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Date: Sun, 09 May 2004 23:46:08 -0400
Subject: [ASC] NEW Profile Standish (OCC, Outwardly Mobile)
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Posted: Sun, 09 May 2004 02:54:53 GMT  
In: alt.startrek.creative 
From: "Jay P Hailey" <JayPHailey@hotmail.com> 
 

Title: Profile: Standish
Author: Jay P Hailey and Garry Stahl
Series: OCC, TNG era, Outwardly Mobile

Standish Colony

Summary:
Environment:
Standish is a class M planet with the usual variety of environments,
although it is slightly cooler than earth.  Standish has larger ice caps,
arctic zones, and temperate regions, and smaller tropical and desert
regions.

Locations:
Churchill City, a well designed and attractively laid out community, is a
modern city with a thin facade of London during the early 20th century.
There is a 12-foot statue of Winston Churchill in the center of town,
looking at the statue of Nelson some distance away.

New Sherwood is a huge rolling forest, mostly untouched, covering most of
Beta Continent and used for camping, hunting, scientific investigations and
occasional skullduggery.

Churchill Downport Sector is the "Ghetto" to where most commercial spacemen
are generally restricted.  A sizable black market and underworld node
thrives there.

Bigger Ben, A recreation of the partially destroyed Big Ben clock in London,
The one on Standish looks similar but is larger and the internal engineering
is the product of 22nd century technology

Thatcher's Tower, littered with artifacts looted from London in the late
21st century, from the Tower of London, the British Museum and private
collections.  These artifacts are often the subjects of controversy.

Victoria Palace, the seat of the Standish Monarchy.  A feat of late 22nd
century design and planning, the fact that it is considered a private
residence and its location severely reduces its value as a tourist
attraction.

St. George Cathedral, the seat of the "Church of Standish" a revision of the
Church of England.

History:
In the late 21st century, Great Britain was a wreck.  She'd suffered badly
in the Eugenics wars and in subsequent "limited" nuclear exchanges.  Over
population and plagues had all but exterminated the character of the nation,
in favor of desperate poverty.

A cabal of wealthy people, aristocrats and wealthy aristocrats scrabbled
together a three-ship flotilla and fled, seeking a new land upon which to
establish a recreated England of their dreams.

Two of the ships eventually reached Standish, where they set about creating
a society that they felt restored what was lost.

Standish is unfortunately near the Orion Sphere, and so in between genteel
bouts of backstabbing and black marketing, Standish had to fight off several
raids.  The Royal Standish Army became a competent and tough fighting force,
and the Royal Standish Space Navy remained small but extremely tough.

Standish itself grew "spacer" zones around the spaceports and connections
with both the Orion and Federation economy, which they used ruthlessly to
their advantage, creating enough wealth to support their life style.

Population:
Approx 13,000,000

The population of Standish is strongly layered, with the descendants of the
original anglophile settlers (And people who can match their look and
cultural norms) at the very top.  These people stay at the top by dint of
ownership.  They used what was left of their wealth to buy the land on which
everyone else lives, the factories in which everyone else works and ships on
which everyone else ships Standish built good to the Galaxy.

The next layer is the middle class.  Educated and skilled people, who
support the culture of Standish, but who by ethnicity, background or simple
disinterest, elect not to play in the upper classes social games.

The bottom layer of Standish society is composed of the uneducated, poor and
immigrants who will never reach the social heights of the top layers of
Standish society.

People on the higher levels of Standish society consider the people on the
bottom of society vulgar and probably not quite as smart.

People on the bottom rungs consider upper class people snotty and probably
not quite as smart.

However, since there are plenty of opportunities for getting ahead in terms
of wealth and professional accomplishment, the class tensions on Standish do
not often pass the point of harsh language and energetic politics.

Although the ranks of Nobility descend from an Ancient military and social
command structure, it's rare to see them in that mode on Standish (But not
unheard of).  Noble ranks often come with stock in the corporate culture of
Standish and managerial responsibility for a profitable enterprise, with the
Crown and the specific noble sharing profits.

Many Corporations on Standish are chartered so as to require noble rank to
hold voting stock, or certain positions of responsibility. This is another
point of friction with the Federation, which reluctantly does business with
Standish based corporations and businesses.

Responsibility for and ownership of given areas of land on Standish (Called
Fiefdoms historically) are done but it's a very rare occurrence.

Most titles, once created, are inherited and persist over time.  Children of
nobility inherent titles of their own titles and ownership of properties
defined using complex formulas.  A special case is the lifetime title, which
expires with its owner.  These are typically used with knights and baronets
to reward someone who is extremely heroic, but who's family would bring
unwanted conditions into the Aristocracy if allowed to stay.  For example,
non-human ancestry, or political ideas that are unpopular with the
aristocracy.

