected to vote last. Unless six out of seven on the jury vote for conviction or acquittal, the trial is considered to be a mistrial. Most trials do get a verdict however. Unless there is evidence of judicial wrongdoing, any acquittal ends all further prosecution.

There are several levels of appeals available with a special supreme court of appeals although they only see a relatively small number of court cases per years. There is a second court supreme court of the constitution which argues various constitutional matters.

Crime	Icaria System	CCW
Concealed Weapon	1 year rehabilitation	1 year rehabilitation
Weapon Traffic	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Smuggling	2 years prison & 2 years rehabilitation	1 year rehabilitation
Drug Possession	2 years rehabilitation	2 years rehabilitation
Drug Traffic	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Grand Larceny	1 year rehabilitation	1 year rehabilitation
Armed Robbery	2 years rehabilitation	2 years rehabilitation
Piracy	20 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	15 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Rape	10 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Man Slaughter	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	5 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Murder 2	15 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	10 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Murder 1	25 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	15 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Kidnaping	25 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	15 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Slavery	30 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation	20 years prison & 5 years rehabilitation
Genocide	Not on the books	Death

Government of Icaria System:

The government of the Icaria System is a representative republic. The government has both a president and a prime minister, both with separate powers and responsibilities. The government also has a house consisting of a senate and a system assembly.

President: The president is directly elected by a majority system wide vote. He or she is elected for a term of six years and is allowed a maximum of two terms in office. The president is most active in the general direction of the system’s policies especially in matters of foreign relations. He directs the economic direction but not the day to day economics of the system. He does have to approve the prime minister. In addition, the military reports directly to the President instead of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister: Unlike the president, the prime minister is not directly elected. Instead, he or she is selected by the system assembly although the selection has to be approved by the president. Often to get enough support to be selected, the prime minister will offer cabinet posts to members of the other parties. The prime minister does most of the day to day operations of the government especially in terms of economics.

Senate: There are a total of eight hundred members of the Senate with each elected from a specific region. Elections are every four years. One votes for a specific candidate for the senate to represent your region. Every twenty years, the regions are redrawn for the senate and there are various laws which attempt to make sure that districts are not gerrymandered. This is mostly been successful although sometimes there is some manipulation of the system.

System Assembly: There is a total of eight hundred members of the System Assembly. The System Assembly is elected differently than the senate. Instead of voting for a candidate, one votes for a political party. The votes are then added together and the different parties get a number of seats based on the number of votes they get. As a result, the makeup of the system can be quite different than the senate.

Major Political Parties: The two largest parties are the conservative and liberal parties but the Hawk and Progressive parties also have significant support in the system assembly. There are many other parties who tend to align with the major parties on various issues.

Conservative Party: The Conservative party platform is based on cutting social programs in order to cut taxes for the wealthy. They heavily lobby with voters who are xenophobic and they try to get the support of the Human First party. In addition, they also court the Hawk party.

Hawk Party: They are extremely interested in expanding the military and taking a more militant approach. While the party is popular in military circles, they do not have universal support in the military with many in the military leadership afraid that the Hawk party would lead them into unnecessary conflicts. Sometimes called disparagingly the “War Hawks.”

Human First Party: This party is xenophobic and would like to restrict the immigration of non-humans. While the party has few representatives in the government, they have hooks in the Conservative party and often create conflicts where the Human First position is against the business interests of the Conservative party.

Liberal Party: The Liberal party in general campaigns for personal rights including better wages, better health care, and general improvements in society. Personal freedom is extremely important to most members of the liberal party as well. They often spar with the Conservative party and Human First party. Most accept that a powerful military is required to keep the system safe.

Progressive Party: In some ways similar to the Liberal party however they dislike the huge amounts of money spent on the system military. They also believe in trying to avoid antagonizing potential enemies. As a result, they argue for the retiring or mothballing large amounts of the military. Some also argue for replacing the battle fleet with a pure system self defense force.

Plebiscites: On certain important issues, a plebiscite is called where the systemwide population votes on an issue. This has mostly come up with offers to join the Human Alliance first and later the Consortium. There have also been some changes to the constitution which were decided by plebiscite as well.

Important Figures of Icaria System:

Anastasia Korba: President of the Icaria system. Two years into her first term in office but has a long and distinguished career. Is quite popular with the citizenry and is reported as being extremely honest.

Lydia Harris: Prime Minister of the Icaria system and just managed to get herself into the Prime Minister position. While a member of the Liberal party, she is generally considered relatively moderate. Has a hatred of the “Humans First” party however.

Vasilis Gianakos: Leader of the Conservative Party of the Icaria system. Has strong connections with several companies and is reported to be extremely wealthy. Does have misgivings about dealing too much with the “Humans First” party.

