264 SA, Proxima Centauri
Remaining Time in Transit: 201.3 Hours
Two and a half centuries ago mankind arose from Earth’s atmosphere and into the heavens, sprawling outwards into their solar system under the auspices of the United Nations. A harmonious, cooperative expansion of the race to the stars… At least on paper. The truth is that expansion came as all things human in incongruous fits and starts, jostling one another gently every step of the way. There was no grand intrasystem war, but there were skirmishes. There was no uprising of the colonists against their home… But there might have been. Whatever conflicts the future might have held were abruptly put on pause by the discovery of an ancient alien spacecraft in the frozen north, and the weapon within.
Humanity was not alone. Whoever had created it was beyond us, and even as scientists descended upon it to study and understand the world grappled with the news. We united, at least more than we had been, and worked to ensure our future. We built our own humanoid fighting vehicles, patterned after the single machine found in its belly, and created the apparati to handle the revelation. Defense forces, research committees, for years preparation became the overriding concern.
But that was, itself, nearly two hundred years ago. The ship and the mystery of its occupants faded into the background, worldly concerns once more taking center stage as humanity pushed ever outwards. Piracy, intercolony dispute, and the burgeoning needs of the species again became the norm. For all of our differences the time has passed, mostly, in peace.
And technology has marched on. Our ships can reach a third of the speed of light. We have colonized the system from Venus to Pluto, and any suitable spot in between. Our old, obsolete machines, affectionately called “heavies”, were revolutionized anew. The Oberth Reactor, and the Oberth Reactor Initiative as the project to refit the older heavies was called, altered their development until they were rechristened Orbitals after the project’s initials.
With the limits of our solar system beginning to chafe the same way our planet’s had, eyes turned again towards the rest of the universe. An unmanned probe made the journey to Proxima Centauri b, our nearest potentially habitable world, in just under fifteen years. Fifteen years after that its data returned, declaring the planet a likely prospect. Even if colonization was impossible the establishment of an extrasolar space colony called, beckoning humanity further out into the dark.
So in 249 SA the Advance Ship Pandora lit off her drives, bound for Proxima Centauri with her brave crew of five thousand souls aboard. Each one put into a deep hibernation for the journey, not a day seems to have passed for anyone but the rotating skeleton crew.
Fifteen years later, humanity’s second home draws near.
The Advance Ship Pandora departed from Jupiter’s spacedock in 249 SA carrying a crew of five thousand within its immense, 400m long hull. Its goal is to reach and scout Proxima Centauri b, the nearest potentially habitable planet to Sol based upon preliminary data transmitted from an earlier probe. At Pandora’s maximum speed, allowing for safe acceleration, the journey has taken fifteen years. Of the five thousand crew members aboard 95% have spent the journey in cryostasis from the moment acceleration began until the ship’s arrival in the system. Two hundred and fifty people, mostly naval officers, have been awake for intervals of several months in rotating shifts to ensure the ship’s safe procession between systems.
Though not explicitly a military mission, military personnel from a variety of Sol’s nations, colonies, and even private contractors have been well represented on the expedition. Despite a civilian leader for the mission the Pandora’s captain has operational authority until the expedition reaches the system, and all of the ship’s pilots operate under his authority regardless of their original outfits. The crew is composed of a mix of naval personnel, scientists, pilots, and the engineers needed to separate the Colony Module from the Advance Ship and assemble from it a viable habitat in Proxima Centauri.
The Pandora is outfitted with all of the materials, and fabrication equipment, necessary to support itself on its long journey beyond any hope of assistance and build the colony in orbit around Proxima Centauri b upon arrival. At its core is a bleeding edge (at launch) Battle Carrier, the Pyxis, and within its bays are advanced Orbitals chosen and outfitted by the pilots aboard. Officially the military presence is a precaution though some have questioned so weighty a fighting force sent along on a thirty year scientific mission.
Nevertheless, a number of pilots have been chosen as crew equally essential with the scientists aboard.
Derived from the mecha of the early colonization era, Orbitals are a more potent force than the Heavies of old. Where the Heavies ran on fusion reactors the Orbitals run off of an Oberth Reactor, the same technology which gives them their name. The power generated by the newer reactors is a vast improvement over the old and technologies in limited use during the era of the Heavies are now abundant. Transformable frames, combinable frames, beam weapons, and rail weapons are all used with different degrees of commonality.
The Oberth Reactor is also the first reactor capable of powering the same EM drives that propel modern spacecraft, allowing most Orbitals flight for the purposes of transportation, if not combat. Combat airframes remain a specialized model, owing to the needs of maneuverability and speed over general transportation.
Despite their potency, Oberth reactors do not have an infinite rate of power generation. Unless properly specced, machines with energy intensive systems will rapidly drain the available charge until the reactor can replenish the machine’s capacitors. For this reason rail weapons are still often preferred over beam weapons for reasons of power efficiency.
The Battle Carrier Pyxis has bays for 60 Orbitals, though not all are filled.
I had a hankering for a mecha game, so I made one. Advance on Proxima takes inspiration from shows like Gunbuster, Macross, Martian Successor Nadesico and the ilk. Gloriously 80s and 90s in style, aliens to fight, and cool robots to pilot.
Some simple rules;
Listen to your GM (and/or Co-GM). We’re here to have fun as much as you, but we do need to keep things running.
Keep things civil.
If you have a question, ask.
If you’re going to be away for a long period of time, a heads up to me and your fellow players is appreciated.
