USSP Lore and Resources

[vapid canyon]

excellent write up! really enjoying the points of each citizen and soldier being trained in construction and protection. as well as cleaning up space waste and establishing safe shelter areas. A suggestion I might add, since you got the hammer part nailed down (:3) would be the sickle. Within a resource based economy there would likely be a surplus of food and medicinals. And with artificial scarcity destroyed, logistics implemented to eliminate food waste-- and and within the lore of old NT about them obscuring omnizine as it would be the death of major pharmaceuticals. One could imagine Nova Cygni being a powerhouse of exported food and medicine to poorer sectors. What could make this interesting would be making exported or grown crates of food and medicine contraband under TSF and highly sought after by the ASR. The TSF fearing for their chemical supply chain being disrupted, as well as their commercial food economy being put at jeopardy, and to keep their workers in check--could start bullying around other ships and boarding in order to search for smuggled USSP contraband. (mainly writing this for botany and chem mains out there lol.)

[cedar girder]

you know, the way you wrote it makes me highly appreciate it, and I like the idea! <3
that would also make relations with the ASR more positive while at the same time keeping the general idea of the TSF "tollerating" the USSP for their general economic benefit but secretly wanting to take them over or dismantle them behind the scenes. Sure, I wouldn't mind that being added in

[vast thunder]

oh this is decently thorough, especially for what this server is likely to focus on.

i do happen to know the current writers for the latest iterations of the original USSP at paradise 13. The USSP moniker getting phased out and renamed to the RDU(red december union) as a part of their their v3.0 lore update so they can avoid being pigeonholed into "low tech space soviets" when running events.

the v3.0 RDU/USSP being more of a EU/NATO-esque alliance of socialist nations in contrast to the TSF being the centralized superstate with a state directed corporatist economy that pisses off both the communists and laissez-faire corporations which is a fresh spin on things.

so if you want notes from those developments i can probably find something.

like for example moving from "USSP fielding massive amounts of cheap old stuff" to "each RDU member state has their own fleet doctrine but the overall trend is defense-in-depth doctrine using designs that favor hit and run tactics" but the bigger members are developing more aggressive stances so you still have that one member or two franticly pumping out cheap ships for a numerical advantage.

[vast thunder]

yeaaaah the v2.0 and v1.0 USSP got a lot of tropes the paradise lore team wanted to get rid of.

in the current situation in Monolith i think the "USSP merc company" could be rebranded to be like, armed frontiersmen and pioneers sent to the furthest frontiers of union space to extract resources or fulfil the directives of their higher ups.

one of the conundrums the paradise lore team had to deal with was the mosin, players still wanted a lot of them around even if producing SMGs would actually be cheaper than making mosins or SKSs with their industries.

So the solutions used were:

1. Telsy(poorest RDU member) got a bunch of those gifted to them
2. aggressive expansion by Vostross --> more demand for survival weapons against space bears or whatever so you see them more often in the hands of reservists fielded by Vostross that's scraping the barrel to maintain the largest military possible so they let reservists bring their own weapons from home.
3. being frontiersmen/pioneers also helps justify why some of them have survivalist weapons instead of actual military weapons.

[cedar girder]

So, the whole point of the lore re-write is that the USSP won't really be a merc company, it will just be USSP national presence in the sector.

we will be a neutral party, in other words

[vast thunder]

yeah that makes sense.

[cedar girder]

added the economic note for food and medicine!

[vapid canyon]

sweet! happy to have contributed!

[vapid canyon]

heres my last little bit of rambling. but I did a bit of corny scrap writing for my old trauma surgeon resomi that during the cygni massacre and the nuclear bombardment of nova cygni. that there were so many corpses following the 10 hour war, radioactive fallout, and hospital backups that the ambrosia vulgaris that was imported and planted mutated and sprouted into deus from the farms-turned into mass graves as a small mercy. radium being a key ingredient in mutagen. the 10 hour war also led to kudzu outbreaks further killing civillians the impoverished farm and tourist town locations resulting in massive kudzu wars that required full co-operation and coordinated effort in order to fight. then being brought under control and tamed to create a source of biofuel, soil restoration, food, and animal feed. I based this off of what is currently known about kudzu in the US and how it was just kind of abandoned here lmao.

https://youtu.be/3x9LNQGSO-k?si=6eH3IKqM4pfkMzfE

[cedar girder]

THE REASON WHY CAMELOT HAS KUDZU!!!

