Meeting at Fabury

The small priest absently glanced at the large man seated across the desk. The priest took in the simple but well cut clothing, military haircut and austere comband, which was the man's only jewelry.  His eyes returned to the pad display.
"Well Christopher I see you are almost ready to go."
"Yes, monseigneur."
"You've not had any luck finding a chaplain?"
"No , monseigneur. The journey is long and full of danger. I fear most priest on Fabury find their present duties, too ...ah ...vital."
"The bishop regrets that he has been called away. He has no priest he can assign to you, even for your trip to the border."
The big man sighed. "I understand, monseigneur."
"Don't look so glum, my friend. I will come myself tomorrow. You have a chapel aboard?"
"Of course."
"Good I will say Mass myself and consecrate enough host for a viaticum and reception during your journey. One of your companions is a deacon is he not?"
"Yes our doctor is a deacon of the Roman Rite."
"Good, he can provide for your crew from those Eucharistic hosts reserved in the chapel tabernacle when you are not able to attend liturgy at church or find a priest to offer Mass aboard." The priest pursed his lips. "I will also ask the bishop to send a hypercable message to the border to see if his fellow there can spare a priest to see you into the Midlands at least."
"Thank you monseigneur."
"It is only right, Christopher. You do a great service for the Church, she should attend to the souls of your crew."

The Hyper Utility Vehicle (HUV)

The Hyper Utility Vehicle (HUV) is a hypershunting equipped vehicle primarily used by military, postal, police and government for transport along Major Routes, Blue Highways and off-grid. They are lightly armed and have been manufactured by the millions for a multitude of official uses. Because of this there are also many second hand models in private hands where they fulfill a variety of roles.

Because they are used for a variety of purposes HUVs can be configured in an almost infinite number of ways. Most HUVs are built on 4000-8000 cuft hulls. They are built on deck-and-a-half frames, which means that they have a full height deck above a half height deck. The B/G engines, life support, fusion power plant, avionics and computer electronics are all mounted on the half height deck, which is accessible via floor hatches. A cockpit is located in the bow. The rest of the craft may be configured as needed.

The HUV pictured is a St. Martin County Sheriff's Police Cruiser. It is outfitted with four folding bunk beds, which double as automeds. A combined shower/water closet is located in the rear compartment, which also contains a jail cell capable of holding two prisoners, in somewhat less than full comfort.
This model is fitted with a Barnes-Gutierrez Hyperspace Engine with shunting capability. The B/G engine is capable of propelling the craft at a respectable 100 Gs. Its Toofren Fusion Power Unit is more than adequate to power both the light railgun, light particle beam weapon and the 200 DR defensive force screen.
There is an Airlock Containment Unit for egress. Force portals can segment the craft into three sections, isolating the center bunk area, in an emergency.
The craft contains a standard communication and navigation suite, including a subspace beacon driven autopilot navigation system, a universal GPS unit, an advanced proximity detection system and a gravity sensor navigation system, for use off the grid.

Limits of nanotechnology

One of the great secrets, or at least unspoken limits of nanotechnology is that even very sophisticated nanotech assemblers can only work with the materials that are available to them. So even free roaming assemblers, not allowed under the rules of nanotech deployment in the Highlands, can only use available materials to assemble an object. Putting a swarm of assemblers on a table made of tin with a plan for a wrench would get you a very well made, and useless, tin wrench. If the plan was for a radio you would get either nothing or a box of tin which did nothing, even though it might consist of a collection of tin parts which would make up a very detailed model of a radio.
It's quite true that a swarm or proper nanotech minifactory provided with a source of organic chemicals, such as a wood table (or its parts) could produce a vast array of chemical compounds, limited only by the amount of trace materials available in the sample. So as well as a wooden wrench, with the correct program of chemical compounds, acids or solvents or adhesives or varieties of nerve gas could be created, or even objects made of plastic. The aforementioned radio would still be beyond the capability of the mini-fact.
So at TL A, while nanotechnology has made mass production of many items obsolete, there are still many things which can best be made by a larger centralized factory utilizing the same nanotechnology but having access to many more elemental constituents of production.
For purposes of interplanetary trade a large amount of shipping will consist of commodities, especially elemental materials and organic feed stocks. Of course nanotech processing plants can more easily separate particular elements from their ores than conventional smelting methods.
Construction plans have to contain specific feedstock requirements to be fed to the nanotech device to permit the assembly of the required product. In some case it would be possible to select from a variety of feedstock types for a specific device. For example device cases made of different materials might be interchangeable without effecting the function of the device. It might be equally as possible to use gold or copper or even platinum for wiring or different kinds of materials as insulation materials. Depending on the materials available the same assemblers might produce two very different but equivalent devices from the same plans.
No nanotech factory will ever be able to produce any object which is larger than its available feedstock. Authorized minifacts allow a certain amount of the the air itself to be used without violating the first rule of nanotechnology use which requires that an externally enforceable material limit be designed in. This means that in fact an object slightly more massive than the available feedstock is possible, provided the mass consists of additional oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen (from suspended water vapor,) or gas trace products.

Distributism

One question that players are likely to ask about any game universe is what kind of economic system is employed in the game. In many games differing economic systems are even a stat of local worlds in the planetary design system. It may be imagined  by some that with its strong support of commodity money by the Highland government and humanity as a whole, that capitalism is the prevailing economic system in the New Diasporia universe. This is not accurate. In the Highlands, at least, the prevailing economic philosophy is distributism.
What is distributism? It is a third way economic philosophy which is neither socialism nor capitalism. Under distributism the ownership of the means of production is spread as wide as possible among the general populous, rather than being centralized under government control, as in socialism or in the hands of a few wealthy individuals as in capitalism.
In its purest sense individuals own the means of production. That is farmers work their own land, craftsmen own their own tools. Larger collectives of production do exists in the form of guilds. Guilds differ from unions in that guilds are made up of both employee and employer cooperating for mutual benefit. So for example while a ship builder might employ workers in the construction of ships by providing materials and shipyard space, the ship designers and builders will own their own tools and such intellectual property rights which exist to designs or processes, or they will be held by the guild.
Banks tend actually to be closer to credit unions or mutual companies, that is they are owned by their depositors, so rather than customers they are holders in stock in the bank by virtue of their deposits in it.
This cooperative approach at its heart is based on the Church's social justice principles of subsidiarity and solidarity. It does not prevent large scale partnerships with, for example, a whole fleet of merchant ships owned by their captains joined together in a single company, employing factors and agents through a region. It can easily be seen at work in any company which deals with the public primarily through franchises run by individual owners, utilizing employees who primarily own tools of production and are responsible for their own health care and retirement investment.
Distributism  promotes a society of artisans and creates a society with an emphasis on small business. Corporations and mega-corporations are not natural fixtures of human society. The existence of minifacts, that is nanotech run mini factories favors small production over mass production. Long range transport is concentrated on the movement of raw materials rather that the movement of finished products, which is to be expected in a society with nanotech capabilities. Legacy transport of finished materials, mostly nanotech factories from TL A worlds to TL B and below worlds still exists, as do exports to lower tech worlds off the highways. But even on these worlds local production is preferred, especially in food products and clothing, with imports limited to higher tech devices incapable of being produced locally.
Of course the true basis of human interaction in distributism is centered on the family, as the principle unit of the functioning distributist society. In this way the guild is a kind of extended family which promotes the ownership of property by family more than individuals.

