Hey everyone! This document contains some material that might be useful when it comes to character creation, including the history behind humans living in another galaxy. Feel free to contact me if you have questions about something here or something I neglected to mention: solrhyo@gmail.com.
The History
In 2108, space travel had become commonplace for mankind. Exploration, however, had not ventured beyond our solar system. FTL capabilities were standard but were still a relatively new technology. Having established mining colonies or research stations on the planets within our own system, the next step was to branch out and explore the rest of our galaxy. However, that next step was relegated to the back burners by one single occurrence: a wormhole appeared with no prior indication in our solar system, situated relatively near to Saturn.
It took only twenty-three weeks before a ship was ready to venture through the wormhole. The Bellerophon was brand new and state of the art, outfitted with a prototype Altrax drive core. It was crewed by some of mankind’s brightest with all of them being in the top of their field. This voyage was to be humanity’s greatest. It was also widely expected that the crew of the Bellerophon would never be heard from again.
On April 19, 2108, the Bellerophon entered the wormhole. On April 21, 2108, the Bellerophon exited the wormhole. She was no longer in the Sol system. She was no longer in the Milky Way. Feverish and highly accurate calculations by both the ship’s navigation systems and the navigators revealed her current location only several minutes after exiting the wormhole. The ship was now in the galaxy known as Messier 63 (also known as M63, NGC 5055, or the Sunflower Galaxy). Passage through the wormhole had taken 28 hours and deposited the Bellerophon and her crew some 37 million light years away from their starting point.
It should have been impossible. By all knowledge, understanding, and calculations at that time, it was impossible. But the evidence was undeniable: the Bellerophon was no longer in the Milky Way. The crew of the Bellerophon attempted to communicate back through the wormhole to their command team in the Sol system, but the interference was too great. Being as all diagnostic scans ran immediately after exiting the wormhole cleared green, the captain of the Bellerophon made the decision to explore rather than to immediately return.
The star system in which the ship had exited boasted only one star and a gas giant. Scans of the gas giant’s surface revealed nothing that hadn’t already been seen among the planets in the Milky Way. The captain ordered that a course be set to the next closest star system.
It was this system (later dubbed Glaucus in a direct nod to the ancient Greek myth from which the Bellerophon had received its name) that became one of the most valuable discoveries in humanity’s entire existence. Glaucus boasted a garden planet. Preliminary scans revealed an atmosphere that, while not identical to that of Earth, could easily be adapted to. Further and more extensive research would need to be done, which the Bellerophon was not equipped to handle. With the discovery of the garden planet, the captain ordered a return to the wormhole.
On April 29, 2108, the Bellerophon reappeared in the Sol system. The events following her return led to the largest and most coordinated venture that humanity had ever instigated: the colonization of the M63 galaxy.
The Glaucus System
The garden plant in the Glaucus system was named Baressia. Research vessels had been dispatched almost immediately back through the wormhole after the crew of the Bellerophon delivered the news. The research vessels were accompanied by a small yet capable military fleet. Humanity had yet to make contact with any other species, but an unknown galaxy was likely to host unknown dangers.
The research teams were able to safely land on Baressia’s surface. A research facility was quickly assembled. Initial tests revealed that the air on Baressia was 24% percent oxygen, higher than Earth’s air percentage of oxygen by 3%. While there would be no threat of oxygen toxicity, it would take a small amount of time for humans to adjust to the difference. Tests that followed revealed that some of the planet’s freshwater would require purification while other sources would not. The oceans boasted aquatic creatures that were edible. The soil was viable for growing Earth-based crops, although some of them would need genetic alterations to truly thrive. The creatures native to Baressia mirrored in many ways those found on Earth--some were edible, some were not. Some were hostile, others were not. There was no indication of intelligent life found anywhere on the planet.
Colonization moved quickly from that point on. Baressia became the hub of all activity in the Glaucus system. Nearby planets in the system revealed high amounts of iridium, palladium, platinum, and a new element named “bellerophonium” in honor of the vessel that had discovered the star system. Bellerophonium quickly became an in-demand material, its resilience and density making it a valuable component to be used for armor plating and hull frames in starship assembly.
Both planetary and orbital mining facilities were established throughout the Glaucus system. Travel through the wormhole became routine. It would take time for agriculture to become sustainable on Baressia, which meant that supplies would still need to be routinely shipped from Sol to Glaucus. There was good money to be made in Glaucus given the scope of the mining, agriculture, and exploration operations that were currently underway. Massive transport carriers ferried tens of thousands of people through the wormhole on a weekly basis, delivering them to the system’s transport station that was locked in orbit over Baressia. From there they moved in several different directions: Baressia, the myriad mining facilities, the exploration vessels, the freighters. Pirating had been an issue in the Sol system due to the high value of the elements being mined and it was much the same in Glaucus. Several private security firms made very good money providing mining companies with security details to escort their freighters to and from the wormhole.
It wasn’t long before humanity began to thrive in M63 – nearly moreso, in fact, than it ever did in the Milky Way.