Sophia Agnes: Leader of the Liberal Party of the Icaria system. Has in the past opposed military expansion efforts but is beginning to come around to the idea if there is no cuts in social programs. Reported to have been once the lover of Vasilis Gianakos but now hate each other.

Theodoros Mundis: Star Marshall of the Icaria system. Strong believer in keeping a good relationship with the Human Alliance military and strongly works on the two forces training together. Has also been arguing for an increase in the size of the military.

Fleet Admiral Mihalis Leventis: Fleet Admiral of the Navy. Youngest fleet admiral in Icaria history. Kind of misses being in command of a starship. Sad as well to have watched his last independent command get retired and sold off. Is committed to both expanding the navy and continuing operations with the Human Alliance navy.

Field Marshall Ioanna Balaban: Field Marshall of the Army. She realizes that the army is secondary to the fleet, something that many army officers do not really want to accept. It is important to her to keep good relations otherwise between the army and the fleet. Would like to get some more advanced equipment for the army however.

Letha Rothack: Consortium Chief Embassador to the Icaria system. As one might expect, she is attempting to get the Icaria system to join the Consortium although has backed off and is approaching the issue carefully. Wonders if she might not be recalled soon.

Relations with other Governments:

Caramelles Kingdom: There is enough distance between the Icaria system that the Caramelles Kingdom is not considered a threat. In addition, the Icaria navy is on par in numbers with the Kingdom’s forces. Some trade of the Kingdom does go through Icaria space although the situation is a bit uneasy especially due to large numbers of non humans among the Icaria population. It has been suggested that the Icaria got their new heavy point defense rail gun design from the kingdom and the reverse has also been suggested. Still, there is no real support for this.

Combined Stars Protectorate: The leadership of Icaria system is sympathetic towards the star systems even though due to distances involved, the Dartrok are not really considered much of a threat. They might very well be willing to provide training to personnel and sell older ships at lower than normal costs.

Consortium of Civilized Worlds: As previously described, most trade going through Icaria controlled space is from the Consortium. While they have trade agreements, there are no military defense treaties with the Consortium. The Consortium has tried several times to get the Icaria system to become a member world.

Dartrok: Even though Dartrok is not much of a present threat, the Dartrok is being watched cautiously because there is so little known about the race. Even so, due to distances involved, the Kreeghor is considered a much larger threat to the system.

Free Worlds Council: In general, the Trans-Galactic Empire is considered the biggest threat. The Human Alliance has used the Icaria military as a clandestine conduit to support the Free Worlds Council. In addition, Icaria provides a small amount of clandestine support to the Free Worlds Council although the system has a much smaller fleet than the break away systems do.

Human Alliance: As the initial population came from the Human Alliance, the two entities have always been close. In addition to trade, the Human Alliance has several binding defense treaties to protect the system when threatened. There is believed to have been some friendly espionage and/or clandestine sharing of advanced technology to the Icaria military.

Naruni Enterprises: Naruni does have trade stations in the system although they are restricted in their dealings. Over the years, the company has offered numerous deals to the system which have been rejected. The system military has bought some equipment such as force field generators for their power armors.

New Coventry: New Coventry is reasonably close in cosmological distances. They both share concerns about the Trans-Galactic Empire. There has been some discussion between the two governments and military leaders although nothing formal has come of the issue. Even though they like the Badger fighter design, they consider it too temperamental a design. They would prefer a light fighter design which requires less maintenance.

Paradise Federation: The Icaria government is at a bit of a quandary with regards to the Paradise Federation. With the Consortium restriction on the Federation as well as their practices, there id pressure to restrict trade with them. However, the system has always been strongly involved with free trade and there is considerable trade involving the Paradise Federation. Currently there are no restrictions except of course no slaves are allowed in system.

Phase World: There is a lot of trade which uses both Icaria controlled space and uses Phase World’s jump gates. They operate on informal but generally friendly terms. Of course, there are some practices with Phase World which are not well liked within the Icaria population

REF Wormhole Station: There are some concerns that the REF wormhole may impact their trade but there appears to have been little actual effect. With the REF having given the Trans-Galactic Empire a major black eye, the Icaria system in general is very positively disposed towards them. It is seen as greatly reducing the danger towards the Icaria system.

Splugorth: There have been attempted attacks by the Splugorth against the Icaria System in the past although one might argue that they were more raids in force. The Icaria forces were able to stop the attackers forces cold however there were some losses. It was decided not to try to get the Human Alliance involved and several minor allies refused to help deal with the Splugorth. As one might expect, the system is pretty hostile towards the Splugorth.

Trans-Galactic Empire: In most respects, even though the system has been attacked by others, the Trans-Galactic Empire is considered the largest threat. Granted, the Empire has been weakened to some extent by the REF recently but still the system defense forces need to be extremely diligent.

United Worlds Warlock: While the system itself is pretty poor as far as magic, it still has a number of high caliber magic schools due to being on many trade routes. The system has always had pretty good relations with the U.W.W. with a fair amount of trade including the trade of magic items.

