This is set in the Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri(and its expansion Alien Crossfire) a video game set, surprise, the Alpha Centauri system. In real life this system is a binary star, 4 light years away from Earth. Its the nearest star to us besides the Sun.
Now to the game. The game itself is a brilliant one. It combines an immersive universe based on real physics knowledge and theorems, with intrigueing questions about philosophy and idealogical debates. The gameplay is VERY strategic. Not only do you FEEL like you're in a struggle for mankind's future, but you also are constantly tending to your colony as it comes under attack both by native life and opposing human factions with a different idealogy or rivalry with you.
Now to the RP. I wanted to RP this because the game has a great backstory and plenty of room for us to really do what we wish. Plus its easy to learn what's going on even if you haven't played the game or read the books. Why? I'll offer a sypnosis of the story below.
If you have already known the Alpha Centauri storyline or already read that, congrats. You're basically ready to RP. Theres plenty more to the story, but to read more would spoil some things. Really, the above is all you need to know. The rest you'll probably find out in the RP or if you decide to take the time and look yourself.
We will start on the time of the ship a day before the assassination of Captain Garland, as any person onboard you please. When the time comes that we must board a pod and head for Planetsurface, feel free to choose whoever you want to follow, or only board one for the ride and then head off on your own to survive. Whatever you choose you gotta write this Application out for me to accept. The below is a recommended template, my application. Feel free to add, change, or take away anything to suit your characters.
Name: Marcus Anart
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Description: A middle aged and scrawny man, his hair starting to thin and grey. He often noses into other people's business. Sometimes he may think something over to hard, not noticing the obvious and try to apply knowledge to mundane tasks. He's very introverted and antisocial, preferring to tend to his work and pride then deal with people he doesn't consider as intelligent as he is.
Background(What you are on Unity, What you were on Earth, that stuff.): On Unity, ranked as a Civilian research associate.
Equipment: Nothing really technical.
Weapons(If Any): None, and lacks training with them.
Bio: Marcus was a man who pursued a high level education, earning a Bachelors Degree in Biochemistry. He was accepted into the Unity Project as an associate to a more advanced Biologist to study the lifeforms of their new world.
Ask questions, post applications, whatever. Just, Post.
Current Members of this RP(Eight):
Me (Marcus Anart)
Majhudeen (Nowak O'Connar)
Grimmend (Shane Ferringer)
Jec94277 (James Carrack)
silencekyo (Sarah Brynhild)
Captain Pyjama Shark (René Toussaint)
Tiberius Decimus Maximus(Charles von Kriemheld)
Diputs(Version 1.376.873)
Now to the game. The game itself is a brilliant one. It combines an immersive universe based on real physics knowledge and theorems, with intrigueing questions about philosophy and idealogical debates. The gameplay is VERY strategic. Not only do you FEEL like you're in a struggle for mankind's future, but you also are constantly tending to your colony as it comes under attack both by native life and opposing human factions with a different idealogy or rivalry with you.
Now to the RP. I wanted to RP this because the game has a great backstory and plenty of room for us to really do what we wish. Plus its easy to learn what's going on even if you haven't played the game or read the books. Why? I'll offer a sypnosis of the story below.
In 2060, the world was a ****ty place to live. War, famine, and other catatrophes caused by Man himself were threatening to cause mankind's extinction. In one last-ditch attempt to save humanity, the UN built a spaceship called Unity,
and sent it off to the Alpha Centauri system to a planet they hoped had at least most of the necessary things to support sentient life.
The ship's crew included several noteworthy individuals, each of which I'll describe later.
So after a 40 year voyage in stasis, the Ship finally arrives in the Alpha Centauri system, and sees their new home, officially named Chiron, some ways off.
However, Captain Garland, the assigned captain of the starship, was assassinated by an unknown assailant. The others in charge were now arguing of who should take over. However each person had differing views and ideas for the future. As such no one could agree on a single person taking command. So they all split up on different pods, each one crashlanding onto Planet's surface. They were followed by dozens of people who had the same ideal and dream for the future. And so they left Unity, and left the idea of a United humanity behind.
However once they crashland, they find themselves on a frigid, unforgiving world. The native life attacks all foreign life that arrives, coming in many forms(see below). The air requires a respirator to survive in. The fact is, its Barely suitable for human life, and it will take a complete revival of infrastructure and ecological research to actually be able to use the land. Mankind is no longer master of the Earth, and like every other animal must now fight for its survival.
And thats where the story leaves off in this RP. We'll start a day before his assassination, on the starship Unity, and before we actually begin our "colonization."
The rest, though, is below.(Well not the Entire Story. Some of it you'll find out yourself.
Indigenous Lifeforms:
Xenofungus are the dominant lifeform on Planet. It grows like crazy and is a barrier as well as spawning ground for other lifeforms. It exists both on land and in the water, and is dangerous to humans.
Mind Worms are 10cm worm like creatures that psionically paralyze their victims. While one is paralyzed in fear, the Mind Worm will burrow into your skull and lay eggs for their ravenous larva who will soon devour you. While you're still alive.
The Spore Launcher is a native lifeform that launches acidic spores quite a fair distance. These spores can damage structures and especially humans caught in it.
Sealurks are rather like Mind Worms of the sea. They're somewhat bigger and fewer in number, however.
Isles of the Deep are huge clusterings of native life, glued together as if it were an island. This island floats around and may be host to ANY other indigenous life.
Locusts of Chiron are rare and dangerous native life, only appearing if ecological damage is high.(at least ingame) They are flying organisms that travel in swarms.
Noteworthy Individuals(Faction Leaders ingame, the ones who will control the pods and possibly US):
"Lady" Deirdre Skye: A ecologist aboard Unity. She feels bad for what mankind has done to Earth, and feels it is her responsibility to ensure humanity does not do the same to Planet. This is taken to the extreme, to the point she may declare war on you ingame for damaging the environment to much or having a booming industry.
