"Earth: 2060
A small group of colonists leave the ravages of earth for a distant planet orbiting Alpha Centauri's primary star. Their ship the United Nations starship Unity, carries them on their journey to a new world and a new hope for humankind. Along the way a rector malfunction damages the Unity, precipitating a crisis among the ships most powerful leaders. As they enter the Alpha Centauri system the crew splits into 7 distinct factions divided not by nationality, but by ideology and their vision for the new world. After the ship breaks apart the 7 leaders guide their chosen crew down to the surface of planet seeking their destiny beneath an alien sky..."
-"When we left earth", Datalinks_________________________
You awake after 40 years in cold sleep, the bright light of the binary suns fills the window ports that run the length of the Unity. For a moment all is still, the hiss of the opening cryopods growing as the rest of the crew is waking; it is a moment of elation and peace. But that moment is shattered as a rumble is heard, and the ship jostles violently. Klaxons begin to blare as the automated alarms begin to sound in a cold metallic voice "Reactor breach, all hands report to your emergency stations." As you hurry to your position you begin to wonder, what will happen now? Now that you have reached here will it all be snatched away, the last dream of humanity denied? When you reach your position and enter into the ships datalinks you begin to hear the seven voices of the council leaders arguing over what to do next, how to precede in this new system.
Finally they decide on one thing, they must get off the ship. But as the heated debates between them split the council, it has also driven a wedge in the crew. Suddenly the crew is now seven parts each of the leaders takes the piece of the crew that has followed and agreed with their own vision and enters the colony pods. You take your place in the pod that you have been invited on, perhaps it was not the one you were originally assigned to but it is yours now, you are among friends, sisters and brothers, all who see the world as you do. But as you rocket away from the fragments that were once the Unity, you begin to wonder what the future holds, in the light of these new suns.
___________________________
Setting:
From his vantage point the scout could see the entirety of the home island, how the slopes of the dormant volcano gave way to rolling hills and farmlands, broken up by only the outlines of the tops of Library’s towers as they rose above their hidden home in the canyon. All of this ending in the inevitable coastline, beautifully contrasted against the two rising moons.
-The RP will take place on the surface of Planet, a massive world at least a few times bigger than Earth. Its surface is covered in around 79-84% water, as such the nations of planet have been forced to found at least some Aquatic, or Floating, cities, yet terrestrial cities are still preferred. Like Earth the climate on Planet varies from region to region, swinging between nice temperate region, to a muggy tropical region, to a near frozen tundra, and every climate in between. The terrain of Planet is mostly a combination of rolling hills, plains, and coastlines. Mountains do exist on the Planet, though most are beneath the oceans or are nearly eroded away.
1. Garland Crater - A large impact crater from an ancient source. Within the crater are rare fragments meteoric alloys, making it an important mining and scientific location.
\\Controlled by = The University of Planet, The city of Kepler is built within it
2. Geothermal Shallows - An expanse of shallow geothermal vents in one of Planets oceans. The ease of access of the vents allow for an impressive energy output.
\\Controlled by = The Mythkeepers, Leviathan's port is built within it
3. The Great Dunes - A massive, unforgiving desert. The harshness of the desert and the difficulties of surviving there have produced no tangible benefits for anyone. It is more of a natural barrier than anything else.
\\Controlled by = N/A, though it is situated on the southern part of the Morginites territory
4. Monsoon Jungle - The only earthlike forest on the surface of Planet belong to an absolutely huge jungle situated in the tropical region of the world.
\\Controlled by = Gaians, various cities are built within it
5. Mount Planet - A huge volcano, more massive than any mountain on Planet, it is big enough to be classified as a major section of a large island. The constant underflow means it produces very high amounts of energy and rich metal mines.
\\Controlled by = The Mythkeepers, the Major city of Stronghold is built on one of its slopes
6. Sunny Mesa - A large mesa, the top is perfect for solar collectors.
\\Controlled by = Gaians, their capital of Gaia’s landing is built into the walls of the Mesa
7. The Ruins - while mysterious monoliths and ruins dot the surface here and there, this location is said to be the greatest amount of these sites in a concentrated location anywhere on Planet and is therefore highly prized among the nations. However, it is mainly regarded as a myth and so is not actively sought after.
