Chapter 1: Exodus
docs.google.com/document/d/1eOx4TGMIL…
This was the introduction to Chapter 1 which details how the survivors were "kidnapped" even as hypersonic ICBM's sped toward their targets. For those who wonder why people usually wake up nekkid from cryosleep, there is a very real medical reason. (I did some research about this. I was a little surprised at the validity.) However, on hindsight, it was possible to clothe everyone to wake up in their new suits. Hair removal was done in case of loss of gravity to ease the burden on life support. Hair on heads was allowed to remain for the sake of vanity.
Prologue
In 2028 World War III broke out and thousands of years of civilization came crashing to an end in hours. 500 men and women were evacuated - some would say extracted against their will - and placed in cryogenic suspension in a temporary holding station on the Moon while a space ark was completed and the most suitable world found to colonize. The ship was simply called The Archive. It was finally launched in 2037.
In 2038 the survivors were awakened, but not informed of the fate of the Earth. Instead they were allowed to believe they were in a nuclear bunker. The readings from above suggested that their stay underground would be 12.7 years. The good news was that the bunker was designed to accommodate the next generation. In fact, by the time they were able to leave the bunker many would be too old to conceive children, so it was a necessity.
The trip was approximately 1400 LY. The ship achieved an intrinsic velocity of about 10% of the speed of light. This was augmented by a warp field that made their objective speed about 110x speed of light. Hence the 12.7 years. Finally deceleration began. 12.7 years after their journey had begun the news was broken. They were entering a whole new star system. Advanced reconnaissance of the entire system had begun years ago, mapping planets, moons, studying the star and nearby stars and planets.
Their savior had passed himself as a famous science fiction writer, with a serious college education. The name he used was his own pen name. But they soon learned his true identity was as a winner of four Nobel Prizes. He apologized for the deception, but had wanted to forestall the news of the fate of Earth.
There had, in fact, been two missions. The Lunar colony had originally been a secret plan for a penal colony to store terrorists. Many other survivors rescued at the end had been left there. That base had been incomplete as well. But once complete would have housed millions. The Earth was now a barren husk and might never recover. So that mission was seen as a potential dead end. The Archive could only house 500 plus the next generation.
In the years since the start of the voyage advances had been made in cryogenic suspension, so a return trip or continued trip was not out of the question. And the scientist who developed the warp drive has been developing a better warp matrix. The survivors - once in the 18-25 age group are not 13 years old. All now have children in varying ages. Some have more than one spouse as communal families developed. (Read Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein for an idea of what this is like.) All personnel have been undergoing training in skills - survival and at least one technical skill.
For now, however, the mission would be to colonize Avalon. The crew is going to learn that there is already a quantum pulse comm beacon relaying probe data back to the Moon where the one of the last prominent members of CDC Atlanta is still alive. For most of the journey robotic probes have been gathering samples, remotely being studied.
Avalon
(Unofficially Bob)
The scientist who discovered the exoplanet was a big fan of the movie Titan A.E., hence the unofficial name. The planet has a slightly bigger than Earth with a mean surface gravity of 1.13 G. The atmosphere is slightly thicker with a higher IPP of oxygen. At lower elevations humans may require rebreathers to prevent hypoxia. The ocean is very similar to that of Earth, with only a slightly higher volume. Salinity is very close to that of Earth. The water cycle is very active. There will be some dangerous weather conditions. Overall the world should be considered a tropical to temperate world. The polar caps are relatively small at present.
Avalon is teeming with life and should be considered extremely dangerous. Giant insects and arachnids, unusually large avians, carnivorous plants are all common - especially at lower elevations. Dinosaurs are also common; mammals as well. However, NO land animals have a greater mass than an elephant. The fauna is voracious.
Storyteller Note:
I have NOT named the fauna and flora. This I leave to the group. Oh sure, they will have scientific names in Latin. But it will be the group that nicknames them things like Ohmygodosaurus. I have not found satisfactory images for the 3 foot long alien dragonflies. There are crabs and lobsters the size of cattle and rhinos. There are alien bobbit worms some 10 meters long, alien mantis shrimps the size of a large dog. There are alien spiders as large as a human.
