Archie
Not even my final form
Fermi's paradox. Those are two words scientist back on earth used to describe a strange problem - since humans started listening for alien radio signals, we hadn't found any. This great question would get an answer, but it wasn't the one we wanted.
It was August of 2227. Mars had been terraformed, Venus's gas had been dispersed to the point at which it was habitable too. Huge underwater cities existed in Titan, discovering the vast ecosystem of marine animals below Titan's ice. Humanity discovered warp technologies, and could move huge distances across our corner of the galaxy. Archer-5 and Chengliu-9, the first warp-equipped manned missions, had been trying to find alien civilization for 10 years. Humans reminisced back to sci-fi shows that imagined a glorious mission of exploration and diplomacy.
What they got was different. Archer-5 found a civilization, built by tripod aliens called the Ma'tak - who instantly shot it out of the sky. World leaders panicked. All the superpowers immediately scrambled to commission space defense forces. Scientists finally got their answer to the Fermi Paradox. According to the Drake Equation, there should have been millions of species in this galaxy. Why, after 10 years of warp travel, did Archer-5 and Chengliu-9, not find a single lifeform? Because they realized, the Drake Equation didn't consider war.
Across the vast distances of space, where radio signals take not seconds, but millenia, to arrive at their destination, communication is only possible by warp ship - which is equally slow. With such slow communications, finding out about alien races' intentions is impossible. Slow communications bred fear, and fear bred aggression. In this situation, the only races that survived first contact were the most paranoid and aggressive - those who struck first and wiped out all other intelligent life they knew of. The Ma'tak were such a race.
After 10 years, the fleets of the Atlantic Federation, Eurasian Union, and the Celestial Republic of East Asia combined numbered over 5,000 ships. Humanity thought it was safe, that it would win a great space battle against the enemy. Instead, Ma'tak technology reached a level beyond what we could imagine. They had contained a concentrated antimatter weapon in a single ball of fluid, and warped it outside Earth orbit. As soon as it hit Earth's atmosphere, it reacted with the hydrogen, and exploded, destroying home as we knew it.
The human fleet knew it was in danger. Abandoning Mars and Venus to their fate, the admirals of the three superpowers ordered their fleets in different directions, looking to settle worlds. Those that refused were killed in mutiny by their own men.
The people of Mars were alone. Divided into colonies of the three superpowers for ages, they had to come together. Through a lottery, each colonial nation picked an equal number to board the ships that remained, and settle a new colony across the galaxy.
You are one of the lucky 1% of the Martian colonists who were chosen, and have set off on a warp-capable space station. After a year of travelling, the navigation officer announced an interesting discovery - an earthlike world has been detected, and landfall will take place in a week. However, not all is well in the new civilization. East Asia, Eurasia, and Atlantia had been fighting for a century, and all their governments had degraded into oppressive military dictatorships. Members of the three militaries are feuding with one another over who should control the new planet, and whether Humanity should divide or unite under one roof. Their reign is also opposed by the civilian majority aboard the ship, who resent the continuation of the old ways in the new civilization.
But there is one problem that complicates them all. The planet has intelligent life, and they are far more alike to humans than the Ma'tak. The society on the planet is in a Medieval condition, and the ship's leaders need to decide on a course of action. Should humanity wipe them out? Build a new society with them? Pose as Gods to rule over them? Enslave them completely? Will contact with the aliens spread diseases that could wipe out both races? Will humanity create a new way, or prove to be just as paranoid as the Ma'tak?
In this RP, you can play as both aliens on the planet and humans on the ship. I'd love to have some people help me flesh out the back story both of Earth and the planet.
Let me know below or in PM if you're interested or have any suggestions!
It was August of 2227. Mars had been terraformed, Venus's gas had been dispersed to the point at which it was habitable too. Huge underwater cities existed in Titan, discovering the vast ecosystem of marine animals below Titan's ice. Humanity discovered warp technologies, and could move huge distances across our corner of the galaxy. Archer-5 and Chengliu-9, the first warp-equipped manned missions, had been trying to find alien civilization for 10 years. Humans reminisced back to sci-fi shows that imagined a glorious mission of exploration and diplomacy.
What they got was different. Archer-5 found a civilization, built by tripod aliens called the Ma'tak - who instantly shot it out of the sky. World leaders panicked. All the superpowers immediately scrambled to commission space defense forces. Scientists finally got their answer to the Fermi Paradox. According to the Drake Equation, there should have been millions of species in this galaxy. Why, after 10 years of warp travel, did Archer-5 and Chengliu-9, not find a single lifeform? Because they realized, the Drake Equation didn't consider war.
Across the vast distances of space, where radio signals take not seconds, but millenia, to arrive at their destination, communication is only possible by warp ship - which is equally slow. With such slow communications, finding out about alien races' intentions is impossible. Slow communications bred fear, and fear bred aggression. In this situation, the only races that survived first contact were the most paranoid and aggressive - those who struck first and wiped out all other intelligent life they knew of. The Ma'tak were such a race.
After 10 years, the fleets of the Atlantic Federation, Eurasian Union, and the Celestial Republic of East Asia combined numbered over 5,000 ships. Humanity thought it was safe, that it would win a great space battle against the enemy. Instead, Ma'tak technology reached a level beyond what we could imagine. They had contained a concentrated antimatter weapon in a single ball of fluid, and warped it outside Earth orbit. As soon as it hit Earth's atmosphere, it reacted with the hydrogen, and exploded, destroying home as we knew it.
The human fleet knew it was in danger. Abandoning Mars and Venus to their fate, the admirals of the three superpowers ordered their fleets in different directions, looking to settle worlds. Those that refused were killed in mutiny by their own men.
The people of Mars were alone. Divided into colonies of the three superpowers for ages, they had to come together. Through a lottery, each colonial nation picked an equal number to board the ships that remained, and settle a new colony across the galaxy.
You are one of the lucky 1% of the Martian colonists who were chosen, and have set off on a warp-capable space station. After a year of travelling, the navigation officer announced an interesting discovery - an earthlike world has been detected, and landfall will take place in a week. However, not all is well in the new civilization. East Asia, Eurasia, and Atlantia had been fighting for a century, and all their governments had degraded into oppressive military dictatorships. Members of the three militaries are feuding with one another over who should control the new planet, and whether Humanity should divide or unite under one roof. Their reign is also opposed by the civilian majority aboard the ship, who resent the continuation of the old ways in the new civilization.
But there is one problem that complicates them all. The planet has intelligent life, and they are far more alike to humans than the Ma'tak. The society on the planet is in a Medieval condition, and the ship's leaders need to decide on a course of action. Should humanity wipe them out? Build a new society with them? Pose as Gods to rule over them? Enslave them completely? Will contact with the aliens spread diseases that could wipe out both races? Will humanity create a new way, or prove to be just as paranoid as the Ma'tak?
In this RP, you can play as both aliens on the planet and humans on the ship. I'd love to have some people help me flesh out the back story both of Earth and the planet.
Let me know below or in PM if you're interested or have any suggestions!
