A Potential Submission

[Cybermancer]

Good day,

I've been working on a Rifter submission on and off for some time now. It draws on a combination of different ideas and things I've done in past games. The primary inspiration comes from this quote on page 109 of Mutants in Orbit, "Did humankind ever make it to Alpha or Proxima Centauri before the Flash, and if so what kind of colonies exist there now?"

Obviously this is meant for Rifts and the orbital community. I'm considering it as a Rifter submission because as much as I like what I've come up with, I don't beleive it would ever be made canon in Rifts for a number of reasons.

So before I get too carried away with writing everything out, I'd like to see if there's any interest out in the community at large. So I've decided to post a sample of what I have so far to see what the response is.

Note that the work is still in the rough draft stage. What follows is the introduction.

OPERATION HOMEWORLD:

Many things from before the Great Cataclysm have been lost to humanity on Rifts Earth. Technology, history and knowledge from the golden age of man can be found intermittently on the planet and even in the small orbital community above the planet. Such fragments are like a patchwork quilt made from a hundred sources. But for every patch that is found and used, many are missing and completely unknown to anyone.

Such is the case with CyberTech Industries and their mission to travel to the stars and colonize them. Even the members of the orbital community have long since forgotten these space borne pioneers, caught up in their own struggle to survive. The places left that contain rudimentary knowledge of this daring expedition are few and far apart.

A.R.C.H.I.E.-3 would remember their departure as would the Angel of Death in Poland. A.R.C.H.I.E.-7 holds never accessed data files on these explorers (transferred from the failed A.R.C.H.I.E.-4). The only other places that this knowledge would be archived would be the deepest vaults of the NGR and the Japanese Republic. NORAD, if it still exists would also have files on the subject. It is possible some mention of the tech company and its unique mission might be mentioned in Chi-Town’s library if anyone could get to it to find out.

If someone could access the few remaining historical records, they might learn some surprising things about a company that otherwise has left no trace of itself on Earth.

CyberTech Industries was started late in the twentieth century by a brilliant engineer and scientist by the name of Dr. Matthew Knight. He was a specialist in Artificial Intelligence and Genetic engineering but dabbled in a wide range of fields. CyberTech Industries was primarily a manufacturer of advanced robotics and cybernetics systems but also possessed an Aerospace division. An avid supporter of space exploration, Dr. Knight used his knowledge of A.I.’s and robotics to help create space probes to explore the solar system.

Nearly halfway into the twenty-first century a scientific breakthrough was made that made the exploration of worlds beyond our own solar system possible. The theory behind the traction drive and light speed capable spacecraft was developed by scientists working for CyberTech Industries. Dr. Knight immediately seized this opportunity and put his skills and considerable personal resources to developing this technology.

Just over a decade later they had a fully developed drive built into a probe.

This probe was guided by the most advanced A.I. CyberTech had at its disposal at the time. It was aimed at the Alpha Centauri and launched. It took a year to accelerate to light speed and then about four years to finish the 4.4 light year journey to the distant star system.

Alpha Proxima, also known as Alpha Centauri C, was bypassed by this probe as the yellow and orange stars of the system held the best chance of supporting extraterrestrial life. The decision proved to be the correct one as both stars sported small planetary systems. Alpha Centauri A had four planets while B had three. Each also sported one planet that supported diverse eco-systems.

Careful study of both life-bearing planets showed no signs of technological development or even any recognizable intelligent life. Both planets were deemed capable of supporting terrestrial and human life.

The first thing that Dr. Knight did was order the construction of a dozen more probes to continue exploration of Sol’s closest celestial neighbors. The second thing he did was to begin planning a colony expedition to these new worlds. Despite already being over nine decades old, increasing advances in medical technology meant that he was still fit and healthy. Not only did it seem he would live to set foot on a new world, he might well spend over half his life there. Finally his dreams would be realized.

All of CyberTech Industries as well as Dr. Knights personal fortunes were poured into the project. Anything not related to the project was sold off to pay for the mission. All parts of CyberTech Industries that couldn’t actually be taken on the mission were also sold to help pay for the expedition, although in many cases possession wouldn’t take place until after mission launch. The Cyberworks Network, KLS Corporation, Triax and ArmaTech Industries were all among the big beneficiaries of the CyberTech Industries legacy. They were all also, among the major investors in the project. They weren’t sending any of their engineers, scientists, technicians or any other resources on the first mission, content to let their competitor take all the big risks. The reason they invested at all was to reap the technological windfalls and to secure their positions in future colony missions should the first prove successful.

To keep as much of the project away from prying eyes as possible, the asteroid Ceres was chosen as a staging area. The planetoid was mined for resources to build the spacecraft that would carry humanity to the stars.

