User:Voldemore/New Star System

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Scientists, in June of 2088, discovered the existence of the substrate within which our universe exists. A domain outside normal three-dimensional space, they named this place "subspace". They found that certain energetic reactions could create an intrusion of this domain into our own space, locally altering the behavior of all forms of matter and energy within our space-time. They called this intrusion a "subspace displacement field" or simply a "subspace field". With subspace being a continuum with different physical laws than our own, subspace fields had the capability of "warping" the space-time continuum. Subspace was also found to provide an additional electromagnetic polarization plane perpendicular to the planes in normal space which could be used for the transmission of particles. Within months, this led to the advent of a method of faster than light communications.

In 2090, while studying the works of physicist Miguel Alcubierre, an American theoretical physicist named Dr. Bram Johnson proposed that a spaceship could use paraspatial fields projected by a series of coils to warp the fabric of space and that ship could use that warp to propel it faster than light. This drive would work by contracting space-time in front of the ship and expanding space-time behind it. The spaceship itself would rests in a bubble between the two space-time distortions. This warped space, together with the region between it, would accelerate off faster than the speed of light and the vessel would then essentially surf on the wave in space-time created by this distortion.

Travel at velocities exceeding the speed of light would be possible in this fashion because the spaceship would be, strictly speaking, stationary (relative to the space of its bubble) while space-time itself would be moving. Since it is the space around a ship that would be moving and the spaceship would not actually be accelerating, it would experience no time dilation, allowing the passage of time inside the vessel to be the same as that outside it.

In 2095, a consortium of scientists from the European Federation and Japan led by Dr. Eckerly succeeded in building first FTL propulsion engine. The next year, using an FTL engine powered by the rare element Ununpentium, an un-manned probe accelerated to nearly four times the speed of light. Finally, in 2099, the Galaxy Explorer Program launched eight unmanned deep space probes, equipped with updated FTL drives, towards nearby stars.

In 2140 Galaxy Explorer Seven arrived in the Martino star system, 161 light years away, and began to transmit information back to Earth. Fifteen years later, images from Martino reached Earth, showing a multiple star system with three G-Class stars with two Earth-like planets around each. The new star system also had dozens of dwarf planets and hundreds of moons. All of these celestial bodies could be terraformed and given an Earth-like gravity field using Orbital Gravity Control satellites. The Destiny Program sent a manned mission towards Martino in 2181. Destiny arrived at the Martino system in 2215 then and set up a colony on one of the Earth-like planets.

Images of humans on the planet Sinon in the Martino system reached the Sol System in 2230. With depleted resources, overpopulation, and a compromised ecosystem continuing to take its toll on the Earth continuing to decay, enthusiasm for travel to the new system exploded.

Earth's moon was finally terraformed in 2245. Then from 2250 to 2270 "The First Leap Outward" took place, during which several gigantic colony ships were launched towards Martino.

The first wave of millions of colonists arrived in the Martino system from 2280 to 2300. These new colonies were set up on two of the Earth-like worlds (Sihon, Londinium). More than a billion people left the Sol system for Martino from 2310 to 2320 during "The Second Leap Outward". They settled on the other four Earth-like planets. From 2340 to 2350 "The Third Leap Outward" took place. By this time Earth's population had dropped to less than two billion, with the rest of the population either now living on the terraformed Mars or on their way to the Martino system.

An asteroid struck Mars in 2341, killing several million people. After that tragedy, the population of the Sol system for the first time dropped below that of the Martino system.

By the year 2370, with the population of the Martino system exploding, the colonists who had been on the planets for decades began to resent the newcomers. The Blue Sun Corporation won the contract to begin terraforming the scores of smaller planets and moons in the system. Blue Sun would employ a special greenhouse gas that traps the heat in a planet or moon's atmosphere making the place warm enough to sustain life even at far distances from the sun. That would be combined with the gravity-control satellites, nanomachines released into the atmosphere, genetically engineered bacteria and algae, soil, and water, plus some industrial sized atmospheric processors along with gigantic orbital mirrors for extra heat and light. The orbital mirrors would be used to focus light on each moon or planet, thus little problem with sunlight and distance.

Many colonists were upset when they arrived in the system, expecting to live on one of the lush central planets, only to be forced to colonize one of the marginal worlds out on the rim. This was mostly because they knew that while terraforming would make those planets and moons very similar to Earth, they would never be as lush or comfortable as the six Core Worlds on account of being so far away from the suns.

In 2374, attempts to restore the Earth's environment collapsed and in 2380 the planet was officially declared uninhabitable.

While there were still viable colonies on Mars, Europa and Luna, many of the few who remain in the Sol system gave up and headed for Martino. The last colony ship arrived in the Martino System from Earth in the year 2429. Radio contact with the handful of people left in the Sol system soon broke off. It is unknown if there are still colonies there.

