S
Seiji
Guest
Original poster
I wrote this up after being inspired to write a sci-fi setting, with a plot that had nothing to do with the potential space opera of the setting. At 3:30 AM, I'm tired, so nothing has really been proof-read, but please: tell me what you think.
In the year 2067, Humanity was finally able to break the bonds of single-star life. Lunabase established as a forward launching center, Mars was colonized with great success due in large part by Swedish scientists discovering the "Larsson-Lindgren Method"-- a technique which allowed the Colonists to not only locate and utilize water already on the planet, but begin crude terraforming.
Space War I began soon after. Nation States began vying over control of space, even after a majority of Nation-sponsored space programs had been ended. The conflict ended with a massive peace treaty that established the U.N. Space Council. Against all expectations, a majorty of the Nations sent their best and brightest scientists, engineers, mathematicians, theorists, and astronomers.
In 2099, Project Galileo proved another breakthrough moment in Humanity's evolution. The most advanced galactic probe ever designed, utilizing the most state-of-the-Art propulsion systems, broke out of the edge of the Sol System for Alpha Centauri. Its mission: a deep scan of the system while on a pre-programmed orbit, with eventual return by utilizing the gravity well in a crude "sling shot" of the probe.
The probe returned to the Sol System in 2122, with images, scans, and data that proved joyous, alarming, fascinating, and inspiring. There was Life on other planets.
This news started Space War II, this time by religious zealouts declaring humanity vain, stating that humans were breaking boundaries not meant to be broken.
In a strange twist of irony, the conflict ultimately ended with the zealouts creating the first galactic colony ships to escape the "prosecution" science had been pressuring upon religions for well over a century at this time.
While the Fundamentalists, as they came to be known, designed and crafted the first ships designed for inter-galactic flight and colonization, that was not to say that they designed them successfully.
The first true colony ships to head for Alpha Centuari were designed and built by, at this time the leader of astro-science industries, Swedish company SLI, or Star Leagues Incorporated. Having been the company that was behind the Lunabase and Mars colony projects, it came as no surprise that they were chosen by the U.N.S.C. for this project as well. As a result, Star Leagues became a monopoly, buying out all other groups, think-tanks and companies working within the astro-science industry. This would begin the foundation of the Star Leagues Government.
In 2165, a revolutionary propulsion system was designed by SLI. Named after famed scientist Steven Hawking, the Hawking Drive allowed .42 lightspeed (or 126,000 km/sec) and travel through galactic space relatively safe, and allowing sublight speeds at .02 lightspeed, or 6000 km/sec.
In 2172, the first of the colony ships fitted with the Hawking Drive were finished. On March 1st, with 102,300 human colonists, the first inter-galactic human colonization of another star system was launched. They reached Alpha Centauri's second sun and landed on the Earth-like planet, since re-named Centauri at this point, in the year 2183.
The year is 2299. Among the many discoveries on Centauri, it's greatest has been The Labyrinth. Several sites along the planet's continents all lead down to a massive labyrinthine structure. Dozens of planet scanning attempts have resulted in fruitless findings, and of twenty excavations, only two have returned.
The first return yielded the greatest discovery mankind has ever made: that human-like beings live, or have lived, in this universe and on this planet. It has also yielded its greatest mystery: where have these beings gone? The second return was the last excavation team to be sent down, and of a team of nearly thirty people, only two survived, their minds broken and twisted.
The Labyrinth has been Off Limits for well over a decade, but a benefactor from the Star League Chamber has set in motion a series of events that has yielded permission to once again attempt to explore and map The Labyrinth. Nicknamed Project Theseus, utilizing the latest in archaeological and xeno-archaeological techniques, with the most advanced technologies available, you will unlock the mysteries of The Labyrinth.
Or will you?
Space War I began soon after. Nation States began vying over control of space, even after a majority of Nation-sponsored space programs had been ended. The conflict ended with a massive peace treaty that established the U.N. Space Council. Against all expectations, a majorty of the Nations sent their best and brightest scientists, engineers, mathematicians, theorists, and astronomers.
In 2099, Project Galileo proved another breakthrough moment in Humanity's evolution. The most advanced galactic probe ever designed, utilizing the most state-of-the-Art propulsion systems, broke out of the edge of the Sol System for Alpha Centauri. Its mission: a deep scan of the system while on a pre-programmed orbit, with eventual return by utilizing the gravity well in a crude "sling shot" of the probe.
The probe returned to the Sol System in 2122, with images, scans, and data that proved joyous, alarming, fascinating, and inspiring. There was Life on other planets.
This news started Space War II, this time by religious zealouts declaring humanity vain, stating that humans were breaking boundaries not meant to be broken.
In a strange twist of irony, the conflict ultimately ended with the zealouts creating the first galactic colony ships to escape the "prosecution" science had been pressuring upon religions for well over a century at this time.
While the Fundamentalists, as they came to be known, designed and crafted the first ships designed for inter-galactic flight and colonization, that was not to say that they designed them successfully.
The first true colony ships to head for Alpha Centuari were designed and built by, at this time the leader of astro-science industries, Swedish company SLI, or Star Leagues Incorporated. Having been the company that was behind the Lunabase and Mars colony projects, it came as no surprise that they were chosen by the U.N.S.C. for this project as well. As a result, Star Leagues became a monopoly, buying out all other groups, think-tanks and companies working within the astro-science industry. This would begin the foundation of the Star Leagues Government.
In 2165, a revolutionary propulsion system was designed by SLI. Named after famed scientist Steven Hawking, the Hawking Drive allowed .42 lightspeed (or 126,000 km/sec) and travel through galactic space relatively safe, and allowing sublight speeds at .02 lightspeed, or 6000 km/sec.
In 2172, the first of the colony ships fitted with the Hawking Drive were finished. On March 1st, with 102,300 human colonists, the first inter-galactic human colonization of another star system was launched. They reached Alpha Centauri's second sun and landed on the Earth-like planet, since re-named Centauri at this point, in the year 2183.
The year is 2299. Among the many discoveries on Centauri, it's greatest has been The Labyrinth. Several sites along the planet's continents all lead down to a massive labyrinthine structure. Dozens of planet scanning attempts have resulted in fruitless findings, and of twenty excavations, only two have returned.
The first return yielded the greatest discovery mankind has ever made: that human-like beings live, or have lived, in this universe and on this planet. It has also yielded its greatest mystery: where have these beings gone? The second return was the last excavation team to be sent down, and of a team of nearly thirty people, only two survived, their minds broken and twisted.
The Labyrinth has been Off Limits for well over a decade, but a benefactor from the Star League Chamber has set in motion a series of events that has yielded permission to once again attempt to explore and map The Labyrinth. Nicknamed Project Theseus, utilizing the latest in archaeological and xeno-archaeological techniques, with the most advanced technologies available, you will unlock the mysteries of The Labyrinth.
Or will you?