Smart Gun

A smart gun is a gravity pulse weapon which fires smart ammunition. The most common caliber smart gun fires smart needles. The gun itself contains a laser targeting system and microcomputer. The user paints the target with the laser and the microcomputer programs the smart ammo to hit the target which has been painted. The target acquisition can be geographical, that is hit that spot on the wall or hit that bottle, or it can be objective, hit that large IR producing mass, which happens to be a man, even if it moves to a new location.

The gun itself fires the projectile using a gravity pulse. Most smart guns are not capable of firing a direct graviton charge at a target, though it is possible to have this feature added to any gun which fires Large Caliber Smart Ammunition (LCSA) or larger caliber rounds.
Larger caliber smart guns, those firing ammunition greater than 15mm, can also fire a greater variety of ammunition types, including the tangler, shot, APEX, and smart loads.
Combat Smart Weapons are versatile, multi-barrel weapons which can fire both smart needles and 20mm rounds, some of which are smart. The top barrel can also be used as a gravity direct fire weapon

The bottom barrel fires standard smart needle ammo. The weapon includes a powerful targeting laser for long ranges and a complex sensor package for a full range of targeting acquisition possibilities. It has a data link to allow it to be used with a combat helmet or cybersuit HUD system.
Combat Smart Weapons are the standard issue for Rangers and also used by Legionnaires, when not fighting in warsuits.

Darvis in Combat

Christopher Darvis has stumbled on a nest of slavers. He has been separated from his companions and must face them alone. The slavers attack with smart pistols. The personal force screen in his cybersuit belt unit, set to distort mode, deflects the needles. Darvis pulls his wand in side baton mode. He closed on his attackers. Using his skill with a tonfa he whips the wand around shocking two of his attackers senseless. The remaining two switch to melee weapons, one a monofilament knife, the other a monowire whip. Darvis rapidly rotates the wand to block. The whip entangles, unable to damage the reinforced hyperdense smart material. Darvis sends a neuroshock down the weapon, which is ineffective as the whip handle is insulated. So he uses his cybersuit enhanced strength to yank the whip out of his attacker's grip. He quickly raps the wand, with the whip still entangled into the knife hand of his last attacker.
Two of his foes are now disarmed. Three have been stunned. The one remaining flees, shutting the door behind. Darvis retracts the side arm causing the whip to fall free. Holding the wand like a baton he selects an APEX LCSA round and blows the door.
As he steps over the smashed door a rod of metal slices the air aimed at him, it's movement just slow enough to penetrate his force screen. Darvis triggers the sonic blade, which slices the bar like butter. The slaver drops the piece in his hand and turns to run. Darvis loads a tranq round and fires at the slaver. The round follows the dodging fugitive and down he goes. 

Wand Design

To further help with conversion to other systems this was how the wand was designed. The wand was designed using the rules in GURPS Ultra-Tech 2 (UT@-12) for combined gadgets. The gadgets came from Ultra Tech 1, with the exception of the gravity pulse gun. TL14 was assumed for this design. Weights of the gauss needles were based on the weight of a TL8 magazine with 20 more needles per tech level as described on UT-11. I assumed standard magazine weights stay the same over the TLs and then reduced the weight of the wand standard needle magazine by limiting the magazine to 100 needles. I assumed Large Caliber Smart Ammo is equivalent in size and weight to standard gauss slugs (UT53). Suppositions for Smart Ammo is given in the post on smart ammo. I assumed a gauss pistol frame or standard PR-24 baton, both of which weigh approximately 1.5 lbs. I then added all of the other devices together and multiplied them by .5 (because each device will be used seperately,) after subtracting the weight of the individual power cells. Total weight came to 2.125, just three ounces more than the 1.952 lbs of an expandable side arm baton.
Stats for weapons is a s follows:

	Damage	SS	Acc	1/2D	Max	ROF	Shots	ST
Ballistic	2d+1	10/8	4/11	133/600	399/1000	12	100/B	0
LCSA	5d+2(2)	10/8	4/11	133/600	399/1000	3~	20/B	0
Flashblaze	2d(2)	10/8	5/12	30	100	1
Sonic Blade	5d+3(5)
Stun Baton	Special

Minimum range is for the wand in its 14 inch mode. Maximum range is the 24 in extended mode. Ranges are for the wand in ballistic mode. Smart ammo will lock-on to the designated target with a skill of 20. It is modified by the targets speed, cover and size. Smart needles will not hover. The B/G engine burns out after 6 seconds. Target location is programed by the operator through the wand, and aiming can be augmented using a macrovison with HUD display which will reduce SS to 8.

Wand Game Mechanics.

As the guardian wand is not a standard GURPS weapon I will lay out specific GURPS 3e rules for its use. Hopefully this will give others enough information to convert its gaming mechanics to other systems.
Use of the wand requires a multitude of skills, Required are tonfa(for use as a sidearm baton), short sword (for use as a baton and shock club), force sword(for use as a sonic blade) and Guns skill is required to fire the incorporated projectile gun. Guns (laser) to fire the flashlaze rounds.
Veteran warriors will posses these skills at 16. Masters will have them at 20.
Since the weapon is powered by a single TL14 rC power cell the GM must keep track of each use of the wand and calculate the appropriate power usage. Or you can play by cinematic rules and either never have the wand run out of power during a battle or run out at the worst time.
If you want to calculate power usage the integrated targeting system uses negligible power. The needle magazines, like GRUPS gauss magazines include their own power packs, which have just enough power to fire all of the rounds in the magazine, so it is unnecessary to track their use.
The easiest way to track the other power usage is to equate mode of operation to a specific amount of power using the following table. The rB cells of the wand can deliver 1440 kWS or 4 kWH of power. The neurolash and stun wand are rated in number of hits. Treat the antitamper protective device as equivalent to a stun wand hit per turn the weapon is held. The sonic blade mode is rated in minutes use.

