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The Five Star Stories

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The Five Star Stories
GenreSpace opera
Manga
Written byNagano Mamoru
Published byJapan
Anime
Directed byKazuo Yamazaki
StudioSunrise

The Five Star Stories (ファイブスター物語, Faibusutā Monogatari) is a manga series created by Nagano Mamoru, building on his work on the anime series Heavy Metal L-Gaim. The story is staged at an alien cluster of four major planetary systems. The God of Light, Amaterasu, the immortal emperor of the Greece Kingdom on the Delta Belune planet, is destined to rule the whole Joker System. He and Lachesis, his bride and fatima, are the main characters of this epic story.

An anime movie was adapted from the first volume of the manga by Sunrise, released in 1989 and directed by Kazuo Yamazaki.

Setting

The Five Star Stories takes its name from the Joker Star Cluster where the stories take place. The star cluster is made up of four stars: Eastern, Western, Southern and Northern. The "fifth star" is a large comet named Stant that passes through that sector of space every 1,500 years pulling with it its own collection of orbiting planets.

In the distant past the Farus Di Kanon Empire, now commonly known as the "Super Empire", controlled all 4 solar systems of the Joker Cluster. They enjoyed a level of technology much higher than is currently known and sent explorers to the far reaches of the Joker Galaxy. Around the year 9000 AD (Ammon Duul) the empire collapsed due to internal strife. The explorers were called home and what remained of civilization focused mainly on survival. Much technology and knowledge was lost by the time the imperial families of Amaterasu, Fillmore and Hathuha gathered and established the JC era. JC stands for "Joker Calendar" and was meant to give a common frame of reference to all nations to help foster a lasting peace. The JC calendar was adopted but the dream of peace was never realized.

The first story of The Five Star Stories begins in JC 2988. At this time interstellar travel is common and genetically engineered "fatimas" are well established as necessary co-pilots of the fearsome mortar headds that dominate the battlefields. Warfare between nations is commonplace and few still hope for peace.

Manga

So far, 26 volumes of manga have been published since 1986.

The major story arcs of the manga are :

  • Destiny Three Fates Lachesis (Book I)
  • Destiny Three Fates Clotho the Sleeping Witch (Books II & III)
  • Traffics 1 (Books IV & V)
  • Destiny Three Fates Wandering Atropos (Books VI, VII & VIII)
  • The Chivaleries (Book IX and X)
  • The Majestic Stand (Book XI, XII & ...ongoing )

Mortar Headds

Nothing is as destructive on the battlefield or as decisive to victory as the mortar headd. These mechanical juggernauts have no equal and are considered necessary for the success of any military campaign. They are usually 15 meters in height (measured from the shoulder to the ground) although some have been built as large as 40 meters. Unlike most sci-fi mecha, mortar headds are not merely humanoid vehicles that are built and disassembled as needed. Each one is a unique creation and highly prized by both its pilots and home nation.

Mortar headds are operated by a headdliner pilot and a fatima copilot (normal humans are not even able to make mortar headds move). The headdliner has complete control of the mortar headd's movements through manual controls and an electroencephalo drive that links to his/her helmet allowing the machine to mimic the movements of the pilot to a certain degree. The fatima, genetically engineered for the task, serves as the onboard computer system by mentally merging with the mortar headd enabling her/him to control weapon systems, scanning, communications, teleporting and flight systems (teleporting and flight systems aren't installed in every mortar headd). The combat effectiveness of a mortar headd depends on 3 factors: the skill of the headdliner pilot, the quality of the fatima copilot and the quality of the mortar head itself. In place of a fatima a more simple genetically engineered creature called an etriml can be used. Etrimls are similar organisms to fatimas but much simpler. Lower grade mortar headds are often equipped with etrimls instead of fatima cockpits.

Mortar headds are not only designed for battle but are also works of art. In a galactic society of knights and royal families a mortar headd serves as a representation of a knight's status and is a focal point for national pride. They are thus designed to be fearsome to behold on the battlefield and beautiful to see in parades and processions. Many mortar headds have intricate frescoes permanently fixed to their external armor plates and colorful designs worked into their paint jobs. If not destroyed in combat, a mortar headd can continue operating for hundreds of years and is passed to a successor after a headdliner retires from service.

Some mortar headds have shown evidence of being alive. On a few occasions mortar headds have moved on their own volition and more than once the fatima copilot felt the emotions of the machine through the mental link. The higher grade, custom mortar headds more often show these traits.

Creators of these awesome machines are known as mortar headd meights and are afforded noble status in society. The services of skilled mortar headd meights are eagerly sought out by kings and prime ministers to give their nations an edge in warfare. Mortar headd maintenance is performed by specially trained mortar head meisters.

Development of the Mortar Headd

The primary weapons in large-scale conflicts in the Joker Galaxy used to be the Prowler Fighter and the planetary bomber. These small airborne vehicles carried buster weaponry capable of destroying large areas of land and countless lives. As time passed the motivations behind the fighting began to shift from destruction to subjugation. The land, people and resources of rivals' territory became too valuable to risk destroying. New weapons were needed to occupy and defend conquered lands.

The first of these new weapons was the humanoid machine named "grand head." In JC 530 the grand head gave way to the machine messiah. This new weapon was powered by an ezlaser system - an external combustion engine that ran on solar light. These new "electric knights" were exceptional machines but extremely difficult to control. Their ability to maneuver almost instantaneously required the pilot to possess reflexes and coordination that could only be found in headdliners, descendants of genetically altered soldiers from the wars of a past age. These headdliners were capable of controlling the movements of the massive machines but the onboard systems such as radar and communications were too difficult to handle. Fatimas, genetically engineered beings closely resembling humans, were found to be capable (if designed properly) of having great computational abilities. When altered to include headdliner genetic material the new breed of fatimas were strong and quick enough to handle the load of systems operation for the pilot. In time, these formidable new weapons came to be known as mortar headds.

In the world of Five Star Stories the term "machine messiah" is reserved for relic mortar headds surviving from the distant past that contain technology much advanced over that which is available to Joker society.

Fatimas

Main article:Fatima_FSS

Fatimas are humanoid creatures genetically engineered for a life of service on the battlefield. Fatimas are necessary copilots for mortar headds and mentally merge with the computer systems of these devastating machines to control weapons, communications and other vital processes. As such, Fatimas are designed to have computational skills rivaling any computer.

Fatima Statistics

Height: 155-170cm

Period of Maturation: 8-15 years

Production Cost: Around US$ 46 million but a black market exists as do private transactions

Life Span: Unknown. The only known fatima died of old age is Intercity, who died in JC 2997 at age of 687. Since she is one of the first four fatimas, the life span of later fatima are expacted to be longer, but no one knows how long at this point.

Necessary Caloric Intake: Minimum 200 kcal. per day in battle situations

MH Control/Data Processing Capabilities: Equivalent to a 128 bit computer, however memory is only a little better than Homo sapiens

Physical Strength: 200kg single arm clean and jerk, 500kg deadlift

IQ: 200 or more

Reaction Speed: 85% of the average headdliner's speed

Blood Type: Similar to Homo sapiens (MN, RH, ABO). The best meights develop superior types. The double epsilon model's (Lachesis) blood type is by far the finest to date

References

Vast majority of information taken from Gears Online's FSS section.

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