The mission itself would be carried away aboard five, one-mile long spacecraft, each carrying five thousand people. Each individual ship would be fully capable of establishing an independent colony in case of the destruction of one or more of the other ships. Each one was like a massive arc carrying pairs of animals in hibernation with many more embryos and genetic material carried along as well. Building materials, food and other bulk supplies were also carried aboard each vessel. The ships were christened the Asimov, the Heinlein, the Clark, the Bradbury and the McCaffrey.

In 2090, the ships were nearing completion at Ceres, and the colonists began being shuttled there from Earth. That last vestiges of CyberTech Industries corporate empire were left behind forever. Even so, it would take another five years of preparations before the mission would finally be ready to launch. When the ships were finally launched, they made headlines around the world and were the topic of speculation for months before the furor died down and the world got on with other business.

That is the last time anyone from Earth heard from the expedition and in just three years, they would be completely forgotten when the great cataclysm struck. When the end of the world came, the colonists were safely light years away, en route to their new world.

It would take the five colony vessels five years in total to reach their new homeland orbiting Alpha Centauri A. All the vessels arrived without incident, ready to disgorge their healthy passengers.

The planet chosen for colonization was the third of four orbiting Alpha Centauri A. The planet was named Thebes. It was located about 1.25 AU from its parent star and had a year of 481 earth days. Each day on Thebes took 32 hours meaning that its year had 367 days. A calendar leap year would be required once every twelve years.

For half the year, Alpha Centauri B provided a midnight sun for Thebes. Not enough light was provided at night by the companion star for photosynthesis but one could still read by it. The night sky would darken to a dark blue during this period instead of the black that was normal the other six months or back on earth.

In orbit around Thebes were three moons. This is where the majority of the colonies heavy industry and mining would take place. While some human presence was required on the lunar surfaces, most of the work was carried out by machines and robot drones. These measures were taken to help preserve the life supporting ecology of Thebes.

Five sites were selected, one for each of the spacecraft. Once they made planet fall, none of the ships were able to ever rise again. They were to form the heart of the five new colonies. The sites were close enough to support each other but far enough apart that a natural catastrophe wouldn’t destroy more than one of them. The colonists of each site chose the name for their new cities. Those aboard the flagship who would administrate over the colony at large called their site Capital city. The other sites were named Delta City, Victory City, Gulf City and Union City.

The next decade was busy as each of the five colonies worked to establish themselves. With a true pioneering spirit, the colonists tamed their new world and made it theirs. The cities grew and prospered. In turn, they spawned additional villages, towns and cities. During this time, there was only one matter of outside concern.

For three years after their arrival they received radio and video transmissions from Earth. Then the transmissions stopped. Before they stopped there were reports of civil unrest, nuclear war in South America followed by mangled and distorted reports of catastrophe from around the world. The colonies were saddened to learn that while they were still voyaging to their new home; their old home had apparently been utterly destroyed by nuclear Armageddon.

Numerous attempts were made to contact the Earth, but all calls were left unanswered. No new transmissions of any sort came from the Sol system. Even if all life hadn’t perished, it was assumed that civilization had fallen completely. The colonists grieved but then turned to the task of settling their new world. They might very well be the last survivors of their race. They were determined to survive, prosper and leave behind forever, the mistakes of the past.

Some did want to return home to see exactly what had happened or to see if they could help out at all. They were over-ruled by the majority and the lack of resources. Factories and infrastructure were still being built. The old colony vessels were not capable of making a return voyage. There simply was no way to go back at the moment. What could twenty-five thousand colonists do against whatever had silenced a world of billions? Besides, the immediate needs of survival had to be addressed.

The subject of their home world’s fate was tabled for the time being.
Secretly, one probe was constructed and launched back to earth. All contact with it was lost when it got to within one light year of earth.

Concerned by the implications of this, the government decided to remain silent on the matter and encouraged its citizens to focus on colonization for the time being. Spurred on by some of the most disturbing messages received from earth before it went silent, the government kept a secret watch for possible alien presence in the galaxy.

Medical science and genetic engineering extended the human life span to three hundred years while many old ailments were all but eliminated. A golden age that started on earth was continuing on this distant world.

New sciences were explored as well. Psionics were finally proven to exist as research delved into the human mind. Intensive studies were conducted to exploit this newly discovered human potential.

Even after two centuries of growth and a population of millions, the colony was still a Utopia unknown in previous human experience. Secure in their new world, new colonies had even been established on the other life bearing worlds of the Ra system. It was at this time that the Thebans (they no longer considered themselves colonists) realized that they had still heard nothing from their home world. Even if all civilization had fallen, surely it would have begun to rebuild itself by now.

So a diplomatic mission to earth was planned and launched. It was kept small and contained to a single vessel since it would take five years to return to earth. Constant communication with the diplomatic vessel was maintained but when it got to within one light year of the sol system, all contact was lost. It was never heard from again.

This caused quite a quandary for the Thebans. There was growing concern that forces back at earth had attacked the diplomatic mission for some unknown reason. There were still elders alive who remembered war and all its horrors. Yet the younger generations where curious about the world that gave birth to their race. The planet was locked in debate as to what to do next for over three decades.