1440 kWs	Total Hits	Power Cost
Sonic Blade		-192/min
Neurolash	126	-11/hit
Stun Baton	126	-11/hit
Neddles	100
LCSA	20

Smart Ammunition

Smart ammo rounds are in reality tiny nanomachine versions of the Barnes-Gutierrez Engine. Standard smart ammo consists of needles constructed of a synthetic diamandoid core. The needle is coated with a compound camera consisting of hundreds of nano-sensor units. This sensor array is connected to a nanocomputer that handles guidance and control. The pistol, rifle, wand or other device which is firing the projectile provides the initial acceleration to the round using a gravity pulse. The microcomputer of the gun transfers targeting information to the initial round. The targeting information is limited by the very small capacity of the nano-computer. A nano-laser handles communication with trailing needles in a burst. Typically a mini-swarm of half a dozen needles are fired at one time, although specialized ammo types may be fired as individual rounds. The nanocomputer is not sophisticated enough, nor is the B/G engine powerful enough, to handle hover-and-wait targeting. Standard smart needle ammo attempts to lock onto the target zone or a specific high IR or EM target and makes minor course corrections along the way. It can sometimes be avoided by ducking behind cover or using a force screen set to distortion.
Standard smart needles come in the following varieties: solid core, tranq, tracer.
Large caliber smart ammo (LCSA) uses a larger, more sophisticated nanocomputer that allows better target acquisition. These rounds can carry a larger payload, allowing more kinds of ammunition to be used. LCSA comes in armor piercing explosive (APEX), chem, sub-munition, paralysis, flashlaze, as well as solid core varieties.
Sub-munition rounds release a swarm of smart needles which can be programmed to follow a standard smart needle round. Very useful for an over-and-under bull-pup which fires smart needles from the top barrel and LCSA from the bottom.
Chem rounds are the typical smoke and gas rounds and may be used to release bio agents.
Flashlaze rounds are a kind of laser weapon which uses a single use laser projector with its own power source. When triggered the flashlaze round projects an X-Ray laser blast. The laser crystal in the round is used up in the effort.  Since flashlaze weapons are ineffective against any target protected by a force screen they are not typically used against military targets. Their benefit is that a flashlaze derringer can fire a single devastating shot against an unprotected foe and is easily hidden. Since the unit is dormant until triggered the device is very hard to locate with sensors. As a laser weapon the flashdaze rounds can be used to quickly light a fire or burn through a barrier (although it is not as effective as a laser beam weapon to cut a doorway through a wall, for example.)
20mm smart rounds are large enough to have sophisticated target homing capabilities which used IR, hyper-spectral, and ultra-scanner sensor systems for target tracking. These types of weapons can even track targets behind walls and other cover. Heavier Armor Piercing rounds make physical armor almost useless. Smart loads are constructed of smart materials, like monowire and memory material, which can expand after it penetrates the target, to do more damage. Burrowing needles dig deeper into the body after they hit, inflicting even more damage. Energy warheads capable of triggering an EMP event to damage unshielded electronics can also be used. Another form of energy warhead is capable of emitting a gravity pulse, which may penetrate even a force screen. Larger flashlaze rounds are also available, as are plasma warheads similar in function to the flashlaze, except a beam of ionize plasma is released, similar to that from a plasma blaster.

Guardian Wand

The guardian wand is a weapon typically carried by both members of the Rangers and many officers of the Star Legion. Originally the wand was a simple baton capable of delivering a neural shock, used primarily as a non-lethal weapon to control an unruly individual. As technology progressed wands with newer features were developed. The TL A version of the wand is a marvel of technology. The wand is approximately 14 inches long in its collapsed state. In its extended state the device has the look of a tonfa, or side arm baton, 24 inches long with a side handle.

As the device is made out of a nanotube reinforced hyperdense smart material, which is almost indestructible, it can be used as a tonfa or baton without damage. The handle is made of memory material allowing it to be retracted into the wand creating a conventional baton.
 The wand is monomorphic, that is it is tuned to only allow its owner to operate it. A protective device will deliver a shock to anyone else who tries to use it. As might be expected given its capabilities the weapon is controlled by a powerful microprocessor. There are controls to extend the side handle, extend the wand to its full length, select ammo type, adjust gravity pulse speed (for sonic boom suppression and direct fire,) activate shock or sonic blast, etc.
The wand incorporates a gravity pulse gun capable of firing two kinds of ammunition or no ammunition at all. The wand has two cylindrical magazines, each of which is capable of selecting specific ammunition types from the magazine. One magazine is for standard rounds and one for LCSA rounds. Basic ammunition types are smart projectiles and ballistic projectiles. In smart ammo mode the gravity pulse launches the ammunition which then continues to the target under its own power. When firing ballistic ammunition the firing speed of the projectiles can be adjusted to prevent them from breaking the sound barrier. Neither smart nor ballistic projectile can be made to go slow enough to penetrate a force screen.

Ballistic projectiles include solid core and hypervelocity spheroids. Smart needles can also be fired in ballistic mode.
A gravity pulse gun is a weapon that can provide crushing damage. Such a weapon can penetrate almost all types of standard armor and is even effective against force screens, which protect at 1/100 of their normal DR. In its direct fire mode the wand uses much more energy than when firing projectiles.
The forward half of the wand can be used to deliver a stunning shock to a foe. It can also be used as a neurolash, stun wand and as a sonic blade. Since all of these devices use the same energy cell the user must stay aware of how much energy is left in the weapon power pack.
Specific game mechanics for GURPS 3e follow.

Vacc Suits

First a word about the term. The name vacc suit for an EVA suit aka spacesuit was first used in the game Traveller. Loren K. Wiseman has stated that Mark Miller, the developer of Traveller used the term for coryright reasons. Despite this it has become a common term in space science fiction RPGs, including GURPS.
Within the Highlands, and in other regions where the TL is high enough, vacc suits use a set of similar technologies. Such suits do not inflate, they use a mechanical counter-pressure system (MCP) which uses nano-materials to form an elastic bodysuit which provides pressure for the body not by keeping it within a pressurized bubble, but with direct mechanical pressure. Open pours in the suit allow perspiration to aid in cooling. Tears in the suit can cause bruising to the skin beneath, but are not catastrophic, as they are in a conventional suit.
The MCP suit forms the basis of all advanced vacc suits, even cybersuits.
The most basic vacc suit is the skin suit. In this design the MCP system is stabilized and enhanced by a network of active smart metal which can give extra support to the suit and pull it tighter against the skin when external pressure decreases. Skin suits resemble a body stocking. The outer layer is often made of chameleon surface to allow the suit to be decorated, which it typically is by most spacers. It is often worn as everyday clothing by everyone from lorry drivers to Rangers. Skin suits have minimum radiation protection and are not intended for heavy EVA work. They are what is technically called an IVA (intravehicular activity) suit. The better ones include the ability to extrude a helmet and gloves. These luxury brand units typically include other features, like extruding hoods for cold weather environments, and some even include light ballistic armor. Cheaper ones require the use of a flexible space helmet and gloves, which may be kept in a pocket, or a standard bubble helmet, both of which require separate communication gear. Skin suits are designed as emergency life support suits. Most have a re-breather pack and a mini tank which gives 30 minutes of air. They also have an external connection to allow use with a small tank giving 12 hours of air or a fixed system for virtually unlimited air.
A standard EVA vacc suit is heavier and includes a layer designed for radiation protection. The better ones include lots of pockets for equipment storage, and hooks for lifelines and other equipment. The suit has a hardpoint in the back for mounting a life support pack, which provides power, temperature control and a place to mount air tanks. Serious suits include an installed waste relief system, illumination lighting, multivisor sensor system, gravity boots, and a concentrated food and water system. It may also include a B/G propulsion unit, for enhanced space and planetary maneuverability. All suits will include a radio communication system with a hardline option and a computer support system, typically in the helmet.
An armored version of the suit is available, which has a flexible ballistic outer coating. An even heavier combat hardsuit is used by the military for low intensity conflicts which do not warrant the use of cybersuits or warsuits. They contain all of the above features as well as a bio-monitoring web and more advanced sensors.