Xanadu Station: In some ways the Icaria System and Xanadu Station are similar although the Icaria System does not go to the excesses and has a much more powerful economy to support the liberal policies of the system. In addition, the leadership of the Icaria System, especially the military, is looking at the Dartrok with caution and the close relations between the Dartrok and Xanadu Station is cause for future concern.

Military Forces of Icaria System:

The miliary of the Icaria System is one of the best small independent military forces within the Three Galaxies. In basic structure, it is heavily based on the Human Alliance military forces. A number of the initial settlers from the Human Alliance were ex-military personnel who set up the system military. This that were taken from the Human Alliance include the military rank structure as well as basic procedures and military laws.

The Human Alliance has split the marines off of the Army just a few years previously. At the moment, the Icaria System does not operate a separate marines but instead all considered part of the army with the Army leadership being strongly apposed to any dividing of the army.

The general tactical doctrine of the system is simple in that is that all fixed facilities are vulnerable to long range kills. This is the reason why finances have not been invested in fixed defenses. There are some defensive battery but they minor. Instead, system defenses are based on mobile forces. This includes a fleet of faster starships but the system also operates an addition 2,500 fighters for system defense. While some fighters are based on moons, the majority are embarked aboard semi-mobile fighter platforms. Because they are purely system designs and basically little more than barges, they generally are not considered carriers.

There is no real stock of space mines in the system. It is considering that by the time they might be useful, the system defense forces would have lost the war already. This makes sense in terms of the military general interest in terms of keeping military forces as mobile as possible.

Personnel:

The personnel breakdown for the Icaria System is slightly different than the actual population although the majority is still human. Approximately 65% of military personnel are male. Wolfen make up a relatively large percentage of military personnel. Oni make up less than 1% of military personnel but there is a significant number of Machine People in the military, mostly in the space fleet.

	56%	Human
	16%	Wolfen
	10%	Noro
	4%	Catyr
	2%	Machine People
	12%	Others

Space Navy of Icaria System:

Considered the primary military force of the Icaria system with the vast majority of funds spent on the fleet. As far as personnel, it is considered to compare well with Consortium and Human Alliance naval personnel. Has several training academies along with cross training with Human Alliance fleet including having personnel temporarily posted to Human Alliance vessels.

The space navy is built on the concept of being able to defense the system against any but the most major threats such as a full fledged war with the Trans-Galactic Empire. In addition, the fleet is expected to both escort merchant traffic and make anti-piracy patrols. The corvettes are commonly assigned various anti-piracy and anti-slavery roles but not exclusively. Corvettes are preferred over heavy fighters generally.

The military has an expensive shipyard complex although civilian shipyards are also employed in military shipbuilding. Most refits are done in military shipyards. Otherwise, the system does lack in facilities to build fighters with facilities currently tooling up to manufacture the Kopis medium fighter and plans to expand facilities to build light fighters as well.

There is a small number of ex-Human Alliance and ex-Consortium fleet personnel but far less than most Independent Defense Forces within Consortium space. The process of joining from these services is not impossible but is complex. For those with special skills, the process can be streamlined. These generally are those from advanced technical fields. There are also a small number of civilian space personnel who have joined.

Chain of Command: The rank of Star Marshall is the senior military rank within the Icaria Navy and reports directly to the system president. There is no equivalent of the Star Marshall in the army and instead the army reports to the Star Marshall as well. There is only a single Star Marshall and Fleet Admiral at any one time. As with most militaries, the positions of Star Marshall and Fleet Admiral as well as most senior officer ranks mostly is involved in administrative tasks. Theoretically, if the entire fleet was to deploy as a single unit, the Fleet Admiral would be the commander of the fleet. Usually the most senior officers to deploy with the fleet however are vice admirals.

Enlistment:

Enlisted: Military enlistment is for eight years for enlisted to compensate for the extensive training. Pay is good although not equal to the merchant sector with many military personnel transferring to the civilian sector due to better pay. Still, a sizeable number do reenlist with various bonuses for reenlistment . A possible future benefit is that if anti-aging treatments become restricted, anti-aging drugs will remain available to military personnel. Military retirement with full benefits is after forty years.

Officers: Military enlisted for officers is indefinite with officers expected to serve for at least twelve years before being allowed to resign. Officers can also be forced to resign with some issues that are serious but not criminal charges. Officers of Captain rank or above cannot be removed from service without a full court marshal / trial although can put in administrative positions where they are effectively out of the way. Theoretically, officers can be recalled back to service as required including retired officers if required. As with enlisted, officer retirement with full benefits is after forty years.

O.C.C.: Training for the Icaria navy is generally similar to the Human Alliance. In addition, in some cases personnel can be temporally attached to Human Alliance vessels for training and exchange purposes.