[vapid canyon]

YESSSSS

[vast thunder]

in paralore the TSF is indeed the ones with the biggest sticks and have better odds than 50/50 at beating the RDU in a stand up fight.

balanced out by the fact the TSF are overextended and are dealing with internal issues at their frontiers. So the RDU isn't scared of them when contesting neutral areas outside the TSF like around the corporate dominated Free Eridani Republic. Or doing other proxy wars in Kidan space or Tajaran space.

and the bigger RDU members are overconfident enough to think they'll win. But even then they'd only make a huge incursion if there was some kind of internal revolt within the TSF or some kind of 3rd Kidan war distracting the TSF. But most of the 14 member states only draw the line at liberating Eridani, use that as a buffer zone and avoid directly bordering the TSF.

So similar situation as your last paragraph of that message but it's a closer call on who'd win out.

[hardy tendon]

I locve this all

[humble leaf]

That's a lot of words

[topaz pawn]

Seeing as Nick left, I am tempted to give this a slight rewrite, but mainly just expand upon what he wrote

First thing I think needs to be done, is a proper Lore Doc, having everything in one place that's a bit more readable

Beyond that, I think the origin of the USSP needs to be expanded on, Para covers this in their lore, but I do have an idea to make ours just a bit more distinct

[vast thunder]

Do mind para is going to rework their USSP into the RDU as a part of paralore v3.0.

I dooo have their drafts on this subject.

Just in the interest of avoiding copying the sloppy sides of USSP v2.0

So what do you got cooked up?

[topaz pawn]

I would be interested in seeing the drafts, if it is ok to do so
I should preface, I'm not going to copy USSP verbatim from Para, TSF is going in their own direction, we'll follow suit

Nothing done yet, just gauging interest tbh

My loose plan currently is:

• Lore Doc with existing mono lore
• expand USSP origins
• get some cannon events written in based on what's happened so far

The sore subject, is the company description writes the USSP as remnants in the sector
I don't know what people think of that direction

If we are remnants, it needs explaining from a lore context

[vast thunder]

Personally i'd frame it as pioneers and expeditionary forces.

But yeah i'll ask about the drafts

[vast thunder]

not a full-on military presence. Just people looking to do some resource extraction work or maybe even red imperialism.

Or whatever their higher ups sent them to do.

[topaz pawn]

Thank you kindly
I tend to agree, my original framing on the loss of Camelot and the navy stepping down ops (ie loss of Camelot) is that the Autarch is opting for a softer approach
Seed settlers in the system
Use propaganda as the weapon, convince the locals to rise against the other superpowers in the sector
That sort of thing

[vast thunder]

I see i see. Understandable

[topaz pawn]

It's all headcannon currently, I'll write up the specifics when I'm looking at cannon events, the change from Faction to Company is the most important event so far

The current lore is more along the lines of it's always been this way which is a very poor way to deal with it imo

[vast thunder]

alright, you got it: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1J5cOB01NSzU_TBxyqauDkz2B5WGabrLn1yCQrWEymcE/edit?tab=t.0

link should be set to suggest-only at most.

apparently there's a second document for a region named "the bones" if you want some psionic related anomalies

[topaz pawn]

Awesome!
I'll have a read through it now

[topaz pawn]

I wish Mono lore was half as good as what Para comes up... One day
I don't have any specific comments to give atm, I'm going to be rereading a couple of times during the weekend, so I'll pop in thoughts as suggestions as they come up

Generally, I'll share what I like:

• opting for a focus on the Warsaw Pact dynamics and the diversity of it, is a fantastic idea.
• Following on from that, the focus on daily life and culture is a fantastic idea, this is how you promote meaningful LARP. Having details a person can latch onto, like daily life, culture and even stereotypes, is a great RP tool and imo combats Main Character Syndrome
• A very interesting lineup of planets and various groups

My only general feedback would be:

• Criminality and corruption, I see Cinder station eludes to this, and Verdant Republic eludes to their fate... But perhaps a named mafia (Like our Paycheck Bratva) might give some RP hooks, particularly that they supply a lot of those luxuries that are difficult to come by (or sell cigs out the back of their shuttle) or perhaps what a prison sentence looks like in the USSP? Gives something for ex criminals to hook onto

Otherwise props to Para for producing peak

[vast thunder]

Yeaaah the last USSP writer was going to give the v2 USSP some kind of main character syndrome combined with anachronistic tech.

