Luna,
our mistress
After
the loss of Devin Langshire in 2653 the human race waited and tested
for another ten years before trying to launch another man into orbit.
This time, the entire event went off perfectly and Captain Bashir
Alvarez became the first man in nearly half a millennia to
successfully orbit the Earth, before splashing down safely in the
Indian Ocean.
Alvarez
and his development team based in Australia then proposed and began
leading the effort to return man to the moon – and not just for a
visit. Mankind knew, thanks to the vast amounts of history stored in
the Vaults, that we had visited the moon several times in the past
and had countless legends about our nighttime companion. Entire
religious mythologies, pseudo-science arenas and even popular
entertainment in the form of movies and rock music in the 20th
Century all dedicated themselves to Luna, our mistress.
The
initial set of proposals were ambitious: establish a permanent, self
sustaining base on the moon by 2690 with a rotating population. Each
Vault agreed to take a set of problems from the goal and solve them
independently, if possible. Food, fuel, water, radiation shielding,
shelter, habitat design/construction, and the logistics of how to get
it all to
the moon in the first place. In 2672 the initial equipment launches
began when the first non-test flight of the Roman I freight rocket.
Transporting heavy digging equipment from the familiar-looking lunar
backhoe to the exotic of the newly engineered Lunar Tunneling Drill.
The
Tunneling Drill (often called Touchdown by the design engineers due
to the abbreviation of “TD” used in shorthand notes) was half of
the main habitat building module specifically designed to allow for
quick excavation with minimal human input. Weighing in at 15 tons,
the drill will sit face down on the surface of the moon and, after
being secured with the scaffolding to be place by human hands, will
begin it's journey below the ancient surface. Each turn of the drill
itself brings the regolith and other debris up a corkscrew conveyor
which leads to the top exterior of the alpha base tent, spraying it
in a radial pattern around the tent to create a slight bunker around
the base itself. Once the TD has reached a depth of 3 meters, the
gyroscopes mechanically shift and the drill begins turning into it's
horizontal position, using vacuum suction, air pressure and a series
of track gears to push the drill forward.
If
the Touchdown drill was to accomplish its mission, it relied on the
much more complex and impressive Regolith Automatic Metallic
Arranger, named in honor of the first Vault discovered in India. The
RAMA machine was designed to follow directly behind TD, using scraps
of metal from earth and the geology of the moon to seal the drilled
tunnel using a plasma heat generator and the most powerful, perfectly
balanced pressure pistons ever created by man. RAMA helped to ensure
stronger radiation resistance, a seal from the toxic cosmic vacuum
and a support structure for the habitation tunnels themselves.
2690
arrived just as the drill began it's horizontal journey, the last and
longest of the drilling process. The human colony that had been
living in temporary quarters in the Alpha Base tent (except in the
case of emergency solar flares, at which point the tunnel was flooded
with breathable air and the machines placed in standby mode) finally
made the permanent move underground in 2694, as “Touchdown” and
RAMA were finally powered down.
In
2760, the declining health of Sir Bashir Alvarez forced him to leave
his home planet. The time he had spent in space and on the moon had
done enough damage that his nearly 130 year old body could no longer
thrive in the gravity of Earth. In 2783, at the age of 150, Bashir
Alvarez became the first person entombed on the moon.
Before
his death, Alvarez helped lay the groundwork for a grid of buried
power cables linking the Earth side to the Far side of the moon, onto
which kilometers of solar arrays were placed, allowing for use of
non-essential energy consumption during the long lunar nights
(including more aggressive farming), when all the colonists could see
was the Earth. Construction on the grid was rumored to have inspired
the anonymous Hymn, “Earthrise,” which quickly became the
unofficial anthem of the lunar colony. The Translunar Power (or
'Bashir') grid was turned on with few hiccups in 2790, creating man's
first permanent home in space.
Europa,
icy tomb
While
construction and scientific research continued and blossomed on the
Moon at the beginning of the 28th
Century, the earth-based authorities began focussing on the question
that started the entire space-race: are we alone? The Alvarez
Foundation in Australia were given the resources and authority to
continue the Luna project and the remaining resources trained their
crosshairs onto Europa. In 2710, the Europan lander the Santa Maria
landed and began it's melt through the icy surface.
The
lander's main platform anchored itself to the thick ice surrounding
it and dropped a pill shaped piece of metal the size of an industrial
refrigerator, attached with an impossible thin cable to the lander
itself. Glowing red, the metal pill slowly began its descent through
the frozen surface of this alien world. All seven Houston Controls
were inundated either gathering or analyzing new data being sent
continuously via a complex relay of solar system satellite way
stations. For nearly a week the hot pill slowly melted downwards,
giving up no signs of life or ocean.
Shortly
after one week had passed since the melting began, the data
drastically shifted as the probe's external temperature dropped
without warning. As the scientists back on Earth held their breath,
the hot pill cracked open, and a tiny automated submarine (to which
the thin cable was actually attached) emerged, slowly coming to life.
Cheers of jubilation erupted in control rooms across the world as
the predictions made centuries ago proved true – Europa was a water
world.