Enlisted: Enlisted training is generally considered excellent. Consider such personnel to be the equivalent of the CAF trooper O.C.C. with a +10% bonus to Communication, Electrical, Mechanical, and Pilot skills. In addition, the skill of Paramedic is also available. There are a small amount of merchant sailors in the fleet which would mostly be considered Spacer or Operator O.C.C.s.

Officers: The officer training is among the best in the Three Galaxies. Officers are considered to be the equivalent of CAF Fleet Officers O.C.C. with a +10% bonus to Mechanical skills. Others that do slightly less well are the equivalent of CAF trooper O.C.C. with a +10% bonus to Communication, Electrical, Mechanical, and Pilot skills (same as enlisted.) A sizeable percentage of pilots are of the Turbo-Jockey O.C.C.

Standard Combat Equipment:

Crew members: 3 CAF Jumpsuits, Human Alliance LP-8 Heavy Laser Pistol or AEP-16 Automatic Explosive Pistol, Vibro Knife, HW-19 Stun Pistol or Web Gun. Whenever a starship is at general quarters all crew member are in CAF jumpsuits to protect from explosive decompression, a suit is kept in the crew members work station, one is kept in their berthing area, and another is kept at their general quarters station. Silver rounds for AEP-16 Automatic Explosive Pistol and silver knives are kept in ships armory for use against supernatural being.

Pilots: Light Combat Armor (M.D.C.: 80), Human Alliance LPC-40 Laser Pulse Carbine or AER-34 Automatic Explosive Rifle, Human Alliance LP-8 Heavy Laser Pistol [Most Field Modified] or AEP-16 Automatic Explosive Pistol, Vibro Claws or Vibro Sword, HW-19 Stun Pistol or Web Gun. They carry silver knives and silver rounds for automatic rifle if there is a possibility of having to deal with supernatural foes if shot down.

Uniforms: Over the years, the uniform has changed multiple times generally following the Human Alliance. While colors and marking are different across the different Icaria military forces, they are of the same basic design otherwise with both officer and enlisted uniforms being basically identical as well.

Working Uniform: These are a basic utilitarian jumpsuit blue grey in color. A similar design can be seen on page 57 of the Phase World book. Rank markings are on the collar. For headgear, a beret is standard issue with rank marking as appropriate.

Dress Uniform: For both sexes, the dress uniform is a two piece tunic and trouser combination (like the one on page 58 of the Phase World book) that in the Fleet’s case is blue grey. With the uniform, there is also a jacket which is blue grey. The jacket uses gold buckles and gold shoulder boards. For the officers dress uniforms jacket, the shoulder boards are replaced by gold epaulets. The headgear for the dress uniform is a combination cap. Officers have a gold band on their caps. Officers of the rank of captain and greater have one row of gold leaf on the brim of the cap and ranks of rear admiral (and above) have two rows of gold leaf. Unlike the Human Alliance, there is no optional officer’s sword.

Personnel: 81,360 (Does not include civilian personnel.)

Army of Icaria System:

The army performs both planetary roles and serves aboard starships as marines. All total, the army actually has more total personnel than the Navy however the vast majority of the budget goes towards the fleet. In large part, this is due to the vessels however this also includes training budgets and basic equipment.

This is not to say that the Army is ill trained, just that it is generally not considered up to the standards of the fleet. In addition to starship roles, the army also performs various duties aboard space stations and on moons. Generally only the best of the army are assigned to starships. A large fraction of fighter pilots are also members of the army. In some cases, the pilots may be assigned aboard ships.

So far, none of the new SF-1 Kopis medium fighter have been assigned to the army with usually older models of the Psaraetós (upgraded Osprey) medium fighter and Stríngla (upgraded Vixen) light fighter assigned to the Army. Otherwise, they tend to operate older Human Alliance models of tanks, armored vehicles, and power armors. The “Steel Grunt” is the standard power armor although have been mostly been fitted with Naruni force fields.

There is a larger percentage of previous Human Alliance and Consortium personnel in the Army than in the Navy with less civilian space personnel serving in the army.

Chain of Command: The Army is considered generally considered to be under the Navy with the senior officer being the rank of Field Marshal and reporting to the Star Marshall. There is only a single Field Marshal. When troops are assigned to a warship, the captain off the ship is always considered senior even in rare times where the army officer is senior to fleet officer.

Enlistment:

Enlisted: Military enlistment is four years for basic training and eight years for more advanced training. For those who only take basic training, retention rate is pretty low. For those who take more advanced training, more reenlist although they can often get excellent offers from mercenary companies. As with the Navy, military retirement with full benefits is after forty years.

Officers: As with the fleet, military enlisted for officers is indefinite. However, they can usually resign after eight years. As with the Navy, there are cases where an officer may be forced to resign prior to this. Those with a rank of colonel and above cannot be forced to resign and can only be discharged after court marshal or trial. Still, if there is an issue, they are almost always sidelined into an administrative position. Theoretically, officers can be recalled back to service as required including retired officers if required. For army officers, military retirement with full benefits is after forty years.

