Trope-a-Day: The Mothership

The Mothership: In the military sense, the hyperdreadnoughts, the directional Supremacy-class bases, and probably most of the other classes that qualify as The Battlestar, or just plain old carrier classes, and fleet carriers.  Also their obvious civilian counterparts, the fleet carrier equivalents that ferry freighters and other civilian vessels around relativistically that don’t themselves have relativistic capability.

In a pure-mass sense, a large number of wandering city-ships, both Imperial and those used by nomadic species such as the londian, and in a specifically Imperial sense, the Empire Ships – essentially, flying city-states-cum-endless-parties whose job is to travel endlessly looped courses with one end in the Imperial Core passing through the hundreds of ecumenical colonies and exclaves out in the far reaches of the stargate plexus to keep the culture thoroughly mixed and stirred, and not turning into anything weird out there in the fringes.

And, of course, the Embassy Ships and the All Good Things skymalls, which are similar, except act as cultural bombs ambassadors to foreign star nations, where they turn up for memetic warfare goodwill visits, spreading intimidation peace and good will, their decadent ways happiness, propaganda cultural interchange, ethically bankrupt perversions of science technological advancement, and the wonders of hypercapitalist exploitation free trade and disobedience, insolence, selfishness, libertinism, etc., etc. actual freedom to everyone.

In Starfoam Threshold, Mall Goes To You

Only Three Months Away!

THE ALL GOOD THINGS, ICC SKYMALL

IS Exponential Profit

Is Coming to the Starfoam Threshold

With over 3,000 on-board stores, fourteen hotels, eight exotic-climate resorts and parkland, museums, restaurants, theaters, and other entertainment venues, this is your opportunity to sample all the wonders of the Associated Worlds and the latest Imperial technologies, right here in the Expansion Regions.

  • Choose from among the widest selection of goods and services from all across the Associated Worlds.
  • Taste fine drinking and dining in a hundred styles for all known sophont species.
  • Enjoy the very latest entertainment from Experia and Telememe.
  • View the current high fashions from Aelavial, Irilenne, Radiance of Seranth, and other top designers.
  • Advance your knowledge with quick mnemonesis from Rent-a-Thought, or embark on a course of study with the on-board campus of the University of Almeä.
  • Become your ideal self with the best of Biogenesis body products and Cognitech psychedesign, and become immortal with the recognized best noetic backup services from Crystal Flame.
  • Assure your security with the latest from Artifice Armaments and Ultimate Argument Risk Control.
  • Bring your own ideas to the markets of the Worlds – idea brokers from Traders in Ideation and Tachypublish are ready to view your work, under full silent fane nondisclosure.
  • Take a cruise! Every two months during its two year stay, Golden Sun Lines highliners will depart from the Profit on a circular tour of selected Core worlds – a rare opportunity to visit the most fabled planets and habitats in the Associated Worlds.

AND

  • During its stay, the Exponential Profit will host the Galaxy-renowned Photon Angels flight team, and their dazzling displays of AI-led precision flying!

The Exponential Profit will be taking up orbit in the Cyalon (Starfoam Threshold) system, with complimentary Interstar shuttle service available from all local systems.

Make your reservations today for this once-in-a-century experience!