Post by Captain Lauliet on Jan 17, 2010 9:12:16 GMT -8
This is the plot for the events leading up to current conditions on this site. You don't have to read it, but it might be wise to do so!
2095 - A new white-dwarf star is discovered through the recently completed Hubble III telescope. The sun is named Ouranos and is found to have a system containing four planets: one gas giant, one barren, and two in the "Goldilocks Zone" that might be capable of sustaining life.
2098 - A probe, aptly named Prometheus, is sent towards Ouranos and its Goldilocks planets at 80% the speed of light. It contains binary-encoded photographs, audio clips, drawings, and a message of peace.
2118 - Prometheus returns, carrying nothing but a single encoded message - a short piece of beautiful, haunting music. The news is suppressed, but it gets out anyways, and the public is enthralled: there's someone out there apart from us!
2120 - NASA opens the new decade by unveiling its new R&D department - DRALST, the Department of Research fro the Achievement of Light Speed Travel. Nicknamed "Starfleet Academy" by the public (and soon by NASA too), its sole purpose is getting a manned ship to Ouranos and its earthlike planets Tantalus and Sisyphus.
2133 - Nearly 13 years after its inception, DRALST presents its crown jewel. The ISV-1 (Inter-Stellar Vehicle, version 1) is a deep-space vessel that is able to recycle its own power as it goes along, traveling at close to 180,000 miles per second. A team of scientists and engineers, along with several brave explorers, is assigned as crew for the 8-year journey. ISV-1 is christened the USI Columbus and launched at Cape Canaveral on January 1st, 2133.
2134 - NASA scientists at Cape Canaveral receive a message from their new pen pals. It is a single three-second audio clip of a panicked, high pitched chattering that shuts off in a burst of static.
2136 - The USI Columbus receives NASA's warning, but the captain decides to continue towards Ouranos.
2138 - The Columbus passes Alpha Centauri, and wave contact is lost. The ISV-1 and her crew are on their own until they reach Ouranos, at which point contact by relay probe could be established.
2142 - The Columbus reaches Ouranos and enters into orbit around Tantalus, the planet closest to the star. Routine scans pick up the usual background radiation, as well as residual heat and small debris from some kind of impact or explosion. Tantalus' atmosphere is determined to be an oxygen-argon mix - capable of sustaining life, though not that of humans. Several chemists and engineers begin to devise a portable scuba-like device with which to explore the planet.
2142, 2 months later - another ship appears. Contact is made. The other race, called the Krii, are bipedal, although their long arms enable them to travel on all fours as well. Their faces are flat, arranged similar to humans, and they have large, animalistic ears. Their dark skin is covered in fur, and their twin tails are prehensile. They, like humans, are an inquisitive, peaceful race.
One Krii is sent over to the human ship, carrying with it a copy of one of Prometheus' data chips. Verbal communication is impossible - the Krii's language can be compared to nothing other than a dolphin's whistles and chatters - but through an improvised sign language and the insight of the navigator, it is discovered that the 3-second audio burst was from a Krii ship, which disappeared several years previously.
The humans and the Krii enter into a mutually-fascinated alliance in an attempt to find the missing Krii ship. But despite peaceful relations, strife begins to grow between the two races as both humans and Krii begin to disappear...
2095 - A new white-dwarf star is discovered through the recently completed Hubble III telescope. The sun is named Ouranos and is found to have a system containing four planets: one gas giant, one barren, and two in the "Goldilocks Zone" that might be capable of sustaining life.
2098 - A probe, aptly named Prometheus, is sent towards Ouranos and its Goldilocks planets at 80% the speed of light. It contains binary-encoded photographs, audio clips, drawings, and a message of peace.
2118 - Prometheus returns, carrying nothing but a single encoded message - a short piece of beautiful, haunting music. The news is suppressed, but it gets out anyways, and the public is enthralled: there's someone out there apart from us!
2120 - NASA opens the new decade by unveiling its new R&D department - DRALST, the Department of Research fro the Achievement of Light Speed Travel. Nicknamed "Starfleet Academy" by the public (and soon by NASA too), its sole purpose is getting a manned ship to Ouranos and its earthlike planets Tantalus and Sisyphus.
2133 - Nearly 13 years after its inception, DRALST presents its crown jewel. The ISV-1 (Inter-Stellar Vehicle, version 1) is a deep-space vessel that is able to recycle its own power as it goes along, traveling at close to 180,000 miles per second. A team of scientists and engineers, along with several brave explorers, is assigned as crew for the 8-year journey. ISV-1 is christened the USI Columbus and launched at Cape Canaveral on January 1st, 2133.
2134 - NASA scientists at Cape Canaveral receive a message from their new pen pals. It is a single three-second audio clip of a panicked, high pitched chattering that shuts off in a burst of static.
2136 - The USI Columbus receives NASA's warning, but the captain decides to continue towards Ouranos.
2138 - The Columbus passes Alpha Centauri, and wave contact is lost. The ISV-1 and her crew are on their own until they reach Ouranos, at which point contact by relay probe could be established.
2142 - The Columbus reaches Ouranos and enters into orbit around Tantalus, the planet closest to the star. Routine scans pick up the usual background radiation, as well as residual heat and small debris from some kind of impact or explosion. Tantalus' atmosphere is determined to be an oxygen-argon mix - capable of sustaining life, though not that of humans. Several chemists and engineers begin to devise a portable scuba-like device with which to explore the planet.
2142, 2 months later - another ship appears. Contact is made. The other race, called the Krii, are bipedal, although their long arms enable them to travel on all fours as well. Their faces are flat, arranged similar to humans, and they have large, animalistic ears. Their dark skin is covered in fur, and their twin tails are prehensile. They, like humans, are an inquisitive, peaceful race.
One Krii is sent over to the human ship, carrying with it a copy of one of Prometheus' data chips. Verbal communication is impossible - the Krii's language can be compared to nothing other than a dolphin's whistles and chatters - but through an improvised sign language and the insight of the navigator, it is discovered that the 3-second audio burst was from a Krii ship, which disappeared several years previously.
The humans and the Krii enter into a mutually-fascinated alliance in an attempt to find the missing Krii ship. But despite peaceful relations, strife begins to grow between the two races as both humans and Krii begin to disappear...