O.C.C.: As previously described, military training for the army is generally less extensive than navy military training. Still, those who take the advanced training schools are as well trained as those in the Human Alliance. In addition, one can join the Icaria Army with lower aptitude scores.

Enlisted: Basic training gives the personnel the equivalent of the Enlisted are trained equal to the Mercenary O.C.C. from Rifts: Main Book. All are given basic space training and have the skill of Zero Gravity movement. Advanced training gives the trooper the equivalent of CAF trooper O.C.C. although without the bonuses of fleet personnel.

Officers: Training for army officers is considered good but not as high as fleet training. Only a fairly small percentage are trained to the equivalent of CAF Fleet Officers O.C.C. with most trained to the equivalent of CAF trooper O.C.C. Still, a sizeable of army pilots are trained to the Turbo-Jockey O.C.C.

Standard Combat Equipment:

Ground Troops: Light Combat Armor (M.D.C.: 80), H.A. LPR-60 Laser Pulse Rifle or AER-34 Automatic Explosive Rifle, Human Alliance LP-8 Heavy Laser Pistol [Most Field Modified] or AEP-16 Automatic Explosive Pistol, Vibro Claws or Vibro Sword, HW-19 Stun Pistol or Web Gun. One in five troops are issued either the Human Alliance LPSR-260 Laser Pulse Support Rifle or MM-6 Mini-Missile Launcher. Power armors also usually carry the Human Alliance LPSR-260 Laser Pulse Support Rifle. Troops also carry silver knives and silver rounds for automatic rifle if there is a possibility of having to deal with supernatural foes.

Pilots (Fighter or Vehicle): Light Combat Armor (M.D.C.: 80), Human Alliance LPC-40 Laser Pulse Carbine or AER-34 Automatic Explosive Rifle, Human Alliance LP-8 Heavy Laser Pistol [Most Field Modified] or AEP-16 Automatic Explosive Pistol, Vibro Claws or Vibro Sword, HW-19 Stun Pistol or Web Gun. They carry silver knives and silver rounds for automatic rifle if there is a possibility of having to deal with supernatural foes.

Working Uniform: These are a basic utilitarian jumpsuit very dark grey in color. A similar design can be seen on page 57 of the Phase World book. Rank markings are on the collar. For headgear, a beret is standard issue with rank marking as appropriate.

Dress Uniform: For both sexes, the dress uniform is a two piece tunic and trouser combination (like the one on page 58 of the Phase World book) that in the Fleet’s case is dark grey. With the uniform, there is also a jacket which is blue grey. The jacket uses gold buckles and but no shoulder boards as the navy uses. For the officers dress uniforms jacket, there are however gold epaulets. The headgear for the dress uniform is a combination cap. Officers have a gold band on their caps. Officers of the rank of colonel and greater have one row of gold leaf on the brim of the cap and ranks of major general (and above) have two rows of gold leaf. Unlike the Human Alliance, there is no optional officer’s sword.

Personnel: 225,500 (Does not include civilian personnel.)

Military Ranks:

The military rank structure is essentially borrowed from the Human Alliance which the system military more or less evolved from. The one main exception is that it was decided that the rank of Fleet Captain would be changed to Commodore. In addition, there is no army rank of Grand Marshall.

Officers: A senior enlisted person can become an officer by exemplary duty and service or by battlefield promotion. Most “Mustangs” (term for officers that came from being enlisted) will start at Lieutenant (Navy) or its equivalent in the army but normally cannot get above Captain (Navy) or its equivalent.

Space Fleet:	Army:
Star Marshall
Fleet Admiral	Field Marshal
Admiral	General
Vice Admiral	Lieutenant General
Rear Admiral	Major General
Commodore	Brigadier General
Captain	Colonel
Commander	Senior Major
Sub Commander	Major
Lieutenant	Captain
Sub Lieutenant	Senior Lieutenant
Ensign	Lieutenant

Warrant Officers: While the Human Alliance dissolved their Warrant Officer ranks for a time, they were retained in Icaria military service. Usually warrant officers come from technical fields and it allows the military to give them rank equal to their abilities. They often serve as department heads or in charge of administrative and technical areas.

Space Fleet:	Army:
Warrant Officer First Class	Warrant Officer First Class
Warrant Officer Second Class	Warrant Officer Second Class
Warrant Officer Third Class	Warrant Officer Third Class
Warrant Officer Fourth Class	Warrant Officer Fourth Class

Enlisted: The senior enlisted rank is an administrative positions for the care and welfare of the enlisted of their branch.