Then new breakthroughs in FTL technology drastically shortened the time it would take to travel to earth. What once took years could now take place in months. So a second mission to earth was organized and launched. Again contact was lost when it got to within one light year of Sol.

With the second loss of a manned expedition, the citizens of Thebes decided to approach earth with more caution. A series of probes with different approach vectors and speeds were launched. Fortunately these probes were programmed to return after conducting a detailed reconnaissance of the Sol system. Less than half returned, but it was enough to provide the Thebans with some horrifying facts about their home world.

They now knew that the earth was being contained by survivors in orbit. They knew that the earth was overrun with inhuman creatures. They also knew that the entire Sol system out to a light year was contained in a dimensional envelope which caused the entire solar system to exist on several planes at once. Once the envelopes threshold was crossed, communication to the outside universe became impossible.

Still, the picture was incomplete. So a new manned mission was put together. It set out to Earth to learn as much as possible about what was going on. In addition to the chaotic mess that the probes found, the scouting mission found an alien invasion fleet attacking the orbital community. They also found themselves under fire from both sides of the conflict. Despite that, they gathered a large body of intelligence before returning home to Thebes.

The news they brought back with them threw Thebes into an uproar. There was no doubt among any of its citizens that action had to be taken and quickly. They were a people who had not known war in centuries and yet that was just what they seemed to be facing.

Despite the fear and uncertainty facing the citizens of Thebes, they steeled themselves to do what the felt must be done. Ancient history books and military doctrines were dusted off and studied. Orbital factories began to churn out military ships and gear. Volunteers assembled at recruiting stations. Thebes was not going to stand idly by while their cousins were killed and dominated by monstrous aliens. For the first time in its history, Thebes was going to war.

It is 2395 A.D, three hundred years since the first colonists left earth space.

They’re on their way home.

[NMI]

looks good. I likes.

[glitterboy2098]

This probe was guided by the most advanced A.I. CyberTech had at its disposal at the time. It was aimed at the Alpha Centauri and launched. It took a year to accelerate to light speed and then about four years to finish the 4.4 light year journey to the distant star system.

...snip..

It would take the five colony vessels five years in total to reach their new homeland orbiting Alpha Centauri A. All the vessels arrived without incident, ready to disgorge their healthy passengers.

it would take 1 year at 1g of accelelration to reach .999999999999.....C (remember you can never reach light speed). and then 1 year of deccelleration as well.

and about 4 years of travel inbetween. due to relativity, only a few weeks will pass for the passengers on the ship.

however, at these speeds even a speck of spacedust will hit with enough force to destroy the ship. and with a million atoms per cubic meter density for interstellar medium, thats a fairly likely occurance.

if the designers are smart, they'd play it safe and make the trip at no more than 20-30% C. accelleration/decelleration would only take a few months, the trip would take about 15 years, but the ship can be armored sufficently that space dust and gas won't blow it up.

since you'd still have over 300 years for the colony to have been set up on the new planet, you still have plenty of time.


by the way, Alpha Cent A is probably too unstable to have habitable planets.

but Alpha Cent B is very likely to have at least one in the right spot.
just no gas giants, the two star's orbits prevent them from forming.


also, unless they use "genetic colonists" (embyro's brought along in cold storage and then implanted into willing mothers), or cloning tech, a population of millions after 200 years is unlikely. especially starting with 25000 people. plus, given the low starting population, they will be severly limited in industrial power those first 200 years. most of the population will be involved in farming, not factories. (though automated factories can alleviate some of this)

you may also want ot boost the # of ships to 10. 50,000 individuals is the lower limit for genetic variety required for long term survival of a species. even with genetic colonists, you want as wide a genepool as possible to start.

Then new breakthroughs in FTL technology drastically shortened the time it would take to travel to earth. What once took years could now take place in months. So a second mission to earth was organized and launched. Again contact was lost when it got to within one light year of Sol.

FTL is likely to totally screw up the orbital powers of Sol. i'd suggest either making only slightly better than sublight (only a few multiple of light speed, putting travel times in the "weeks per light year" level), or have them get by purely on sublight ships. with only 5 ly to cross to earth, sublight is feasible, especially with traction drives able to accellerate to 20-30% C.


given that they only have a population of "millions" (assuming artificial means of generation here to get so many so fast, like the 'iron wombs' of battletech's clans, where all you need is genetic material from mother&father to birth a kid in an artificial womb.), their "war machine" will only be a few thousand people. most will be too involved in growing food, runnign the factories, and other Infrastructure work.

call it one armed colony ship packed to the gills with smaller ships, like armed orbital shuttles (IE: 'space fighters'.)

if you want to get this OK'd by palladium, i'd suggest not going the "avenging armada" route, but instead the Thebean's arrive in the Sol system to find the orbitals in disarray and the Arkhon's stuck on mars. so they approach to offer assistance as a "neutral party", using their superior ship to help contain the arkhons to mars.

each of the orbital powers of course want the Thebeans to join their side alone, and they are all working to steal the technology of the thebeans (especially the traction drive specs) so they can build their own "super-ships" able to range beyond the asteroid belt.

