Tajara Space Capability

Space Flight

At the time of their discovery, the Tajara thought of spaceflight the same as we might think of cold fusion. However, with human first contact, these mental barriers were not dismantled but rather blown apart. All at once, apathy, shock, joy, and existential dread resonated through the entirety of Adhomai. Many were overjoyed; beings from outer space had come to usher in a new age of enlightenment and knowledge. They were swiftly corrected. Now, fifty years later space flight had become somewhat mundane. All three governments have implemented strict spacing laws, materials are frequently carried in and space exports are made on a daily schedule. Still, the Tajara people remain the most divided in their opinions of space flight. Many see it as the beginning of the hard times, others recognize it as a simple business and a few more know it’s their only way off of this planet.

History of Space Flight

Shortly after the first contact, multiple offers were made by the royals to purchase human vessels, however, all were immediately rejected. No surviving transmissions remain from this era, so concrete records of these failed negotiations are difficult to obtain.

After the first revolution and the establishment of the new federal government, President Rhagrrhuzau Hadii put much effort into ensuring the PRA would be provided a vessel and trained personnel. After months of negotiations, the new PRA was provided the Freighter Ruka alongside 20 trained human astronauts and blueprints of the ship. Many sources indicate that after this exchange, president Hadii’s anti-human rhetoric sharply increased.

With these new materials, the first Tajara satellites were launched into space. The rapid advancement of technology and Tajara understanding of spaceflight soon ensured that multi-stage rockets and eventually the launch of proper space vessels were not far behind. The first twelve Tajara to stand on the moon were both celebrated and declared cursed by many. Eventually, the pinnacle of Tajara engineering was successfully launched into space: an advanced (for the time) orbital platform known as The People’s Space Station, manned only by Tajara.

This “space high” wore off rather quickly after the assassination. What few captains there were amongst the handful of Tajara spacecraft took the side of the PRA, being high ranking party members themselves. The same could not be said of their crews, and many ships experienced mutinies and revolts. As a result, practically every spacecraft was disabled for the majority of the second revolution as the PRA didn’t consider them to be important. After a few years of war, the PRA finally managed to manufacture its first military ship, the PNA Retaliation. Soon, it would purchase multiple other decommissioned ships who, alongside the Retaliation, would spend their service time trying to stop smuggling operations of the NKA and DPRA.

Now in times of peace, the PRA still dominates space. Neither the DPRA nor the NKA finds themselves with the blueprints, facilities, and technicians necessary to field their own ships. Relying on smugglers and overpriced foreign purchases to make any travels off and on Adhomai. However, the recent acquisition of Gakal’Zaal and its spaceport shows that PRA might soon find themselves competing over the ownership of S’rand’marr.

Civilian Ships and Installations

Civilian ships are a common sight around the resource-rich Adhomai. It is not atypical to frequently find vessels belonging to NanoTrasen, Elyria, privateers, or independent parties in the S’randmarr System. Otherwise, all other ships are considered to officially belong to the PRA as all space-faring vessels owned by Tajara affiliated to the PRA are state property.

In the past, ships owned by Tajara who were not affiliated with the PRA would be confiscated and the owner labeled as a state traitor. Now, this is no longer permitted, and both DPRA and NKA citizens can own a ship. This, however, is made difficult by the PRA still staking claim to pretty much all of known S’rand’marr space and establishing “security checkpoints”. Unsurprisingly, many DPRA and NKA citizens find themselves singled out and searched, their cargo often confiscated due to containing “illegal goods”. Despite these dangers, smuggling still remains a popular criminal activity on Adhomai.

Freighter

Tajara designed freighters are just like any other: big, square, and typically equipped with a powerful engine. However, Tajaran freighter models are well known for having an emergency jettison system built into the vessel to enable the pilot to hurriedly eject their cargo so that their vessel can more easily escape a dangerous situation… or, in some cases, so they can dispose of any evidence of smuggling.

Transport

Civilian transports of Tajara design are a rare sight, but they do exist. Built less for comfort and more for survival in pirate space, these ships are dense with armor plating, yet fast due to their powerful engines, making them perfect to withstand any raider attack. They do, however, generate a massive amount of heat inside the ship itself, leading to many cases of heat-stroke and even to deaths of the passengers during long chases.

Mining Jacks

A skipjack would usually be seen in the hands of smugglers but Tajara have developed an ingenious way of mining. Instead of using a large ship to land on an asteroid and deploying a mining crew, these small, one-pilot Jacks simply cut away a part of an asteroid and take it back to a mining station where it is processed.

Scrapper

A frequent sight in Tajaran space are scrappers. Crewed by two or three Tajara, these ships magnetically grip any debris or damaged ships and tow them to a spaceyard, where they’re either scrapped or repaired. There is a rumor floating around, that these horseshoe-shaped ships steal orbiting craft with the crew still inside. Whisking them away to a fate unknown.

Smugglers

From the first revolution to the most recent Gakal’zaal uprising, smuggling has always played a large part in Tajara history. The DPRA in particular harbors very good relations with smugglers, keeping them more as a permanent asset rather than a quick hire. While the PRA would love to get rid of these smugglers, many arrive to Adhomai under legitimate corporate interests or at least masking as such. Giving them an uninterrupted way in and out.

Free Gakal’Zaal Station

Gakal’zaal station has been a very recent addition to the DPRA space capability. This addition has been heralded as a stepping stone to the first DPRA fleet, with its spaceyard capable of manufacturing up to medium-sized ships. The Free Gakal'zaal Station, originally known as Makar Castle, is an orbital station floating around the planet. The facility was built by the Unathi to serve as their seat of power; it was abandoned after the planet joined the Democratic People’s Republic. The facility was taken over by the Tajara and turned into a spaceport. It has also become a smuggler's haven, as thanks to them, the large-scale transports of men and materials were possible. Now they enjoy a degree of immunity from the authorities, creating a large black market on the station.

