UEF Background Data

This is an open thread for all collaborators on the Voyages of the Penelope and the Yydryl to compile CANONICAL background information for their races, species, characters, ships, etc.

This is to be used as a reference for writing about the past and major events that have taken place in the background of the story as a whole.

It can also serve as a place for those times you just need to hash out some information but don't want to put it in the main thread.

Saratoga, U.S.S.

United Earth Federation Empathic class medical/research starship, registry number 39115. Lost with all hands around September 2310, presumed destroyed by warships out of Alpha Centauri though that government denies any direct involvement.

The Saratoga responded to a distress call from a dying world a few parsecs from Alpha Centauri as part of a UEF task force. The Saratoga picked up approximately 7,000 refugees and was on her way back to UEF central space when she was destroyed. The actual circumstances surrounding the destruction of the vessel were stamped with a classification by the UEF and the matter was covered up.

[edit on 19-5-2009 by mf_luder]

[edit on 19-5-2009 by mf_luder]

Synopsis of “The Federation Galactographic Reference” , 7th edition
23 May, 2320

The United Earth Federation, or UEF, is composed galactographically of a roughly spherical volume of space centered on Sol, with a nominal radius of 500 light years, or 153 parsecs. This volume contains 523,598,776 cubic light years (15,090,143 cubic parsecs). Sol itself is located just inside the inner edge of the Orion Spur (also known as the Local Arm) of the Perseus Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy, and is roughly 50 light years (15.3 parsecs) “above” the galactic plane, towards Galactic North. Currently, the closest neighboring star to Sol is Proxima Centauri, the smallest and outermost star in the Alpha Centauri triple system, at 4.25 Light years distance.

The UEF contains 2,094,395 stars, with an average of 0.004 stars per cubic light year. The numeric density of stars thins drastically toward the galactic center, as one encounters the relative void between the spiral arms of the Milky Way Galaxy, and thickens appreciably toward the Galactic Rim in the general direction of Orion. Star spatial density decreases towards both the north and south Galactic poles as one gets farther from Sol, more rapidly towards the north.

In this region of space, Main Sequence stars comprise about 91% of all stars present, followed by White Dwarves at 8% and Giant and Supergiant stars combining to comprise 1%. Main Sequence stars are further subdivided as follows, from dimmest to brightest: Cool, red class M dwarves comprise about 73% of the total, followed by orange class K stars at 14%, yellow class G stars like Sol comprise 9%, green class F at slightly less than 3%, blue class A at 1%, with classes B and O, at the hottest, accounting for far less than 1% combined.



Although the huge volume of space claimed by the UEF has not been contested by any of the neighboring political units, it is far from fully explored. In much the same way that parts of the Americas were still unexplored 300 years after colonization of the Americas, Ships of the UEF are still exploring the vast expanse of the Federation, and surprising discoveries are still made. In the 70 years since the Formation of the Federation, there simply has not been enough time or personnel resources to explore more than a fraction of the more than 2 million stars it contains. Nearly all of the stars it contains have been noted and cataloged, but for the majority little to nothing is known as yet of the internal arrangements the systems contain. Nearly 60% of the cataloged stars are estimated to possess planetary systems of one sort or another, and an estimated 10% of those contain planets that are habitable, or can be made habitable with modification to one degree or another, yielding an estimated 125,663 habitable or near habitable planets in the UEF. There are far fewer ‘optimally’ habitable planets, perhaps in the neighborhood of 15,000 total. Despite this seeming limitation, nearly any rock in space can be inhabited given a sufficiently healthy supply line.



Politically, the UEF has Two major neighbors, known in the Federation as the Orion Alliance, formerly known as the Orion Empire, and the Ophiuchi Consortium. Very little of their internal arrangements, affairs, and customs is known, although citizens of both of these entities have been encountered from time to time on the frontiers of Federation space.

The Orion Alliance is located in a densely-starred, resource rich region of the galaxy encompassing the stars and nebulae of the Orion constellation, slightly below the galactic plane, hence the name. Likewise, the Ophiuchi Consortium is located in the direction of the consellation Ophiuchi, as seen from Earth. The Consortium, although possessing far more volume than the UEF, is located in a more thinly starred region of the galaxy due to it’s greater distance above the galactic plane. Because of this, it is believed that the Ophiuchi Consortium has access to fewer resources than the UEF, and far fewer than the Orion Alliance.