The Sisyphus System
Advancements in FTL technology were occurring in leaps and bounds. Eight years after the wormhole had first been discovered, exploration vessels in Glaucus were outfitted with the latest in FTL systems. This allowed them to venture to the one of the nearest star systems in M63 (the closest being Sarpedon, which was the system the wormhole was situated in.) In short order five new star systems were explored and charted, their planets scanned for resources. Mining continued to expand as more resources were found. It was the sixth system, eventually named Sisyphus, that led to the discovery of another garden planet. This one was much smaller than either Earth or Baressia, but its atmosphere was almost identical to the former. It was named Arta, and its colonization began not long after its discovery. Arta possessed substantial amounts of both iridium and bellorophonium as well as fertile land for agricultural practices. Subsequently, it too became a hub of activity.
The Wormhole Enigma
On August 13, 2151, the wormhole that linked M63 and the Milky Way disappeared completely. There were no warning signs and no indicators. Its stability had not appeared to be fluctuating in any way (though it was hard to tell, considering its nature was still widely considered a mystery even to the greatest scientific minds). The impact of this occurrence was immediately understood by the vast majority of people. While FTL technology had made significant progress, it was nowhere near developed enough to make travel possible to the Milky Way – at least not within a human lifespan. It would still take centuries upon centuries to traverse the distance. With the wormhole gone, those residing within M63 were effectively cut off from the rest of humanity in the Milky Way.
It was not, most people acknowledged, as bad as it could have been. Agricultural programs on both Baressia and Arta generated enough food for the human population in M63. The joint economy of both the Sisyphus and Glaucus systems could stabilize itself over time. Most of the minerals mined from either system had been exported back to the Milky Way, however; the stocks for the mining companies based in both galaxies plummeted dramatically in the days following the wormhole’s disappearance.
Weeks passed. Months passed. Eventually it became apparent that the wormhole was not going to reappear. The military presence in M63, cut off from command back in the Sol system, eventually merged with one of the largest security contractors in M63, Baressia-Arta Security Forces. The new entity became known as Sisyphus Armed Forces (SAF) and became entirely devoted to stopping pirating and black-market exchanges of stolen mineral goods. With the Milky Way closed to those in M63, eyes turned to other locations. Plans to extend exploration even further into M63 began to take shape. SAF, being the largest security group in M63, began to develop new prototype ships to go along with the next advancements in exploration.
And then the attacks began.
The Enemy
Four years after the wormhole had vanished so mysteriously, mankind experienced its first encounter with another form of sentient race. The attacks first occurred in the furthest reaches of humanity’s presence within M63; remote mining facilities were attacked and so too were any freighters, transports, and security ships that were nearby. Distress calls made were cut short. All that was audible was that they were under attack by an unknown enemy. When fleets of armed SAF ships were sent to investigate, they found no trace of a battle. They found no trace of anything – all human ships had vanished as surely as the wormhole had. The planetary mining facilities still stood – were undamaged, in fact – but nobody was found within.
It was weeks before another attack came. This one was in a system closer to Sisyphus and Glaucus. It happened lightning fast; by the time SAF forces arrived a short time later, there was no sign of either the attacker or the human ship that had radioed for aid. From that point on the attacks happened with greater frequency. It wasn’t long before mankind’s defensive army in M63 came to a head-on encounter with this new and enigmatic enemy. What they learned in the disastrous battle that followed was that this new enemy had ships with technology unlike any that had ever been seen before. The enemy ships were small and incredibly fast, boasting high maneuverability that made them hard to track and even harder to locate on sensors. Their weaponry was potent but not destructive, energy based with the intent to disable rather than damage. Any scans that did prove effective registered high amounts of bellerophonium, palladium, and an unidentified element comprising the make of their ships.
There were three kinds of enemy ships, each serving a distinct purpose:
It was impossible to locate a point of origin for these ships. No SAF vessel had the capability to match speed with them. Not only that, but it seemed they had the ability to create their own miniature versions of a wormhole, or something much like it; several human vessels had witnessed the enemy ships “jumping” away after a battle (this ability was later termed “mini-wormhole generation”, or MWH for short). Everything about the aggressors was a mystery, but what was apparent was that if something wasn’t done, they could very easily prove the demise of the humans in M63.
Fighting Back
SAF scrapped all research and prototypes meant to aid in further humanity’s expansion throughout M63. Instead they focused on two new classes of armed ships. They used all footage, logs, and data compiled on the new enemy taken during skirmishes. Using what knowledge they had – which was substantial after nearly a year of combating an enemy that really couldn’t be combated – SAF developed the Aegis class and the Kopis class vessels.