Okon 001

The first observation post built on the moon, originally constructed by the Jargon Federation and named Site B2134. Its original purpose was to observe the Tajara people, but after their rapid ascension to space-age technology, the observation post was abandoned and sold to the PRA for a suspiciously low price. It was subsequently renamed to Okon 001, which translates to "Eye" in Siik'maas.

Afterward, it remained unused for several years due to a lack of trained Tajara scientists to operate it, leading to its disrepair. During the second revolution, it was manned by forty crewmembers, finally getting some much-needed maintenance. During this time it was used to spy on the enemy activity as well as reporting possible pirate and smuggling activity. This is the longest known official Tajara space deployment, lasting from the beginning of the second war until the end. Afterward, all forty-one crewmembers were inspected, and outside of bone elongation, slight muscle entropy, and audio-visual hallucinations all were declared perfectly healthy.

Okon 001 is still in use, manned by much smaller crews of five who are rotated out every month and have varying skill levels depending on the mission they’re carrying out. Janitors, engineers, doctors, scientists, and even common miners have been part of Okon crew. Regardless, all Okon's crews modify their suits with lights, each one wearing a different color to recognize each other without having to use the radio. Many choose to keep them afterward.

PRA Army Wing

Realizing that ship-combat is utterly different from naval or ground combat, the PRA developed a unique doctrine titled “The Blizzard”. It is defined by a quick hit and run attacks of smaller interceptors while larger ships stand back as fire support. This has led to the Tajara fleets being very effective in eliminating pirates, but rather fragile in any other sustained combat.

Organization of the PRA space forces.

Fang

Fangs are piloted interceptors with zero shielding, low armoring, unguided rockets, and ballistic machineguns. Their design is based on outdated alliance corvettes, reduced in weight so that they can fit onto carriers in large quantities. Fang pilots range from fresh-faced recruits to grizzled veterans, however, it is rare for a pilot of a Fang to reach his middle-age crisis.

Snowstorm

The newest addition to the Tajaran fleet, the Snowstorm is a small spacecraft. Operated by a pilot and a hacker, employing a wide range of signal disturbing, hacking, and intrusive technologies. These ships are capable of completely disabling even a destroyer, provided they are close enough. Hackers tend to shave the fur on body parts not covered by their jumpsuit, to prevent damaging the delicate electronics.

Icelance

A perfect reflection of Tajara doctrine, these ships are akin to artillery. Magnetic accelerators along the whole length of the ship fire titanium rods at supersonic speeds. Impossible to shoot down by gunners due to their thin profile, undetectable by conventional point-defense make these rods a deadly projectile. However, with a low fire rate, no armor, and slow speeds they are easy pickings for faster ships and other long-ranged ships.

Icelance GC-2 (Glacial Worm Type 2 variant)

The Icelance GC-2 differs in one thing, main weapon. With advancements in technology PRA scientists have perfected the art of frost, thus the GC-2 variant comes equipped with a molecule retarder commonly known as a “Freeze Ray”. It is capable of instantly stopping engines, collapsing energy shields under their own weight, and blinding enemy pilots. This design also strains the battery much less, giving it a higher rate of fire.

Headmaster

The heaviest of the Tajara ships designed by PRA. As of now, it’s the lightest heavy ship ever designed, barely staying above the classification of medium. This makes the cruiser very effective in resisting anything pirates can field while being able to keep up with the rest of the fleet. However, they do not stand a chance in a prolonged fight against anything its size. Recent bigger designs have been entering the testing phase, possibly opening the Tajara to larger-scale galactic operations.

Sentinel

A carrier ship, designed to ferry Fangs and assist with recharging the Icelance and Snowstorm class ships. It is the largest and bulkiest ship in the Tajara fleet, it was assumed that the Sentinel would be the primary target of enemy fire, in response the government spared no expense on this design. Boasting high armor, impressive shielding, point-defenses, and even Bluespace Disruptors purchased from Epsilon Eridani. Piloting this kind of ship is an honor of the highest degree and often left only to the most skilled of captains and pilots. Of course, the ships are also slow and expensive to upkeep and so many crewmembers jokingly call them “moving space stations”.

Kosmostrelki

The PRA has always been known for substituting quality with quantity. However, this sentiment had to be tweaked for space combat as their ships, cheap as they are, are still hard and expensive to replace for the government. This makes the Kosmostrelki some of the best-trained troops in the PRA roster. The Kosmostrelki are usually trained in the martial art of Baghrar, both to instill discipline and help with their balance. They are also capable sharpshooters, understand advanced first aid, and are drilled in repair and upkeep of the spaceships they inhabit. While there are specialized medics and engineers, all Kosmostrelki are expected to know how to improvise their way out of any emergency. There is a rumor among other troops that the Kosmostrelki have a high amount of deserters. Due to how easy it would be to run away into space. However, these claims are unsupported.

Republican Defensive Robots

Most heavy Republican ships carry a detachment of very outdated combat robots brought from Solarian military surplus. They are equipped with forward-facing shielding, a power-saw, and various ballistic armaments. These robots operate with a team of 4 kosmostrelki who are responsible for its continued operation and are only deployed in boarding actions where no hostages are expected. These robots have a rudimentary AI and can perform only the most simple tasks outside of combat.

The People's Republic was once unable to manufacture the defensive robots, relying solely on maintenance to make them sustainable. This changed in 2463 with the opening of the first Hadiist self-sufficient robotics factory. The PRA can now produce these automatons without external help.