Somewhat averted but the megasupercarrier stuck around...for now

But yeah the v3 RDU is basically a socialist EU/NATO in contrast to the TSF's centralized gigastate that does dirigism both corpos and commies hate.

I'll forward your feedback. Appreciate it.

[vast thunder]

relaying a message back to you:

Oh this has just made my day ^W^
Makes me feel more confident about going forward with the RDU idea
And noted on adding on more criminal elements

Gah where's my dang manners? Tell them I said thank you very much for the feedback and kind words, been giddy for the last several hours X)

[topaz pawn]

I was labouring in the lore mines yesterday. I'm approaching 3 pages on just the formation of the USSP and it's early history.

It currently parallels the real world history of the USSR quite a bit, with the early days of the USSP and the revolution that brought it into existence, being arguably the most violent period in the setting, with the USSP being a Stalinist police state

Under the 2nd Autarch, I'm writing the Khrushchev style reformations that form the basis of the modern USSP, which should nicely transition into talking about the USSP in a modern context and more general topics like culture, landmarks, etc.

That's the barebones outline, I should have a draft up here in the next few days

[vast thunder]

the internal and external pressures would also be way different

[topaz pawn]

That's a good point, not one I've delved into much (yet), but I'm exploring the burgeoning diplomacy under the 2nd Autarch, where they try to fix the horrendous reputational damage the still relatively young state suffered under the First Autarch

I want to tie in the Confederacy that is written as the precursor to the TSF, which only came into existence after the Corporate War. I want to make the lore marry up to USSP's largely neutral stance in game, seeing as Nanotrasen is the USSP's enemy in the early days, it gives me a new angle to approach relations between TSF and USSP

[ruby kiln]

Alrighty so I’ve been quite enjoying the USSP the last week or so. Though we’re effectively larping as them because we’re all just Mercenaries. Love the lore, think it’s infinitely more interesting and captivating than another, certain Factions lore.

Is there anything that is needed in order for the USSP to come back in any capacity? Sprite work? Lore? Brainstorming? Community interest? Lemme know!

[vast thunder]

as i recall it's primarily down to the lack of maintainers, mappers and coders necessary to actually balance and make features for 3 whole factions. So they had to trim it down to a more manageable 2.

[topaz pawn]

Yeah, Johann is right, that was the reasoning
To me, there were a couple of other factors that led to the USSP change:

• Lack of content, 3 factions is a big ask from a Dev perspective
• Relatively low player numbers compared to ASR/TSF, or inconsistent at the very least
• Probably the most idle faction, most rounds became TSF Vs ASR, sometimes TSF and USSP would make a truce. It was never really consistent to have the 3 fight each other
• USSP gameplay was often described as Merc+, with people doing things like Expeds and Cargo bounties, which contributes nothing to faction gameplay
• USSP content basically became the Merc rework, mainly giving access to USSP ships and some of their resources like research, to give mercs parity with faction gear

Obviously, it was controversial and people crashed out over it, we also had a push from some players to try and establish the new USSP, including things like irl politics slipping in and biases showing, not a great look for us
That being said, things seem to be improving and players are enjoying having a bit more freedom and our signature LARP isn't going anywhere

[ruby kiln]

Rejoice, USSP now have frequency chips available in the USSP Vendor.

Is there any way to obtain Commissar armor without having to raid the Hammer of The Union?

[topaz pawn]

Currently, no, AFAIK
But I am working on USSP RnD, ie moving it to civilian research, so gear variety and availability should be much improved with that

I'm not actually sure if the Commissar hardsuit is in the current RnD for USSP

[ruby kiln]

I’ve not seen it in the options list, don’t think it is.

At least I’ve not seen anyone actually using it.

[topaz pawn]

I am tempted to do USSP crates in a similar vain to the NT crates, I'd include it in the lootpool for that

Or maybe do a few of those bluespace derelict ships that are USSP themed, include some rare gear in that

[ruby kiln]

That’d be cool.

USSP crates, that is.

Would also find it fun to have more USSP derelicts

[topaz pawn]

These would be the ones that tie in with the bluespace ship events, not exactly Hammer of the Union, but given our lore, Navy ships getting glassed in the withdrawal from Camelot is on point

USSP crates could include ship vouchers

[ruby kiln]

Would be pretty neat to see more of that, expand the story of the USSP pullout and the things left behind in the process

Speaking of ship vouchers. Is there also currently no way to obtain a ship voucher for the Capital Class ship like the Hammer?