\\Controlled by = N/A, it is thought to a myth and if it ever did exist it was most likely overcome by the Xenofungus a long time ago.
-There are very few plants as we would know them near anywhere on the surface of Planet. Instead a hard tube-like fungus, aptly named Xenofungus, grows in droves everywhere on Planet (some beds reaching hundreds, even thousands of meters across, if there is enough room. It also can be anywhere from a padding two centimeters thick, to near 25 meters thick.). The Xenofungus is host to nearly all of the animal life of Planet (A few of which will be explained in the OOC datalinks). It comes in different swaths of colors, yellow, blue, green, but is predominantly a blood red color. The Fungus is nearly impossible to build on, plant in, and is incredibly difficult to move through as it gums up any moving parts of vehicles, and becomes razor sharp when broken. The rest of the plant life seems to be limited to grasses and small plants, the most notable exception of this is the Monsoon Jungle.
//The fungus gives off a type of drone song that is detectable and audible to the Psychically gifted.
- One of the most dangerous, if not the most dangerous, things on the surface of Planet are the Mind worms. Each is 2-5 cm long and travel in huge colonies of thousands called ‘boils’, that have the potential of wiping out entire cities. The Mind Worms have the ability to psychically terrorize their prey, making the pray seize up in shock and fear due to the relentless mental assault. After which the Mind Worms implant their larva in the brains of their unfortunate victims. After a second or two the larvae begin to eat their way out of the victim's head, consuming the brain in the process. The only effective defense against them has shown to be strong willed defenders, and Flameguns (an upgraded flamethrower).
- Finally, unlike Earth, the atmosphere of Planet is made up of 90.9% Nitrogen 8.05% Oxygen and .01% Carbon Dioxide. As such direct inhalation means a near certain gasping death for humans as elements of the atmosphere bond with the red blood cells and don’t allow them to bond with Oxygen, causing eventual death due to what could only be described as a gasping suffocation.
Politics:
The High Mythkeeper put his head in his hands and waited for Colonel Santiago to finish her usual rant. The Council meeting was going like it usually did when there was no object of contention, which meant a lot of speeches and political positioning. For seven hours. “Look on the bright side” he thought to himself “At least when this is over you don't have to deal with it for another 25 years.”
Though there are indeed more than those listed here, for the purposes of the RP the three factions that we will be dealing with the most are as follows:
-Name: The Mythkeepers
-Head: High Mythkeeper Sarin
-Capitol: High Myth Library (Built in a coastal canyon, at the base of Mount Planet)
-World Standing: Superpower
-What are they like?: The Mythkeepers are dedicated to the discovery and preservation of knowledge and culture.
-Name: The Lord’s Believers
-Head: Sister Miriam Godwinson
-Capitol: New Jerusalem (Built in large, open planes)
-World Standing: Regional Power
-What are they like?: The Believers are assured that Planet is their promised land, they follow a strict fundamentalist Christian doctrine
-Name: Gaia’s Stepdaughters
-Head: Lady Deirdre Skye
-Capitol: Gaia’s Landing (Built into the Sunny Mesa)
-World Standing: Superpower
-What are they like?: The Gaian’s are dedicated to the preservation of nature.
Technology:
“Technology, like art, is a soaring exercise of the human imagination.”
Daniel Bell, datalinks
-Technology, like it always has, has progressed far in leaps and bounds on the surface of Planet. Holographic screens and projectors have replaced the LED and plasma displays of the past, missing limbs can be replaced with functioning cybernetic augments, cities can be built on the very oceans, and far beyond. Aesthetically the technology and architecture of the nations of Planet are influenced by the ideology of their leaders and people (eg. the Believers cities take on the appearance of massive complexes of cathedrals, the Mythkeepers cities look like large vault like towers, and the Gaians build their cities on the side of mesas, scattered in forest clearings so they have the least amount of ecological interference possible.), but by and large it can described as near future aesthetics with a very small hint of cyberpunk.
