InterGalactic Adventures: A starter

[Phoren]

I know I haven't been around much, but I've been working on this for a length of time, so just hear it out, please.

In an age, of discovery.
In a time of war.
People are born, and die.

So far I have two main factions available from the default SS-Drive Discovery Period worked out.

The Concern(see Concern, The) and, The Empire (See, Empire, The Star). Both operate out of Sol, which is the only factor of our universe present, and which arrived there via a dimensional flux.

Concern, The:
A large, pioneering technology firm created in 183 SE(Stellar Era). In 742 SE, under the leadership of Tetsuo Arimato, a technical genius born in the New Republic of Japan in 706 SE, the SlipSpace-Drive project was born. Tetsuo Arimato worked both to strengthen the company, and to make the SS-Drive a viable form of transport personally, shunning the traditional overseer role of previous Directors.

In 793 SE, an aging, but still brilliant, Tetsuo Arimato announced to the Sol System, that the SS-Drive had been completed, and that it worked almost perfectly. Immediately, the Concern was contracted by the Stellar Empire, to both design new vessels, and new weapons.

Empire, The Stellar:
In 5BSE(Before Stellar Era) the Armed Democracy of The United States of America launched an attack on the rest of the world. Missiles, both mundane and nuclear, rained down, and the majority of the world was destroyed in the conflict, the People's Republic of Great Britain and the Great State of Korea returning fire. In the end of this war, the victors were revealed to be an unknown party, the Hidden Watchers, who had started the initial salvo, after hacking through the computer systems of the ADUSA. Soon the Lunar Colony was brought under control, and in 0SE, the Stellar Empire was officially formed.

The surrounding planets were gradually colonized, and exploration vessels sent to other systems. None ever returned. In 793SE, the Steller Empire was able to explore those systems properly, and build varying space stations throughout them, to allow exploration ships to resupply.

Characters, at the very start, would have to be limited to humans, but this is at the start of the GM's gaming with the system, as he decides history as it goes along, etc, meaning that if he's played a few campaigns, the players might be able to play as an alien race in the next one, etc.

Thanks for bothering to read this.

[CaptainPenguin]

Wow. Not much there right yet.

Well, I can imagine that since the Concern has a monopoly on the Slipspace drive, space travel would be INCREDIBLY expensive. The Empire's culture, in addition, might take on a very mercantile flavor- since a corporation rules movement and migration throughout the Empire, its influence would be undeniable.

I noticed something which you seem to have glossed over: How and when was Sol transported to this new universe, and why doesn't anybody seem concerned? In your defense, all you have are early histories of the two main "factions", as it were, but still... Shouldn't folks on Earth be a bit more surprised that they've suddenly been taken to a new dimension?
Or have they not even noticed?

[Phoren]

They noticed. That's the next installment. Just figuring out all the unrest that would go on, and what time it occured, both our time period and in BSE. Should have it uploaded by tomorrow.

[Phoren]

In 2007, earth time, the planet of Earth detected a large device moving into the Sol System. The nations that possessed the means all fired upon the unknown, unnatural vessel, the primitive nuclear weapons failing to damage the oncoming. Soon, massive disturbances in spacetime were forming, and the system of Sol was sucked into another galaxy, for an unknown reason, by an unknown race.

This began the era we currently refer to as Before Steller Era, as the people revolted, toppling the government in most areas, only the same nuclear missile silos that had failed being considered a true concern for the remaining, organized military personelle. This was in 20 BSE.

Of course, being in a different galaxy, and because of the transport, things were changing. New species of animal life were appearing, partially from mutation from the transport, and partially because of the meteor shower that came in 18BSE. This in turn prompted humans to adapt, giving them a whole new ability. The art of nanoaugmentation. Of course, this was mostly limited to breast implants, etc, before it dissapeared again in 9BSE.

By 7BSE, almost all nations had dramatically changed. The majority of those nations now belonged to FreeNet, the coalition formed by the survivors who had revolted, and the lesser, but more powerful, coordinated, and advanced side, the United Nations, was dominated by the now Armed Democracy of The United States of America, who had produced more arms than any other nation.

In 5BSE the Hidden Watchers, a group who had formed upon the first sighting of the object that had brought them here, hacked the ADUSA defense network, and began the first, great, nuclear war. Aboard the space station orbitting earth, primitive in design to the technology possed now, in  796SE, saw the first of many nuclear explosions begin, over the Unified Tribes of Africa. This was a prime target, as they had recently acquired information as to the Hidden Watchers intentions.

It feels good to be finally getting this done.

[macaroni]

i started a hard sci-fi game a few months ago and i found on the internet a company who makes an awesome software set for this purpose, NBOS software makes astrosynthesis, its an awesome program for mapping star systems and does tons of stuff, they also make fractal mapper which is the coolest thing since bean bag chairs when it comes to organizing your campaign. Just thought id give you the heads up

[Phoren]

Already have it, but thanks for the tip. Glad to see people giving some good advice, and that they know about Astrosynthesis.

