Scum swarm formed during the Fall. The mega-corporation TeraTec™, despite having many offworld assets, had very little administration that was located outside the main headquarters in Libya. This centralization was the doom of the corporation when TITAN infection and subsequent nuclear sterilization wiped out the main offices. When this occurred, the few off-planet executives tried in vain to keep the company together, but ultimately failed. The remaining assets either went independent, or joined various hypercorps. One such asset was a nano-foundry ship, and a mining ship en route for the asteroid belt. The Damascus Forge was meant to be a mobile factory for mining operations. The Endless Journey was to find a suitable asteroid, land, and begin mining. Moving on when the asteroid ran dry. With crisis at hand, the two ships decided to stick together for safety. Like many similar stories, refugee ships would join the pair for safety and resources, eventually forming a full fleet. Once things were settled a fleet consensus was formed and the most populous ship, the Endless Journey, was named as the Fleet Flagship. With this honor it was renamed the Pebble in the Sky, in remembrance of earth.
Flagship of the fleet. Formerly a mobile mining base. The ship features everything needed to house a mining crew for long periods. Hydroponics, recreation, cornucopia machines, and medical facilities. Most ore processing was meant to be handled by dedicated ore processing ships, but the Pebble has some of its own for its own uses. The Pebble houses a fleet of automated mining drones for mining out small asteroids nearby. Large asteroids were to be landed on, but the nomadic nature of the fleet precludes such stationary activity. The mining of asteroids accounts for one of the largest sources of trade materials in the fleet.
The current population is 2,000
A dedicated ore processor coaxed into joining the fleet to handle all the unprocessed ore they had accumulated. The crew of the 49er were drawn by the appeal of freedom presented by the fleet.
A nano-foundry ship meant for service in the belt. Most of the space of the ship is taken up by nano forges, energy production, and storage of raw materials. A couple of the bays are large enough to churn out small ships. A portion of the fleet was made piece by piece in these forges and assembled together. This is in particular how most of the hydroponic ships were made. The ship is maintained by a relatively small crew, many acting as info-morphs to save space.
An independent trader from before the fall specializing in luxury goods for asteroid miners. One of the first ships to join the fleet. Captained by Old Lady Gwen, a kind old women still sleeved in her birth flat. Well over the age of 100 Captain Gwen has stayed alive through regular rejuvenation treatments, keeping her looking not a day over 70. In the year 3 A.F. The Dinner for One was hit with a TITAN infection, killing almost the entire crew and infecting all backups. Captain Gwen, and an uplifted Gorilla deck hand named Bo. Heart broken at the loss of her family and lacking a crew, Bo stepped up to aid his captain and made enough forks of himself to crew the ship. The rest of the fleet donated enough synthmorphs for the forks til proper neo-gorillas could be grown. Today Old Lady Gwen is an aged Matriarch of the fleet supplying simple comforts to any who wish them. Her micro-gravity cookie balls are a fleet favorite. The Bo's are by now all sleeved into neo-Gorillas, and are considered some of the hardest working and compassionate transhumans of the fleet.
In a gift economy, Grandma is the 1%
A Morph Production and repair frigate formerly working in the belt. Originally built to recycle, repair, and produce bio-morphs, and pods for mining stations in the belt. It now acts as the main medical facilities of the fleet in addition to its repair, recycle, produce purpose. The Frigate has two counter rotating sections for processes that work better in gravity. The Ship itself is painted bright white with “blood” splatters along the hull as a macabre joke.
The three biggest food providers of the fleet. Shut up and Eat, and the Hanging Garden in the Sky are both large hydroponic ships made up of intricate latices full of algae and other high yield crops. Most of the ships are transparent so as to let in light. UV lamps provide light when the sun is too far out, and the “glass” can be polarized to block light for the plants that require shade. Many note the sparkling beauty of watching starlight and the lights of nearby ships flicker and play through the glass latices. There are other hydroponic ships, these are just the two largest
The to Serve Man houses large arrays of meat vats. Meat is largely a luxury food in the fleet, and many decry the use of some of the hydroponic crop to feed the meat vats, calling it a waste. The operator's of the ship contend that such luxury foods help keep morale up, that meat is important to a healthy diet, and finally that soy substitute is awful. Just the worst.
A pair of tugs retrofitted to accommodate purely infomorph crews. In addition to being used for moving barges the pair are home to the recreational Simulspace of the fleet
A Freighter that moved materials to mars before the fall. Today the cargo holds have largely been converted to living space and Recreation. The performing arts are the main resident of the recreation halls, with many other pods being filled with activities supporting the arts. these range from bio-sculpting bays, to psychosurgeons.
(I Have No Idea What I’m Doing)
shortly after the fall the swarm set about picking up the pieces, much like the rest of transhumanity. Many fragments of habitats were salvaged for the fabbers, and many more refugees were given shelter. With many ships straining their life support systems to the limit, and the Damascus Forge unable to fabricate new ships and habitats fast enough people became desperate. The broken fragments, and the shattered remains of ships were lashed together by desperate transhumans. holes were patched, and emergency life support systems were thrown together. As more wreckage was found. and more refugees joined the fleet the mass of lashed together wrecks grew. when a representative of the consortium asked a refugee what they were doing with mass of wreckage, the refugee simply replied “I have no idea what I’m doing”. The name Stuck. Inside the mass can be found virtually anything. The Trick however is finding it. Due to the ad hoc nature of the habitat, and the frequent addition of new space there is no software available for navigation within. Many residents offer their services as guides to visitors in return for credits, goods, or favors. Rumors of secret compartments are common talk amongst the swarm, and the discovery of hidden enclaves of ex-humans, terrorists, fanatics, and brinkers has not been unheard of.
The IHNIWID is currently pulled by the Simulation and Simulacrum. It is estimated the population is around 33,000, largest in the fleet.
A ship for people with interests. Neotenics not allowed. Features a cantina bar that serves Gatorade: "What plants crave!"
Survey vessel. HQ of the Hide and Seek sports League
A pair of freighters with a distinctive green color scheme. One has a red stripe, while another has a white stripe. Both are manned by a Malian Dogon crew. At birth or upon joining the crew they are forked and then split between the two ships. The entire crew aspire to be androgynous in appearance, trying to harken back to a mythical past when twinness and hermaphrodism was the norm before the jackal was born alone, and did bad things. The main trade of the Nommos is art, and other handmade goods.
a ship of unknown quality (decide later)
In recent years the Pebble In the Sky Swarm has developed an offshoot sub swarm. The vast majority of people in the sub-swarm are singularity seekers, ex-humans, or argonauts who went off their medication. The Sub-swarm is kept at a distance from the rest of the swarm for safety. You can find any manner of experimentation on any of the ships in the group. These experiments run the gamut of sensible, to insane, to pointless, to possible X-risks.
Firewall agents are asked to keep an eye on the sub-swarm for obvious reasons.
Flasgship of the sub-swarm. A research vessel with multiple rotating sections for experiments requiring gravity. Named for a common statement among the crew and sub-swarm at large.
A former refinery ship bought by a commune of scientists. Heavily modified for various experiments involving chemistry. Bulkheads are all designed to vent into space in case of “accidents” and “eureka” moments.