[drewkitty ~..~]

There is a book called 'The Legacy of Heorot' and 'Beowulf's Children' which deals with the setting up of a Ex-trestrial colony via a 'slow-boat' space ship.

Slow-boat: 'slower then light' space ship

[Aramanthus]

It's a very cool idea. I think you should submit it! Give it a shot!

[glitterboy2098]

i decided to run a few numbers. assuming a 15 year trip (as i outlined above, the safer option at a mere .3c)
1 ton of food/water will suffice a single person for roughly 200 days, give or take. (assume a military style ration plan here)

so 25,000 people will need
25000 x (365x15)/200 = 68437.5 tons of food/water. more if you don't recycle the water.

now, this can be cut down quite a bit, using things like hydroponic farming to grow food, but you'll want close to the full amount just in case the farms fail. no one wants a donner starparty..
any of the stored food not used during the trip becomes the supplies for the first years of the colony (it will take a year or two for the planetary based farms to get going at levels for the entire population. ranching will take a decade or so before the herds are large enough to use for food on a regular basis. in any case, most ranching will be draft animals more than foodstuff providing ones. cheaper to bring horse and oxen embyro's with you than to lug tractors along)
also note that the hydroponics and any other facilities to grow onboard food will mass almost as much as the stored food itself, and will be much bulkier.
at ~1kg of O2 per day per person, you'd need 136875 tons. while this is definately going to be recycled (via the hydroponic gardens, algae tanks, and possibly chemical reactions), you don't have to carry all of this. perhaps half that. but keep in mind that the recycling systems will probably mass as much if not more than the tanks of the gas do. but recyclers are required anyway, if for nothing else than to scrub the CO2 out of the air. there are a few things you don't want to run out of on a spaceship. air is one of the biggies.



so each of those 5 ships is lugging along roughly:
13,687.5 tons of food and farms
27,375 tons of oxygen and air recyclers


not to mention habitation modules, powerplants, the traction drives, sensors, communications gear, radiators to keep the ship at steady temps, landing shuttles, prefab colony buildings, cold storage for frozen embyro's (human and otherwise), artificial wombs.....
your looking at several hundred thousand tons at least. probably close to half a million.
i have no doubt humanity could build ships that big, but it would be easier to convert some asteroids into the ships than build them from scratch. likewise putting some or nearly all the people into cryogenic stasis (like archie did with the 30,000) for the trip is probably a good idea. the colonists spend no subjective time on the trip (it would be like sleeping through it, go to sleep one end wake up on the other), while only a reletive handful of crew (a few hundred per ship, cutting the air and food needs by a factor of 250) need to be supplied with food during the trip. (lots of extra food is still a good idea to lug along for the early years of the colony though.)
of course, then you open up the possibility that the crew start to see themselves as deserving to be in charge after the passengers are woken up, like in [url=29]Niven's Mt. Lookitthat colony[/url]. the crew of the slowboats brought the colonists out one at a time and forced them to sign a constitution at gun point that put the crew in charge of government.
either way it also means that building the ships is going to be impossible to hide. the amount of resources and wealth going into the project, just to get the food and air is going to have a huge influence on the worlds economy. much less buying the colony gear, the ships parts, the robots to assemble them...ect.


something to keep in mind.

i love this idea, and i wouldn't mind seeing it in the rifter. but i'd want it to be at least semi-plausible, and not some starwars or startrek impossible heavy setting.

[Aramanthus]

Interesting information GB! Thank you for sharing it!

[gaby]

this is very good.

Maybe they first take over Mars.

[Reagren Wright]

Cool stuff. Definately Rifter material. Its also a neat way of doing Rifts
in Space without it relating to Phase World/Three Galaxies.

[Cybermancer]

So far the response has been positive and I thank everyone who left a comment or idea. For the most part I already have a solid idea of what the end result will look at. I'm already about 30,000 words into the writing and should be able to finish up that last bits in the next few months.

My idea is that the manuscript will be broken up and published over a number of Rifters.

After the general introduction I've already posted, the first 'wave' introduction will look like this:

Home Coming

Like a swarm of fireflies in the night sky, a fleet of vessels materialized into normal space. These ships represented the first wave of the expeditionary mission that the people of Thebes had sent back to earth. Direct contact with humanities home world had been lost for three centuries. Probes and reconnaissance missions had reported the unthinkable. The Sol system was overrun with aliens and humanity was struggling for survival. It was the mission of this fleet to establish a beach head before a larger operation to assist the people of earth could be mounted.

The last vessel to arrive was the largest and most important of the advance fleet. The two mile long SNV Jupiter was the first of its class as well as the flagship. Its master was Vice-Admiral Lewis.

