Chapter Text
Zeus Imperative
Palatine: None
Executor: None
After the Lunar Gravity Well imploded and the Mass Eversion Event in 1981, the League of Nations knew that they weren’t done with space. Not by a long shot. Eventually, the arguing made way to two solutions; masses upon masses of rapid-deployable drones to secure the interiors, and a manned force of ship-selves to guard the borders. Allowances and mandates were drawn for conventional, diplomatic, as well as ‘exotic’ solutions. A new Academy was formed to train new pilots. Propaganda teams dreamed up the idea of a new titanomachia lead by a ‘king of the heavens’, and so in 1982, Zeus Imperative was born, hopeful and energetic.
Four years later, that energy was spent, and the corpse of Zeus was thoroughly picked over by its three ‘children’, two in the light, and one in the shadow. Out of fear of the unknown and a tightening of the belt, the League of Nations has ceased funding to all ship-self fields. But all eyes remain upon ship-home the Atlas, home and base of everything Zeus Imperative is and was. What are the child-factions’ intentions? What will they do?
‘Flying Dutchman’ Prominence—⊙ (Username: 鼠哭雀嚎)
Quote: "Everyone here is a pilot.” -looks down- “I’m like the only one who’s not a pilot."
Attached To: Zeus Imperative Service (technically defunct)
Ship-Self: Scavenger-Scout Jatayu-Falls-To-The-Earth (‘Jatayu’ for short, it’s okay, honest)
Needs: Hydrogen, oxygen, organic fodder to turn into sustenance, sunlight, salvage sites
Wants: To Break Free
A first generation operator assigned to clear the battlefields of salvage and debris in a ship-self designed to conduct self-repair, Prominence’s unsavory assignment earned him the status of a doom-portent; and his craft, the reputation of a ghost ship, to be avoided at every turn. Alienation made truth of the rumors, and now a gravity mutant and his ramshackle life support system must sail through space alone, and cannot make dock or else risk death.
Ares Program
Fleet Admiral: Becquerel
Admiral: Iapetus @ Hyper-Adapter Roncevaux Terra Mark-2
When the funding got cut, the military and security elements quickly organized into Ares Program, and declared martial law. The way they saw it, someone had to keep the aliens from breaching the Atlas and killing them all. This action was not taken lightly, and resistance from various forces soon turned it into a military coup. However, this clash was only seen as something akin to a labor dispute to the TV-watching public back on Earth, as all combatants of all sides of the conflict only used the most rudimentary of anti-human weapons. Eventually, a ‘ceasefire’ was declared, and Ares got to keep their guns. In the present, the program is supplied by various corporations and advocacy groups in their fight against the alien. Who knows what strings are attached with such generous gifts?
The Ares flag depicts a Spartan helmet in orange on a white backdrop, while their emblem is a heater shield, the night sky and various constellations emblazoned upon it; the center constellation takes the shape of a thunderbolt. Ares Program staff are almost always seen in dark grey fatigues; dress uniforms are for special occasions only.
Veteran-Pilot Corporal Io—Jupiter I (Username: ShootingSlut)
Quote: “This is stupid and a waste of time.”
Declared Hero of Earth (Allegedly) By: Ares Program
Ship-Self: Salvaged Test-Ship Loki Patera
Combat Style: Regular Brutal Beatdowns
Mental Health: Regular Mental Breakdowns
A third generation pilot, Born in a tube on the Lagrange Point Colony, Io never got to see combat against the first existential threat. She instead acted as a test pilot, working with her girlfriend at the time, Callisto, to test experimental technologies. Everything changed with an accident caused Callisto's ship-self to implode, and for Callisto herself to go 'Missing'. Taking a new ship-self made from the salvaged remains of Callisto's, Io got caught up in the war between the three factions of the former Memorial Foundation, siding with Cradle's Graces, holding onto the hope that Callisto gave her. She participated in the conflict up until the final battle for the Lunar Gravity Well, where she fought fiercely. However, when the Gravity Well everted, she was the only one of the pilots present not to immediately evert herself, and spent several days afterwards protecting Earth from the new alien threat, an act which amazed those on Earth, and got her branded as a hero. Now jaded and depressed, Io continues to fight for what she believes in, weaponizing memories of the past in the hopes of being able to create a new home for humanity, as humanity, out in space.
The Artemisians
High Priestess: Halimede @ Lo Sulci Mark-2
Honored Teacher: Herakles
During the coup upon the Atlas, one of the first to be targeted was what would become known as the Artemisians. Perceived as alien loyalists, this sect of fringe scientists, mystics, and pilots took it upon themselves to understand and reproduce the eversion phenomenon, many even wanting to become alien themselves. After the ceasefire, the Artemisians were closely surveilled, as part of the assurances that they would not endanger the Atlas mission. The Challengers of Apollo covertly provided resources and provisions to the sect, as their theoretical systems, and intuitive capacities were second to none.
