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HRogge

I spent the last week or two with Dartz working on a concept for the 2020-2025 time period.
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The Frigga Factory Complex

»What do you mean with ‘what do you plan to build there? Everything both you and us want, of course!«
- Lisa asked by Jet about the planned factory

History
The Frigga Factory Complex is housed in one of the old mining excavations on Frigga's surface. Starting towards the end of 2022 Catgirl Industries enclosed the pit with a pressure cap at surface level and began initial structural and framing work for the factory. The final fitting out was completed sometime in early 2025, though the plant had been basically operational for over a year prior.

The complex is Catgirl Industries first attempt to replicate their production techniques outside their own space stations, so that other people can start using them to build and invent on their own.

During normal operation many components are bought from other parts of Fenspace to ease the production of new hardware, but in theory the factory complex can build everything itself if supplied with the necessary raw materials.

Both Cortana and Serina are present in the factory, alongside an ‘emergency operation system', which could run the factory at a lower efficiency without a direct AI control. Replacing all the aware Exocomps with different models may also lead to other problems.

The Factory appears on Frigga's books as a contracted tenant, paying for oxygen, power and defense in raw material and through shared use of the factory itself. Frigga and Survival Shot normally use the factory to save on the cost of spare parts. While the MZ-105 is technically available for sale, only the MZ-23 Judy has sold in anything like numbers.

Structure of the factory

The factory and its support infrastructure are housed in one of Frigga's old mining excavations, a leftover of the time when Frigga was mined for resources. Because of the size of the site, it's still mostly empty.

The cave of the complex is separated from the outside of the asteroid by two 50m doors that form a spaceship sized airlock. Multiple smaller airlocks allow small vehicles, persons or even Exocomps to enter and leave the cave without using the main doors.

The airlock leads into the open space of the factory floor. The factory complex itself is built onto the walls of the cavern, simplifying access The catgirls have installed enough accommodation for 80 people, following a similar -if slightly more spacious - layout to the quarters on Jenga..

The main factory area can accommodate projects up to 100 meters long, with an upper limit on usable volume of about 250,000 cubic meters. This is usually split among smaller projects over multiple removable levels. The first time the whole area was used for a single project was during the building of the Exelion.

It is designed specifically for maximum flexibility, being able to produce everything used in the factory itself, firearm components, parts for Exocomps, Makos, Kodiaks, Judys or even something as large as a full-scale Gundam replica or a Normandy class cruiser. The factory can also produce copies of its own hardware,

The factory is connected with the main living area on Frigga by a 20 kilometer long tunnel left over from the original excavations.

Power and communication

Two separate lines of optical fiber run along the tunnel between Frigga's living space and the factory to keep both areas in contact. One fibre for normal email, voice or video communication and the second one for the Red Telephone between the control centers of both areas.

Frigga's TITANIC system is specifically isolated from the factory, both for safety and security reasons. The two cables are the only direct lines of communication between both sectors, and are specifically islanded from any computer systems in either sector. The only communication that can travel from one network to the other one are some simple chat, voice and video protocols over two specialized proxies on both sides.

Power is provided by Frigga's 4 main reactors (Blackly named after nuclear disasters, considering the plant was left behind by the original owners due to radioactive contamination making it uneconomical to remove); 2012-era Stellarators burning a Deuterium-Tritium mix, generating steam to drive 4 main turbines on a direct cycle. Each turbine outputs a maximum of 1.21 GW of electricity at 60Hz. This power is supplied to the factory by a high-voltage 3-phase line.

The factory itself also has it's own backup fusor generators capable of supplying emergency power (at least the catgirls say its just for backup).

The first product manufactured by the Factory were FR-15 rifles, to replace a few worn AUG's damaged by careless use. The initial ten were built in July 2023, as a test of a composite fabrication printer.

Products Designed by Catgirl Industries on Frigga:
  • Exelion-type carrier-frigate (extended length Normandy class)
  • M-35 Mako all terrain vehicle
  • UT-47 Kodiak Shuttle
  • Exocomps with built in mining tools

Products Designed natively on Frigga:
  • Survival Shot spare parts.
  • Frigga 15 rifles for Survival Shot. (The first thing ever produced.)
  • Structural hardware for Frigga itself.
  • MZ-23 Judy and derivatives. (Alternatively known as the Bahamode or Pokémech)
  • MZ-105 custom series. (Flexible production technology demonstrator. Only built)


Trivia:
  • Standard working crew consists of 48 catgirls and more than 500 Exocomps of all sizes
  • The last parts of the factory were the Eezo creation particle beam system and a factory for holographic circuits.
  • During the final construction phase of the Exelion nearly 130 catgirls temporarily worked in the factory.
  • The factory has a dedicated Interwave node connected with Jenga

HRogge

Hungry catgirls

A group of catgirls had just arrived through the Tunnel, quickly approaching Dizzy Rogers and waving.

“Hi Dizzy, good to see you” one of them quickly said and smiled.

Dizza became suspicious instantly. Friggas new inhabitants were stalking some prey. They were up to something.

