The better part of a century has passed since the Travelers were last in Chikyuumaru. Both robotics and space travel have improved immensely in that time. In particular, the Emodriver Frame system, which allows the control of mecha or “Frames” through S.Tech, has revolutionized the way humans interact with machines. The Emodriver Frame was the brainchild of Dr Dara Eskandar (who Travelers might remember as their classmate from the Jaunt at Doki Doki no Gakuen), whose research was bought out by AEGISCorp in a deal that included Dara becoming their former head researcher for her troubles… and by former, we mean that she vanished mysteriously a few years prior to the current Jaunt.
This lead to an era of lucrative asteroid mining and orbital manufacturing, punctuated with intermittent acts of space piracy and political terror. The nations of the world developed astromilitary forces to fight back; the most celebrated and effective of these was the Japanese Space Self Defense Forces, but the American Aerospace Force, the Palestinian Space Navy, and the United Korean Space Command among others also had storied victories against piracy and terrorism.
Five years ago, a Munghungwa Dynamics outpost on Mars intercepted a transmission of extraterrestrial origin. Further investigation by the nations of Chikyuumaru discovered an alien beacon in geosynchronous orbit around the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. It was the creation of an interstellar polity calling itself the Aurigan Empire, which soon sent a stargate and a minor expeditionary fleet.
The vast majority of the Imperial aristocracy were from a species calling themselves the Aurigans - gracile humanoids with bluish to purplish skin tones, long pointed ears, and some telepathic abilities. Their middle and underclasses were a mix of Aurigans proper and their many subject species - including the felinoid Shuil, the draconian Rukh, the centauroid Hwinhee, and dozens of others.
For a time, there was a detente and even some limited trade.
Things came to a head two years ago. A diplomatic summit in the Martian province of Tharsis turned ugly after the Aurigan emissaries were unexpectedly infected with the X-pression Virus. Records of the ensuing chaos are fragmentary, but it resulted in the bloody massacre of both Imperial and terrestrial innocents called the Battle of Tharsis. A desperate Aurigan captain in command of the battlecruiser Heavenly Mercy ordered the sterilization of the city with a tactical antimatter bomb. Only the quick response of the Japanese Space Self Defense Force carrier Hosho, its escorts, and its Emodriver Frame wings were able to destroy the lone battlecruiser before it could launch the bomb.
The local Imperial Princeps, while they disavowed the actions of the Heavenly Mercy's captain, blamed the people of Earth for what they considered to be an unprovoked attack with biological weapons - and for the disappearance and presumed death of their consort. They formally declared the beginning of the Aurigan War.
In response, the people of Tharsis and their sponsor nations demanded a unified Terran astromilitary to counter the threat: the Earth Self-Defense Forces. They have been able to hold the line against the smaller but vastly superior Aurigan Fleet, with occasional raids, but that's about it; for their part, the Aurigans are unable to effectively conquer the larger ESDF-defended cities and bases with their smaller numbers.
The vast majority of ESDF materiel is supplied by AEGISCorp, with Munghungwa Dynamics and Dubai Space Industries leaders among the others; soldiers and fleets are drawn from around cis-Martian space. Lately, an AEGISCorp skunkworks on Phobos announced the development of a new Emodriver Frame - the Phileon, a testbed for new S. Tech weapons that they believe could turn the tide of the war.
Our story begins when the the ESDF flagship Valiant receives new orders: to travel to Phobos, take on Project Phileon's mechanics and test pilots, and to see what the Phileon is really capable of.
SETTING UPDATE
This lead to an era of lucrative asteroid mining and orbital manufacturing, punctuated with intermittent acts of space piracy and political terror. The nations of the world developed astromilitary forces to fight back; the most celebrated and effective of these was the Japanese Space Self Defense Forces, but the American Aerospace Force, the Palestinian Space Navy, and the United Korean Space Command among others also had storied victories against piracy and terrorism.
Five years ago, a Munghungwa Dynamics outpost on Mars intercepted a transmission of extraterrestrial origin. Further investigation by the nations of Chikyuumaru discovered an alien beacon in geosynchronous orbit around the Great Red Spot of Jupiter. It was the creation of an interstellar polity calling itself the Aurigan Empire, which soon sent a stargate and a minor expeditionary fleet.
The vast majority of the Imperial aristocracy were from a species calling themselves the Aurigans - gracile humanoids with bluish to purplish skin tones, long pointed ears, and some telepathic abilities. Their middle and underclasses were a mix of Aurigans proper and their many subject species - including the felinoid Shuil, the draconian Rukh, the centauroid Hwinhee, and dozens of others.
For a time, there was a detente and even some limited trade.
Things came to a head two years ago. A diplomatic summit in the Martian province of Tharsis turned ugly after the Aurigan emissaries were unexpectedly infected with the X-pression Virus. Records of the ensuing chaos are fragmentary, but it resulted in the bloody massacre of both Imperial and terrestrial innocents called the Battle of Tharsis. A desperate Aurigan captain in command of the battlecruiser Heavenly Mercy ordered the sterilization of the city with a tactical antimatter bomb. Only the quick response of the Japanese Space Self Defense Force carrier Hosho, its escorts, and its Emodriver Frame wings were able to destroy the lone battlecruiser before it could launch the bomb.
The local Imperial Princeps, while they disavowed the actions of the Heavenly Mercy's captain, blamed the people of Earth for what they considered to be an unprovoked attack with biological weapons - and for the disappearance and presumed death of their consort. They formally declared the beginning of the Aurigan War.
In response, the people of Tharsis and their sponsor nations demanded a unified Terran astromilitary to counter the threat: the Earth Self-Defense Forces. They have been able to hold the line against the smaller but vastly superior Aurigan Fleet, with occasional raids, but that's about it; for their part, the Aurigans are unable to effectively conquer the larger ESDF-defended cities and bases with their smaller numbers.
The vast majority of ESDF materiel is supplied by AEGISCorp, with Munghungwa Dynamics and Dubai Space Industries leaders among the others; soldiers and fleets are drawn from around cis-Martian space. Lately, an AEGISCorp skunkworks on Phobos announced the development of a new Emodriver Frame - the Phileon, a testbed for new S. Tech weapons that they believe could turn the tide of the war.
Our story begins when the the ESDF flagship Valiant receives new orders: to travel to Phobos, take on Project Phileon's mechanics and test pilots, and to see what the Phileon is really capable of.