PCs who hail from Standish can buy Aristocratic rank as a courtesy rank,
since, unless the Campaign stops by Standish a good deal it won't be
functional.  GM's looking for a more militaristic, or anglophile flavor to a
Trek game may elect to devise a system for buying Aristocratic rank as a
functional part of the campaign.

Culture:
The anglophile basis of Standish culture is carefully and lovingly
maintained.  Producers of pop culture and media skillfully slip in
British-isms and Standish approved cultural references and reinforcements.
This effect reaches down to a thriving popular music scene tailored to lower
class working kids in the cities.

The Anglophile nature of the culture is evident even at the top of Standish
society, where artists, writers, musicians and entertainers work in styles
carefully tailored to be compatible and complimentary to Standish culture.

Standish keeps an eye on the cultural developments and social trends on
Earth, but most of the rest of the planets in the Galaxy are viewed with
some disdain.

There is a virulent undercurrent of Human supremacist prejudice on Standish,
although the expression of it is often subtle. Violence is rare.  However
often Non-Humans will find themselves unwelcome in certain places or in
certain jobs.  Although more cosmopolitan residents or natives of Standish
abhor this and speak out against it, its current cultural inertia is too
big.  Standish is happy being the way it is, and as a whole is almost
impossible to talk out of their current path.

Government:
The Government of Standish is a weak democracy, a constitutional monarchy
and a sub-rosa corpocracy.

A Parliament composed of two houses represents the people, The House of
Commons is where the people elect their representatives, the House of Lords
acts as a balance, only members of the Aristocracy are represented there.

The Prime Minister is the Chief Executive Officer of the nation, elected by
popular vote.

The Monarch of Standish is descended from the Royal house of England, and
acts as a figurehead, a symbol, nominal Commander in Chief for the Armed
Forces and has the ability to call for votes of confidence, or in extreme
circumstances disband the government and call for new elections.  There are
a great many ceremonies requiring pomp and circumstance, mainly borrowed
from Great Britain on Earth.

A small class of entrenched bureaucrats does the actual day-to-day
governance of the planet.

Wealth is the tail that wags the dog of Standish government.  A cabal of the
Royal family and closely related aristocrats control ownership of
corporations and wealth.  Nothing that displeases them or notably harms
their business interests will see the floor of the Parliament for debate.

Local politics has much more effect on the daily lives of Standish citizens
and is much more open.  The contests for the Mayor and City Council of
Churchill City are energetic and hard fought. Although the money tends to
flow to people approved by the aristocracy and upper class of the planet,
public sentiment often flows in a fickle and willful way.  At least once an
Orion has served as the Mayor of Churchill City.

The Current Monarch of Standish is Queen Anne the Fourth, who took over from
her Father, Winston the third.

The Current Prime Minister is Henry Pellew.

Strategic Importance:
Can be very important as a forward base for engagement with the Orion
Sphere, or as a base for a defense in depth against a Klingon invasion.  As
an economic power, Standish is one of the legs of Federation Power in the
region.

Present Conflicts:
Standish is always in Competition both commercial and military with Orion
warlords and Clan Houses.  Sometimes this competition can become quite
hostile.

Standish views the Ferengi as competitors and threats and competes with them
harshly.

Relations:
The Federation - The Relationship is strained and occasionally marked by
diplomatic spats. The Federation objects to Standish handling of Human
rights issues, but needs Standish to bolster the Federation Presence in the
area. There is no danger of Standish being excluded from the Federation.  It
is regarded as, essentially a misbehaving Earth Colony, although neither
side wants to pursue the implications of this too closely.

Standish is a provisional member of the United Federation of Planets, they
send a non-voting representative to the Federation Council, but have not
been allowed full membership based on their treatment of non-human
residents, and flaws in their political system.  If Standish needs
Federation aid or support, the Standish representative will approach Earth's
Ambassador to the Federation and Earth's Ambassador will, if he agrees to
the need, speak to the council on behalf of Standish.

Standish citizens are considered Federation citizens and all Federation
citizens have freedom of travel to and around Standish, consistent with
Standish laws.

The Orions - That close to the Orions, the relationship is close and varied.
Many Orion Houses enjoy good relationships with Standish, as a connection to
the Federation's economy.  Other Orion Houses have attempted to damage or
destroy Standish, and Standish' assets.  Standish Commercial vessels are
often targets for Orion Pirates.

On at least one occasion, Standish resisted an attempt by the Orions to
conduct a large scale raid of the planet for goods, resources and slaves.

The Klingons - Some Klingon merchants visit Standish regularly, on their way
to the Orion Sphere.  They don't like the Humans of Standish and the Humans
of Standish don't particularly like the Klingons.  But those few Klingons
and Standish forces who have fought together come away with much warmer
feelings for each other.