The one thing I have tried to avoid are things that do not occur on Earth - hexapedal mammals and saurians. Hence, no dragons. Yes, I was tempted. However, I might make an exception for mammals and add in some extra limbs. Mammals appear later in the evolutionary cycle. And I can see the Darwinist advantages to this. Word of caution: These will be the same critters that will survive at higher elevations. Only smaller creatures will survive at higher elevations.
Insects
danijelmatanic.files.wordpress.com/20… (desert only)
Size - small to medium dog. These live only in dry climates such as deserts, forming colonies that number in the hundreds. A typical ‘patrol’ will consist of several workers (right) and a couple warriors (left). The toxin is medium strength but delivered in quantities that can kill a human.
i.pinimg.com/originals/84/c7/a8/84c7a…
Scale: the Queen is about a foot long. These form colonies in the thousands. The largest hives are even larger and can shred dinosaurs. They are strictly carnivorous.
img00.deviantart.net/4c6e/i/2015/114/…
igorstshirts.com/blog/conceptaliens/2…
art.ngfiles.com/images/300000/300454_…
Saurians
i.pinimg.com/originals/99/43/74/99437…
elexgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/…
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/…
i.pinimg.com/originals/91/db/be/91dbb… (small tree dwelling)
cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/i… (small tree dwelling)
Avians
i.pinimg.com/236x/0f/c7/e3/0fc7e3611f…
i.pinimg.com/236x/38/a2/5a/38a25ae443…
i.pinimg.com/750x/20/76/69/20766918c8…
i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/d3/4c/0ad34… (condor sized)
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/animal-ja…
Mammals
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/non-alien…
nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/0…
i.pinimg.com/originals/42/b2/d1/42b2d…
i.pinimg.com/originals/28/18/74/28187…
dumielauxepices.net/sites/default/fil…
Aquatic
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/non-alien…
i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/a6/3d/9ba63…
scifiideas.com/wp-content/uploads/201…
Plants
i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/cf/85/f3cf8…
docs.google.com/document/d/1eOx4TGMIL…
This was the introduction to Chapter 1 which details how the survivors were "kidnapped" even as hypersonic ICBM's sped toward their targets. For those who wonder why people usually wake up nekkid from cryosleep, there is a very real medical reason. (I did some research about this. I was a little surprised at the validity.) However, on hindsight, it was possible to clothe everyone to wake up in their new suits. Hair removal was done in case of loss of gravity to ease the burden on life support. Hair on heads was allowed to remain for the sake of vanity.
Prologue
In 2028 World War III broke out and thousands of years of civilization came crashing to an end in hours. 500 men and women were evacuated - some would say extracted against their will - and placed in cryogenic suspension in a temporary holding station on the Moon while a space ark was completed and the most suitable world found to colonize. The ship was simply called The Archive. It was finally launched in 2037.
In 2038 the survivors were awakened, but not informed of the fate of the Earth. Instead they were allowed to believe they were in a nuclear bunker. The readings from above suggested that their stay underground would be 12.7 years. The good news was that the bunker was designed to accommodate the next generation. In fact, by the time they were able to leave the bunker many would be too old to conceive children, so it was a necessity.
The trip was approximately 1400 LY. The ship achieved an intrinsic velocity of about 10% of the speed of light. This was augmented by a warp field that made their objective speed about 110x speed of light. Hence the 12.7 years. Finally deceleration began. 12.7 years after their journey had begun the news was broken. They were entering a whole new star system. Advanced reconnaissance of the entire system had begun years ago, mapping planets, moons, studying the star and nearby stars and planets.
Their savior had passed himself as a famous science fiction writer, with a serious college education. The name he used was his own pen name. But they soon learned his true identity was as a winner of four Nobel Prizes. He apologized for the deception, but had wanted to forestall the news of the fate of Earth.
There had, in fact, been two missions. The Lunar colony had originally been a secret plan for a penal colony to store terrorists. Many other survivors rescued at the end had been left there. That base had been incomplete as well. But once complete would have housed millions. The Earth was now a barren husk and might never recover. So that mission was seen as a potential dead end. The Archive could only house 500 plus the next generation.