Additionally, there are several smaller self-contained political entities bordering Federation space, but again, little is known of them. There are likely to be some of these smaller political units that are yet to be discovered.

Contained wholly within the bounds of UEF space are two Quarantine Zones, one for the Reticulans, and another for the Draconians. Attacks on trade routes around 2240 and the following years by these two hostile races were the stimulus that prompted the formation of the UEF. They have since been defeated and contained within their respective quarantine zones. There have been a few minor incidents when these races have probed the bounds of their Quarantine Zones, but as of 2320, the quarantines have held.





[edit on 2009/5/20 by nenothtu]

Ventura - Class Heavy Carrier

Class of starship built in the late 2210s, modeled on its predecessor, the Tucson class medium carrier.

The Ventura class ships were intended to be the first in what the UEF expected as a replacement for an 'aging' fleet. The ship design incorporated cutting edge technology from all sectors and employed prototype engines never before tested for full flight status.

Up until the first production run of of a Ventura class ship, the UEF fleet incorporated FTL warp style drives on its vessels. A breakthrough in Quantum Physics by a navigation specialist, Whiterabbit85 led to the development of "wormhole" drives .

The basic specifications for a stock Ventura class are as follows:

Length: 2500 Meters
Width: 680-700 Meters at the widest point
Breadth: 500-650 Meters
Crew: 15,510 personnel

Full specifications for an example of a Ventura class ship can be found at this link:

files.abovetopsecret.com...

As of the year 2320, the following Ventura class Heavy Carriers are in operation within the UEF:

USS Ventura - 117930
USS Penelope - 117931
USS Avenger - 117932
USS Monroe - 117933
USS Yorkshire - 117934
USS Congo - 117935

[edit on 20-5-2009 by mf_luder]

Fooks, Gai Dan - Lieutenant

Original Senior navigation officer aboard the USS Penelope . Held the position for three days before being killed by Security Chief Nenothtu who was under mind control influence from an unknown life form.

[edit on 20-5-2009 by mf_luder]

DJMessiah, Doctor, Lieutenant Commander

Original Chief Medical Officer aboard the USS Penelope . Mysteriously vanished after the ship left port and was never heard from again.

Whiterabbit85, Lieutenant Commander

Original Assistant to the Chief Navigation Officer aboard the USS Penelope . Served during the Nimitz Crisis and requested transfer after arrival back at Lagrange 1 in high Earth orbit.

Was noted for his work on and development of the Wormhole Drive systems used aboard UEF starships.

Nimitz Crisis

Search and Rescue mission initiated by the UEF around January 2320. The USS Nimitz ventured into Alpha Centuarian space and was not heard from for several month. As a shakedown cruise and a test of the ship's abilities, the newly commissioned USS Penelope was sent to investigate.

Upon their arrival in-system, the crew of the Penelope had a hostile encounter with elements of the Alpha Centaurian space forces and what appeared to be a mutinied USS Nimitz . Unfortunately, the Nimitz was destroyed before a full investigation could be launched.

The USS Penelope returned to Earth space to find a war was brewing between the UEF and the Alpha Centaurian government over the results of the encounter between the Penelope and the Nimitz .

Chief Medical Officer

Aboard a UEF ship, the officer charged with responsibility for the health and well-being of the ship's crew. Under certain circumstances the Chief Medical Officer is authorized to certify a ship's Captain as unfit for command.

Code name/ call sign: "nenothtu"
Birth Name: Cecil Frederick Carpenter
Birth Date: 23 July 2271
Birth Place: Autonomous Republic of Vandalia, American Federal Empire (AFE), Earth, United Earth Federation (UEF)
Current Assignment: Lieutenant Commander, Chief of Security Section, USS Penelope 117931, CPT M.F. Luder, commanding

Nenothtu was born in The Autonomous Republic of Vandalia, one of the reorganized states on the east coast of North America in what was known as the United States, before World War 3 (also known as the "Energy Wars") caused it to reorganize into the AFE in the early 22nd century.