Cybersuit

A cybersuit is an advanced form of body armor which is made of nanomaterials. The suit appears to be a simple skin tight vacc suit with an integrated pack. The suit is constructed of multiple layers of various armor materials enhanced with nano-motors which allows the fabric of the suit to act as an artificial muscle. Pressure sensors on both the inside and outside of the suit allow the user to wear a cybersuit without encumbrance. It can be adjusted to enhance the users strength or operate at the users natural strength. The suit provides armor and radiation protection.
Since cybersuits are made of self-adjusting smart materials one size basically fits all. The suit will adjust itself to fit whoever dons it. The surface of the suit is a dynamic instant chameleon surface which can absorb sunlight to provide power. An integrated D cell in the back pack can provide power for over 24 hours when there is no sunlight. It is infrared cloaked and radar stealthy. Like many smart materials it has limited self repair capability, utilizing a nanotech gel layer buried among its other layers.
The helmet can be absorbed or extruded from the suit on command. When sealed the suit provides full air filtration capability, against chemical and bio weapons.  As long as it has power the suit can recycle bodily wastes and carbon dioxide, giving it an extended air and water supply. The suit has full temperature control, provides hearing protection has a multivisor sensor system and HUD. A short range radio allows communication even in space. Tactical systems include an Electronic Countermeasures System.
The suit contains an advanced tactical computer system.
Cybersuits are the standard field armor of the Rangers, who typically wear skinsuit vacc suits at other times. They are also the most common form of light military armor worn by members of the Star Legion when they are not engaged in heavy combat. For that they wear warsuits.
Military users often augment the cybersuit with a personal force screen belt. The solar recharging power of the cybersuit can be used to operate the personal force field indefinitely, as long as there is sunlight. In dark or shadow field operation is limited to 15 min.

Highland Rangers

The Highland Rangers are a territorial paramilitary police force. While they are independent of the Star Legion, they can and have acted under Legion command during wartime. Unlike the giant Legion ships-of-the-line, the largest Rangers vessel is the patrol corvette. They also operate schooners and HUVs, which allow individuals and small detachments of Rangers to enforce Highland law.
The rangers operate everywhere within the Highlands, but they are probably most active at its edges, where the problems and criminal activity of the Midlands leaks over into civilized space.
Rangers generally don't wear uniforms, but can be recognized by the Encircled Maltese Cross badge awarded to each Ranger at commissioning.

Individual Rangers buy their own personal gear and are paid a stipend to compensate for the cost of equipment. The unit provides heavy equipment, such as vehicles and ships.
Rangers are trained in combat, search and rescue, and hostile environment survival. They overwhelmingly come from non-urban environments, including vacuum worlds and asteroid colonies.
The Senior Captain of Rangers supervises the organization. Ranger Companies are commanded by Ranger Captains. Lieutenants (pronounced left-tenants, in the British fashion,) command detachments of Rangers. All other Rangers are considered equivalent to junior commissioned officers, since each holds a commission from Parliament. Specific ships or units of Rangers assigned a specific job will be led by a Tactical Leader. This is not a rank, but a temporary assignment, usually given to the Ranger with the most experience in performing that specific task.
The Rangers primarily operate within the borders of the Highlands working in law enforcement, search and rescue, government corruption investigations and organize crime suppression. They also act as a custom service, of sorts, though their duties in this area primarily consist of keeping Midland pirates out of the Highlands.

The Star Legion

The Star Legion is the main military of the Grand Human Union. It is a combined force under a single general staff. The head of the General Staff is the only serving officer holding the rank of Marshal. The marshal reports directly to the Defense Committee of parliament.
The General Staff itself is made up of the heads of the Directorates who hold the rank of Vice-Marshal. Each Directorate is made up of a combined force of fleet and planetary combat units with associated support.
Star Legion officers attend the Legion Academy at New Chicago and graduate with the rank of midshipman, which is a rank equivalent to a warrant officer.

Ranks
	Marshal
	Vice-Marshal
	Admiral
	Vice-Admiral
	Commodore
	Senior Captain
	Captain
	Commander
	Major
	Senior Lieutenant
	Lieutenant
	Ensign
	Midshipman
	Chief Warrant Officer
	Sergeant Major
	Master Chief Sergeant
	Chief Sergeant
	Sergeant
	Corporal
	Legionnaire

Because it is a combine force officers are expected to be proficient in many forms of warfare. Because it is a space force most officers have at least some proficiency in space craft operation, especially including piloting and subspace navigation. Many also have extensive knowledge of planetary ground combat and even such specialized fields as wet naval warfare and hostile environment combat.
Uniforms of the Legion are primarily black with silver trim. Various uniform types, excluding high tech field dress, include service dress, ceremonial dress and full dress. Officers also have a number of mess dress uniforms, which may be proscribed for formal occasions.
The Legion's insignia is a six point silver star on a white shield.

Service in the Legion often runs in families, especially among the officer corps. Many members of the Legion eventually move into positions in the bureaucracy.

In some ways the Legion tends to be more lax than many of the traditional militaries of the past. While cadets at New Chicago and in the recruit training commands are kept under strict military discipline, in the fleet itself it is neither uncommon nor against regulations for legionnaires and sous officier, that is, non-commissioned officers to be on a first name basis. The same is true within the warrant and commissioned officer ranks. Off duty fraternization is allowed, even between disparate ranks, as long as there is no direct line of command relationship.  Of course the general mood of public morality itself imposes a certain formality on individuals. 

The highly technical nature of modern warfare requires a very well educated and highly trained force. This is as true for the individual legionnaire as for the officer corps.

Religious orthodoxy tend to be especially strong among the officer's corps. Under the Great Compromise Muslim units are separate and do not have women serving with them, not even in a subordinate role. The General Staff tends to assign minority religious units to areas where they will be in an environment which does not conflict with their religious sensibilities.

Conflicts in which the Legion is engaged tend to be small scale, occurring mostly in the areas of the Midland/Highland border region, where  the expansion of civilization is most likely to run up against those who have a strong inclination to resist its expansion. The Highland government tends to bypass worlds which do not seek entrance to the Grand Union, but does not brook aggression against those who have sought union.

Force Field Rules

In this post I am going to get into an area that I usually avoid, which is specific game rules. The purpose of New Diasporia is to describe a game background. For many aspects of the game any rule system will do, and because many RPG rulesets dedicated to science fiction already include rules for force fields feel free to completely disregard this post if you prefer the rules you are familiar with or are already integrated into the ruleset of your choice.
I should start by stating that these rules are based upon the force field rules for GURPS, which in both the 3rd edition, which I use and the 4th edition which I do not (but sometimes steal shamelessly from) were both developed by David Pulver. These rules are not identical to the generic GURPS 3ed or GURPS 4ed rules, but are heavily modified for New Diasporia.
Force field technology as proposed by the two editions of GURPS are vastly divergent. The 3rd edition rules seem very much based upon black globe force fields from the Traveller background. The 4th edition rule seem much more in line with how force fields are handled in Star Trek or Stargate. 3rd edition Force fields are very massive (at anything approaching reasonable tech levels,) very expensive and as dangerous to the user as the enemy. 4th edition force fields are much more interesting, but, like all of GURPS 4th edition lack the gearhead crunchiness of the 3rd edition rules, like how to design force fields for vehicle or spacecraft use.
They are also substantially lighter and cheaper.
Specs are standard GURPS with the noted exceptions. Power is in Megawatts (MW), Volume is in cubic feet (cuft). Mass is in pounds (lbs). Cost is in Parliaments (1P~$1000). Radius of the coverage area for spherical or hemispherical fields are in feet (ft). Tech Level is in New Diasporia TL. Damage Resistance (DR) is the standard GURPS characteristic that describes the protection offered by armor or any object when it is hit. PF is the Protection Factor, the amount of protection given against gamma radiation.