Perhaps one day I’ll spend a bit getting the Hammer operational but would be cool to buy a pristine version

[vast thunder]

the year 200X called, they want their USSP(united states space program) derelicts and USSP derelicts back.

[median basin]

YEAH!!!!

[winter blade]

heres an improved version of that shoddily thrown together work contract i made a few hours ago for my fellow paperwork nerds

Feel free to modify it for whatever you want

[cedar girder]

REVIVAL!

[cedar girder]

contract?

HOURLY WAGE?!!??!?

hatred! (for currency)

[cedar girder]

👀

I mostly left because of the irl politics seeping in.

I didn't want to be part of the cesspool.

I'll give a read through what you did

[cedar girder]

I think it's absolutely nonsensical and I have proof that it is just a placeholder

already agreed-upon proof too! So no worries, we don't have to be remnants. We can simply be in-sector remnants, in the sense that most of our military force got pulled back home due to some reason or another

[cedar girder]

I do like the general vibe! It would tie together really well with the general reputation and ideas people have :D

I greatly approve!

[winter blade]

Hey man we've fallen on hard times and mercs unfortunately speak the language of.... capitalism... 🤮

Also wb

Also that ones outdated af i revamped it a few times

This too

I mainly made the logo because I saw a fancy tsf paper and i wanted to 1 up them

[cedar girder]

tHE P looks like a n comrade! use a П instead like true Пatriot

[winter blade]

I know, thats just what it looks like in the logo

[cedar girder]

we can be a bit extra :3

[ruby kiln]

USSP supreme

Time to play Russian pirates

[cedar girder]

comrade, that is Paycheck Bratva

[ruby kiln]

Comrade, the USSP is held together by bubblegum and tree sap. We must ensure victory by stealing from any whom isn’t with us.

We are alone

We must supply ourselves

[topaz pawn]

I'm kinda for embracing the whole Remnant identity, just cause it can create some interesting LARP
Not everyone agrees but... We can settle on something, eventually, I know Laughing Rabbit wanted to flesh out the current lore and how it fits with the current main timeline cannon
I need to finish that origins lore at some point, Viper Group is oddly tied to it now, which is kinda funny

[winter blade]

preferably MILITIAS whom aren't with us, we're desperate but not THAT desperate, unless they're paycheck, those traitorous criminals are fair game

remember we are basically the only one of the three major powers in the sector that give a damn about civs, we aint stooping to paychecks level

[ruby kiln]

T’is fun to be the arsehole wildcard of the faction that puts us at odds with other groups. Also fun to show up with a super modified Drako from raiding any vessel I can.

[cedar girder]

nyet.

[cedar girder]

exactly!

[cedar girder]

you can be a pirate and not be a member of the USSP, just originate from it lol

in that sense there can exit USSP ultranationalists from the old regime (remnants) and also the current USSP citizens/members therein

[ruby kiln]

Dont know who’s gonna stop me from flying USSP colors, wearing the USSP uniform and fragging who ever isn’t of the faction and has the shiniest loot, for my comrades.

[cedar girder]

and it leaves more flexibility for char creation imo

[cedar girder]

I mean that fits with "pirate from the USSP"

[ruby kiln]

Privateer For The USSP

[cedar girder]

as for "for my comrades", dont be too surprised if you catch a bullet from said comrades lol

because I know I sure will treat you the same Id treat any pirate

[ruby kiln]

privateer gaming

Slagging civilians for my Union.

https://tenor.com/view/serzhmorzh-bear-russia-snow-russian-flag-gif-27595198

[cedar girder]

anyway stop chatting in lore pls.

[ruby kiln]

Will do! Though this has plenty to do with lore, as it’s become somewhat of a common practice within the current remnant gamers. Clear split between “we must preserve our culture and way of life” and “fuck it I’m mugging that guy for his shoes and bread water-soup.”

[weary rivet]

counterpoint- remnants identity is great. Union has left the sectore to die leaving some stranded ex soldiers and civilians having to figure it out on their own

It allows for both Rping people trying to rebuild unions support among civilians as well as showing the more desperate part of ex soldiers turning to piracy to keep camelot afloat

[ruby kiln]

Current lore being put in place has the Monolith sector as almost a trap. Can come in, cannot really escape without drones hunting you down. That’s what’s being explained what happened to the Hammer. Came out of FTL and during cooldown it was struck by a few drones. Established lore does t exist here, staff can’t even really determine what galaxy we’re in. So this is all semantics.