[Phoren]

In 800SE, a ship, the T-3 was launched, testing the new incarnation of the SS-Drive, the S2Drive, 50% more efficient, 25% faster, and 10% less expensive. 5 people were included on this ship, each of them expendable. The captain, a long respected member of the Stellar Navy, driven insane by the death of his family. The mechanic, a drunk who had worked on both the SS-Drive and S2Drive projects but had made no innovations. The medic, a man with no real past and nothing to come back to. The informations officer, a newly joined member of the Stellar Navy, fresh out of the academy. And lastly, the security officer, the only one with something to go back to, a family of his wife and two children.

They were sent to crash into a sun, not only to test the S2Drive operation but also the potency of the explosive carried aboard, more than 4000000 times the power of 'Fat Man', the nuclear weapon used on Nagasaki in World War 2. The sheer power of the explosion would hopefully destroy the sun of System DSO-91J, giving the Stellar Empire a way to threaten The Concern into doing what they demanded, and also to defend from any threats in this galaxy.

Something went wrong. The explosive was never placed aboard, and somehow the auto-pilot showed the true destination, the mechanic discovering this and altering it to head for a planet in the same system. Another disturbing discovery was made. Not only were the explosives missing, but instead cryogenic capsules had been packed. This ship had been sabotaged by The Concern to force the Stellar Empire to leave the exploration to them.

En route to the planet 'New Hope', as the mechanic dubbed it, there was a collision with an asteroid, the ship piercing into its hollow interior, and a great gouge in its hull sending the air out in a great rush, when suddenly the asteroid itself erected a containment field. This asteroid was a splinter cell of the Sslit'ckrod, a race of lizard people, skilled in the art of genetic manipulation. The surviving crew were drafted into the research labs, and the free floating asteroid used the ship to take them to the planet of 'New Hope'.

Later in the same year, the first combat vessel of the Stellar Navy was commissioned, the BC-001, of the new 'Inception' model chassis. It was armed with several torpedo tubes, firing small amounts of the new explosive, and around 30 vulcan cannons, the cutting edge of human military technology. At Pathway Station, the station closest to where the test ship had suddenly dissapeared, the crew boarded. 5000 individuals of fair skill, and an executive of the The Concern.

Following the first jump, the engine was damaged and required repairs. And then all hell broke loose as 6 alien vessels surrounded the BC-001, all of them firing on it but one, charging up for some kind of destructive energy charge, and a boarding party took the bridge of the BC-001, attempting to disable the engines, when the chief engineer triggered the S2Drive in a jump that would take them back to Sol. As they jumped, the sixth ship fired, and sent them careening through Slip Space, where they materialized in the system of DSO-91J, crashing on 'New Hope'. Only a matter of days later, and the T-3 joined them, bringing with it the Sslit'ckrod and their many genetic creation.

Within two more months, the Sol system had been wiped out, nothing but damaged structures remaining of the once proud human species remaining. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance on one world.

((There we go. Sorry for the delay, but I needed to do some gaming with my group to get the next big development down pat before I could post it. What do you think?))
EDIT: Pumped up the strength of the explosive to something powerful enough.
EDIT2: Added a picture of New Hope.

[Phoren]

The Sslit'ckrod
It is time, clan brother, for you to learn of our past. We were natives to the planet of the XG-35Y as the Terrans call it, or as we called it Breeding Place. Before we had even mastered the basic technologies of agriculture, we had learnt to manipulate the creatures on our world, breeding them, and some of us even altering them using chemical stimuli... We soon learnt how to tamper with DNA, creating more robust, better, smarter creatures. We were prosperous, with none of the Sslit'ckrod hungering for food or other things, our artworks providing for us. Eventually we created a new type of artwork from a giant creature that had fallen to our planet in a meteorite, and we began to spread out. Things were even better then, as we created new art from the creatures we encountered. But... There was a foe we soon learnt of... The Machines. We could not use our art upon them, and soon we had been pressed back to Breeding Place. Then we left our brothers and went to the New Home, as we call the asteroid that had protected us for many years, with our creations. And over a thousand years after we fled, the Terrans came, flying into New Home, giving us a way to return to our home. The Terrans call it New Hope. But we no longer exist here, and our great caves are crumbling. We are only a few thousand in number, but we have our artworks. They will protect us and our new allies as they always have.

Non Story notes:
The Sslit'ckrod are around 8 feet tall, and of varying scale colour. They have a tail that is around 6 feet long and quite muscular, often wear fine clothing made from the hide of the Silkbeast, a native of New Hope, which is prized for its almost silk like hide and tender flesh. They are carnivores and as such have long claws and teeth, but are quite fragile now, a result of using their artworks for all they needed.

They have a level of intelligence around 20% higher than the average Houston Technical College graduate, who are among the most talented individuals who escaped from Sol alive. They are capable of human speech thanks to a piece of art, a worm that lives in their throat and produces sounds that are intelligible to all who hear them. Unfortunately they can no longer speak of their own will, as over the generations they have lost their vocal cords.

They are born in an egg, which is very thin shelled and easy to manipulate with their art, though to do so would be taboo. When born, they are playful and bright, but of almost black colouration. They value the single egg they produce each lifetime above all else. They are all female, and fertilize themselves using another piece of their artwork, the very same reason the males of the species no longer exist. They rely entirely on their art to survive, not only for protection, speech and food, but even for reproduction.