Early
picture transmissions from the Santa Maria were featureless black,
leading engineers to fear that either the cameras or the lights had
malfunctioned, even though the spec readings of the probe itself were
all optimal. The tiny submarine robot began it's dive towards the
bottom, dispensing more of the thin cable from inside its shell to
maintain direct connection with the surface. Three hours after being
born into the frigid Europan Ocean, the submarine component of the
Santa Maria changed the human perspective forever – a wisp of
debris rushed into the light of the camera which had been working the
entire time. The realization that there was simply nothing to
reflect the light initially gave way to relieved sighs, until the
cause of the debris swam past the submarine, never taking notice.
Europa
was a world of life.
Twenty
four hours after man's first glimpse of alien life, the Santa Maria
finally discovered the first volcanic vent - the hypothesized source
of energy for all Europan lifeforms - and the view was both
spectacular, and stunningly familiar. Worm-like plants heaved and
gyrated in the volcanic heat, as tiny shrimp-like creatures flurried
about eating something invisible to the eyes of the camera. As the
view of the Euroshrimp became clearer, their physical appearance was
disturbing: while their shell was transparent like many deep sea
creatures on Earth, the top half of the crustacean was shaped like
that of a man with no face: two arms on a rectangular torso, topped
by a neck and 'head' which had no eyes, and only an mouth at it's
top. The thing had 'hands' with four main fingers and two rows of
thumbs on each hand.
Small
samples of the surrounding water were tested and confirmed that these
life forms were carbon based. Within 36 hours, the first strand of
DNA of isolated and the world was turned on it's head: this life may
have been from a similar 'seed' as life on earth. That, or life
simply has fewer paths than had previously been assumed.
In
2770, the first of the modified and updated TD and RAMA equipment
landed on Europa, near the Santa Maria, and began the slow work on
creating a livable environment for mankind to lay down roots outside
of the Earth system for the first time. Additional probes were sent
(after the Santa Maria discovered life) to analyze the natural
resources and found trenches of metal from impacts that had yet to be
swallowed by the icy world. A predictable amount of trace metal in
the ice itself was also discovered, becoming more concentrated in
deeper cuts of ice. Using the lessons learned from the moon and the
more abundant resources on Europa first human settlement on the moon
of Jupiter was officially founded in 2800.
The
first humans to settle began immediately studying the biological
aspects of this new world. After the first 90 days of scientific
preparation, an average of 300 alien species a day were being
cataloged. The amount of data gained was going to take the greatest
minds on Earth decades to digest and analyze – and the scientists
making the discoveries were beyond celebrity – they were the
paragons of the age.
When
lead biologist Shari Cho took ill six months after arriving, no one
gave it a second thought. Per protocol, she was quarantined to her
personal quarters and lab, where she continued her work seamlessly.
Her symptoms grew progressively worse over the next week by which
time half a dozen other members of the colony had been quarantined
for wildly different symptoms.
As
the illness spread quickly through the settlement, the scientists on
Europa, Earth and Luna all worked feverishly on the data to discover
what was causing all of these varied sicknesses. In all of their
hubris and joy over finding life on the hostile Europa, mankind had
overlooked the most important lesson: life was opportunistic.
Shorty
after mankind arrived, an otherwise benign alien bacteria found its
way into the living and work areas of the colony. After infecting
its first human, the bacteria quickly began multiplying in the new,
much friendlier environment. Each new generation grew more
aggressive, slowly destroying its host – but each time the
infection spread, it destroyed its host differently, but always at
the same pace. Fifteen days after her first symptoms appeared, Shari
Cho died in a fit of screaming psychosis, exclaiming that she was
burning away.
Once
the video images of her gruesome death leaked to the settlement at
large, and then to Earth, panic ensued. Demands were made to send
emergency help from Luna to Europa with medical aid. Each day
brought more death to the settlement. Petty Officer Daniel Rogby was
elected to represent the ailing and dying Europan population, as he
had yet to develop any symptoms and was thought to have some natural
immunity. The devastation was that much more complete when Rogby
died mid-sentence while trying to finalize a deal with the command on
Luna to send emergency aid.
On
February 9, 2801 the Earth and Luna command issued their final stance
on the issue: no aid would be sent to Europa. By the summer of 2801,
Europa was nothing more to humanity than icy tomb.
Titan,
methane seas
Odyssey
I, II and III science probes were launched in three successive months
in the year 2775 bound for Ganymede, Iapetus and Titan, respectively.
With the massive success of the Luna colony and the promise of the
colony on Europa the exploration of the other massive satellites
began in earnest with the Odyssey program. Each probe was outfitted
with complete science laboratory, as well as deployable all terrain
automated vehicles to explore more than the immediate landing zone.
Soil and rock sampling kits and hardware like drill bits helped to
ascertain the composition of the moons.
The
first mining operations were set up on Ganymede and Iapetus to gather
a ranger of silicate rock and minerals in 2780. Often, the materials
were launched off planet to orbital processing facilities designed to
refine and ship the materials to the rotating lagrangian space
station near Titan, established during the initial stages of the
resource gathering.