It is rumored that the Artemisians have grown in secret to become a power capable of challenging Ares and Apollo. It is rumored that they have secret pacts with the gods and monsters that roam the star-lit spaces outside. And I saw Goody Proctor in Carnal Congress with the Devil. People tend to talk, but what are they really saying?
The Children of the Moon have no dress code, and no two of them dress alike; however, they favor flowing fabrics, intricate embroidery, and various worn utility belts, pouches, pockets and such to keep equipment. Each Artemisian wears a patch sewn on their person, on which is sewn a scene from the Flammarion Engraving, showing a traveller at the edge of the flat earth and sticking his head through the firmament. A ‘Z’ is etched into the right bottom corner.
Experimental Psychopomp-Pilot Ceres—⚳ (Username: BAN)
Quote: "I survived incredibly traumatic human experimentation and all I got to show for it was an unparalleled control over the narrative and an unstoppable ship-self."
Priestess of: Cult of Artemis [Unofficially]
Ship-Self: Nightmare Gestalt-Type Samhain Catenae
Combat Style: Winning
Dating Style: Also Winning
The product of a failed investigation into the nature of eversion, Ceres is the only psychic of her calibre among the fourth generation of pilots that was hastily assembled in the wake of the Lunar Eversion Event. Has a reputation as a troublemaker due to relentless abuse of her ship's fundamentally impossible ultra-classified specs, which is itself a veritable wellspring of gossip among Atlas personnel. May or may not have the ability to cause those in her presence to spontaneously evert. May or may not have been solely responsible for fighting off the nascent Ares Program during their failed coup. May or may not have a bad habit of revealing classified information to whomever's in earshot despite numerous threats of court-martialing. Hey, it's not like they can get anyone else to pilot the mechanical abomination that is her ship-self!
The Challengers of Apollo
Director: Europa @ Cannon-Self Pacification Solution Balor
Professor: Oberon
When the League of Nations stopped spending on Zeus Imperative military spending, the intelligentsia upon the Atlas saw the writing on the wall; they were very likely to be next. Even so, they could not just work with the meathead troopers, and so threw themselves into the coup, just as all the rest, defending what they felt was important to their mission. After the fighting was over, the Challengers continued pursuing their mandate, attempting to establish communication with several alien entities. With little luck on that front, they have taken to trying diverging plans, tactics, and solutions, all so as to assume control of the entire Zeus Imperative mission. What their end goal is, and how they will execute it, remains unknown.
Members of this faction wear blue air-force-styled pilot jumpsuits with heavy duty gloves, boots, and a utility belt. Their heraldry is a smiling sun-in-splendor; upon the sun’s forehead is a thunderbolt rotated sideways to look like a ‘Z’. One almost always addresses them as the ‘Challengers’; if someone uses ‘Apollo’ in any way, it means something is wrong.
Psychic Copycat Metis—1974 QU2 (Username: CopyKitten)
Quote: “Please don’t start a second fight over whether or not to break up the first fight.”
Associate Professor of Esoteric Inverse Studies with: the Challengers of Apollo
Ship-Self: Polymorphic-Type Amalthea Gossamer
Combat Style: Variable
Relationship Style: Variable
Metis is a pilot nearly unmoored from the narrative. With no unique gravity of her own, she is able to near perfectly copy the gravity of anyone or anything, including the alien. Metis is always exactly who and what she needs to be in any situation, even if things sometimes get a little confusing for everyone involved. With Ares she would become a weapon (something she might consider), or with Artemis she would become a prophet (which could be interesting), but with Apollo she can be curious, and with curiosity she can become anything.
The Saturnalia
Space pirates of new space, each piloting a customized version of the String of Pearls. No one knows where they came from, what they want, what they’re doing with the cargo they raid, and what their connection is to the now-deific former-pilot Saturn.
- Telesto @ ‘Red Jaguar’ Super-Seducer Custom. Self-styled ‘Queen of Cronus’ (the former planet Saturn) and leader of the Saturnalia. Flirtatious.
- Polydeuces @ ‘Warp Warrior’ Mass Fraud Custom. The best flyer/sailor in the bunch. A bit of a show-off.
- Surtur @ ‘Orange Twilight’ Electrotoxin Wellspring Custom. Traditional martial artist; student of the Damage Twig Style.
- Pandora @ ‘Wishing Well’ Quantum Battery Custom. Flighty physicist and dreamer.
- Titan @ 'Big Green Burrito' Enhanced Tidal Custom. Quiet and stoic bruiser.