“We are not sure you already know it... well, the last two months we got our food from a small field kitchen we brought here from Jenga, but now that we finished the apartments, we are thinking about something more permanent.”

“Yeah, I heard about it. Is there some problem?”

“No, no... we want to open a similar combined Canteen and Cafeteria like we have on Jenga, but we thought building one into the factory complex would be boring!”

“Boring? Why boring?” Dizzy asked.

“It’s the best place to hang around and meet friends we have on Jenga, but if we build it at the factory nearly nobody from your side will visit it at all. It would be as we would live on different asteroids!”

Dizzy just nodded.

“We would like to build it here at Frigga, on this side of the long tunnel. This way we have a regular place to meet each other, that sounds much nicer than staying totally separated.”

“Hmm... but what’s about the guest we have regularly? You know, Survival Shot attendees?”

The catgirls looked to each other and then shrugged.

“They can come too, we can just built the place a little bit larger than necessary. They will just have to pay for the food like everyone else! What would be a bar or restaurant without people visiting it?”

‘New place serving drinks and food with lots of catgirls present’ Dizzy thought with a grin and nodded.

“I think a restaurant for Frigga sounds like a good thing. I will see what I can do for you” he said.

Who would be the best person to start his small advertisement campaign for this bar?

The Restaurant at the end of the Tunnel

»No, the pancakes are out, but we have apple pie today, just got a fresh batch of them from Wonderland. Do you want one?«
- overheard at one of the Restaurants tables

»The first time I saw an Exocomp with a chef’s head on the top I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or to run away. Fortunately laughing turned out to be the right reaction.«
- unknown guest from Stellvia

The Restaurant at the end of the Tunnel is a recent addition to Frigga, in short walking distance to the main living area. It combines a bar, restaurant and canteen in one place. In addition to the kitchen, storage rooms and rooms for the personal, It consists of a large room with a lot of small tables with chairs and a couple of smaller rooms that can be rent for a small fee.

The place was opened by the catgirls from Catgirl Industries in 2023, serving both as their main canteen and a place to meet and socialize with the other inhabitants of Frigga. It is also frequently visited by groups who are doing a multi-day Survival Shot training.

The kind of food and drinks you can order change regularly, mostly depending on the amount of supplies available and the persons working in the kitchen and behind the bar. The restaurant is run by both catgirls and inhabitants of Frigga.

Trivia:
  • Ford Sierra had a regular seat at the place before she visited it the first time.
  • The few Exocomps helping in the kitchen do not belong to the Restaurant itself, but are brought here by some of the catgirls as personal helpers
This gives me an excuse to:

Apparently this is possible using currently existing technology. I love when current technology advances.... because I I stick so close to it for the most part. Either previously existing real world stuff, or previously existing somewhere in Fenspace.
Quote:The FR-15

Yet another variant of Eugene Stoner’s classic AR-15 design, produced originally for Survival Shot to cheaply replace a few broken AUG’s. The primary difference in the FR design is the replacement of the normal direct impingement with a short-stroke gas piston system and the use of carbon-based composite materials in construction.

The weapon receiver and uppers are formed from a carbon-based composite, that also doubles as a low-power structural battery. The battery can provide power to an integrated smart-gun system mounted on the top rail. The barrel is also formed from carbon composites wrapped around a steel liner, though the composition is changed to improve heat rejection.

Otherwise standard, it accepts any AR-compatible magazine and chambers 5.56mm NATO, or with slight modification simunition marker rounds. It is capable of both single-shot or full-automatic fire.

The FR-15 is available for public order through Ford’s Heavyarms site. Aside from the light weight and the integrated smartgun system, it performs much the same as any other AR available from any other builder. Compared to the hand-manufactured 20mm weapons, the FR’s come in at a much more reasonable price-point, though they still aren’t cheap by any means.

A ‘pistol’ variant (FR-15K) is also available, with the usual buttstock removed and the recoil springs moved to the top of the pistol’s upper.The receiver is the exact same part as used on the rifle, with pistol and rifle components being generally interchangeable. The buttstock can be refitted to the pistol if needed.

Although not very popular in Fenspace... most Fen preferring either new generation less-lethal DEW’s or coil and rail-guns, the FR has carved a small niche market for itself among those suspicious of waved weaponry.

The FR-15 also formed the bases of some of the earlier experiments with Eezo boosted personal firearms.

EDIT: Memory hole'd because it was 'excessive'.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?
EDIT: This was a bad idea.
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--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?

HRogge

I wonder what you all would think about putting a second small restaurant to the Nostromo base of CI and calling it the "Little Big Bang Burger Bar"?

Warringer

It would be a waste not to include some sort of Alien reference at Nostromo.

So why not a bar/grill/cafe designed by H.R. Giger? :p

HRogge

Warringer Wrote:It would be a waste not to include some sort of Alien reference at Nostromo.