Space Fleet:	Army:
Master Chief Petty Officer of the Fleet	Command Sergeant Major of the Army
Master Chief Petty Officer	Sergeant Major
Senior Chief Petty Officer	Master Sergeant
Chief Petty Officer	Sergeant First Class
Petty Officer First Class	Staff Sergeant
Petty Officer Second Class	Sergeant
Petty Officer Third Class	Corporal
Rating First Class	Private First Class
Rating Second Class	Private Second Class
Rating Third Class	Private Third Class

Military Rules & Regulations:

Military Law: Military law is far more strict than civilian law. Still, there is every due diligence to keep it fair. Guilty verdicts can be appealed to the supreme court of appeals. As with civilian cases, the court only sees a few cases a year. Punishments are generally more severe in military trials than in civilian trials. There are also a number of added charges such as dereliction of duty, desertion, and treason is considered a much more severe crime. Still, there is no death penalty on the books.

Court Marshal: Court marshals try serious crimes and officers are always tried by court marshal. Otherwise, it is set up in a similar manner to regular trials. There are three professional judges where two vote with the jury. There is also a jury of either five enlisted or five officers but not part of the judge’s office. Officers are always tried by other officers while enlisted can chose an enlisted or officer jury.

Non-Judicial Punishment: For relatively minor infractions, an enlisted may be tried by non judicial punishment. The enlisted person may request court marshal which initiated a judicial review. In most cases however, enlisted do not request court marshal. Punishments include taking of pay, loss of rank, and restriction to quarters to a maximum of three months in confinement. Three months in confinement to quarters is extremely rare however.

Military Protocol: There is a sense of military discipline but in some ways more relaxed than it is in many other military forces. Officers are expected to be treated with respect and are usually addressed as “Sir” in cases of both sexes however in most cases there is not too much concern as long as personnel are respectful.

Religion: The laws of the society which protect religion generally extend into the military although like society generally, religion is not a major part of the military culture. In addition to general laws limiting certain dangerous religious practices, there are regulations as far as religion in the military such as restricting from military service those who’s religion practices do not allow certain medical procedure. This is mostly life saving treatment but military personnel are also expected to use birth control and must get permission in order to be allowed to have children where they generally take a leave of absence.

Sexual Contact: The Icaria military takes a very liberal view to sexual contact. As with society in general, there are no issues with same sex conduct, something that has generally been settled for millennium in human space except for some religious societies. There is no real concerns about sexual contact even with the same command. Even sexual contact between officers and enlisted are allowed although it will tend to be looked at closely due to issues with power dynamic and favoritism. Most commanders do discourage such contact for those reasons.

Personal Equipment: Limited personal equipment is allowed. A far number of personnel end up purchasing better small arms for themselves and Naruni force field generators. The Black Eagle line of weapons is relatively popular. There are some magical and psychic weapons as well especially among special forces personnel.

Mage & Psionics in the Military:

There are a relatively large number of Noro in Icaria military service. Treat them as per their appropriate character class. Otherwise, the system military has no prejudice against Mages or Individuals with Psionic Abilities. Psychics are far more common than practitioners of magic.

Individuals with Major and Minor Psionics fall into standard O.C.C.s. To create a mage (Ley Line Walker, Mystic, Battlemage, etc.) or a Master Psionic (Mind Melter, Burster, etc.) use the O.C.C. but add standard Phase World background skills and add the following additional skills for military training.

Radio: Basic (+5%)

Running

Climbing

Hand to Hand: Basic

W.P. Energy Rifle

Planetary Surface Defenses:

Planetary defenses mainly rely on mobile defense batteries in the form of Human Alliance HAFA-AMV-133 Sentry missile vehicles. Both the long range and medium range versions are operated. Tanks and other armored vehicles may act as additional support. These vehicles are mainly operated by army personnel. If the planet is under potential threat, these vehicles are deployed as needed although fighters and the fleet are always considered the first lines of defense.

Fixed Space Defenses:

The defense of the system is largely based on fighters based up by the mobile battle fleets. Some of these are fixed while a significant percentage of the fighters are based from semi-mobile fighter platforms. The fixed ones are largely underground. Four of these bases are in the moon of Icaria while two are in the largest asteroid in the asteroid belt. Each base has the facilities to embark several hundred fighters although each usually embarks one hundred light fighters and sixty medium fighters. In addition to basing one hundred and sixty fighters, these bases have extensive repair and refit facilities for fighters and even corvettes. The bases are designed as fall back locations to operate fighters from if the semi-mobile platforms are destroyed. These bases are manned by 300 Navy and 700 Army personnel each in addition to 200 fighter pilot.

Fixed Base Defenses: Presently, each base has for defenses 2 long range missile batteries [fires volleys of up to 24 long range missiles each battery], 6 mini-missile batteries [Fires volleys of up to mini-missiles each], 6 point defense 15 mm batteries [800 miles (1,290 km) range in a space, damage: 3D6x10], and 6 defensive laser batteries [250 miles (402.3 km) range in a space, damage: 2D6x10]. Protected by a 20,000 M.D.C. fixed force field. Defense of bases are on the older side generally without any current plans to upgrade to newer weaponry. In the future, medium range missile batteries might be added however.