“All stations, secure from transit.” The admiral’s voice broke the silence in the ships war room and was immediately followed by the buzz of activity.
Shortly the report came back. “All stations report secure, Admiral.”

“Very good.” The admiral nodded with satisfaction. “Navigation, report.”

“Thirty-two hundred mils off central solar plane, one light year from Sol’s gravitational center.” The reply came from the young officer that headed the ships navigational department. “Just were we were aiming, sir.”

The admiral simply nodded at the news. While the transit drives were still considered a relatively new technology, they had been around for a couple of decades and had been thoroughly tested. There never really had been any doubt about the fleet arriving safe and sound at their destination.

What lay ahead was less certain. Based on reports from probes and the one successful reconnaissance mission, the earth had undergone a cataclysmic transformation followed by what could only be described as an alien invasion. It was widely feared that earth was now ruled over by a power or powers unknown that were hostile to humanity. Emotional attachment to an ancestral homeland aside, the Thebes Republic was concerned about a potential threat to the colonies themselves. That was why the expeditionary fleet had been assembled. The feeling was that it was better to take the fight to a potential enemy then have them come looking for you.

If a century long space patrol career had taught the man anything, it was the value of patience. Stopping one light year away meant that the admiral could use mid range sensor systems to evaluate what he was up against. “Tactical, do a system wide sweep. I want particular attention paid to the Terra-Luna coordinates. A status report of the Ceres facility would also be useful.”

“We’re working on it now, sir.” Came the immediate response.

To help pass the time, the admiral lit his pipe. He barely had a soft red glow going when his musings were interrupted by the head tactical officer.
“Sir, there’s a problem.” Feeling the old man’s eyes on him, the officer went on. “We can’t use any of our active sensors on the system. It seems as though the entire solar system is out of phase with the rest of the galaxy. Our sensors indicate that it’s some sort of temporal or dimensional anomaly on a celestial scale. Essentially, we can look in, but we can’t bounce our sensors off anything.”

“And what our passive optical sensors are seeing is already a year old.” The Admiral added.

“Yes sir.” The officer agreed.

Vice Admiral Lewis took a light puff from his pipe. “This is not entirely surprising. The reconnaissance mission reported something like this. It also explains why we never received any reports from any of our early probes.” He nodded, as much to himself as to his officers. “Very well then. How far away is the threshold of this anomaly?”

The officer referred to his display before answering. “Approximately five hundred million miles.”

“Have the Archimedes approach to within two thousand miles of the anomaly using sub-light propulsion. Then order them to launch a probe with a mono-filament tether attached, into the anomaly. If crossing the threshold doesn’t snap the connection, then the probes sensors can relay data to the rest of the fleet.”

“Aye sir!” The officer turned to the rest of his section to implement his orders.

By the time the admiral’s pipe had burned itself out, reports were coming back from the Archimedes. “Sir! The Archimedes reports that the Earth itself is enveloped in a dimensional envelope like the one we’re seeing in front of us, but more intense. All we can get are visuals. However, we are picking up activity from earth orbit. There are four major space stations, all apparently of terrestrial origin. We’ve also located a lunar colony where the old Cyberworks Aerospace Network facility used to be. We’ve detected hundreds of spacecraft that appear to be of terrestrial origin. We’ve also monitored a fleet of alien war vessels engaging terrestrial forces. Their assault seems to be targeting the lunar colony.” The technician paused while he listened to additional reports coming thru his communications headpiece. “More alien vessels of the same type have been detected in orbit around Mars. This fleet is four times the size of the one in earth orbit. They appear to be conducting a planetary survey.” Again the technician paused. “We’ve located Ceres. No activity detected.”

“Good.” Vice-Admiral Lewis was pleased to hear that Ceres seemed to be abandoned. With any luck, the fleet would find it in the same condition that the original colonists had left it in. “Order the Archimedes to stand fast. They are to serve as the fleet’s communication link to Thebes. Assign four battle cruisers for protection. The rest of the fleet is to engage all stealth measures and make ready to cross the anomaly threshold using conventional thrust only. Once thru, the fleet will accelerate to light speed using the back-up Traction drives, not the transit drives. Our science boys are concerned about how the transit drives will interact with the anomaly. Our destination is Ceres.”

The admiral sat back in his command chair as his orders were implemented. He had grave concerns about engaging the enemy. Aside from the complete unknown that the aliens represented, the citizens of Thebes hadn’t engaged in a military action more intensive then a mutiny, hostage taking or rogue pirate vessel in three centuries. Anything they knew about war was from history books—and none of those books included any knowledge of space warfare.

The fleet’s war machines were unproven and its crew and troops were green and raw. ‘My god.’ Thought the admiral. ‘We’re like fat, innocent lambs about to pick a fight with a pack ravenous of wolves.’

“Heaven save us all.”

[Aramanthus]

Sounds great. I hope that they do publish it!

