December, 2035:
Twenty years ago an alien ship entered orbit, contacting all of the major news networks with a message: Earth doesn't have long. A group of interstellar warriors, the S'reet, had detonated a device within the star we know as Alpha Centauri because they met too much resistance when trying to capture its worlds. This device caused the star to go supernova. Just over 4.37 years later a wave of radiation struck the Earth, killing all surface life. They had already sent out a message to several nearby worlds before arriving, asking for help in evacuating the Earth.
There were also be many independent ships aiding the charities and governments that sent assistance to Earth. The independents didn't all have as pure of a motive as the charities. Many of them were recruiting for various companies across the galaxy and some were hiring themselves out to anyone who can afford passage off world. The more desperate people got to leave the planet, the less picky these ships were as to the skills their recruits had and the more willing they were to accept a debt in exchange for passage. Once the star could be seen exploding in the sky, the people of Earth grew desperate. Just over ten million people had been evacuated by then, and the remaining people, including those that didn't trust the aliens, suddenly wanted off world and were willing to do anything to leave. That's when the slavers arrived, accepting anyone willing to sell themselves. Some of these people were indentured, and some were literally enslaved.
Many of the charities and independent ships offered training to the people so that they would have marketable skills off world. The rapid nature of the training required that an implant be either placed or grown in the person's head so that they could have the knowledge downloaded into their mind. This allowed them to learn enough to take low-level positions in technical areas.
Several groups on Earth managed to get their own ships off the ground using alien technology sold to them by the independents. The most notable of those ships was the Horizon, a cruise ship retrofitted by NASA to evacuate several thousand people at time, but all three of its round trips only resulted in military and other government employees, including politicians, making it to Teros, a trade world several light years from Earth in the opposite direction from Alpha Centauri. When the radiation struck Earth, the only ones to survive were those that had went underground, living in one of the many sanctuaries that had been built to protect humanity from the supernova. Just over 200,000 survived underground, and just over 12 million left for other worlds.
Word recently started circulating around the galaxy, however, that a group of humans, former leaders, had started a colony on an uninhabited world. Though the world has little life and has good ore deposits, they are calling it humanity's new homeworld. Most people are suspicious, however. They are used to living among aliens now and don't understand why humans need a homeworld to separate them from the other species. After all, there are many transient species out there that don't have homeworlds, but they are doing fine.
Is this new homeworld real and, more importantly, is it what humanity needs?
Interest Check
Twenty years ago an alien ship entered orbit, contacting all of the major news networks with a message: Earth doesn't have long. A group of interstellar warriors, the S'reet, had detonated a device within the star we know as Alpha Centauri because they met too much resistance when trying to capture its worlds. This device caused the star to go supernova. Just over 4.37 years later a wave of radiation struck the Earth, killing all surface life. They had already sent out a message to several nearby worlds before arriving, asking for help in evacuating the Earth.
There were also be many independent ships aiding the charities and governments that sent assistance to Earth. The independents didn't all have as pure of a motive as the charities. Many of them were recruiting for various companies across the galaxy and some were hiring themselves out to anyone who can afford passage off world. The more desperate people got to leave the planet, the less picky these ships were as to the skills their recruits had and the more willing they were to accept a debt in exchange for passage. Once the star could be seen exploding in the sky, the people of Earth grew desperate. Just over ten million people had been evacuated by then, and the remaining people, including those that didn't trust the aliens, suddenly wanted off world and were willing to do anything to leave. That's when the slavers arrived, accepting anyone willing to sell themselves. Some of these people were indentured, and some were literally enslaved.
Many of the charities and independent ships offered training to the people so that they would have marketable skills off world. The rapid nature of the training required that an implant be either placed or grown in the person's head so that they could have the knowledge downloaded into their mind. This allowed them to learn enough to take low-level positions in technical areas.
Several groups on Earth managed to get their own ships off the ground using alien technology sold to them by the independents. The most notable of those ships was the Horizon, a cruise ship retrofitted by NASA to evacuate several thousand people at time, but all three of its round trips only resulted in military and other government employees, including politicians, making it to Teros, a trade world several light years from Earth in the opposite direction from Alpha Centauri. When the radiation struck Earth, the only ones to survive were those that had went underground, living in one of the many sanctuaries that had been built to protect humanity from the supernova. Just over 200,000 survived underground, and just over 12 million left for other worlds.
Word recently started circulating around the galaxy, however, that a group of humans, former leaders, had started a colony on an uninhabited world. Though the world has little life and has good ore deposits, they are calling it humanity's new homeworld. Most people are suspicious, however. They are used to living among aliens now and don't understand why humans need a homeworld to separate them from the other species. After all, there are many transient species out there that don't have homeworlds, but they are doing fine.
Is this new homeworld real and, more importantly, is it what humanity needs?
Interest Check
