Building Victoria: A Military Science Fiction Space Opera Epic: Aeon 14 (The Intrepid Saga Book 3)
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Tara – Named for the stone of Tara in Ireland, Tara is the second moon of Albion. Tara is not originally from the Kapteyn’s Star system and has a higher density and metalicity than other worlds in the system.
The moon has a diameter 0.9 times the size of Earth’s, a mass of 0.8 Earths, and a density of 3.1g/cm3. As a result, the average surface gravity of Tara is 0.5g.
Though Tara’s parent world, Albion, spends much of its time outside the Kapteyn’s Star system’s habitable zone, Tara has a molten core—largely due to its proximity to Albion, and a thick atmosphere due to volcanism. At the time of colonization, the world already had liquid water on its surface.
Tara is the location of the second colony in the Kapteyn’s Star system and is often referred to as the “beta site.”
Terra – While this is the Latin name for the Earth and—though there are some exceptions—the term is not commonly used to refer to the planet itself. Rather, Terra encompasses Earth, High Terra and Luna (as well as the assorted nations within the Terran sphere of influence).
Terran Hegemony – This is the official name for the InnerSol worlds either directly governed by Terra, or existing well within its geo-political influence. Notable worlds in the Terran Hegemony are Venus and Mercury.
Toro (1685 Toro) – Toro is an asteroid that has a resonant 5:8 orbit with Earth and a 5:13 resonant orbit with Venus. This means for every 5 of Earth’s orbits and every 8 of Toro’s, it orbits Sol in resonance with the Earth. During that period, it appears as though Toro orbits the Earth. It also makes for cost effective cargo transfer to Toro during that period. Toro, like Cruithne also is a useful slingshot accelerator for cargo being sent to OuterSol.
The original asteroid was roughly 3 kilometers in diameter, but subsequent construction expanded it irregularly by several more kilometers. It was made famous by what has been termed ‘The Massacre of Toro’, an event in which Tanis Richards played a key role.
Victoria – Victoria orbits Kapteyn’s Star at an average distance of 0.17AU and completes its year every 48.6 days. Because of its proximity to Kapteyn’s Star, the world is tidally locked with one side always facing its host star.
Victoria masses at 4.9 Earths with an average density of 1.1g/cm3. Given a diameter 3x that of Earth, it has a surface gravity of 0.6g.
The terraforming and colonization of Victoria began in 4253 and was completed one hundred and forty years later.
Victoria is the primay world of the Kapteyn’s Starsystem with its capital being Landfall.
Vishnu – See Ignitus.
PEOPLE
Intrepid / ISF
Abby Redding – Engineer responsible for building the Intrepid.
Amanda – One of the two human AI interfaces for the Intrepid.
Amy Lee – First Lieutenant who works in the Intrepid Security Operations Center.
Angela – A military intelligence sentient AI embedded within Tanis.
Bob – Bob is the name Amanda gave to the Intrepid’s primary AI after she was installed as its human avatar. She chose the name because she claims it suits him, though only she and Priscilla understand why. Bob is perhaps the most advanced AI ever created. He is the child of seventeen very unique and well regarded AIs. He also has portions of his neural network reflecting the minds of the Reddings. He is the first AI to be multi-nodal, to have each of those nodes be as powerful as the largest NSAI, and to remain sane and cogent.
Bourke – Chief of the main Victorian refinery outside Landfall.
Brandt – Initially the commander of the first Marine Battalion aboard the Intrepid, Brandt eventually became the commandant of the Marine forces in the ISF.
Carson – A fighter pilot from Sol, Carson is with the Andromeda when it battles the three Sirian scout ships.
Corsia – The AI operating the ISF Andromeda.
Earnest Redding – Engineer responsible for much of the Intrepid’s design. Earnest is one of the leading scientific minds in the Sol system and was responsible for much of Terrance Enfield’s success.
Erin – New Eden colony leader responsible for orbital space station construction.
Gerald – New Eden colony leader responsible for city planning and engineering.
Jason Andrews – An old spacer who has completed several interstellar journeys. Captain of the Intrepid.
Jessica Keller – A TBI (Terran Bureau of Investigations) officer who was chasing after Myrrdan, Jessica was found by Tanis in a stasis pod with no record of how she got there.
Jessica’s experience with police procedure was useful in setting up the Victorian police force and academy. She also became an accomplished pilot in the ISF.
