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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:48:45 GMT -5
This topic is a child of the Space Loonies article directory.TOGETHER FOREVERPerspective in the Space Loonies is a subject with no single answer. In a way, each ship is a province of a state formed by its fleet, each with its own, distinct culture resemblant of its partner ships. Different fleets often maintain radically different outlooks, brought on by different past experiences or different status quo. The multi-species nature of the Space Loonies ensures that the bounds of their cultural spectrum are immeasurably wide. In some cases, it may be impossible to tell that a particular Space Looney fleet has any relationship to others.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:48:53 GMT -5
COOPERATION & INTEGRATION
What the Space Loonies value regardless of their ship or fleet, however, is unity. An individual's duty to their ship is above all others. A ship's duty to its fleet is second to none. A fleet's duty to its crew is sacred. A strong sense of kinship and camaraderie pervades through most ships, often times blurring the lines between species. Even among fleets with strongly-independent stances, cooperation is a key trait of the Space Loonies. On every level, the few who disregard the problems of others are shunned and treated in kind.
Similarly, culture across Space Looney fleets is often homogenized by the sheer preponderance of humans. The core Looney culture pervades throughout most ships. Many species that shared similar values or compatible outlooks, such as redworlders and unionites, have adopted Looney culture wholesale. Likewise, species with cultures already similar to those of the Loonies, such as the redworlders again, have managed to retain and spread some of their own customs into the human Space Loonies themselves. The resulting cultural synthesis is another strong source of the cooperation aboard ships.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:49:01 GMT -5
DEPENDENCY & POPULATION CONTROL
In many ways, however, the unity in Looney fleets is as much a product of necessity, as well. Life aboard spacecraft over Set is a limited, meager existence dependent on the fickle whims of drifting debris and orbital weather patterns. Entire ships and fleets may go missing during Set's jumps if they stray too far from the planet. The remnants of entire species cling to survival in aging spacecraft that trace their lineages as far back as the Splinter Wars. Desperation is as common a theme as camaraderie for the Space Loonies.
As a result, many ships maintain heavily-structured lives for their crew. Free time is scarce and personal liberties border on non-existent. Only the largest and most populous of fleets can conduct themselves in any manner veering from totalitarian. The all-encompassing nature of personnel management aboard ships goes right down to population control. Birth rates and departures from ships are restricted to the judgement of a ship's command staff. Species with no control over their reproductive cycles are often left in unenviable and disheartening positions. Even a violent criminal's exile or execution may be delayed in order to maintain the delicate stability of a ship's staff count.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:49:20 GMT -5
INSULARITY & XENOPHOBIA
Outsiders are viewed with little more than suspicion or disdain. In most cases, they are regarded as little more than nuisances, and are often seen as parasites leeching off of salvage opportunities the Space Loonies could put to better use. Arrangements with outsider ships and stations are conducted only when the Space Looney fleet is in a substantially better position. Neutral craft are often avoided altogether when the fleet is weak or pressured. Recruiting outsiders is a practice that few are willing to commit to.
Dealings with planetside Looney facilities are rare and reserved for only a scant few emergencies. Landings are rarely considered, even for otherwise critical repairs during difficult orbital weather. The gap between orbit and ground is as much cultural as it is physical; many in the Space Loonies see the towns and travellers on Set as little much better than the Loonies they left behind. This perspective stems from - and feeds back into - the recurring xenophobia in Set's overwhelming human majority. In response, Space Looney landings are often disparagingly referred to as "visitations".