[winter blade]

i also like to think its a metaphorical trap too, the monolith itself is basically the only reason the major factions really care about the sector, so as long as it exists there will be people who stay there, i'd say the drones just make it harder to leave. "we came for this mysterious artifact, why would we risk getting killed without it" kinda deal

its kinda like caving, why spend all this time effort and money to go half way and leave

[cedar girder]

oooh!

yeah

no I'm lagging behind

that makes sense then

I in fact was around before any of the drone stuff

if there's drones actively preventing people from leaving? yeah

no

remnants makes sense.

pioneers went in

got stuck

called for help from the USSP military

Military got stuck

government said "fuck this" and ceased all of those shenanigans

[topaz pawn]

The current timeline as far as I understand it is:

• USSP deploys the Navy to Colossus, establishes Camelot as FOB, the goal is to establish control of the Sector and study the Monolith.
• USSP as a faction happens, enters a fairly resource intensive war against the TSF in the sector, struggling to win a total victory.
• Something happens back in Union space (Several reasons are being floated around as to what. The current cannon (?) is that the Cold War between TSF and USSP went hot). The USSP Navy in the Colossus sector is hastily withdrawn, leaving many USSP in the sector. Some may have gone AWOL intentionally, others simply could not break through the drones patrolling the fringes.
• The USSP Remnants, are made up of ex-faction members and potentially random explorers and settlers, who now find themselves leaderless and unsupported by the USSP, so now, the unifying goal is survival. The USSP Remnant identity is largely based on the comradeship of its members, who support each other in order to survive. The Remnants don't own Camelot anymore, but very often claim it anyways.

[weary rivet]

What do you mean remnants dont own Camelot? Who does in that case?

[ruby kiln]

Mercenaries

[topaz pawn]

It was never specified who owns it, but it's a free port effectively
In reality it's just a better Expedition Lodge

[weary rivet]

I mean i presumed it technically nobodys ergo it belongs to remnants since thats where they sit

Or rather- remnants are the group that sits in camelot consistently and hence it is a remnant station

Sort of a squatter ownership situation

[weary rivet]

You could give it nice civil war angle

Internals party struggle between army wing and Civic wing

[ruby kiln]

Child soldiers, let’s fuckin gooo

[weary rivet]

Alright but who runs the faction?

Cause i wont believe there is no party of some kind that rules

and you can play of off interenal struggeles in the more civic and more militaristic wing

Sidenote- that children trained to do military sounds like a propaganda line. In what world can entire faction pop be on the level of training of proper military

[cedar girder]

#1429592341059997718 message

[cedar girder]

not proper military, but

they know how to use the equipment

pioneers

like

[weary rivet]

How much of that is still apropriate? Or is that the jumping off point for the rewrite?

[cedar girder]

that is all still appropriate

it was made during the faction changing to a company

think of something along these lines when I say trained

they know how to use rifles, they attend survival courses,

they work somewhat like boyscouts +

[weary rivet]

Attend is a good word from what i heard on those types of organisations in the eastern block heh

[weary rivet]

Alright, ill read throught it thanks.

[cedar girder]

thankfully yugo isn't in the eastern block to take example from there! :D

but yeah I getchu

[weary rivet]

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeh

waguely eastern block I'd say

yes i know it was stuck in the middle with both sides not knowing them, but I'd still say more eastern than western

Anyways we are getting of topic xD

[cedar girder]

1948 - 1951 soviets were funnily enough killed and hunted down (they tried imposing themselves on us)

:3

only after the death of stalin did we have normal relations with the soviet union

just as business partners tho fufu

[cedar girder]

yis!!

I generally took Yugo as overall inspiration to make the new identity fit better (and avoid reasons for conflict/hate from the larger factions in a more direct sense)

the rewrite John USSP made is pretty adequate tho! it touches retroactively / historically on Nova Cygni

instead of changing the current lore

and I'd say that it's a fair enough integration that would explain some people's active misconceptions about what/who the USSP is

[weary rivet]

Alright i read that all

It tickles the "state propaganda" part of my brain a lot heh. So the first question is if it is intentional or not? Second- is the server lore supposed to be rather gritty or idealistic? Bear in mind I am a newcomer here and most of my lore overview came through gameplay, and player interaction but i thought that this is a rather grim and gritty world, with all factions being moraly grey at best

[patent perch]

yes