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[General User]

Arcian wrote...

A geographic section would be really good, I think.

Your request is my command!

As stated above Mindoir has an extensive hydrosphere with salt water oceans covering almost three quarters of the planetary surface. Island archipelagos are the norm, with the two largest land masses being roughly the size of Australia on Earth.

Like the Earth, Mindoir is a tectonically active planet. Its most remarkable feature is hands down the spectacular Shepard Mountains (formerly the Gran Alps). Caused by plate subduction, the Shepard Mountains rise dramatically out of the Wilhelm Ocean to a height of nearly 7,000 meters before gently fading into the Basel-Rhine river basin. Mindoir’s largest settlement, Nouveau Basel, though located on the equator, sits in the foothills of the Shepard Mountains just past the headwaters of the Basel-Rhine which flows through the center of town, moderating the climate.

Mindoir’s second largest settlement, Nouveau Strasbourg, lies in the Northern temperate zone on a series of hills overlooking the Verde Seaway. Originally founded with the intent of becoming the central “market town” of one of Mindoir’s large landmasses, Nouveau Strasbourg is also home to Mindoir burgeoning fisheries industry mainly harvesting a native species dubbed the “neartuna” which, while looking nothing like an Earth tuna, tastes remarkably similar.

As on many worlds humanity has settled, the colonists on Mindoir tended to name regions on their new home world after similar regions on Earth (as ANN recently reported, there are no fewer than 23 “New California’s” scattered throughout the colonies). Though lacking a “Nouveau California”, Mindoir does have a Le Nouveau Philippines, a Nouveau Cuba, a Nouveau Hawaii, and a Le Nouveau Shetlands.  Mindoir decided to use the French "Nouveau" as opposed to the Standard English "New" specifically to distinguish regions on Mindoir from regions on other colonies.

In terms of overall climate, Mindoir features approximately the same range of temperatures found on Earth. Permanent ice caps cover both poles, wet tropical jungles dominate the equatorial regions, and temperate forests and grasslands dominate the middle latitudes. The only biomes that Mindoir lacks in comparison to Earth are the Great Deserts. Mindoir has no equivalent of the Sahara, or the Gobi, or the deserts of Western Australia. That’s not to say Mindoir lacks deserts entirely. Portions of the coastline at the base of the Shepard Mountains bear a striking resemblance to Earth’s Atacama, while a few of the larger landmasses have regions where a resident of New Mexico or Arizona might feel at home. 

The climate on Mindoir is particularly stable, due to the planet’s small rotational axis. Seasonal shifts are a relatively minor affair with the difference between mean summer and winter temperatures averaging less than 10 degrees Celsius in most places where humans have settled, and even smaller shifts in coastal regions.

As a consequence of ‘The Raid’, much of the surface of Mindoir is under the direct administration of the Mindoir colonial government, since the vast majority of the colony’s population died and their next of kin on Earth could only inherit the properties if they agreed to move to Mindoir and become Mindoir citizens, which only a very few did. This glut of public land is not without benefit, however.  Settlement land on Mindoir, of any climate, is cheap and available (land sales are a major source of government revenue) and a citizens group called “Mindoir Forever” (whose membership includes several prominent Stadtholders and Representatives) have already drawn up initial plans for what will likely become one of the most spectacular Colonial Park systems in the Alliance.

The Shepard family owned property all over Mindoir (indeed throughout the Mindoir system) but the main family estate, where Shepard was born and raised, was an island roughly the size of Ireland in the (recently renamed) Shepard Sea.

Modifié par General User, 13 juin 2011 - 02:17 .

[General User]

A Quick Look at Select Stadtholders


Jonah Goldwater – A former commercial starship designer/naval architect, Mr. Goldwater invented a device called the “SpaceNet Node” in his KonstanteStar Station apartment. A devastatingly simple concept, SpaceNet is little more than a basic starship sensor package designed to operate in tandem with a preexisting FTL comm. buoy. The SpaceNet node collects its data and uses the comm. buoy to transmit the information back to the system defenders, providing for effective FTL sensor capability with minimal need for hardware upgrades. Cord-Hilsop Aerospace is partnering with Mr. Goldwater to create a new company; Goldwater Defense Dynamics, in order to sell the SpaceNet system throughout the Alliance and Citadel space.

For this contribution to colonial security, and for seriously elevating the economic profile of Mindoir outside of the agricultural sector, Mr. Goldwater was made a Stadtholder.


Yilia T’Ros – Currently Mindoir’s only non-human Stadtholder, Stadtholder T’Ros is also far and away Mindoir’s wealthiest citizen. She was born on Thessia before humans had steam power and was one of the earliest settlers on Illium. Her company (still based on Illium, though she herself has obviously relocated), T’Ros Fleet Lines, is one of the largest shipping conglomerates in asari space.

Ms. T’Ros’s association with Mindoir began in 2170 immediately following ‘The Raid’, when her personal charity, Palan’layari (an asari-Serrician word that most closely translates as: “the compassion one feels for all living things”), was among the very first to provide humanitarian (or “asaritarian”, as the case may be) aid to the devastated colony. Among certain survivors of ‘The Raid’ she is still known as “Mama T’Ros.”