The Romulans - The Romulans have no official contact with Standish.  Some
Romulan Agents may have passed through Standish on their way to Orion Space.
If Royal Standish Military Intelligence can identify them, they arrest them.

The Ferengi - The Ferengi see Standish as a serious competitor in the realm
of manufacturing and commercial shipping in the region.  They also see
Standish merchants as a definite threat in any given market where they
compete.  The avowedly commercial base of Standish' wealth makes some
Ferengi view Standish as a prime example of Federation hypocrisy.

The Cardassians - They find the organization and training of the Standish
Military very nice.  They find the stratification of Standish society to be
understandable if somewhat limiting (There is more social mobility between
higher and lower social status in the Cardassian Culture.)  but Standish is
too far away from Cardassian space to be much a direct threat and is half a
step behind the state of the art in Federation military technology.  This
combined with an aggressive counter-espionage force on Standish makes them a
less attractive target than other Federation worlds.

Economy:
Heavy manufacturing and mining, but by far the most active sector of the
Standish Economy is in shipping and transshipment into the Orion Sphere.

The Standish Commercial Space fleet numbers 217 various ships, most of the
part of large scale Corporate shipping lines.

Standish has a huge moon, a rocky ball approximately the size of Mercury,
orbiting about 1.2 million km away from Standish, named New Liverpool.  New
Liverpool is the site of much of the mining and heavy industry of Standish,
as well as several moderate sized domes.

Standish has good resources for a single system and they are well developed.
However, they have spent a good deal of effort to be able to have
manufacturing, assembly and shipping resources at hand.  Standish sells to
worlds all over the sector and is a center for Federation heavy industry in
the region.

Ship facilities:
Standish has two small moons that are really captured asteroids, flying
mountains of rock a few miles across.  They were originally named Edward and
Wallis.  Eventually they were chosen as the sites of Standish' two orbiting
spaceports, Portsmouth and Whitehall stations.

Each station is tunneled into the rock of its respective moon, with tunnels
and chambers sprawling though the rock.  Modules and docking arms are
scattered on the surfaces.  Each asteroid has been partially hollowed out
and the interior used as a space dock to allow shelter from extreme
temperatures, radiation and micrometeorite damage.

Whitehall Station can do any repair up to major rebuilds of Federation
Starships.  Whitehall station can take up to 8 ships in enclosed docking
stations, and hard dock numerous ships to the exterior of the station.

Portsmouth Station services both small ships and large bulk freighters, and
can, in emergency dock up to 6 Starfleet ships and support many more hard
docked to its exterior, usually though Starfleet and SRN ships are kept at
Whitehall station and Portsmouth station is left for purely civilian
traffic.

Both stations look similar but practiced eyes can tell them apart

Military:
The Standish military is divided into three broad categories.

The Royal Standish Army is the air/ground/sea combat arm.  Its troops are
well trained and highly motivated.  This army mainly sees use as a defensive
tool.  They specialize in small unit tactics and rapid deployment,
appropriate to defending against sporadic pirate raids.

Enlistment and a hitch in the Royal Standish Army is considered a patriotic
duty and occasionally a route to social mobility, so despite the small
number active duty troops, the Royal Standish Army has a deep pool of
possible reserves.

The Royal Standish Army trains to nearly the level of Starfleet Marines,
although in more directly mission oriented and focused ways.  They often ask
for a detachment of Starfleet Marines to come and upgrade their training
regimen.  The RSA has more broad qualifications than the Starfleet Marines
and so lacks the aura of overwhelming technical competence and inventive
thinking that characterizes the Starfleet Marines.

Based on the old Royal Army of Great Britain, the RSA uses the same ranks,
awards and signage when possible.  Their dress uniform features a bright red
coat.  Special Detachments exist including a Royal Bodyguard, which handles
ceremonial guard duty in front of Victoria Palace.

The Royal Standish Navy is the Space arm of the Standish military.  They
pride themselves on technical competence and high discipline.  Often
training alongside Starfleet officers and crew, the RSN makes a point of
staying competitive with Starfleet.  However, the RSN also prides itself on
being a purely military force.  While they occasionally support science
missions, most RSN scientists study disciplines that directly relate to
their military goal.  The Royal Standish navy is equipped with a variety of
older Starfleet ship refit for a more militaristic role.

The RSN often specializes in the tactics and counter tactics of the Orions
and other pirates, and can often serve as a handy backup or reinforcement
for Starfleet Units in the region.  They patrol aggressively to keep the
Pirate threat minimized.

The Royal Standish Navy is based on the old Royal Navy of Great Britain and
uses ranks, awards and signage appropriate to that when possible.

Military Intelligence is the third wing of the Standish military and the
most controversial.  Recruiting the best and brightest from Army, Navy and
the civilian population, Standish MI mounts an aggressive campaign of
intelligence gathering and espionage activities against Orion Warlords and
pirate bands.  RSMI has scored major successes against the Orions, and has
suffered bloody failures, too.