Terraforming continued to push the human colonies further out into the Martino system. All those planets and moons terraformed towards the end of colonization were much more primitive than those that were settled early (the Core Planets) because they hadn't had ample opportunity to establish new levels of high technology the central worlds have.

Sinon and Londinium worked together throughout the colonization process and as so many had, their cultures melding at many levels. These two powers, still working in harmony, grew at once into the most populous and advanced civilizations in the new star system. They became the center of culture and business throughout the Martino system. The governments of these two planets took an enlightened view of civilization. They worked to maintain order, but also encouraged diversity of language, ethnicity, religion, and expression of thought.

These were enlightened cultures, with respect for all non-aggressive religious beliefs (though the main religion on both was Buddhism, usually of the Mahayana tradition). Literacy levels were at 94%. Average lifespan was 120. Public Service was not law - it was simply an ingrained part of the people's ethos. Certain social mores had evolved beyond our modern conceptions. As, for example, sex. Prostitution as we understand it had long since been abolished by the legalization and strict federal regulation of the sex trade. 'Companion' houses were set up throughout the central planets. No house could ever be run by a man. No Companion could ever be coerced into accepting a client. Companions trained in all the arts, extremely well schooled. They lived not unlike Nuns, worked not unlike Geishas, and often rose to political or social prominence when they retired. Such was life on the central planets. On the outer planets, things were a mite different.

They had enough worlds to go around, but not enough resources. And people didn't exactly stop procreating. Despite all the best efforts and intentions of the original founders, the problems of the common man did not go away with the formation of new worlds. Humanity is restless, always looking to find greener pastures somewhere else. Pioneers left the crowded cities and traveled out to the most newly terraformed worlds, hoping to build a better life for themselves. The outer planets, the worlds and moons that hadn't been chosen to house the new civilization - they were the destination for the poorer, more extreme, the pioneers. They traveled out to the nearest planet someone hadn't claimed yet and started turning their rockets into roofs. Building off whatever the land had been shaped to provide them with. Some of these people were brought near to savagery by the conditions they encountered. Some were just hard-working, independent people who didn't want their lives mapped out for them before they'd lived them. Didn't want convenience. Some were orthodox in their beliefs to the point where they were not comfortable among non-believers, and wanted whole worlds where they would not be slowly homogenized into society. And some had reason to avoid the law.

There were troubles. As humanity spread out, they brought with them their usual miseries: greed, corruption, crime. Disagreement over resources, trade, and political influence led to general unrest among the planets. There were famines, there were wars - the human race didn't get better or smarter just because they had made scientific leaps. Things were definitely more peaceful among the Central Planets, but that peace was bought at a price. Nothing resembling totalitarianism, but a certain regulation of existence that would not sit well with some. And even among these planets, conflicts over resources, trade, and political influence strained the civil relations of sister nations. A movement began in the oldest, most stable planets to form a unified parliamentary system of government that would work to regulate such matters and keep the peace. The popular idea was quickly ratified and in an effort to unite and quell this conflict, the Central Planets formed the Alliance, a governing structure that unified them all under one governing body, the Parliament. The few members represented each planet, and worked in genuine harmony to fulfil each planet's various needs, economically and politically. In harmony, and very often, in secrecy.

The Alliance was started out of an idealistic belief that a strong central government that controlled every aspect of a person's life, from cradle to grave, could provide that person a better, safer, and more secure life. Some people in the Alliance truly believed this and they dedicated their lives to bringing this about. Others saw this as a chance to grab power for themselves.

The Parliament formed a military council that acted quickly to quell any unrest among the Core planets and their neighbors. Maintaining order meant keeping tight control over the populace, and that led to the creation of many secret programs. Their hope was to make people obedient, complacent, compliant—"better" by the government's definition. The Parliament ruled over people with fairness and intelligence, but also with a strong army and a wary eye toward any insurrection. The Military Council worked under the Parliament to deliver swift, effective control of any real unrest among them or their neighbors.

As the Alliance terraformed its border moons, settlers were dumped there with nothing but blankets, hatchets, and maybe a herd. Some of those moons managed to make it, but others ended up in bad shape, suffering plagues and famine--though some of the reports of such suffering were exaggerated.

Regardless the situation, the Alliance saw itself as the protective parent. The Core worlds were model children. But the Alliance had another problem. They feared their "good children" were going to be corrupted by the bad seeds who lived on the wrong side of the system. The worlds on the Border and the Rim were self-governing, outside the limits of Alliance control. Each world had its own set of laws and rules that suited its own particular needs. People living on these frontier planets had been forced to be self-reliant in order to survive, and they had come to be free-thinkers who saw no need for a lot of government meddling. The Alliance considered such independence a threat to civilization. (They also considered that a lot of valuable resources and real estate were outside their control) For the benefit of all people in the system and partially out of a simple imperialistic wish for control and need for resources off-limits to them, the Parliament - and the Allied planets as a whole decided that every planet in the system should come under Alliance rule, whether its people wanted it or not.