Vandalia is a mountainous area rich in minerals and timber, but economically impoverished due to the wealth from those products being transferred to outside interests. The only other major export of Vandalia is fighting men, who are produced by the boatload in the harsh economic environment. Nenothtu was forged in the crucible of the "Clan Wars" of Vandalia of the late 23rd century, in which extended family groups, or "Clans" were pitted against other extended family groups in a struggle over control of the area's resources. Those wars were fueled, funded, and fostered by the outside interests mentioned above, who had a vested interest in retaining control of the wealth-producing products of the region, and keeping the wealth out of the hands of the locals.

Nenothtu left Vandalia as an already battle-scarred veteran of those wars in 2290, at the age of 19, after his entire family had been wiped out in a series of attacks by the competing Taggart Clan, which didn't survive as a viable entity either. Well, not after neno had hunted down and finished the Taggart survivors, one at a time, over the course of several months. He appeared to be a young man completely devoid of remorse, and dedicated to duty as he perceived it.

After leaving Vandalia, nenothtu gravitated to the major Space Port which had been called Cape Kennedy before the Energy Wars, and had been rechristened as Gammage Interstellar Spaceport upon it's reconstruction in the building boom that followed those wars. By the time neno landed there some 150 years after it's reconstruction, the port had grown into a thriving metropolis centered on the port with all that entailed, the good and the bad. The transition to interstellar flight from purely intrasystem flight after the 2183 revolution in travel occasioned by Plight's development of the "Boundless" really kicked the port into high gear.

Nenothtu established a ruthless and lethal reputation for himself there, and was soon in the employ of a local crime family as an 'enforcer'. The situation suited him, as he had as strong a sense of family as his employers, even if they WERE flatlanders. He had found a place to 'belong', yet still had the nagging feeling of being an Outsider.

Around two years of that was enough for neno. He became dissatisfied with living in the miasmatic flatlands of the AFE, and developed a restlessness to see the rest of the universe. To that end, he signed up with a military-for-hire outfit called "Wilson's Rogue Rangers" and shipped out for adventure among the stars. Some adventure. Most of his time was spent in sheer boredom aboard starships bound from one battlefield to the next, interspersed with the sheer terror of being dropped on to a battlefield where masses of people were trying to KILL him. These battlefields were wholly unlike the Clan Wars of his past for sheer size and destruction. He saw lots of them between 2292 and 2310.

For a brief period around 2296 nenothtu tried to settle down. He met a woman named Margot James on a colony world named "Travis' Rift", and tried to ease himself into a domestic role. It just didn't work. After the birth of a son in early 2297, relations with his common law spouse deteriorated to the point that he was spending more and more time off planet in angry little wars here and there, and not nearly enough time at home in the only angry little war that mattered. For all his stress on "family" it seems that very thing will ever elude him. That situation continued for the next several years until a ship he was on was reported missing and presumed lost in 2310. For all intents and purposes, neno had simply vanished from the universe, leaving Margot to raise their son alone and fatherless on a harsh colony world. It wasn't entirely nenothtu's fault. He was just on the wrong ship at the wrong time.

The starship in question, the "Elysium", was homeward bound after a series of sharp actions in the Black Rock Archepelago when problems had developed, and it had crashed on Khalamzadar. Nearly the entire crew had been killed, and most of the Rangers aboard had died as well. Neno and 9 other Rangers survived the initial crash, and set up a base near the wreckage, hoping for rescue. Over the course of the next 7 years, they battled the elements and wild animals of a jungle planet, dying one by one over time from various causes, until nenothtu was the last survivor of the ill-fated expedition. They spent some time exploring the ruins of a vanished civilization that were present on the planet, but never found a clue as to who the original builders were.

Just months before nenothtu was rescued in 2317, Margot died. Apparently she had never given up hope for his return, and had never had him declared dead. It's rumored that her last words to their by then 20 year old son were "That worthless damn daddy of yours is too mean to die. He'll eventually come home. When he does, you tell him for me that I'll see him in hell." And that's all there is to say about that.

In 2317, an exploratory ship named the "Daedalus" found neno and the remains of the camp on Khalamzadar on a mapping expedition and brought him home. After a few months, the sheer boredom and relative (to Khalamzadar) ease of colonial life got the better of him. Nenothtu made contact with a few gentlemen he had met over the years, seeking off world employment in the only real skill set he had ever known. That led to an appointment in the UEF Services through channels he couldn't even begin to imagine. He and his son left Travis' Rift, and never looked back.