Odyssey III's mission to Titan had hoped to find life, but was met
with the chemical precursors of life seemingly stuck due to the
inability of the chemicals to dissolve into liquid methane. There
was, however, more slow burning fuel than another other visited body
in the solar system – and an atmosphere thicker than the Earth's.
Plan to colonize the bizarre world began in 2795 with plans to launch
the first TD and RAMA machines at the end of 2801. Full human
occupation of the icy world was set to begin in 2807, but was
postponed indefinitely after the world witnessed the slow demise of
every member of the Europan colony early in the year.
Finally,
in the year 2812 the new Automatic Tunneling Metallic Arranger, which
was more a compact, faster and more powerful tool that acted as a
combination of both the TD and RAMA devices used on the Moon and
Europa, was launched towards the distant world of Titan. Exactly
three months after the launch of ATMA, the Abraham science lab was
launched from the the new Houston base on the moon. The Abraham
itself was designed to gather samples of local minerals, gasses and
quasi-organic material and expose it to several types of human
biological material, cataloging all responses.
~----~
By
the middle of 2816, the first human crew to travel to Europa was
being assembled despite some pleas from the public to abandon the
project. Replaying the footage from the Europan catastrophe and
audio of Devin Langshire's fateful mission next to images of the
Titan Cruiser waiting in orbit around the moon. The public outcry
was outstanding, despite the many assurances from the Houston
collective that there were absolutely zero potential infectious
agents that have been detected in the Titan atmosphere or soil.
The
date set for departure of the Titan Cruiser (itself a fully operative
living module that will land permanently on the surface of the moon)
approached with the public outrage building to a fever pitch.
Leaders were pictured as sadistic and the cosmonaut crew were framed
as ignorant lambs being lead to slaughter. Worse, the idea that the
cosmonauts could bring back some mankind ending disease spread
through society like a spark to a dry tender box. When June 15, 2817
finally arrived after months of sometimes violent, the crew boarded
the craft and awaited command from Earth to ignite their engines and
set sail.
For
six hours, the crew of thirty men and thirty women, sat restlessly
listening to the authorities bicker back and forth about public
opinion and budget wastage. Finally, three hours before the launch
window was to close, the call came to the Titan Cruiser's crew,
“Titan Cruiser 00-1A-38, this is mission control, Luna,” the
voice crackled through the cabin of the bridge. “Commence vehicle
shutdown and depressurization – you're not going anywhere.” For
a full minute, all sixty men and women that had trained and prepared
for years for this moment sat in stunned silence. They would likely
never see Titan.
“Titan
Cruiser 00-1A-38, please confirm orders and comply,” the growingly
impatient voice on the other end of the radio tether called out
again. Bridge Commander Daphne Colbert stood from her seat at the
helm of the ship and turned to the crew without word. She scanned
the faces she had trained with in complete isolation for over a year
– these were her family and she was their leader. “We have been
ordered to abandon our mission. To not explore. To not push
forward,” she started brokenly to her crew. She breathed deep and
steadied herself as the crew looked to her for direction.
“As
I see it,” Commander Colbert said with a steely gaze coming over
her eyes, “we have been ordered to disobey.” The crew erupted in
a jubilant cheers as the radio buzzed back to life - “Commander
Colbert – why have you not responded? We are sending a boarding
party in case your communications system isn't working properly, even
though all systems read normal. I don't know wh-” the voice
stopped suddenly. “COMMANDER COLBERT, I ORDER YOU TO CEASE YOUR
ACTION IMMEDIATELY!” a stronger voice barked across the radio as
the ship began it's launch maneuvers. “This will be seen as
treason, Daphne!” the voice continued.
“Commander?”
first engineer nervously asked the expressionless woman, trying to
read her thoughts. “Set course for Titan,” she responded evenly.
~----~
In
the year 2825, relations between the rogue colony of Titan and the
Earth system had resumed and started to level off. The Titanians had
technically stolen the Titan Cruiser against orders and had landed on
the surface of the Saturnian moon without the support from Luna or
Earth – but they had thrived.
The
thick atmosphere of Titan enabled humans to walk outside without the
need for pressure suits. Combined with the low gravity, the colonist
quickly realized with 'wings' strapped to their arms (and a fair
amount of practice) the thick air allowed them to 'swim' into the air
and fly without the aid of engines or additional aircraft. When
regular trade and relations resumed in 2830, the Titanians had
already developed a series of basic human flight equipment, self
sustaining subterranean hydroponic farming and flight bikes used for
traveling long distances at altitude with minimal energy input.
Incoming
engineering students from the Earth system streamed in with ideas and
designs for structures impossible on Earth. Floating platforms,
giant steps, precariously positioned pillars and other mind bending
structures quickly covered the 100 square miles the colony had come
to cover by 2840 after the surge of immigration. The New Olympic
games officially opened in 2844 and saw human from the Earth, Luna,
Titan and the Iapetus and Ganymede mining operations come together in
the name of sport for the first time in over five hundred years.
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