The Aegis class (the name taken from the ancient Greek word that can be interpreted as “shield”) were large and based loosely on designs of Old World battlecruisers used at sea. They were heavily armored, the focus being mainly on defensive structure, which included bellerophonium hull plating and plasma shield generators. The Kopis class (“Kopis” being an ancient Greek term that means “to strike” or “to cut”) was a small, heavily armed vessel. Its design was sleek and it possessed a maneuverability unlike any other man-made ship, rivalling that of the enemy fighters. The Kopis ships had only light shielding but boasted a considerable amount of weaponry which included electrothermal accelerators (plasma cannons), railguns, and point defense lasers. One final weapon added to the Kopis class was the “scattershot” cannons, which fired rounds that would detonate in an explosion of localized heat and light. Scattershots were a highly advanced version of the flashbang grenade, used to temporarily whiteout enemy scanners and sensors, rendering them useless for a short time.
The Aegis and the Kopis class ships were designed in such a way that they had to work as a team. The Kopis ships had the ability to temporarily hide any type of emissions. It wasn’t exactly stealth (a visual scan would reveal them) but it could fool scanners. This function could only be maintained for a short time because of the amount of energy it took to disguise emissions. However, this “stealth mode” usually lasted long enough for the Aegis class ships to gain the attention of the enemy, allowing the Kopis ships to get behind enemy lines and unleash hell. While the Aegis soaked up the majority of the enemy firepower, the Kopis would go about destroying enemy fighters after dropping out of stealth. Scattershot was frequently used to throw the enemies off balance, although it required considerable skill to be able to use scattershot in the middle of a heated battle without frying the Kopis and Aegis scanners and sensors, as well.
The two ships were reliant on each other in other ways, as well. The amount of energy the Kopis ships used in a firefight was astronomical. They were meant for short-range fighting only; they couldn’t traverse long distances without completely running out of power. Alternatively, the Aegis was built to traverse long distances, but lacked the firepower of the Kopis. The energy system the Kopis fighters used – Altrax III drive cores – provided massive amounts of power in short bursts. Once the drive core was drained, it had to be charged again. The Kopis fighters would then enter the flight bay of their Aegis companions, where the Kopis would be connected to the larger ship in order to recharge the drive core.
The first prototypes of the Aegis and Kopis did their jobs and then some. The tactic of the larger ship acting as a meat shield/distraction while the smaller ship went on the assault worked remarkably well. Given the success of the prototypes, mass production began for more of the Aegis and Kopis class warships. From that point on a majority of the SAF fleet consisted of Aegis and Kopis class. These ships worked in groups of two, four, or six (depending on where they were stationed and the regularity of enemy attacks). It was only through the successes of the Aegis and Kopis class warships that they were finally able to disable an enemy ship, tow it to a SAF base, and get their first real look at the face of the enemy.
The Conflux
The enemy race was more than one race, it turned out. It was many. Or rather, many races fused together. In laying eyes on the first Conflux, it became starkly apparent to those on the SAF base that they weren’t alone in the universe. There were other species out there. And those other species were apparently at war with the Conflux as well.
The first Conflux to make actual contact with humanity was a horrifying thing to behold. Its body had some definition – a marked humanoid shape, arms and legs, hands and feet, a head – but it was patchwork. No two parts of its form were the same. The left arm was long, grey, spindly, with two fingers and a thumb. The right arm was massive, black, and covered in some kind of plating. It was a creature hobbled together from parts of other creatures, but done so in a way that was absolutely seamless. There were no stitches. There were no cybernetics. There were no robotics. It was entirely a biological form, fused together by some force that no human mind could as of yet comprehend.
The most awful aspect of this particular Conflux was the misshapen mound that was the head. The face it wore was human – stretched, contorted, the flesh a sickly grey – but still undeniably human. The mouth still opened and the eyes still blinked, which made those viewing it believe that the human in question was still alive. The edges of the face had melded seamlessly with the discolored alien flesh around it, leaving no trace of where humanity ended and another species began.
The Conflux was tall, rising easily to 8 feet. It was also disconcertingly fast, given the bizarre nature of its body. It carried no weapons and didn’t need to, relying on brute strength to savage those that first pried open the hatch to its disabled ship. It easily tore one man apart with its two very different arms. It took several explosive rounds before it was subdued. It died slowly, the human mouth still moving, the clouded human eyes still blinking. The moment it died its body began to dissolve, slowly breaking down into a bubbling black substance.
There was no question now what had happened to all the human crews that had vanished in the wake of Conflux attacks. They were being assimilated in the most horrific way possible – as were other alien races, judging from what had just been witnessed. This war was no longer just about survival. It was also about retribution.
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A Bit of Info About Iobates
Currently, most of the galaxy is still centered on the war with the Conflux. However, for those dwelling on the Iobates spaceport, other problems have arisen. Located in the Proetus system on the very fringes of colonized M63, the port is a hub of activity due mainly to its proximity to several large mining operations. For the same reasons, it’s also where many black market transactions take place. Iobates has some security in the form of stationed SAF soldiers and a local authority force, but the port is so vast that even their vigilant patrols can’t possibly put an end to all things illegitimate that occur there.
Life on the outskirts of colonized space is risky for a number of reasons. The Conflux are known to strike in systems that are isolated from others, such as Proetus. Encounters with raiders – looking to forcibly take precious resource cargo from mining ships and SAF carriers both – is common. Living on Iobates is not for the faint of heart or those that lack a sense of adventure.