A true marvel of technology, the Regimen staves off even the inevitable end. The regimen itself is a combination of Gene Therapy and Synthetic chemicals and drugs that have the effect of halting a person's biological clock, even going so far as reversing it a small ways in some cases. The exchange one must make for this near immortality is that two periods of 6 months, every decade, must be spent in a medical coma, inside a special chamber that administers the Longevity Regimen to the patient. Also, the amount of people who are allowed to have the Regimen is surprisingly low, though it has been rising as time goes on, this is due to concerns over the populations outpacing the ability to support said populations.
The military has always evolved in parallel to technology and the change in environments, and the militaries of the nations of Planet are no different. This can be seen through their basic armaments, and what types of vehicles they use.
- For example, the common soldier utilizes weapons called ‘Shredder’ rifles and pistols. The Shredder rifles are automatic magazine fed weapons, about the size of a large SMG that fire low yield, high heat shrapnel rounds. The pistols fire the same ammunition, but at a smaller caliber. In place of pure Kevlar armor the armies of planet use a type of armored environmental suits, that have a Kevlar under layer and high strength metal and ceramic plates, over which they wear whatever shielding their nation is able to provide.
-Also, that the Tanks of the old world have been replaced by a unit called a Trak. The Traks consist of a wide, armored, tracked, base, much like their distant cousins. The main difference is that this base is only about 5 feet across and rises only about a foot to a foot and a half off the ground. From this base arises an appendage about four feet tall that closely resembles a heavily armored variant of a manufacturing robot. On top of that appendage sits the main technological leaps of the Military. Things such as Chaos Cannons (Harmonic deconstructors) to high yield synthetic fuel rocket launchers and even Plasma Shard Cannons. The Trak is controlled by an ‘operator’ who can give it commands via a computer in their armor, but can be set to a semi autonomous state.
-There are other units such as Rovers (lightly armored LAVs) Foils, Cruisers, Formers, Needle Jets, and others that will be explained in the OOC datalinks.
-The Datalinks are, without exaggeration, the near collective sum of all human knowledge. Anything we have known, anything we have wondered about, or written about can be found there. It houses the full extent of literature and history of the human race in a digital format.
PSI/Psychics:- It is unknown how, or why, but a few years after settling Planet certain members of the population began to develop what could only be described as Psychic powers. These ‘Empaths’ as they came to be known we shown to be able to speak to people over great distances using their minds, they were also shown to be able to glean information off of untrained minds, and some even showed the ability to influence objects around them.
- In the most recent years there are frightening whispers of new research into Psychics. Only this time they are no simple mind games, the whispers seem to say that some leaders are testing to see if very powerful Empaths could control a lab grown Mind Worm boil. More frightening still are the whispers that say that some tests may have succeeded.
What is my role?:-You and others would take on the role of a member of an elite Probe Team (basically a shadow ops team). Though unlike normal Probe Teams, this Team is not made up of members of a single nation, as it was put together under the orders and jurisdiction of the head of the Planetary Council, and as such is made up of members from multiple different factions. The primary function of this team is to respond to, and thwart, certain radical factions. Though if the team is truly doing the right thing or just being used as a political tool by the Council leader remains to be seen.
Any takers/questions?
General Q/A:
Q: All this seems framiliar, why?
A: It should as it is based in the world of Sid Meier’s Alpha Centauri
Q: Oh, I don’t have an knowledge of the game. Is that alright?
A: That is perfectly alright, I am up for answering any questions and will try to explain anything as best I can
Q:Will there be battles and war?
A: well part of the setting is a large scale Vendetta (a war), so… yes.
Q: How about when we are not on a war front?
A: At that point we will be doing our job as a Probe Team and interacting with the people of the city.
Q: Will you answer any questions about the RP?
A: I will try my up-most best to