Force Screens	Power	Volume	Mass (lbs)	Cost (P)	Diameter (ft)	TL	DR
Heavy Force Screen	*	12	1500	1500	45	B	4000
Medium Force Screen	*	6	250	250	30	B	1000
Light Force Screen	*	2	25	25	15	B	200
	* External
Personal Force Field	C/.25	0.00028	2.5	8	Conformal	A	60
Tactical Force Field	D/1	1.2	10	20	Conformal	A	150

Force Screens can be scaled to cover larger areas by simple multiplication. A medium force screen which covers an area enclosed by a 60 foot sphere would cost P500, mass 500 lbs and be about to same size as a heavy force screen covering an area enclosing a 45 ft sphere.

Small vehicle force fields are typically conformal, that is they conform to the shape of the vehicle. Therefore the relevant parameters for a vehicle force screen are the DR and the Surface Area in ksf. The power consumption of a force screen is equal to its Surface Area in ksf times its DR divided by 100 or:

Power (MW) = Surface Area (ksf) * DR / 100

To calculate the mass of the projectors and the associated hardware multiply the Power by 11.8.

Mass (lbs) = Power (MW) * 11.8

The cost is equal to the power divided by ten in Parliaments.

Cost(P) = Mass * 2.5

Military vehicles and spacecraft larger than 400,000 cuft are typically spherical and use spherical force fields. Battle Riders and Mobile Fighting Vehicles (MFV) even though they can be as small as 2000 cuft also usually spherical and use spherical force fields.  Cost and the Mass of the field equipment tend to favor spherical fields.

In ablative mode the screen loses one point of DR for every 10 points of damage it takes. It will regenerate 1 DR per second for every 10 DR the field started with.
If the force screen is to be used in absorbent mode it must have an energy sink. This generally takes the form of a bank of rechargeable power cells.
As long as there is capacity in the energy bank the screen will absorb all of the hits it takes. DR is converted to MW based upon the amount of energy that is deposited on the screen by the weapon. For this purpose 100 DR is equivalent to 1 MW. A standard E power Cell can hold up to 2880 MWs. A ships energy bank can hold over a million MWS of energy.
Once the energy bank is full the screen will degrade in seven levels. It will bump a level each time it absorbs one half of its rated DR. It can also bleed off this energy at one level per 10 seconds. All of the energy must be bled off the screen before it can be turned off or its mode shifted, or it will catastrophically fail.
A screen can be switched from one mode to the other while it is in operation. All of its other properties can also be manipulated without turning it off.
To calculate power factor divide the DR by 100. For every cDR increase the PF increased by a factor of 10. So a DR 100 field provides a PF of 10. A DR 200 field provides a RF of 100, etc.

Force Field Technology

As New Diasporia is intended to establish a game universe rather than a particular game system this section will not give particular game stats. Since such systems are superscience rather than based on a particular real world technology I will probably followup with a set of proposed rules which can be integrated into a GURPS rule set (since that's what I use.) Feel free to modify those rules to fit in your own favorite rule set as the broad tech specs are more important than the rule specifics.
Force field technology is a spin off of gravitic technology. The primary improvement in the transition from TL B to TL A is a reduction in size of available force field projectors from the vehicle to the man portable size.
There are two primary parameters of a force field which can be manipulated to give it variant characteristics and two modes in which it can operate. Other specifications of a force field are its defensive factor or how much damage it can take and the area it covers.
The operational modes are ablative and absorbent. The two parameters are permeability and transparency. 
In ablative mode a force field will weaken by a specific amount every time it is struck. It will also regenerate by a certain amount for every second it is not under attack until it returns to its rated strength.
In absorbent mode a force field will convert the kinetic or directed energy with which it is attacked into stored energy, typically in a set of power cells, though the energy can be redirected to any use, include into powering the force field itself. Once a force field in absorbent mode has filled its energy sink it will continue to store the attacking energy in the field until it experiences a catastrophic failure. Such a field will appear black from the outside (unless it is adjusted to pass visible light) it will then change color though the visible spectrum [red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet] until it explodes, destroying all within and quite a bit outside.
By adjusting the permeability of a force field the user can make it sealed, in which case a life support system will be need to survive. Or it can be adjusted to allow gases to pass but still repel rain. A nuanced adjustment will allow people or even vehicles to penetrate, but prevent high speed projectiles or high energy particles from penetrating.
By adjusting the transparency, or rather by opening a window to a specific part of the electromagnetic spectrum the user of a force field can prevent laser weapons from penetrating the field. It is typical in absorbent mode to allow all visible light to penetrate the field by only absorbing some of the light, allowing the user to see out, but no one to see in. It is possible to allow a wider spectrum of electromagnetic energy to penetrate the field allowing the use of PESA and AESA sensors with the field on. By careful manipulation of the transparency settings a force field can act as a distortion field making the field and all it contains invisible to most sensors, but not gravscanners.
By adjusting  the permeability of the field it is even possible to fire missiles or railguns through a force field while denying penetration to energy weapons.
It is possible to build force field projectors which are locked into certain settings. In this way a balcony can have a rain shield or an airlock portal allow vehicles or individuals to pass while retaining atmosphere.
A planer force field is called a ward. Such a field can be established in a doorway or window. If established between two walls or in a strut such a field can provide increase structural integrity, making the structure stronger than would be possible with standard materials.
A conformal field is established along the surface of a person or object and follows the shape of the user. Conformal fields are flexible from the inside, but ridged and slippery to matter from the outside. Touching a force field can be an unpleasant experience if it is sealed.
Personal force fields are available at TL A. Such a device is not capable of operating in absorbent mode, because it is not yet possible to scale the appropriate projector technology small enough yet.