Joseph Evans – ISF Colonel, Joseph Evans is one of the ISF’s top pilots and goes on to found the Victorian Space Academy.
Myrrdan – Often referred to as serial killer, murder, madman, and terrorist, Myrrdan was thought to be behind hundreds of atrocities in the Sol system. The command crew of the Intrepid believes him to be aboard their ship, attempting to gain access to the picotech.
Ouri – ISF Colonel responsible for the Intrepid’s security.
Pearson – Commander of the Andromeda’s fighter wings during the battle with the three Sirian scout ships.
Petrov – Pilot of the Andromeda during the battle with Yusuf’s cruiser in the Kapteyn’s Star system.
Phung – Marine Major who musters the assault transports during the operation to rescue the Intrepid’s leadership from Landfall.
Priscilla – One of the two human AI interfaces for the Intrepid.
Dr. Rosenberg – Chief medical officer on the Intrepid.
Sergey – New Eden head of space-borne engineering.
Simon – Head of biology and organic terraforming and for New Eden colony.
Sue – Originally partnered with Trist, Sue went on to become the ship’s AI on the Dresden.
Tanis Richards – Former TSF counterinsurgency officer, Tanis has held the ranks of major, lieutenant colonel, and general on the Intrepid. She was born on February 29th, 4052 on Mars.
Terrance Enfield – Financial backer for the Intrepid.
Tony – New Eden head of planetary engineering.
Trist – Former thief from the Callisto Orbital Habitat, Trist was left to die in a vat of silbio and ended up on the Intrepid. She was instrumental in getting Trent to reveal himself on Mars 1, and has since held a variety of roles assisting Tanis and the Intrepid’s leadership.
Troy – AI pilot of the heavy tug, Excelsior.
Sirius / Victoria
Agnes – Markus’s assistant as administrator of the SK87 mining platform.
Dmitry – Chief engineer of the Hyperion (SK87) mining platform.
Han – Major Han was the commander of the strike team on the Luminescent interceptor which was sent after the SK87 platform.
Huan – SK87 tug operator.
Irek – SK87 tug operator.
James – SK87 yard boss and close confidant of Markus.
Katrina – Daughter of Yusuf, Katrina is a former member of the Luminescent Society in Sirius. She was a spy for the Luminescents until she decided to switch sides and assisted Markus and the people of mining platform SK87 in their rebellion.
Luther – Luminescent Overseer of the SK87 mining platform.
Markus – Platform administrator of SK87, Markus ultimately formed a rebellion and exodus of his people on their mining platform from the Sirius system. Markus was the president of the Victorian colony for the first thirty years of its existence.
Sarah – A founding member of the Hyperion’s rebellion, Sarah is a fiery woman who is often at odds with the Edeners and even her own people. She is the mother of the Victorian president at the time of the Battle for Victoria.
Simon – Markus’s assistant who was killed by Yusuf on Brilliance Station.
Steven – Assistant to Luther, the Overseer of platform SK87.
Timmur – Hyperion (SK87) tug operator.
Tom – Son of Sarah and Pete
r, Tom went into politics early and served four terms as president of the Victorian colony before being killed by Myrrdan.
Yolanda – Noctus persona used by Katrina when undercover in Noctilucent space.
Intrepid Space Force Marine 1st Battalion
The ISF Bravo company was a part of the honor guard at Markus’s funeral. In the following action they were re-enforced by the platoons from Alpha and X-Ray company.
Alpha Company
4th Platoon
Platoon Commander – Lieutenant Usef
Bravo Company
2nd Platoon
Platoon Commander – Lieutenant Smith
Squad 1
Squad leader – Sergeant Lee
Fireteam 1 (one/one)
Ready – PFC Lindsey
Team – Corporal Hill
Fire – PFC Bauer
Assist – PFC Timmins
Fireteam 2 (one/two)
Ready – PFC Sarin
Team – Lance Corporal Nair
Fire – PFC Ramos
Assist – PFC Sergey
X-Ray Company
1st Platoon
Platoon Commander – Lieutenant Borden
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Michael Cooper likes to think of himself as a jack-of-all-trades (and hopes to become master of a few). When not writing he can be found writing software, working in his shop on his latest carpentry project, or perhaps reading a book.
He shares his home with a precocious young girl, his wonderful wife (who also writes), a cat, a never-ending list of things he would like to build, and ideas…
Find out what’s coming next at www.theintrepidsaga.com