His appointment to the Penelope is rumored to have been occasioned by his file having been left on "someone's" desk.

And that's how he got to where he is today.

An incident aboard Penelope in which nenothtu went into a coma during an encounter with an alien vessel, the "Yydryl", left him somehow "changed" when he emerged from the coma. Voices in his head during the incident told him that his "vibrational level was being raised", and neno attributed that message, and the voices, to hallucination. Neither was. Even nenothtu is unaware of what that change entails.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Psychological Profile

"Neno probably learned some of the hard lessons on Khala-whatever-that-planet's-called.
Sometimes you gotta do what's wrong to do what's right. "

--- SeekerOfAUTMN

Yeah, he learned some hard lessons on Khalamzadar. But he also learned 'em on Black Rock, Wotan, Ninkidu, and several other battlefield worlds over time.

For neno, this isn't a matter of right or wrong, it's a matter of what's effective, and insures the ship and crew's arrival alive on the other side of the battle, and helps insure against the necessity of future battles, because he really doesn't like fighting, but one does what one is good at.

The more thorough the victory, the less likely a repeat performance in the future.

He doesn't like fighting, because people get killed and things get torn up, and one day, one of those people getting killed is gonna be him. He'll do whatever he feels necessary to push that date with destiny as far into the future as he can, as long as it doesn't endanger the crew of "his" boat.

He feels it's "his" boat, because he's tasked with the safety and security of the Penelope.

I guess it might be a matter of "right" and "wrong", but his perceptions of those concepts don't necessarily agree with what is determined to be "normal".

It's "right" for "his" people aboard Penelope to survive and thrive. That include every man-jack aboard. He tends to feel more responsibility than is actually his.

It's "wrong" for "his" people to be killed or threatened.

He's often harsh and abrasive with those same people he serves because it gets their attention, and helps them to develop their own survival mindset, even if only out of fear of what HE might do to them.

Kind of like what drill sergeants used to do to recruits, he's cruel to be kind.

He's really a pretty simple man, and has pretty simple views, but to some, such as Studious, and perhaps Luder and Badger, those "simple" views may be well nigh incomprehensible.

He DOES have a heart, but he ain't gonna let you see it if he can help it. In his mind that might compromise his combat effectiveness.

His sense of duty, honor, and loyalty is WAY too overdeveloped, but may not always coincide with the common definitions of those concepts.

That's why he didn't mind completely and totally obliterating the NI ships. They were a threat, and had to be dealt with on a permanent basis, so THOSE NI agents would never become a threat again. That's also why he's going to back up Asher just as far as he is humanly able to push it.

Besides, he made a pact of sorts with Asher in the captain's ready room in the NI interview episode. His sense of honor and loyalty won't allow him to back out of it now that Asher's apparently in the grease.

Through thick and thin. That's what Brotherhood is about. If you abandon a brother when he needs you the most, you're a waste of otherwise perfectly good skin in nenothtu's mind.




[edit on 2009/7/8 by nenothtu]

[edit on 2009/7/8 by nenothtu]

Here are a couple of links for background information:

1) Specs and Procedures for the USS Penelope

files.abovetopsecret.com...

2) Historical background primer for the UEF and Earth.

files.abovetopsecret.com...

Look to see updates to these documents in the near future.

Slayer69, Lieutenant Commander

Chief Engineer of the USS Penelope, who took over after the exit of JohnQ. Responsible for saving the lives of the entire crew on more than one occasion, his tactics proving to be invaluable to the crew. Made his departure after dealing with the intense emotional crisis raised by the destruction of Earth by the Opiuchi Consortium.

Currently the Captain of the ship Matilda , her destination and whereabouts unknown.

Badgerprints, Lieutenant Commander

Wing commander of the on-board starfighter group on the USS Penelope. Badgerprints left as much as he arrived, quickly and without fanfare. His accomplishments while tasked to the Penelope exceed the abilities of previous wing commanders and were critical in the defense of the USS Penelope during a conflict with several NI Battle Ships.

Badgerprints' current whereabouts and status are unknown.