Sensor Systems

A bridge or vehicle control cockpit must have a number of different sensor systems to allow for the safe control and navigation of the spacecraft. Because vehicles capable of subspace travel in New Diasporia face vastly different environments depending whether or not they are being used along subspace highways, in open subspace or in real space the kinds and sophistication of instruments is very dependent on the particular vehicle.
For a structured review of the systems we will look at the individual types of sensors, which will enable us to systematically describe the various systems.
We will start with planetary navigation systems. Even the most economical brake or HUV will have an extensive communication suite to allow the craft to communicate with air and space traffic control. Some worlds have extensive automatic traffic control systems, which a visiting craft will have to be able to interface to in order to be allowed to operate in that airspace. This is done through the use of an automatic piloting computer.
GPS systems are so cheap and useful that it will be a backward world indeed which does not have such a system. This is not likely anywhere in the Highlands, and rare even in the Midlands.
An Inertial Navigation System (INS) is a navigation aid that uses a computer, motion sensors (accelerometers) and rotation sensors (gyroscopes) to continuously calculate via dead reckoning the position, orientation, and velocity (direction and speed of movement) of a moving object without the need for external references. Though not as accurate as radio direction systems INS can help compensate for situations when GPS and VORN systems are unable to receive data.
VORN, the Vehicle Omnidirectional Radio Navigation system is a beam based navigation system that can be used in both real space and subspace to allow a vehicle to plot its position in reference to a number of transmitters using radio direction finding. In real space satellites provide beacons which in conjunction with a computer database of system planetary locations allow the automatic pilot of most craft to plot courses between real space locations. In subspace VORN is used to lock onto the beacons on the portal gate structures as well as the route marking beacons to allow the automatic pilot to keep the craft on the subspace highway between gates.
Off the network grid in subspace a ship must navigate by plotting the gravitational structure of subspace topology. Most importantly the gravitational shear planes which result from real space objects which form plateaus on the subspace surface must be plotted and avoided. The changing topology of subspace is typically plotted using a gravscanner. A computer then attempts to compare the topology to its corresponding real space structure. Gravscanners can also be used to detect force fields and operating Barnes-Gutierrez Hyperspace Engines. They can also be used in conjunction with astrometric and planetary arrays for real space navigation.
Astrometric and Planetary Arrays are long range systems which can augment other sensor systems to allow the mapping of planetary systems.
Proximity detectors use the mass of other structures to detect their presence and mass using gravitic technology.
Passive Electromagnetic Scanned Array (PESA) and Active Electromagnetic Scanned Array (AESA) systems are very useful in real space and also in subspace. They can be used to locate and determine the range to other vehicles, structures and objects, through the use of electromagnetic radiation, primarily radar, visible light, infrared, Ultraviolet, THz radiation, laser and LADAR principles.
A Radscanner is capable of picking up all manner of electromagnetic and particle radiation. Radscanners can be used to detect the neutrino  emissions of a fusion plant, the ion stream of a particle beam weapon or the radiation coming from either a star or radioactive debris.
Any spacecraft which expects to be traveling to possibly inhospitable worlds will also include a Multiscanner among its equipment. A multiscanner includes the operational capability of a radscanner, as well as the capability of a chemscanner and a bioscanner. Combined with the gravscanner which can determine the surface gravity of a world and the radscanner which can report on the safety of the local radiation field these instruments are primarily used to determine the safety of excursions into external environment by the crew of the vehicle.

Darvis of Fabury

Christopher Darvis was born to a devout family on the Highland world of Fabury in 2275. Like all but one of his brothers he followed his parents into service with the Star Legion. In 2303 he tendered his resignation with the intention of taking up the religious life. His brother Henry had years before taken vows as a Third Order Franciscan and Christopher sought to emulate him. He was not especially supported by his parents in this endeavor, mostly account of his temperament and skill at soldiering.
While at Fabury awaiting transport to the monastery where he was to start discernment Christopher had a dream. In the dream he stood before a table on which sat a golden cross. He reach for the cross, but when he touched it it became a sword. Aghast he dropped the sword and it turned back into a cross. He bent to pick up the cross and it became a shield. On the shield was a star pattern. It was a crown of twelve stars on a blue background. Christopher recognized it as the group called Our Lady's Crown, unique in that it consisted of stars which were all located in a particular segment of the Wilds.
Christopher awoke and told his parents of his dream. He insisted that it was his calling to go to the Wilds, not as a missionary, but as a soldier. Worried his father insisted Christopher speak with the bishop. Amazingly the bishop had received an endowment from a donor for the missions in the Wild, but needed a courier to carry it. Christopher had the training to pilot a ship to the Wilds but no ship. 
A schooner was found and outfitted through the generosity of the Knights of Columbus, at the request of the bishop. Darvis along with a few companions set out for the Wilds.
Christianity is full of tales, history, of individuals, some of them Saints who receive a vision or dream from God which sets them on the path of their life.  St. Paul's vision on the road to Damascus made him an Apostle. St John Bosco's dream inspired him to found an order which took care of boys .  Even Constantine, whose dream of the cross helped make Christianity the lawful Roman religion can be counted among this group. Both Francis of Assisi whose dreams and visions sent him upon his mission and Pope Innocent III whose dreams led him to support Francis were guided by such dreams. They are an indication that there is more to reality than what can be easily measured. They are part of the world of New Diasporia.

Nuclear Dampler Technology

Nuclear damping/accelerating technology allows for the suppression of nuclear devices, such as fission bombs, or fusion bombs using fission detonators. The technology can be used to shut down old style fission piles. It can also be used to accelerate the decay of isotopes, allowing contaminated areas to be decontaminated (though it is very dangerous for living things to be in the area as a temporary increase in local radiation is the result.)
A properly configured accelerator  can be used to enhance a fission device to make it more destructive.
Portable fields can be made small enough to be vehicle mounted. Warships typically mount a damper large enough to protect a large enough area to prevent detonation of tactical nuclear weapons. Government or other buildings often include a damper field generator as well as force field technology.
At the present time it can be considered TL B technology.

Gravity Physics

Many of the technological innovations and linchpins of civilization in the New Diasporia Universe are based on gravity science. They will be covered in detail in following posts, or have already been covered in some detail previously. This is an overview of the most important technologies.
The Barnes-Gutierrez Hyperspace Engine is a device based on gravity science, in both its reactionless gravity drive and in its subspace shunt capability.
Likewise the Hyperdrill and Transmat Portal are devices based on gravity technology. The Hyperspace Drill not only allows a more or less permanent portal to be created between subspace and real space, but it is also capable to stabilizing real space and attenuating the gravity shear plane in subspace that prevents vessels from shunting too close to a planetary body. This allows a portal gate to be placed in relatively safe and very convenient planetary orbit, rather than a minimum of 100 diameters from a planetary mass.
Gravscanners are sensors capable of detecting the space distortions produced by gravitic devices, such as hyperdrills, contragrav, or from natural sources of gravity such as planets, stars and subspace topology.
Proximity Detectors are sensor which use gravscanner technology to detect nearby objects, such as other vehicles.
Artificial Gravity can be used to provide an isolated gravity field in a vehicle, on a platform or a building. This can be used to isolate people from acceleration effects or to protect from the effects of excessive or too little natural gravity.
Contragravity acts as a screen against natural gravity, which allows vehicles, platforms or even buildings or cities to float. In order to actually fly some sort of propulsion is necessary, typically a B/G engine.
Gravity Anchors are devices which stabilize and fix the location of a vehicle or other structure using contragravity through the use of tractor/pressor technology. A gravity anchor can also be used to hold a structure in fix position on the subspace plane.
A Tractor/Pressor beam device can be used to remotely handle objects or even vehicles through gravity manipulation. Pressor beams can be used to repulse missiles or bullets very much like a force shield, which is a related gravitic technology.
A Gravitic Multitool is a pocket device which can be used to manipulate objects, even inside other objects. It can turn screws, manipulate mechanical locks, even be used for surgery, although typically a gravitic surgical manipulator would be used for that job.
A Force Field is a field which can be used to protect a person, vehicle or other structure. The properties of a force field can be manipulated so that it will provide different levels of protection against differing threats.