[Cybermancer]

Sorry for resurrecting an old thread but it seemed better than starting a new one and then linking it to this one.

Work on this project has continued sporadically. The most significant thing I've done recently is completely revise the time line of events. I'll have to alter a lot of the fluff to reflect these changes. After that, all I'll have left is the crunch material.

Time Line:

2020 - Detailed analysis (with orbital telescopes) of the Alpha Centauri system provides evidence of the existence of several planets orbiting all three stars of that system. At least two of the planets could possibly support life.

- CyberTech Industries begins plans to design a probe to investigate these planets to determine if life actually exists there.

- Somewhat optimistically, Dr. Knight begins theoretical plans for a colony mission as well as early drafts for an extra-solar colony spacecraft.

2030 - Construction of the Daedalus probe begins in orbit.

- The Gate-Way space station also begins construction.

2035 -Construction begins on the Freedom Space Station.

2039 - The Cyberworks Aerospace Network begins construction of their own Moon Base.

2044 - Cyberworks’ Moon base is considered fully functional although upgrades and improvements occur continually.

2045 - Fusion power becomes commercially viable. Fusion nuclear plants provide twice the energy of fission plants and with reduced risk of radiation contamination.

- CyberTech Industries launches the Daedalus probe. It will take 25 years to reach the planets of the Alpha Centauri system. It carries a power supply good for 50 years.

- CyberTech Industries begins construction of a lunar mining base.

- The International Space Station is decommissioned. Its scrap is recycled into the new Freedom Station, which is nearing completion.

2048 - Freedom Station is completed. Upgrades and additions will be made sporadically.

2050 - Traction drive theory is first proposed.

- The Gate-Way space station is completed.

2055 - CyberTech’s lunar mining base is completed.

2058 - First manned mission to Mars launched from Freedom Station.

2059 - First manned mission to Mars arrives at Mars.

2060 - The Mars mission departs Mars.

2062 - A process for placing people into stasis is developed.

- The Mars mission arrives at Earth.

2063 - The first human is successfully put into stasis.

2067 -The first human is successfully taken out of stasis (this is not the same person first successfully put into stasis).

2070 - The Daedalus Probe arrives at its destination. It immediately begins transmitting back data.

- Construction of a permanent Mars Base begins .

2071 - The Ceres Base begins construction. It is to become the mining and industrial heart of CyberTech’s space program. Most of the construction and mining is handled by robot drones controlled by advanced A.I.’s. This opens the way to man’s exploitation of the asteroid belt.

2072 - CyberTech Industries sells its lunar mining base to the Cyberworks Aerospace Network.

2074 - A co-operative project including CyberTech Industries produces the first functioning, proto-type traction drive. The other participants include the CAN Network, the KLS Corporation, the North American Alliance, the European Union and the Russian Commonwealth.

2075 - The unmanned spacecraft, the Icarus, achieves half the speed of light (.5c) and maintains it for six months.

- The first data is received from Daedalus.

2076 - Data from the Daedalus probe shows that there is life on at least one of the planets and indicates that it can support human life.

- Dr. Knight begins enacting plans to colonize the new world.

2077 - The Daedalus probe confirms that two planets in the system can support human life and a third supports primitive life and could likely be terra-formed.

- Plans to colonize the planet are stepped up as Dr. Knight and CyberTech Industries seek partners in the endeavor. Several Mega-Corporations and governments get in on the project.

- A new probe is designed with a faster drive and more advanced A.I. then the Daedalus.

2078 - A permanent Mars Base is built.

2079 - The new probe is completed and christened the Apollo. It will travel at 50% the speed of light and have a power supply of sixty-years. It is launched immediately.

2080 - The Ceres Base is completed.

- Construction begins on an advanced Robot mission to precede living colonists.

2081 - Construction of the Laika Space Station begins.

2082 - Construction of the first new colony vessel begins.

2083 - Construction begins on the second colony vessel.

2084 - Construction begins on the third colony vessel.

- Construction of the Yuro Space Station begins.

2085 - Construction begins on the forth colony vessel.

2086 - Construction begins on the fifth colony vessel.

- Laika Space Station is completed.

2089 - The Apollo arrives in the Alpha Centauri system.

- The Robot Pre-Colony ship is completed and launched. It is christened the Hermes.

2090 - The first of the colony vessels is completed.

- Colonists begin to be ferried to Ceres from the Earth.

- Construction of the Yuro Space Station is completed.

2091 - Construction of the second colony vessel is completed.

2092 - Construction of the third colony vessel is completed.

2093 - Construction of the forth colony vessel is completed.

2094 - Data from the Apollo is received.

- CyberTech Industries on Earth is liquidated.

- The Gate-Way space station is decommissioned and salvaged for scrap. Much of the scrap is purchased to be recycled into the Sino-Japanese Space Station that has just begun construction.

- Construction of the fifth and final colony vessel is completed.

