Pan-Dimensional Corps



The Pan-Dimensional Corps have ventured further into the Universe than any other human beings. The operations of the PDC take it past the Spatial Horizon and out into the Deep Universe. The PDC establishes outposts in places of interest and assists other Conventions in surveillance and security operations in the Near Universe.

History
The early days of the PDC were peaceful. After its founding, the PDC had two missions: exploring outside the Horizon and building Colonies for the Union. The only action it saw was pacifying Tradition Mages with early generation Qui La Machinæ, or the occasional hostile alien out past the Gauntlet.

This changed during the World Wars. In long, bloody conflicts with the Nephandi, the PDC took heavy losses. This resulted in countless skirmishes near the Infernalists’ base on Jupiter. The nature of the PDC changed in that struggle. The Jovian Veterans took a hard edge, refusing to abandon their militarism after the war was over. Many of them are still alive, and in positions of leadership in the war against Threat Null. They wear a patch on their clothing that resembles Jupiter, as a point of pride, mutual recognition, and remembrance of the dead. Many of their number serve on the ETD and in high-ranking positions in the military.

The decades between World War II and the Dimensional Anomaly saw humanity’s influence expand through the cosmos. The PDC established many outposts near Earth and discovered dozens of alien life forms with varying levels of sentience. They pushed sideways as well as outward; fourteen Everett Volumes have permanent, well-hidden Colonies placed within them, to observe, and sometimes even diplomatic relations.

Operations
Like every Methodology, the PDC’s core mission altered after the Anomaly. A top-down restructuring of the Methodology began. The ETD reallocated 70% of their personnel and funding away from exploration and scientific missions. Development of the Fleet took precedent. Scores of line ships and support vessels converted into military use. Crews retrained as Fleet officers and enlisted personnel. Most Engineers in the PDC don’t resist this change; they’ve suffered appalling losses because of the Anomaly. Everyone in the Methodology lost someone they knew. Entire vessels and Colonies, swallowed whole, screaming and in flames. Pain, grief, and defiance have galvanized the survivors, pushing them to reinvent themselves as a military force capable of restoring order to the Universe.

The largest group within the PDC is the Fleet Operations Command (FOC). It engages in hostilities in the various hot zones throughout the Anomaly. The Void Construction Corps (VCC) spends its efforts rebuilding the Fleet and on making much needed repairs to the Colonies. The Intelligence Directorate (ID) focuses its energies on monitoring the Deep and Near Universe. It shares that intelligence with the rest of the Convention, clashing often with R&E’s FIS.

After the Anomaly the remaining Qui La Machinæ become mobile assault platforms. They bring war to our enemies, Threat Null and otherwise, destroying enemy personnel and infrastructure outright. 85% of all Qui La Machinæ serve the FOC’s wartime operations.

The VCC builds Colonies, at a reduced pace. They have built only six since the Anomaly, each in service of the war effort. The most notable of those bases is Copernicus Station. Nestled into Beta Proxima’s L3 point, the new Cop revolves, a tough metal ring with a gleaming emerald and azure interior, representing the hopes of the entire Convention.

Copernicus Station is ring shaped, 170 kilometers in diameter and a kilometer wide. It tilts at a slight angle off of Beta Proxima’s ecliptic plane to produce a natural day and night cycle. Its rotation isn’t enough to produce 1 g; batteries of gravitic diffusers provide that. Its structure belies its hurried construction schedule. Ports and booms stick off of it at odd angles, providing facilities and docks as needed. One side is thicker than the other, due to fluctuating availability of construction material. For all its flaws, it’s home. Over two thousand Engineers live there on a permanent basis, with over a thousand more rotating in and out at any given moment. It serves as a command post for the PDC and the BCD alike, and as a field hospital for the DIMH.

Convention
In many ways, the PDC is the poster child for the Void Engineers. Whenever other Unionists think of us, the image that springs to mind is that of an astronaut, in a gleaming white suit, drifting in space around a massive Colony somewhere off in the Deep Universe. Even now, that romantic image still persists, and the PDC does nothing to correct it. Sure, it’s about as accurate as a child’s refrigerator drawing, but it has its uses. When people think of the Engineers as being old Uncle Buzz floating around there, their confidence in us keeps them off of our turf. This is not for ludicrous territorialism, but rather pragmatism. If the NWO got spooked and tried to take over the war, they would last about a day and a half, and doom the human race to extinction. They aren’t equipped to handle it.

The other Methodologies look to the PDC for inspiration. They’re a symbol to them as much as they are to the rest of the Union. They were the first ones to step beyond the cradle of the Earth and make a concerted, successful effort to push mankind out into the Universe. That goes a long way with the rest of the Convention, as it confirms our dreams of exploration are worthy of our efforts.

The EFD isn’t quite as onboard with this notion. Many of its members feel that there are as many important frontiers and discoveries to explore on Earth as there are in space. This rarely takes the form of anything more serious than sibling rivalry — there’s too much for everyone involved to do to allow it to go past that point

Cybernauts and Chrononauts
Two smaller divisions of the PDC bear breaking out for scrutiny, because they go to some strange places. Cybernauts specialize in deep dives into the Digital Web, a reactive form of space shaped by events and currents in the collective psyches of humanity. As a result, the Web shifts and reformats, requiring Cybernauts to have a specialized skillset. The Chrononauts are a small but dedicated cadre of Explorers who attempt to push themselves through time instead of space. The survival rate of Chrononauts who attempt to jump in time is so low that very few of us even think of attempting it. The rumor is that to get considered for Chrononaut duty, you have to fail a DIMH psych eval.