Technology Timeline

Technology Level in new Diasporia is based upon a sliding scale. The most advanced Tech Level is always TL A. As new technology is discovered and widely distributed older technology slips to lower levels.
Worlds that tend to advance with the general level of advancement of technology, those on the Major Routes, maintain their TL A status. Those that stagnate slip to a lower TL. So as the timeline advances those worlds at the cusp of technological innovation remain at the highest TL
We can start our technology time-line in 1951. This is the approximate year when the first experimental power producing nuclear power plant was placed in commission. With the invention of the jet aircraft in the previous decade and the large scale electrical distribution network perfected in the decade before that Technology at this TL reached its peak.
The Progressive Era, with its great advancement in electronics, cybernetics and power producing technologies, nonetheless failed to produce stable technological advancement due to the economic chaos which resulted in the loss of much of this technology as humanity lost significant advances in space and physics technology due to an inability to afford the supporting superstructure and the move down many technological dead ends such as embryonic stem cell research and "sustainable" technologies.
Coming out of the Progressive Era a full fledged technological revolution finally blossomed with the perfection of fusion power during the second decade of the twenty-second century. This Tech Level marks the wide distribution of cheap power. Combined with the moral push back it opened the way for the renewed push of ethical research.
By the middle of the twenty-second century great enough leaps in medical and cybernetic technology has been made to push the Tech Level yet again.
The advancement in gravity theory by the beginning of the Twenty-Third Century results in a jump to another Tech Level with the invention of the  Barnes-Gutierrez hyperspace engine, followed quickly by associated gravity control technologies. This results in the start of the diaspora.
In less that two decades Hyperdrills make the Subspace Highways possible, along with the associated Hypercable communication system, causing another Tech Level jump.
Another three decades see the perfection of the transmat portal, a technology predicted as early as two previous Tech Levels, but unrealized until 2257. Along with force field technology, another spin off of gravity physics this pushes the technology level.
Public and Church acceptance of nanotech utilization, as well as active terraforming of worlds establishes another technology level jump thirty years before the present.
The past thirty years have seen advancements in the utilization of nanotech, the wide spread use of terraforming and the proliferation of transmat technology.
The diaspora of humanity has resulted in a slowing of the the propagation of technology, if not the advancement of it. Since most advancement is accomplished on the advanced, high population worlds of the Highland almost inevitably the worlds in the Wilds, which are both remote from the research centers in distance and decades away in time lag several tech levels behind.

Medical Nanotech

Medical nantoech takes two major forms at TL A. For quite a number of years non-replicating medical assemblers have been used to perform medical intervention in patients. This kind of care includes treatment of ailments and injuries of all types. Many of these types of treatments predate the Grytotech inspired nantotech ban, and so have a long history of acceptance among both the Church and the public.
More revolutionary, and a later technology is the implantation of nanotech factories in the human body with the goal of not only repairing disease and trauma damage, but also in extending life. As might be expected the existence of such technology opened up deep theological and ethical questions.
Is it moral to use such life extending technologies? Obviously manipulation of human fertility processes, without the known side effects of hormone or chemical contraceptives, would cancel out the secular penalties of their use. This does not touch on the obvious moral reasons of the prohibition of contraception, and the negative societal consequences. So as for as for all technology the capability to do something is not a license to do it.
But a complete interdiction on the technology would not be moral either. It is not immoral to extend a human life using surgery or medicine. So implemented in a moral framework the use of anagathic nanotech factories (ANFs) should also be moral.
As might be imagined a technology that can theoretically extend human life indefinitely has real social impact. The limitations of the technique is also important. To be morally justified ANFs must not interfere with fertility or normal procreative process. This limits some of the treatments that can be done, especially in women, and especially during the normal years of child bearing. This has resulted in a societal trend to limit full activation of ANF implants until after the fourth decade of life. Prior to this the standard aging process is allowed to continue, though benefits in disease and trauma repair are typically activated.
ANF implants are basically nanotech factories which create biological assemblers which cooperate with the existing biology of the patient to give enhance healing and repair abilities. The units are typically implanted after puberty, and activated in maintenance mode until after menopause in women and at about the same time chronologically in men. At that time full anagathic activation takes place. Not every Highland citizen can afford or even wants implants.
Conventional medical nanotech is very effective against common injury and disease. Despite ethical considerations some individuals have been known to push limits and the technology is still new enough that some people have doubts about its possible side effects, both moral and physiological.
The Church's stand has been nuanced. Use by clerics is not prohibited, but the hierarchy has shown a preference for advancing men who have not taken the treatment to the episcopate. Many religious disdain the use of ANF as just another form of worldly riches, though they do not refuse more conventional medical nanotech treatments.
The treatment is recent enough that effectively almost all first generation recipients are still alive, so that in a medical sense the long term effects of the treatment are unknown. Not every possible disease can be conquered and not every trauma can be repaired, but many can. The fear of the Church is that physical immortality might overshadow spiritual immortality. That has not seemed to have happen yet, and since such treatments are considered heroic treatment it is not a sin in the eyes of the Church for a recipient of the treatment to turn off their ANF to allow their bodies to gracefully grow old.
With nanofactories the production of the ANF implants is neither difficult nor unduly expensive, however penetration into the Midlands is spotty at best. Penetration into the Wilds is almost non-existent at this point, though it is known a few Highlanders with the implants are in the Wilds.

Nanotech Ethics

The first rule on the use of nantechnology is the required limit rule. All nantoech devices must have a programmed time or externally enforced material limit.
The second rule concerns replicators. All nanite replicators must employ a two stage replication process. Nanites may not replicate themselves.
So just as RNA must used DNA as a pattern to create proteins so must replicators create assemblers to create other replicators.
The third rule concerns the concept of captured nanotech. Whenever possible first generation nanotech assemblers must be fixed.
This means that nano-machines that make other nano-machines must be built on a substrate rather than being free floating.
The fourth rule concerns mutation and self-improvements. No nano-machine may be designed to carry out self-improvements or alterations independent of human oversight.
So what do these rules mean on the ground? A nanite progenitor must be fixed on a substrate, that is designed into a device. Typically that device provides the externally enforced material limit on that progenitor. That progenitor device will make nanites to do whatever task is assigned. The same progenitor device may construct a variety of different nano-machines to accomplish whatever task it is designed to do, but it may not make copies of itself. It can however create assemblers capable of creating another progenitor device, but the amount of times it may do that must be limited.
The second generation nantites may create other, different nanites or they may directly manipulate other material atoms. They may not attempt to manipulate their progenitor nano-machines.