2095 - The colony mission launches amongst much fanfare. Communications with earth are maintained although lag becomes a serious problem the further away the colonists get, combined with the faster they get.

2097 - The last supply mission from Earth to Mars that will ever be sent departs Earth orbit.

2098 - Early in the year, the other sponsors of the colony mission begin plans to follow the CyberTech Industries mission. All plans are cut short and forgotten at the end of the year when the Great Cataclysm strikes. Consumed with depression and then the struggle to survive, even the space stations, Moon base and Mars colony all forget about the deep space colony mission.

2099 - The Hermes arrives in the Alpha Centauri system and begins preparations for the arrival of the colonists.

2100 - The fleet passes the point of no return due to limitations of their ships traction drive fuel. The colony vessels were never designed for a two-way trip.

2101 - Transmissions from earth from around the time of the Cataclysm catch up to the fleet. Garbled radio transmissions speak of nuclear war and natural disasters on a global scale before all contact is lost. The colonists (those crewing the vessels, not those kept in stasis) are dismayed at what they perceive to be the destruction of the civilization they left behind but are helpless to do anything about it. Fearful that they may be the only surviving humans left, they commit themselves to making Thebes their own.

2105 - The Deep Space Colony mission arrives in the Alpha Centauri system. Each of the ships lands at a different site. Each is close enough to support the others but far enough apart so that a disaster won’t wipe them all out. Segments from each of the ships are left in orbit for use in construction of an orbital space station. A remote presence is established on each of the three moons of the planet as well. The planet itself is officially named Thebes. The five small cities are named Capital City, Gulf City, Delta City, Victory City and Union City. The Theban Calendar is established.

2107 - Dr. Knight builds and secretly launches a probe to return to Earth and see what has happened. All contact with the probe is lost when it comes within a light year (2116 A.D.) of the Sol system.

2116 - Thebes begins to experiment with the possibilities of anti-matter power.

2121 - Dr. Knight sends a second probe, this one programmed to probe the Earth and then return.

2131 - The second secret probe arrives in Earth space. Trigger-happy defense forces from the orbital community attack several of the mini-probes launched by the main probe. Still, the probe manages to gather a significant amount of data before returning to Thebes.

2142 - The probe returns and Dr. Knight examines its data. After much consideration, he decides not to release what he’s discovered for now. He reasons it is far more important that the colony focuses on establishing itself. Maybe later the colony will be in a better position to aid the beleaguered humans left behind on Earth.

2250 - Thebes has it’s first operating anti-matter power generator.

- Shang Knight is born.

2274 - Dr. Knight dies of old age.

2275 - Dr. Shang Knight turns 25 and inherits CyberTech Industries. He also unlocks his grand-father’s secret files. He learns of what happened to the Earth. Realizing the Colony still isn’t in any shape to assist the earth effectively, he formulates a long term plan with the goal of finding out the Earth’s current status and how Thebes can help. This will require subtlety using his power to influence both public opinion, the scientific community and the political powers that be. First, he realizes he must consolidate his power over his grand-fathers company and then prove himself as a capable leader.

2286 - The Post Apocalyptic Calendar is established by the Coalition States. (1 P.A.)

2310 - The Theban Republic has been in existence for two hundred Earth years. (14 P.A.)

2344 -Renewed interest in what has become of the Earth (a movement led by Dr. Knight) leads to the launch of a traction drive equipped probe home. Improved traction drives allows the probe to travel at close to the speed of light (.89c; 58 P.A.)

2348 - All contact with the probe is lost as it gets within one light year of the Sol system. (62 P.A.)

2354 - FTL drives are developed. (68 P.A.)

2361 - A manned spacecraft equipped with FTL drives is launched to the earth. For political and diplomatic reasons, the ship is unarmed. Contact with the ship is lost when it gets within one light year of Sol. Unknown to the citizens of Thebes, the vessel carries on to Earth space where the xenophobic orbital community destroys it. (75 P.A.)

2363 - The mystery of the manned mission spacecraft leads to the launch of a second FTL ship. This one is armed in case it encounters hostile forces. As with the previous vessel, all contact is lost when it gets within one light year of Earth. Also like the other vessel, it carries on to Earth space where it is attacked and destroyed by the orbital community. (77 P.A.)

2372 - After much debate, the idea of manned missions back to Earth is abandoned for now. The first of a series of unmanned probes is launched. Contact is lost with all of them as they near the Sol system. All are destroyed by the forces in orbit. (86 P.A.)

2382 - A probe finally makes it to Earth and back with data. It reports on the strange energies surrounding the Sol system and the Earth. It provides additional information on conditions on the surface of Mars, the Moon and the Earth. It also shows records of being attacked by human forces in orbit. The data is confusing to the citizen of Thebes. (96 P.A.)

2385 - It is decided that a new manned mission to Earth will be launched. This mission has five armed ships. They attempt to communicate with the orbital community without success. The fleet is attacked and several of the ships are destroyed before they manage to escape. Their report stuns the people of Thebes. Most upsetting is the apparent alien occupation of the Earth. The people of Thebes feel they must do something, and Operation: Home World is conceived. (99 P.A.)