In 2175, at the personal invitation of both Colonial President Prichard and the entire Mindoir Colonial Congress, Ms. T’Ros was invited to tour the colony that was in the midst of rebounding, thanks in no small part to her help. While the Mindoinese were of course trying to make a good impression on Ms. T’Ros, no one predicted just how much they’d succeed.

In her own words, Ms. T’Ros said, “I’m an almost 700 years old asari. I’ve fallen in love with salarians, and I’ve fallen in love with turians, I’ve fallen in love with success, and I’ve even fallen in love with a car. But I’ve never fallen in love with an entire planet; much less dream that they would love me back.”

Later that year, causing something of a scandal in the Illium business community, Ms. T’Ros moved to Mindoir and applied for Alliance/Mindoir citizenship. And, if that were not enough, the patronage of T’Ros Fleet Lines has been instrumental in opening asari markets to Mindoinese goods. To date, her elevation to the rank of Stadtholder is still the only unanimous vote in Mindoir political history.


Pei Ling – Calling this woman “dynamic” is an exercise in understatement. Admiral Pei Ling is not only a Stadtholder and a Senator but is also the Commanding Officer of the Mindoir Colonial Militia and, as such, the chief military advisor to the Colonial President (Mindoir does not have a civilian “Secretary of Defense”-type position). Even on Mindoir, she stands out as an ardent Shepard supporter.

In 2172 then-Captain Pei was sent to Mindoir by the Alliance to help train the Mindoir Colonial Militia. When her assignment was complete, President Prichard personally offered Captain Pei command of the entire Mindoir Colonial Militia along with a promotion to Rear Admiral. Fortunately for all involved, she accepted and has held the position since.

The event Rear Admiral Pei describes as the “proudest moment in my career” occurred in 2176 during the Skyllian Blitz. While the main Alliance forces were engaged fighting batarian sponsored pirate groups on and around Elysium and Torfan, a smaller group called the “Sons of Kre’Dosh” was sponsored to attack Mindoir and other Alliance colonies in the Attican Traverse. Operating on intel whose source is still classified (*coughcoughcerberuscoughcough*), Rear Admiral Pei was able to ambush the pirates and catch them completely unprepared. Her victory that day likely saved Mindoir Colony and earned her a Stadtholdership.

Modifié par General User, 13 juin 2011 - 05:47 .

[General User]

Mindoir’s Preparations for the Coming Invasion

Because of Mindoir’s close relationship with Shepard, it never even occurred to Mindoir’s leaders NOT to believe in the Reaper threat. When the Council and Alliance leadership started making public pronouncements that Sovereign was a geth construct and not a Reaper, the Mindoinese generally reacted with outright shock and dismay. There was even some belief on Mindoir, still not entirely discounted, that galactic leadership had already been indoctrinated! Since Eden Prime, and especially since the Battle of the Citadel, the government of Mindoir has been doing everything in its power to prepare for the coming invasion. It's a task made an order of magnitude harder by the fact that, making preparations openly will likely draw at best indifference, most likely ridicule, and at worst active resistance, from mainstream Alliance and Council leadership.

President Prichard and the leaders of the Mindoir Colonial Militia, after conferring with Shepard, have developed a plan they believe to be their best bet. The plan calls for Mindoir to divide its resources between three forces, Task Force Alamo, Task Force Hornet, and (perhaps most importantly) Operation Gravy Boat. 

Task Force Alamo’s job is the fortification and defense of the Mindoir system.  Currently they are; constructing survival bunkers, securing supply caches, training in counter-husk and counter-geth tactics and deploying the innovative “SpaceNet” sensor system. Most of this activity has been sold to the Alliance Parliament as a general "colonial security" initiative, in order to get them to pick up at least part of the check.  So the Alliance IS preparing for the Reaper invasion, they just don't realize it!  As the name suggests, TF Alamo harbors no illusions about their ability to ultimately defeat the Reapers, should they attack in force. That’s not to say they don’t have a few tricks up their sleeves…

Task Force Hornet is intended to be Mindoir’s main combat contribution to the war effort. The force consists of multiple small strike teams based out of modified versions of the Alliance’s Columbia-class* corvettes/gunboats and capable of operating either independently or in concert with a larger force.  In other words, Task Force Hornet is organized in a very similar fashion to the anti-piracy forces the MCM has been fielding for years. Mindoir has neither the human nor industrial resources to construct major combatant vessels like cruisers or even frigates, let alone dreadnoughts or carriers. But no group of people who watches Shepard as close as these people do could fail to note that small teams of highly trained commandos can be extraordinarily effective against the Reapers when used properly. Like Task Force Alamo, Task Force Hornet is basing its training programs off Shepard’s experiences fighting known Reaper allies.