Technological Morality

Many of the technologies available to the civilizations of the New Diasporia have the potential to be both socially and morally disruptive. Just as the technologies of contraception, in vitro fertilization and fetal stem cell utilization carried a grave moral price so can many of the possible utilizations of known technologies in the New Diasporia universe exact a grave moral cost.
One of the greatest lessons of Natural Law is that just because something is possible does not mean that it should be done. It is often possible to destroy human life or dignity, to exploit the poor, even to commit crimes against God and humanity. The possibility that such things can be done does not give license to do them.
In the Highlands at least, and to a lesser extent in the Midlands, a combination of secular laws and Church interdictions have kept most immoral and dangerous practices in check.  There are really no new evils. Abortion was known and practiced in the Roman Republic of Julius Caesar's time. Most of the evil practices of the new science are just new ways of committing the old evils of trying to subvert the authority of God. These ancient evils are banned. Education in the precepts of Natural Law are even more effective than laws and bands in preventing much of these kinds of actions.
The dangers of unlimited nanite replicators is well known to even the youngest school child. Like most technologies nanotech did not spring full grown at the TL A level. Science had worked for over a century on the construction of nano-machines. Constructing the first generation nanomaterials used biological processes to create molecular materials. Next came the construction of the first limited assemblers, able to create other nano-machines. Some of these were constructed to work in the construction of chemical and biochemical compounds, others to construct second generation nano-machines.
It was inevitable that eventually a sloppy or overly arrogant researcher would overreach and create nanites which were neither self-limiting nor incapable of replication. This grey goo apocalypse fortunately happened at the Grytotech orbital research station, instead of on an inhabited world. The resulting fifty year bane on nanotech research pushed commercially available nantechnology up at least a tech level.
The development of deflector force fields made protection against such out of control nanotechnology safe enough in the public and Church mind to allow its more general use. A very rigid system of ethical rules for the production and use of nanotechnology is enforced in the Highlands. Most places in the Midlands follow similar rules. In the Wilds less oversight has resulted in some horrific results, which have acted as a warning to some, but been ignored by others.

Hypertrain II

Hypertrains are propelled by any of a number of different engine designs. A typical line engine, that is one that actually pulls a train through subspace, is a 12,500 cuft spacecraft built around a 6000 cuft Barnes-Gutierrez Drive engine. It has a fusion engine to provide power, usually in the 120 MW range. It has a control compartment with four stations for the crew and a rigid train coupler at the rear to connect to a train set of cars. The engine provides power to the whole train and can provide some life support too, though most inhabited cars have their own life support systems. Such an engine can accelerate a train of dozens of cars to a respectable 78 Gs.
There are also system engines whose primary purpose is to shuttle cars around star systems between orbital stations and the real space side of portal gates. These types of working engines are used to string together sets of cars from different in system locations, or to move them between trains.
A rigid train coupler is a device which can join together two cars or a car and an engine. It has an airlock to isolate the life support of each car and connections for data, power and life support.
Most train cars are in the 6000 to 12,000 cuft range. A standard passage Passenger Car is 6000 cuft in volume and has 5 two person cabins and a small seating area at each end of the car. The cabins can be reconfigured to allow seating during the day. Each one has a small water closet and the car has a shower compartment at one end.
While most trains might have a dozen or more standard passenger cars they will have only one or two Luxury Passenger Cars. About the same size as the standard car the cabins are slightly larger and each have their own water closet with shower.
Each train will have at least one Dining Car. Dining cars can seat up to 50 customers at once. The car includes a galley kitchen and meals are served on a regular schedule. Meals in the dining car are usually included in the price of standard or luxury passage. It is not unusual for a large train to have a standard dining car and a separate luxury passage dining car.
A Couchette Car is a car divided into compartments containing bench seating which during sleeping periods are converted into bunks. The attendant, who typically has his own cabin provides a sheet, pillow and blanket for each passenger. Water closets are located at each end of the car and there is seldom a shower available. These car are used by 2nd class passengers whose tickets typically do not include meals. The typical couchette car carries 50 passengers to the standard or luxury passenger car's 10.
A Lounge Car is a type of moving restaurant where passengers can purchase food and drinks. As opposed to a dining car which serves food on a regular schedule, in a lounge car passengers can buy food prepackaged or made to order. 2nd class passengers often buy their food from the lounge car. Large trains will sometimes have multiple lounge cars. One set up for 2nd class passengers with cheaper fare and one for standard or luxury passengers with more expensive items.
Passenger luggage is typically transported in a baggage car. The baggage car is not accessible to passengers during the trip so most travelers have a carry on piece in which they pack their traveling clothes and toiletry items for use aboard. Most baggage cars, though pressurized do not have their own life support. They typically have enough residual air from loading and crew egress to support walk through and inspection. Because of this baggage cars are often the last car in the train.
Passenger trains sometimes include Container Cars, though typically most lines run whole trains of container cars for material transport. A container car carries a standardized 10' x 10' x 40' inter-modal shipping container. Containers come in many different versions, including refrigeration, tankage and unsealed. Most are simple vacuum seal boxes which hold cargo.

Hypertrains

A hypertrain consists an engine module and a number of other modules pulled behind. These can be any of a number of specialized cargo modules or a variety of passenger modules. Hypertrains travel exclusively on Major Routes. They are not designed to land on a planet but operate either from orbit to a portal gate or from the subspace side of a portal gate to the subspace side of another portal gate.
Within the Highlands the hypertrains allow a vast number of passengers to travel relatively cheaply between worlds. They allow a huge amount of both raw and manufactured material to be transport between the Major Route worlds.
In the Midlands hypertrains are very rare, although there are a few lines which travel on routes between private portal gates.
For any person without their own vehicle hypertrains are the preferred way to travel along the Major Routes.
A rather typical hypertrain is the WoodSocket Azariah which runs along Rt 221. It travels between WoodSocket and St. Martin, with stops at Port San Benedict, St Philopia and St. Lynn. The Azariah typically consists of an engine and 19 cars; 2 crew cars, 8 passenger cars, 2 luxury passenger cars, 2 dining cars, 3 couchette cars, a lounge car, and a baggage car.
This trip takes about two days. Upon arrival at its end stations it rotates crews and makes the return journey. The Azariah is one of a dozen passenger trains servicing this route. Passengers can transfer trains at either St. Philopia or St. Martin to the Rt. 232 trains or at the end station for trains which go up or down Rt. 221 out of the diocese.
The usefulness of the hypertrain system to Player Characters who lack their own transportation can not be stressed enough. Most times travel by hypertrain is efficient and rather boring, so the PCs can move from one place to another with nothing to note other than the passage of time. However a hypertrain can make an interesting adventure location in itself. Murder on the Orient Express comes to mind. Though very safe even hypertrains are sometimes struck by other vehicles (often because those other vehicles are being piloted manually rather than under an automatic beacon navigation system.) They do sometimes break down or meet an unexpected subspace storm.
Because distances traveled are measured in days rather than hours hypertrains do not have the pedantic scheduling concerns of railroads, however on routes where there are competitive train lines it is not unheard of for companies to push their real space transit and turn around times to shorten the trip, in the interest of bragging rights. Very much as passenger steamships were known to do in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Train car specifics to follow.