2388 - Another, stealthier mission is launched for Earth to gather more intelligence. This mission is planned for two years. They discover the presence of the Archon fleet in the system. (102 P.A.)

2389 - The recon mission is involved in a three-way battle between the Archons and the human orbital community. A few ships are destroyed, but they are able to successfully retreat. (103 P.A.)

2390 - The recon mission returns to Thebes with its gathered intelligence. (104 P.A.)

2395 - The Earth Expedition arrives at the edge of the Sol system. (109 P.A.)

Note: All years and dates are given in their earth equivalents (A.D.). Thebes has completely abandoned the Julian calendar out of necessity. While a Theban year has 367 Theban days (32 hours each), it takes 481 earth days (24 hours each) to circle its sun once. Thus, while 290 earth years have passed since the colony was established, only 220 Theban years have passed. The Theban life expectancy of 300 years is also based on earth years and the ages of all NPC’s are given in earth years. A Theban wouldn’t say, “I expect to live for three centuries.” They would say, “I expect to live for 227 years.” Of course, that life expectancy is theoritical until the first generation dies off.
The mission to earth is using the A.D. calendar and day length (set for the outdated Greenwich Mean Time) while they are in Sol space.

[Lord Z]

It looks extensive. That's a good thing, but remember that Rifter articles rarely exceed ten pages. Don't write a huge article that you (or Wayne) will just have to cut down to size. That would be a lot of wasted effort.

[Aramanthus]

I think it looks very cool. He might be able to generate enough interest to maybe get a larger article thru by splitting it up into several smaller articles.

[Cybermancer]

It's certainly my hope that it can be split among a number of Rifters. You really can't do something like this justice with just one article. And it really makes more sense as optional Rifter material than as an official book on it's own. Primarily because there are elements that GM's may not want as part of their normal Rifts games. Although I think it would be a fun and logical addition to Rifts Orbit, others may disagree. Indeed, I think it should be left as open as possible.

Now here's the fun question. What should be included as part of the first article and what HAS to be included in the first article?

[glitterboy2098]

what should be included in the first part?

the history of the colony effort. the history and info on the colony. the history of their return to the Sol system.

all the "ground work" stuff.

the OCC's, ship stats, weapons and so on can wait for part 2, since with just part one you can still play a game, though a GM would have to come up with his own ships and stuff.

but if all you have is ships and stuff, but no background, it's hard to make a run a good game.

[Cybermancer]

I think you're right, glitterboy2098. I've been putting together and then tearing apart what I thought might be a good combination of background material and things like OCC's and gear. I was left being unsatisfied with what was left after I cut to the bare bones.

But if I focus on the background, then GM's will be able to use that with a little work on their own, even if a second article is never forth coming due to lack of interest (I certainly have enough for a number of articles).

So roughly, my priority in submission is:

Submission One:
-The 'setting'. All the background information.

Submission Two:
-Background on the Modern Colony of Thebes itself.
-Some basic crunchy bits. OCC's, gear and a few vehicles.

Submission Three:
-Additional updates on fleet activity.
-One or two more vehicles and more gear

Submission Four:
-Crunch heavy with most the needed gear and vehicles detailed.
-Addtional ideas for how things could go for the fleet in orbit.

Submission Five:
-Ideas for concluding orbital activities.
-Ideas for future interactions with the people (and entities) of earth.
-Space shuttles and drop ships.

I think I'll stay away from statting the capital ships, unless I do it for future submissions. I'll give them general descriptions but for the most part, spacecraft are usually plot devices anyway. I don't plan to do much with the Archon's either. GM's can decide their ultimate fate and design whatever they think is needed that wasn't included in South America Book 2. I can only see me doing more if on the outside chance Palladium wanted everything compiled into one book.

[Aramanthus]

Nice organization! We are looking forward to seeing your article in print.

[Lord Z]

I hate to be the rain god of the parade grounds -- who am I kidding, I love raining on parades. Anyway, I apologize in advance.

I do think this is an excellent idea for submission material. Really, I do. You should, however, look at it from Wayne's point of view. A five article series is a heck of a commitment for a quarterly magazine. Last year, two of those four issues were themed artwork issues. The average Rifter customer will not collect five issues in a row. The last time we saw a series of pieces like that was probably the Rifts comic strip which was quite a while ago now. Hammer of the Forge is something I think is a special case because it got in on the ground floor and because the individual articles function well as self-contained narratives. I submitted a three article series, so Wayne spliced that together into a single article rather than spreading them out over three issues.

At the very least, e-mail Wayne first and ask him how he feels about a five-article ark.

[Aramanthus]

Well you could always condense it. And post the extra articles either here or contact Nexus Nine. They're a great site too! Just ask people who are in charge over there. They are great people too! Like here!