Semi-Mobile Fighter Platforms:

Supporting the fixed space defenses and fleet, the system operates ten semi-mobile fighter platforms. Each normally embarks around one hundred and sixty fighters and they are built to minimalist standards and cost a fraction of a carrier. They are manned by a combination of navy, army, and even civilian crews. Two are usually in orbit around Icaria supported by the fixed defenses and two are usually in orbit around Kasos. The remainder are scattered around the system at important locations. See writeup of platforms for more details.

Ships of the Fleet:

Presently, the Icaria System operates four battle fleets with approximately one fifth of ships in either stand down status or in refit at any one given time. While there is no reserve fleet as such, by pushing back maintenance schedules, effectively a fifth fleet could be formed if required.

While presently limited to five fleets, there has been some discussion given towards expanding the fleet to six active fleets and one fleet in stand down status. The fleet has always been kept small compared to the economy of the system so that it does not strain the system economy but it has been argued that the expansion could be easily absorbed.

Otherwise, the fleet is currently in transition, replacing older ships with newer designs. As a result, there are many ships under construction currently. In addition, all Triton class battlecruisers and Akon patrol corvettes have been retired from active duty although some might not yet have been sold. The Sofades class tenders have also been retired however they have been stripped and will either be scrapped or sold as merchant hulls. Some of the retired warships could potentially be activated in an emergency situation but this is extremely unlikely to occur.

This list does not include small auxiliaries such as tugs and small non F.T.L. capable supply ships. In addition, during times of war, more merchant ships can be brought into service to fill support roles and used for troop transports if required. In addition, the system produces corvettes for export than they can be brought into service if required.

Carriers:

	6	Aetos (Eagle) class Light Carriers
	4	Geráki (Falcon) class Light Carriers

Battleships / Battlecruisers:

Hermione class Battlecruisers

Cruisers:

	12	Amvrakia class Heavy Cruisers
	14	Niki (Victory) class Light Cruisers
	8	Themistoklis class Heavy Cruisers
	16	Thyella (Storm) class Light Cruisers

Destroyers / Corvettes:

	100	Aspis (Shield) class Destroyers
	80	Lonchi (Spear) class Patrol Corvettes
	60	Velos (Arrow) class Destroyers

Transports & Repair Ships (Fleet Auxiliaries):

	10	Icaria Kythira class Tenders / Repair Ships
	50	Various Supply Ship Classes

Notes on the Fleet:

Most fighters operated by the Icaria military are the Psaraetós (upgraded Osprey) medium fighter and Stríngla (upgraded Vixen) light fighter. In addition to those they purchased originally, the Icaria system bought large numbers of the fighters when they were retired by the Human Alliance and Consortium. Later they upgraded the fighters significantly.

The medium fighter is in the process of being replaced by the more advanced and newer SF-1 Kopis medium fighter. It is also the first indigenous fighter design. Still, it will likely be decades before all the older fighters are replaced. They are also looking for a light fighter design to replace the upgraded Vixen light fighters. Two fighters which the Icaria military are looking at include a licenced copy of the SF-135 Bearcat or of the Super Hyena design. The Super Hyena might be considered a less advanced version of the Bearcat although actually developed first. A handful of both fighters are operated for evaluation purposes.

In the scout role, the Lonchi (Spear) class patrol corvettes perform much the same role as Proctor class heavy fighters do for the Consortium. In addition to scouting for the fleet, they do light escort duties and do customs work. In addition, they are often used as VIP transport when required.

There is presently discussion going on about the idea of carrying Pepper Box style launchers on warships, most likely similar to those developed by the Tri-Galactic Mercenary Service. This includes carriers which might carry a pair of launchers for decoys. Of course, the corvettes are simply too small to mount them.

Military Technology:

As far as technology, the Icaria navy is among the most advanced in the Three Galaxies. Originally, their designs were heavily based on Human Alliance designs but they are presently developing their own technology less based on Human Alliance designs. They have their own advanced particle beam technology which includes “High Output” particle beam weaponry which have about twenty-five percent greater output than older particle beams of similar size.

As far as missiles, they have all basic missile types available including brilliant guidance systems. All missiles are normally smart or brilliant guidance type missiles. They do not have the most powerful Anti-Matter warheads carried by Consortium warships or gravity warheads carried by Trans-Galactic Empire warships. They do however have X-Ray laser warheads and such warheads are almost exclusively carried as far as capital missiles. Most warships which can carry capital missiles do also carry a number of decoy missile. The X-Ray laser warheads are believed to have been copied from Human Alliance missiles in the form of “friendly espionage” which both sides ignore.