So why not a bar/grill/cafe designed by H.R. Giger? :p

He will be ~80 the time the LBBL is started... but could still work out. *nod*

Ace Dreamer

This all sounds fun, though I'm not the person to ask about the 'story balance' of hard tech weapons.

I think you should consider a story "The Brave Little Exocomp", about one that gets lost...

( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Brave_ ... %28film%29 )

So, the "Giger Grill", with hot sauce that can melt through deck plates? [grin]
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

HRogge

Ace Dreamer Wrote:This all sounds fun, though I'm not the person to ask about the 'story balance' of hard tech weapons.
The products are a crazy mixture of Catgirl Industries heavy use of Wavium (and some hardtech too) and Friggas more conventional style of "minimum Handwavium". Its also another step for Catgirl Industries to spread their knowledge and production tech a little bit more, so it cannot get lost because of a single huge accident.

Quote:I think you should consider a story "The Brave Little Exocomp", about one that gets lost...
I have something planned like this, but I am stuck with the "Gas Station" story at the moment.

The current Exocomps described in the wiki cannot reach high sublight speed, so they cannot really wander off too far. But the 'lost' story might still happen after then 2020s upgrade (have a story nearly finished called 'Tales about little friends'). Wink
HRogge Wrote:»The first time I saw an Exocomp with a chef’s head on the top I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or to run away. Fortunately laughing turned out to be the right reaction.«
- unknown guest from Stellvia
That sounds like something that Miyuri might say... and Miyuri is friends with Anika, so she's likely visited Frigga more than a few times.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012

HRogge

robkelk Wrote:
HRogge Wrote:»The first time I saw an Exocomp with a chef’s head on the top I wasn’t sure if I wanted to laugh or to run away. Fortunately laughing turned out to be the right reaction.«
- unknown guest from Stellvia
That sounds like something that Miyuri might say... and Miyuri is friends with Anika, so she's likely visited Frigga more than a few times.

If you want this quote for Miyuri, I am happy to put in her name... feel free to suggest an edited version of the quote.

Ace Dreamer

HRogge Wrote:
Ace Dreamer Wrote:This all sounds fun, though I'm not the person to ask about the 'story balance' of hard tech weapons.
The products are a crazy mixture of Catgirl Industries heavy use of Wavium (and some hardtech too) and Friggas more conventional style of "minimum Handwavium". Its also another step for Catgirl Industries to spread their knowledge and production tech a little bit more, so it cannot get lost because of a single huge accident.

Quote:I think you should consider a story "The Brave Little Exocomp", about one that gets lost...
I have something planned like this, but I am stuck with the "Gas Station" story at the moment.

The current Exocomps described in the wiki cannot reach high sublight speed, so they cannot really wander off too far. But the 'lost' story might still happen after then 2020s upgrade (have a story nearly finished called 'Tales about little friends'). Wink
You could slap an experimental FTL drive on one, that has been told very firmly by someone "Get Lost!".
Really dodgy FTL drives may have associated (unpredictable?) causality issues, so, there's always a chance you get back before you left.  Maybe years before. [grin]
"Why is there a funny looking exocomp over there?" [grin]
If unsure if there have been any guidelines posted about using Time Travel in Fenspace stories.  Apart from, "You'd better have a good reason, and not upset anyone else's fun!".
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

HRogge

Ace Dreamer Wrote:You could slap an experimental FTL drive on one, that has been told very firmly by someone "Get Lost!".

Really dodgy FTL drives may have associated (unpredictable?) causality issues, so, there's always a chance you get back before you left.  Maybe years before. [grin]

"Why is there a funny looking exocomp over there?" [grin]

You will have to wait for the "Tales..." story... Wink

Quote:If unsure if there have been any guidelines posted about using Time Travel in Fenspace stories.  Apart from, "You'd better have a good reason, and not upset anyone else's fun!".
I am not sure timetravel is possible in the Fenspace universe.
It is not possible with Handwavium. Without is currently an area of doubt and uncertainty, as I suspect no one considered the possibility of hardtech time travel.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.

Ace Dreamer

Bob Schroeck Wrote:It is not possible with Handwavium. Without is currently an area of doubt and uncertainty, as I suspect no one considered the possibility of hardtech time travel.
What about a pass by a Handwavium-created FTL drive, a little too close to an unspotted rotating black hole?
--
"It is the business of the future to be dangerous" - Hawkwind

HRogge

Ace Dreamer Wrote:What about a pass by a Handwavium-created FTL drive, a little too close to an unspotted rotating black hole?
Handwaved FTL does not work in the presence of a strong gravity well.

Of course timetravel FORWARD is always an option. Wink
HRogge Wrote:If you want this quote for Miyuri, I am happy to put in her name... feel free to suggest an edited version of the quote.
The wording is good as it is. Thanks!

HRogge Wrote:Of course timetravel FORWARD is always an option. Wink

The time-traveling kayak:

[Image: kayak.png]

This is as much time-traveling as we're going to get in Fenspace, at least for a while...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Well, you can always go forward a little slower than everyone else....
________________________________
--m(^0^)m-- Wot, no sig?