The controversial part of RSMI is that they frequently use tactics abhorrent
to Starfleet Intelligence and the Federation Civilian Intelligence Agency.
These tactics are known to include theft, burglary, coercion, blackmail,
kidnapping and even a rumored group of agents authorized to conduct
assassinations.  Thus, RSMI represents yet another obstacle to forming
better relationship with the Federation as a whole.

The Military and Social Mobility -
In the Standish Military anyone can enlist and become an enlisted man in the
Royal Standish Armed Services.  These enlistments are of limited duration
but a serviceman can re-enlist any number of times until he reaches
retirement age.

Only a member of the Aristocracy can be an officer in the Royal Standish
Armed Services.  This limits the available pool of officers drastically.  So
the RS Armed Services depend heavily on NCOs and Warrant Officers.  However,
if a Candidate meets the rigorous competency and social standards of officer
Candidate School, he can make the leap to the higher levels of Standish
Society.  Once graduated from Nelson Academy, the new officer's commission
includes a social promotion to the lowest level of aristocracy.

It should be noted that the standards for entry for non-high-born candidates
are very high so a bare handful make it to graduation each year, however the
Military is the most consistent and reliable route for Social promotion so
there is never any shortage of eager applicants.

Starfleet officers and retired officers who take up residence on Standish,
or perform notable acts of heroism in relation to Standish may be offered
the rank of Knight

Languages:
The official language of Standish is the Queen's English, taken directly
from original sources of the day. Modern slang and word usages are
considered "vulgar".

Other languages are spoken, but these are not acknowledged by the Standish
government, another source of tension.

Advantages:
Standish's' English roots contain a surprisingly large amount of militarism,
violence and cruelty.  Enemies who write them off and "tea sipping wusses"
frequently discover their error too late.

Standish is ruthlessly practical at its roots and they will cheerfully dump
a lot of old baggage to preserve the core of their culture.

Weaknesses:
Standish culture is their weakness. It's arrogant, snotty and once you get
past all the polite language, occasionally quite offensive.

Notable Inhabitants:
Queen Anne the 4th, Current Monarch.

Winston III, now described as "His Highness the Prince" Since he stepped
down from the Throne in retirement.

Henry Pellew, Current Prime Minister.

The St.John-Smythe Family, One branch is an upstanding member of Standish
Society.  The other St.John-Smythes are Starfleet veterans who argue against
Standish's biases and prejudices.  These two branches alternate between
feuding and tense truces, but oddly cross pollinate as well.

Campaign Role:

A place to get authentic, polite, stuff-upper-lipped arrogant Englishmen in
the 23rd and 24th
century.

SYSTEM SIDEBAR:

System Name:  Standish System

Affiliation:  Federation Member (Provisional)

Inhabited Planets: 1, (two others have mining colonies)

Other Planets:  George, the gas giant.

Artificial Objects:  Whitehall Station, an orbiting Space Dock and starbase.
Portsmouth Station, a Civilian installation for cargo transshipment and the
support of Civilian vessels

PLANET SIDEBAR

Planet Name: Standish

Class: Class M

System Data:  Standish has 3 moons.

Gravity: 1.002G

Year: 254 standard days

Atmosphere: Standard.

Hydrosphere:  78%

Climate:  Slightly cooler than Earth, overall.

Sapient Species:  Humans 75%, Orions 10% Vulcans 1%, Andorians 3%,
Tellarites 3%, Bajorans 2%, Others 6%,

SIDEBAR: ARISTOCRATIC RANKS
King/Queen - Monarch and highest ranking of the Aristocrats

Prince/Princess - Just below the Monarch, and in line for the throne
eventually or potentially

Archduke/Archduchess - Equals the rank of a Prince or Princess in theory but
half a step lower in practice as the Archduke is not in line for the Throne

Duke/Duchess - One step below Archduke and Prince, in ancient times a
regional commander in the name of the monarch, a trusted supporter with a
sizable power base

Marquis/Marquess - Serious rank in the Aristocracy, Major land and property
holders, support Dukes.

Earl/Count/Countess - Midlevel Aristocrat owned sizable property.

Viscount - A junior Count, owns smaller and less critical properties.

Baron - lowest of the Peers who are seated in the House of Lords and lowest
of the owner/commander style of noble.

Baronet - A Junior Baron, or Noble with no appreciable holdings. Baronets do
get to go to the House of Lords, and are frequently not as well off as other
noble ranks, but are in the game and can improve their lot with luck, effort
and opportunity.

 Knight/Sir/Lady - This is the lowest of the ranks of Aristocracy and the
ones awarded to new officers.  The title implies a warrior dedicated to the
service of the crown.

Created By: Jay P. Hailey and Garry Stahl


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