Believing that everyone would want to live on a safe and civilized world where people are cared for by their betters, idealistic people of the Core planets thought this was a great idea. The movement for Unification spread like wildfire through dry brush. The leaders on the Core thought they had only to open their arms in a wide embrace and those poor benighted souls on the Rim would come running home to their mothers. Those on the Border did come running. Only problem—they carried guns.

The War for Unification was the most devastating in human history. Outer planets, including Shadow, Persephone, and Hera, mustered forces - more than half volunteers - to stop what they felt to be nothing more than imperialist hegemony and formed an alliance of their own—the Independent Faction (known as "Browncoats," thanks to the brown dusters their soldiers took to wearing). The Parliament of the Alliance instituted a draft to build its forces. They were considerably astonished to learn that more than half of the Independent forces were composed of volunteers. The Alliance (known as the "Purple Bellies" for their style of dress) had the manpower, the ships, and technology to make the result of the war a forgone conclusion—but they never expected the kind of resistance the other planets could provide. They did not expect so many men and women to still consider freedom worth dying for.

The war raged for just over five years, taking place on land, sea, and in the dark of space. The war tore into the planets between the central ones and the rim worlds (fighting never reached such inconsequential moons as Whitefall or Beaumonde, nor did it touch Sihnon and Londinium, except in the odd protest or terrorist act).

The largest space battle in terms of scale and human cost was the Battle of Sturges, one in which countless ships were destroyed, creating a massive graveyard preserved in the vacuum of the black. The largest land battle, the one that brought about the end of the war, was fought on the planet Hera in Serenity Valley.

The valley was considered a key position by both sides, and was bitterly fought over. The Independent Faction, with sixteen brigades and twenty air-tank squads, held the valley against Alliance forces for seven weeks, until superior numbers and a brilliant deep- flank strategy by General Richard Wilkins led to an Alliance victory. Nearly half a million people lay dead on that field at day's end, about a third of them "winners". With the strategically important planet of Hera fallen into Alliance hands, the Independent High Command began to accept terms of surrender. Even then, some of the Browncoats continued to fight on for two weeks after that. Those soldiers who continued to fight even after being ordered to lay down arms were captured and held in camps for a short time. Ultimately, the Alliance released the soldiers and officers as a peaceful gesture to those outer planets now under its rule. The stain of criminality never left those few thousand - but in some quieter circles, the legend of their tenacity made them heroes.

Since the battles were mostly fought on the Border and the Rim, the Core planets escaped unscathed. To this day, many outer planets still bear terrible scars. Shadow was effectively destroyed, and it remains uninhabitable seven years later. Major cities on Athens were bombed. Several key land battles were fought on Persephone. Moons that had no strategic value, such as Whitefall and Jiangyin, were untouched, but they still suffered as a result of the disruption of trade. Supplies had been hard to get as it was, and the war made it harder. Almost every person living on those planets saw their homes leveled, their businesses fall into ruin, their loved ones killed or maimed—all in the name of making their lives better.

Life has returned to normal—leastways on the surface. In truth, no one has forgotten and few have forgiven. The Alliance now has jurisdiction over every inhabited planet in the system. The Alliances does not fully control everything within its farflung territory. In reality, the Alliance only has full control over the Core planets. On these worlds, the eyes of the Alliance are everywhere. Federal police can be called at a moment's notice, and cameras record every citizen's every move. The Core worlds have the best comforts that money can buy. Of course, every citizen pays for such security and comfort with more than a bit of his freedom.

The outer planets were meant to be kept under the same level of strict control, but the Alliance is short on manpower and ships. They just don't have enough people to keep a proper eye on things. They hire security firms to help enforce their laws and maintain order. And they send their hulking patrol ships out into the black to remind everyone who is in charge. Still, there are enormous cracks in the system.

Those who had fought for independence and so bloodily lost had no choice but to live by the laws of the new "Universal Alliance". Some never would, and those few found themselves drifting--flying to the furthest reaches of the system, to the border planets, worlds less civilized, some barely settled, where the Alliance might not control their lives. These are hard worlds, and work is where you find it. Those who get buy lived by a simple creed: Any job, anywhere.

The culture of 2517 is heavily influenced by the relationship between the West and East embodied in The Alliance. There are many Eastern influences including speech, dress (Chinese styles often worn by women), newspapers, etc. The other culture influencing the Martino system is the Western Frontiersman. As well as the dialect this is shown again in terms of dress, the lower end of the technology spectrum (coach and horses), etc.

The Central Planets are the home of modern civilization with every imaginable technological achievement on display. Life on the borders of colonized space is very different. Without easy assess to modern conveniences, the sparse populations make due with more antiquated tools. These worlds have come to resemble the old American frontier, in look and attitude. Self-sufficiency and hard work are the rule. Even on those worlds, the "Earth That Was" is not a place people talk about going to.