As the Alliance and the Council officially deny the Reaper threat, Admirals Hackett and Anderson have been unable to fully utilize official channels for even something as simple as stockpiling supplies.  One of the ways they are attempting to sidestep these restrictions is to funnel as much materiel as possible to the Mindoinese, as an “off the books” way to stockpile supplies and munitions. Operation Gravy Boat is the joint MCM/5th Fleet plan to distribute these supplies once the invasion begins. The most surprising feature of Operation Gravy Boat is that the vessels the Alliance will be using to distribute their caches aren’t even Alliance ships! Over the past few years, the MCM’s active anti-piracy campaign in the Traverse has led the organization to come into possession of a number of small (crews of between 10 and 20 persons) pirate vessels. Officially these starships have been impounded by the Mindoinese/Alliance authorities and are currently awaiting being either sold or scrapped. Unofficially however, many of these ships are being converted to serve as small, fast supply ships, “blockade runners” if you will, able to move soldiers and supplies back and forth across Reaper lines. Though not the equal of modern warships, many of these former pirate vessels are also capable enough combatants in their own right, especially when upgraded with modern Alliance hardware.


* I know, for the Alliance, frigates are named after battles, cruisers are named after cities, dreadnoughts are named after mountains, and carriers are named after scientists, but I don’t know how the Alliance names its corvettes. I went with rivers because that’s how the small starships on Deep Space 9 were named.

[General User]

Mindoir’s Anti-Piracy Operations

The charter of the Mindoir Colonial Militia authorizes it, as a Systems Alliance Navy auxiliary, to both “defend the territorial integrity of the Mindoir System” and “to render aid and comfort to those engaged in lawful commerce and activity in deep space.” It is under a liberal interpretation of these clauses that the Mindoir Colonial Militia has, since the Skyllian Blitz, been conducting anti-piracy operations both independently, and in concert with both the Alliance military and the Illium Customs Service. 

Mindoinese counter-piracy doctrine is based on small teams of elite commandos identifying and neutralizing pirate bases. The N7 mission on Sanctum in ME2 is a good analogue.

When the MCM takes pirates prisoner, they run them through the C-Sec database, which also identifies any outstanding warrants on “independent” Citadel associated worlds such as Illium and Noveria. Those with outstanding warrants face an extradition hearing to decide where to try them, those without are tried under Mindoinese law. Those who are extradited tend to be the lucky ones as Mindoir has some of the toughest anti-piracy and anti-slavery laws in the Alliance.  Almost certainly as a legacy of ‘The Raid’, Mindoir has the death penalty for virtually any level of participation in the slave trade.

While asari law may be the predominant influence on Council law in most matters; the turians, as the Council’s main military arm have exhibited the chief influence over commerce protection law over the centuries. An interesting incident occurred in 2179 when the turian military apprehended a human criminal named AJ Bakir who was wanted for “participation in the slave trade” on several Alliance worlds, including Mindoir, but had no outstanding warrants outside the Alliance. The turians chose to turn Mr. Bakir over to Mindoinese authorities specifically because, in the words of the turian CO, “Most humans are too soft to give slave traders what they really deserve.” True to form, the Mindoinese tried and executed Mr. Bakir.

Like most Alliance colonial militias, the MCM’s vehicle of choice is the Alliance’s venerable Cord-Hilsop Columbia-class corvette/gunboat, of which they have twelve, as well as the new Cord-Hilsop Volga-class corvette, of which they have three. About six times the size of the UT-47 Kodiak (an Alliance corvette could fit in the SR-2’s small craft bay with plenty of room left over), both Columbia’s and Volga’s carry crews of between four and six along with a six to eight person Marine Detachment.

The Columbia-class was originally introduced in 2157 in the immediate wake of the First Contact War as a combination troop drop ship/light combatant. While VERY well armed, the Columbia-class is a less than ideal choice as a deep space combatant under most circumstances. While the fact that they carry near frigate-level firepower makes them well suited to taking down pirates and raiders, their small size makes them significantly more vulnerable than frigates in a standup engagement against a professional military, though these problems have been alleviated somewhat in the new Volga-class which includes silaris armor and CBT shielding systems standard. At the same time, their relatively limited maneuverability places them a distant second to fighter craft as close-in combatants. Where the Alliance’s corvettes really shine in combat is in the close air support role in support of special operations and in “hit and run” deep space combat ops. 

The most popular feature of the Alliance’s corvettes, both the Columbia (from the MK. III on) and Volga classes, is by far the “mod-bay” or "modular bay."  The facilities and components normally used to house and sustain the small Marine Corps Detachment are in fact part of a modular system that can be customized to suit the needs of various missions.   Everything from simply extra cargo space, to updated sensor packages, to engine upgrades, to the latest in high-tech weapons, even a “med-bay” module that can turn the corvette into the galaxy’s most heavily armed clinic, is available. Over the years the Columbia’s rugged construction and adaptability has made it a popular choice for both front line colonists and special forces units outside of the Alliance as well. Columbia-class corvettes have seen service with asari, salarian and (perhaps a bit ironically) turian military units.

Modifié par General User, 19 juin 2011 - 11:01 .