Hesitance towards landings is not without practical concerns. Many planetside Looney bunkers oppose Space Looney landings - often times, with force - for a variety of reasons. Some fear the consequences of a ship crash, others simply act on centuries-old grudges and entrenched xenophobia. The influence of the landed Loonies on nearby towns often drives region-wide biases. Many towns owe a further level of innate hostility to regular attacks by wildlife. Resultantly, the aliens and other non-humans of the Space Loonies are lumped in with Set's countless inhuman monsters.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:49:53 GMT -5
LIMITED PLANETSIDE SURVIVABILITY
The Space Loonies themselves suffer no shortage of difficulty in landings, as well. Few Space Looney craft were designed for travel in the denser atmosphere closer to Set's surface. Fewer still have the equipment or profile needed to land in anything short of a purpose-made dock. Even the Space Loonies themselves are ill-suited for planetary existence; life in space has left them unprepared for surviving below. Contrary to their origins, the Space Loonies are poor survivalists on the land, with little ability to feed or shelter themselves without their ships. Only a scarce handful are ready to deal with the threat of attacks by wildlife, marauders, or cultists on a daily basis.
Further still, the Space Loonies' poor prospects planetside push well into the physical realm. Inconsistent gravity on some ships leaves many with frail bones and feeble muscles. Life as spacers in multi-species communities often requires they wear environment suits at all times, stunting immune health. Ironically, their level of technological reliance only compounds this problem. Between advanced medical technology, excessive hygiene, and recurring physical isolation, the simplest of diseases are potentially life-threatening for the Space Loonies. Many are further vulnerable to dizzying varieties of allergies with potentially fatal reactions. On the ground, the Space Loonies have few friends - and Set is most assuredly not one of them.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:50:23 GMT -5
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE CULT OF MEAT
Action against the Cult of Meat and likeminded agitators, however, is frequent and regular. Space Looney fleets with the ability to bombard planetside locations often lay routes over meatscapes and cultist-controlled territories. Ships knowingly carrying cultists are shot down and destroyed without warning. In many cases, the Space Loonies' efforts have been critical in preventing the Cult from spreading to other planets in Set's past home systems. Resultantly, the Cult of Meat's activities in orbit are slim, at best, and rarely left in peace.
The Space Loonies' heightened aggression does not arise from purely noble intentions. The Cult of Meat was responsible for the extinction of at least a dozen species in the times since the Splinter Wars, both by actions against planetside settlements and by their early attempts to control orbit. Those that survived were often left battered by the Cult's attempts to absorb the nascent Space Loonies. For the Space Loonies, wiping out the Cult of Meat is a matter of retribution. Defending Set and others from the Cult's expansion are secondary concerns.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:50:33 GMT -5
RELATIONSHIP WITH THE GARBAGE HAULERS
The Space Loonies maintain an odd relationship with the garbage hauler network around Set. Despite the fickle nature of the drone-ships tending and serving the network, the Space Loonies are fiercely defensive of them. When drone-ships are raided for their collected salvage or attacked in an attempt to divert them, nearby Space Loonies will often rush to their aid. Stowaways found aboard drone-ships are ejected - with varying levels of sympathy. When a planetside drone station is attacked, it is considered nothing less than an attack on the Space Loonies as a whole.
Despite how unpredictable the hauler network is, the reasons are plain. Garbage haulers collect derelicts and scrap from across orbit, deposit it - or attempt to deposit it - in predictable locations, and may even process the salvage by themselves. They perform the thankless, dangerous, arduous task of clearing debris from orbit that would otherwise interfere with orbital traffic. Some Space Looney fleets owe their prosperity and livelihood to the drone-ships of the hauler network. Likewise, the hauler network is seen as one of the last vestiges of the now-extinct Zaschia, and defending it is often regarded as a matter of honor and penitence.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 1:51:05 GMT -5
THE "BIG LIE"
Among the Space Loonies, knowledge of the Big Lie is minimal. Most fleets have only a limited grasp of its nature - and many are only passingly aware that it exists. There is, however, a curious correlation between knowledge of the Big Lie and the presence of redworlders in fleets. Likewise, the absence of other species - save for humans - further heightens this relationship. Fleets operating exclusively with humans and redworlders typically maintain traditional practices related to the Big Lie. Information on this particular facet of it is, as always, scarce.
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