Tabula Rasa: Feedback Friday

The most current edition of Feedback Friday is available. Focusing on questions about the TR backstory, readers will find a host of answers.

In this Feedback Friday we discuss some commonly asked questions about the Tabula Rasa backstory. Stay tuned to next week's Feedback Friday where we will will reveal more information about the 1.8 build.

We've seen the battle lines on the surface of two small planets. But, where are those planets in correlation to one another?

o Arieki and its sister planet Erdas (the Brann homeworld, which has completely fallen to the Bane) orbit HD 162020, a type K2V (Main Sequence) dwarf orange star located approximately 102 light-years from Earth in the constellation Scorpius. Foreas is much closer to Earth, orbiting Epsilon Indi, a main sequence star approximately 12 light years away, in the constellation Indus.

How are the battle lines drawn out on a galactic level?

o The AFS Forces as we know them were transported to Areiki and Foreas. It is possible that some humans were transported to other star systems via different wormhole connections, but the AFS currently has no way to communicate with them. There are almost certainly other non-human races fighting the Bane as well. To date, the full scope of the war, and the true size of the Bane forces on a galactic scale, is unknown.

* What's the chain of command for the AFS?

o AFS High Command is a wartime council of sorts, made up Terran Generals, Forean Tribal Elders and Brann Grupas (syndicate bosses.) High Command is officially at the top of the chain of command on Foreas and Areiki, and all other AFS divisions (including the all-important Quartermaster Corps, who maintain the credit system, vendors and military surplus houses) answer to them. The one notable exception to this is the mysterious black ops division "Penumbra." Due to the passage of the controversial "Article 268," also known as "The Diogenese Directive," Penumbra is allowed to conduct clandestine operations and surveillance (often on the AFS itself), with impunity. It is unknown what type of command structure human refugees in other star systems may have developed, as communication with them is impossible at this time.

Aside from the invasion of Earth, where there any major battles with the Bane in the past?

o "The Battle of Concordia Divide" was mankind's first battle against Bane forces. It occurred almost five years before the Bane invaded Earth, when the first humans, a platoon of Marines, entered an Eloh wormhole and were transported to Foreas. Foreas Base now stands on that very battlefield.

More recently a brutal surprise attack by Bane forces occurred on Areiki. "The Attack On Fort Intrepid" left the largest human fort on the planet in ruins and destroyed 23 AFS Dropships and 17 Mechs; personnel losses were 1,382 killed and 382 wounded. Bane losses were minimal, at 12 Predators, 8 Dropships and 5 Stalkers, with just 32 Thrax killed or wounded.

The latest intel from the front brings news of another major battle taking place at Valverde Plateau on Foreas. This battle is already being called "The Battle for Trinity Bridge," though there can be little doubt that the real prize is the Bane installation at Maligo Base.

If we're all in this war together, why do we need to buy weapons and ammunition?

o Since the fall of Earth, weapons, ammunition and other supplies are limited, and must be allocated in such a way as to maximize their usefulness to the war effort. Towards that end, The AFS Quartermaster Corps introduced an artificial merit-based economy. "Credits" are not really money, per se, they are promissory vouchers or chits redeemed for AFS issue equipment. During battle, special sensors embedded in all AFS weapons calculate a credit value for any confirmed kill and automatically transmit these credits to the soldier's account. Additional credits are also tallied for successfully completed missions. These credits are then used to purchase weapons, ammunition and other equipment for the soldier's use. In this way, the QC ensures that the greatest portion of these valuable commodities is dispensed to the most skilled and efficient soldiers.

When Receptives die, they get resuscitated. Do the Bane also get resuscitated? If they don't, why is it that the AFS hasn't won the war against the Bane?

o "Bane" describes the entirety of the enemy forces, which is comprised of conscripts from many alien races. The most common of these (at least on Foreas and Areiki) are the Thrax. Some Thrax are Receptives, and Caretakers do resuscitate dead Thrax soldiers. Why hasn't the AFS won the war? Because additional conscripts arrive every day, and even more (like the Machina) are being artificially created using the bodies of the AFS dead who cannot be resuscitated. The AFS has no idea of the actual size of the Bane forces, or where their main headquarters are located. Even less is known about the Neph, cousins to the Eloh, and supreme leaders of the Bane war machine.

Do the Bane have wormholes or faster-than-light (FTL) drives on their ships?

o Again, much of the technology used by the Bane is a mystery. It is known that, due to a difference in physiology, Thrax can't use human wormholes. It has been reported, however, that they are currently working on their own version of a wormhole portal, so they may have one in the very near future. The Bane forces almost certainly employ some type of FTL drive for their motherships and shardships. Since the latter are created from the shards of destroyed planets, this technology must be external and easily adapted to transport large objects, but the exact method they use is unknown at this time.

Good stuff for the lore-addicted.