Jack of Harts

New Washington changed everything for the Great Families of the New England Federation. They organized the initial colonization effort, they invested more than any other American State into the colony, and it became the single largest concentration of Great Family assets outside the Solar System. They built and maintained the planetary defense grid, and two entire Federation battle squadrons defended the world the day the Shang attacked. There were no survivors in orbit, and the Shang dropped enough laser and missile fire on the colony to create the first Winter Protocol of The War. Dozens of worlds joined New Washington in their own global Ice Ages over the following decade, but it was New Washington that changed everything. The Shang bombardment breached the Great Family underground bunkers and killed hundreds of their best and brightest. The Great Families did not react well.

One aspect of the “Test that assumption at your convenience” incident that remained secret for decades was that they salvaged the Shang raider’s primary fabricator in nearly operational condition. While far outside the technical capabilities of the New England Federation to replicate, studying that fabricator jumpstarted Federation fabrication technology through centuries of progress in a decade. The fruits of that study went towards making the Fleet 2300 Project the revolutionary technological and strategic leap forward that it was. The new ships could fly farther, faster, and throw more missiles and energy at the enemy than any previous generation. And it was those ships that anchored our fleets when the Shang attacked us in earnest. We would have lost without them. That technology saved us from becoming a zoo exhibit for Aliens to wave at as they flew past a defeated Earth.

The New England Federation Starfleet’s official motto is “Ad Astra.” To the stars. As a largely exploration force, that is a logical motto. Their unofficial motto is slightly more wordy and colorful. “Test that assumption at your convenience.” On the record explanations of the motto say it is pertaining to the scientific tests all ships and scientists perform during the exploration process. Off the record interviews recount the words of an infamous captain during a Pre-War incident with a Shang raider. They claimed they could take anything they wanted, and he invited them to test that assumption at their convenience. They did, and he proved them wrong. That victory earned him a commendation for innovative thinking, a UCMJ charge for sending his ship to dry dock for three months, and a new research grant dedicated to finding out how to safely replicate his stunt.