Instrumentalitynoun
1.
the fact or quality of serving as an instrument or means to an end.
ConceptThe Instrumentality is to a traditional society like the Hegemony as a multicellular organism is to a colony of single cellular organisms. In both cases the cells work together, benefiting from those around them. In the case of a multicellular organism however the cells have diversified, being remade by one another into specific and distinct roles to further enhance synergy.
BackstoryIn the early years of the collapse the not yet self-sufficient colony world of Issa was on the brink of failure. Cut off from their funding and supply lines from outside the sector the colony's terraforming project was cancelled and colonists were leaving in droves. However, to many colonists the chaos and uncertainty of those early years was more than they could handle and preferred to stay at the isolated colony site simply to avoid the attention of warlords and raiders. However without the constant influx of off world resources the corporation running the project had already cut its losses and left leaving very few jobs and limited supplies with which to run the environmental systems of their habitats.
Issa did already supported it's own biosphere but one not quite suitable for humans to live in. The native plant and fungal spores could trigger anaphylaxis in minutes of exposure and active thermal vents left high levels of lead oxide in the atmosphere. Realizing the only reason a society could not exist on Issa was a matter of Human limitations the colonial government reached the only rational conclusion they could; if they could not change the planet, they would change themselves.
What started as a project to devise cybernetic modifications necessary for survival in the Issani wilderness evolved into a full blown revision of human anatomy and societal organization. It was decided that rather than be ruled by a traditional government each colonist would contribute approximately 10% of their cognitive processing power to a cloud computing network. AI programs devised to fill administrative and strategic planning roles were given access to this brain power. Over the years this grew into a fully symbiotic relationship with the thoughts of the colonists influencing the actions and dispositions of the AIs but in turn the information presented to the colonists by the AI influenced them back. This effect evolved into a unity of will and purpose that served as the driving force for progress in their society. When a task needed doing it was simply known by those who were required for it's completion. When a statistical projection called for the creation of 5000 zero-g manufacturing jobs in 20 years the AI operated breeding programs ensured 5000 suitable candidates would be conceived in the next cohort.
Having completed it's first goal, a planet wide resource extraction and distribution network it is now time for stage two of the Instrumentality's plans: Re-establish contact with the rest of the Sector and neutralize any potential threats to it's long term survivability and integrating itself in the economic structures of the surrounding polities.
Ships These are not all of the ships I plan on creating, simply those I feel are vanilla balanced enough to be considered finished.
Overall Instrumentality Ship Traits
High Flux Capacity and Dissipation
Weapons with Good SynergyBelow Average Ordnance
Few Large Weapon SlotsFighters
Spoiler
Golma
Frigates
Spoiler
Metric
Destroyers
Spoiler
Regulator
Comptroller
Cruisers
Spoiler
Intendant
Magistratus
Capital Ships
Spoiler
Executor