Presently, the Icaria navy is attempting to develop an advanced “Battle Link” system. Currently, it is only carried on a single battle cruiser and there have been issues with the system. Still, it is expected that these issues will be resolved in the near future.

Until recently, while the system had yards for large ships, they lacked the manufacturing facilities for fighters although they had extensive upgrade facilities. This has changed with the facilities to fabricate the SF-1 Kopis medium fighter being built. Presently the facility has just started full production. In the future, it is expected that there will be a facility built to fabricate light fighters as well.

While starships and spacecraft generally are some of the most advanced in the Three Galaxies, a large percentage of small arms and power armors are actually military surplus from the Human Alliance. The Steel Grunt power armor is the most common power armor. In general, this is considered adequate to the tasks required. Some discussion being given to adopt an advanced space power armor however.

Description of the Icaria System:

The system description does not include dwarf planets and the number of moons is listed but generally not described in detail. There are also numerous asteroids outside of the asteroid belts. System has one brown dwarf star which is relatively far out from the main star and six other major planets.

Star: Skyros - Yellow main sequence star of around 3,200 million years. G0 class star with the mass of star of around 1.2 Solar masses and is about 30% brighter than Sol.

Planet -1: Nisyros - Rocky world with the mass of the planet being around 0.04 Earth masses with an orbit of approximately 0.40 AU from star. Extremely dense planet with a heavy core of approximately 50% of the volume of the planet and 80% of the mass of the planet. Tidal locked with the star.

Planet -2: Pacheiá - Rocky world with the mass of the planet being around 0.5 Earth masses with an orbit of approximately 0.65 AU from star. Due to solar winds and distance from star, the planet has little atmosphere although there is some.

Moons: One - Small rock ball. Some mining on moon.

Planet -3: Icaria - Rocky Earth like world with the mass of the planet of around 1.2 Earth masses and an orbit of 1.4 AU from star. Slightly denser than Earth with a radius of 1.05 Earth. Greater vulcanism as well. Surface land ratio is 31%. Continents are presently loosely together forming almost a super continent although there are a large number of islands dotting the planet as well. Planet has a relatively short planetary day of 16 hours, 34.35 minutes.

Planetary population is around 3,000 million with an additional 1,100 million living in orbit around the planet. There are extensive orbital warehouses in orbit. Shipyard facilities however are mostly limited to refitting with most shipbuilding being performed in asteroid yards.

Moons: One - reasonably large sized moon with of around .005 of Earth mass and orbits closer in than Earth’s moon. Believed to have been a captured proto-planet which was captured in orbit instead of being smashed into the planet. Moon has intensive orbital industry and mining.

Planet-4: Kasos - Rocky Mars like planet which is in the process of being terraformed. Has a mass of O.4 of Earth masses and orbits at 2.05 AU out from the star. Has some limited vulcanism. Atmosphere presently cannot be breathed by humans however some extremophiles have been introduced into the environment. The Sentient population lives either in underground shelters or in shielded surface facilities. Sentient population of planet is 320 million with Catyrs being 15% of the population of the planet while only 4% of the system population. Another 240 million live in the orbital community around the planet.

Moons: Three - These three moons are relatively small and are basically rubble pile moons with very low density.

Planet-5: Tempestra - Relatively small gas giant which mass is 18 Earth masses. Average distance from star is 3.2 AU. Has severe electrical storms.

Moons: 12 - 4 are captured asteroids. One moon is relatively large, just enough to achieve a round shape. Due to the radiation from the planet, there is no mining on the moons.

Asteroid Belt: While covers a fair amount of space, the asteroid belt is centered around 5.2 AU out from star. Fairly dense asteroid belt with approximately three times the mass of the Sol system asteroid belt. There are several large asteroids which make up about 1/3 the total mass of the star. There is both large scale mining in asteroid belt and there is major shipyards in the asteroid belt.

Planet-6 (Brown Dwarf Star): Helicon - Has a mass of around 25 Jupiter masses (or about 8,000 Earth masses) and has burned all of its deuterium. Orbits 10.8 AU out from main sequence star.

Moons/Planets: thin asteroid belt, numerous other asteroids, 4 Ice balls, and 6 rock balls.

Planet-7: Lygkos - Medium sized gas giant of 95 Earth masses. Average orbital distance is 20.5 AU out from the star. The planet is similar to the planet Saturn in the Sol / Earth system. While it does have something of a ring, it is far thinner than the Saturn ring system.

Moons: Has numerous moonlets but has around twenty reasonably large moons which make up ninety percent of the mass of the moons.

Planet- 8: Vasilitsa - Smaller gas giant with a mass of 14 Earth masses. Average distance from star is 34.6 AU. Has some electrical activity but nothing like Tempestra.

Moons: Has 18 reasonably large moons with a single large moon of .03 Earth mass. Moon has its own atmosphere and weather.

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Writeup by Kitsune (E-Mail Kitsune).

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