In the years since the start of the voyage advances had been made in cryogenic suspension, so a return trip or continued trip was not out of the question. And the scientist who developed the warp drive has been developing a better warp matrix. The survivors - once in the 18-25 age group are not 13 years old. All now have children in varying ages. Some have more than one spouse as communal families developed. (Read Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein for an idea of what this is like.) All personnel have been undergoing training in skills - survival and at least one technical skill.
For now, however, the mission would be to colonize Avalon. The crew is going to learn that there is already a quantum pulse comm beacon relaying probe data back to the Moon where the one of the last prominent members of CDC Atlanta is still alive. For most of the journey robotic probes have been gathering samples, remotely being studied.
Avalon
(Unofficially Bob)
The scientist who discovered the exoplanet was a big fan of the movie Titan A.E., hence the unofficial name. The planet has a slightly bigger than Earth with a mean surface gravity of 1.13 G. The atmosphere is slightly thicker with a higher IPP of oxygen. At lower elevations humans may require rebreathers to prevent hypoxia. The ocean is very similar to that of Earth, with only a slightly higher volume. Salinity is very close to that of Earth. The water cycle is very active. There will be some dangerous weather conditions. Overall the world should be considered a tropical to temperate world. The polar caps are relatively small at present.
Avalon is teeming with life and should be considered extremely dangerous. Giant insects and arachnids, unusually large avians, carnivorous plants are all common - especially at lower elevations. Dinosaurs are also common; mammals as well. However, NO land animals have a greater mass than an elephant. The fauna is voracious.
Storyteller Note:
I have NOT named the fauna and flora. This I leave to the group. Oh sure, they will have scientific names in Latin. But it will be the group that nicknames them things like Ohmygodosaurus. I have not found satisfactory images for the 3 foot long alien dragonflies. There are crabs and lobsters the size of cattle and rhinos. There are alien bobbit worms some 10 meters long, alien mantis shrimps the size of a large dog. There are alien spiders as large as a human.
The one thing I have tried to avoid are things that do not occur on Earth - hexapedal mammals and saurians. Hence, no dragons. Yes, I was tempted. However, I might make an exception for mammals and add in some extra limbs. Mammals appear later in the evolutionary cycle. And I can see the Darwinist advantages to this. Word of caution: These will be the same critters that will survive at higher elevations. Only smaller creatures will survive at higher elevations.
Insects
danijelmatanic.files.wordpress.com/20… (desert only)
Size - small to medium dog. These live only in dry climates such as deserts, forming colonies that number in the hundreds. A typical ‘patrol’ will consist of several workers (right) and a couple warriors (left). The toxin is medium strength but delivered in quantities that can kill a human.
i.pinimg.com/originals/84/c7/a8/84c7a…
Scale: the Queen is about a foot long. These form colonies in the thousands. The largest hives are even larger and can shred dinosaurs. They are strictly carnivorous.
img00.deviantart.net/4c6e/i/2015/114/…
igorstshirts.com/blog/conceptaliens/2…
art.ngfiles.com/images/300000/300454_…
Saurians
i.pinimg.com/originals/99/43/74/99437…
elexgame.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/…
i.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/…
i.pinimg.com/originals/91/db/be/91dbb… (small tree dwelling)
cdna.artstation.com/p/assets/images/i… (small tree dwelling)
Avians
i.pinimg.com/236x/0f/c7/e3/0fc7e3611f…
i.pinimg.com/236x/38/a2/5a/38a25ae443…
i.pinimg.com/750x/20/76/69/20766918c8…
i.pinimg.com/originals/0a/d3/4c/0ad34… (condor sized)
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/animal-ja…
Mammals
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/non-alien…
nerdist.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/0…
i.pinimg.com/originals/42/b2/d1/42b2d…
i.pinimg.com/originals/28/18/74/28187…
dumielauxepices.net/sites/default/fil…
Aquatic
vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/non-alien…
i.pinimg.com/originals/9b/a6/3d/9ba63…
scifiideas.com/wp-content/uploads/201…
Plants
i.pinimg.com/originals/f3/cf/85/f3cf8…
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