"Chairman" Shen-ji Yang: The Chief Security Officer onboard Unity. He feels that "lifes only purpose, is life itself." and that no human ultimately deserves better treatment then a dog. He feels that security and control of his citizens is critical to theirs and his survival. He enjoys running a police state over his people, and once technology gets more advanced he tends to even Thought Control his people into mindless lackeys.
"CEO" Nwabudike Morgan: The Unity Franchise Holder. He funded the entire Unity mission, and was a Diamond Tycoon in Namibia. His greed and knowledge of business has followed him to Centauri, where he plans to monopolize all business and energy on Planet. He believes in Competition and Capitalism, where his business tricks and savvy always get him to the top.
"Brother" Pravin Lal: A Surgeon aboard Unity, who strongly believes in Order and Humanitarian ideals. His main driving force is a desire to enforce the rules of the U.N. Charter that was given for the mission. He enforces Peace and prefers harmonious utopia as opposed to Violence. However his ideals often forget the facts, putting human life over all. His UN-like bureaucracy is inefficent and slow to get things done.
"Provost" Zakharov: A Unity Science Officer. A genius when it comes to science and physics, Zakharov cares little for ethics and emotion. He intends to pursue Research, and nothing but. He aspires to know about the world and how the Universe ticks. Get in the way of his research, and his newly developed weapons will rip you a new one.
"Colonel" Corazon Santiago: A long time soldier and a Security Officer on Unity(Not Chief like Yang) Santiago believes that every citizen should have the right to bear arms and almost every soldier of her faction is highly trained and experienced in some way. A very militaristic and survivalist faction lead by a paranoid and disillusionary woman. Recipe for disaster right there.
"Sister" Miriam Godwinson: A woman who was baptized and took Sunday School and other religious schools all her life, Miriam believes in a life of worship and understanding the truth in the Lord's Scripture. Happiness only exists in God's Love, and to believe in Democracy or a Police State is against her Fundamentalist runnings. In the name of the Lord, she'll try to kill you because you aren't like her.
Captain Ulrik Svensgaard: Notice the lack of quotes on his title. Thats because hes actually a captain. Not on Unity, but on a ship back on Earth in his Navy days. Svensgaard is known for his heroic rescue of the Navy's admiral during a sea battle. In-game, he is a very flexible leader and some say even Overpowered. *See far below for details on how he makes a living on the sea*
"Datajack" Roze: Hax? Yes. Haxxor. Roze is a chaotic leader, preferring to hacking the other faction's information networks instead of facing them on a real battlefield. She enjoys watching the fruits of her labor result in chaos and anarchy. Its mostly satire and playing around(unless its one of her enemies) as she is aware of the consequences of a full-blown virus.
"Prime Function" Aki Zeta-5: This one... isn't quite on the Unity craft. Well, she is. For whatever reason, she's reported missing right now. Aki Zeta-5, in-game, is "possessed by an algorithm". Her brain is... well... a computer, basically. A Sentient program that invaded her mind and basically took it over. She enforces extreme rationalism, encouraging those who join her to serve as hosts to the parasitic algorithm. Rational, Perfectionist, and Logical.
"Foreman" Domai: In the original Unity mission, Domai was a common miner, to be awakened much later then everyone else for mining procedures on Nessus prime(Chiron's moon) however when the ship crashed, he woke himself up, surviving. He was soon found by Yang and thought of as a common Drone(particularly dumb humans used for menial labor) due to brain trauma from the crash. However, he managed to restore his identity. He quickly set up a full rebellion against Yang with other Drones, managing to hijack a Colony Pod and head out into the wilderness, promising a Worker's Paradise.
*NEW*Technology in the game is quite advanced. As you would expect a species advanced enough to traverse between the stars to be. However ALL of the in game technology is based heavily on real science. There is not one thing that the developers just made up. They show that they researched heavily before working on the game. Everything from Lasers to Graviton Cannons are explained with thorough, real human science from the day. However, some of the applications for this science may have less basis on scientific fact. So, what is there?
First, Weapons. Weapon technology starts with the Fission Laser in-game. We have access to these sorts of lasers today; they are used to cut metal precisely(guided by computers) in factories. However these lasers require a TON of energy to do this, and in real life its very expensive and fuel consuming. In the game, soldiers all wear a backpack with a reactor on it, that provides power to his armor and weapon(and respirator). I doubt we will get very far beyond these sorts of lasers in this RP.
Second, how does Captain Svensgaard make a completely oceanic based society? The answer is given in the game. There are three great pieces of technology developed in the game shortly after Planetfall that Svensgaard has access too before EVERYONE else.
Tidal Harness: This device is built on the shore. What it does is use the Rising and Lowering tide to generate power and energy. Using a Thermocline(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermocline for more, if possibly fallible, info) Transducer it does this quite easily and cheaply.
Mining Platform: Essentially, a floating platform that holds all the necessary equipment and quarters that miners need to live and work in Shallower waters, mining the underwater reefs and shallow floors for sedimentary rock and ores.
and sent it off to the Alpha Centauri system to a planet they hoped had at least most of the necessary things to support sentient life.
The ship's crew included several noteworthy individuals, each of which I'll describe later.
So after a 40 year voyage in stasis, the Ship finally arrives in the Alpha Centauri system, and sees their new home, officially named Chiron, some ways off.
However, Captain Garland, the assigned captain of the starship, was assassinated by an unknown assailant. The others in charge were now arguing of who should take over. However each person had differing views and ideas for the future. As such no one could agree on a single person taking command. So they all split up on different pods, each one crashlanding onto Planet's surface. They were followed by dozens of people who had the same ideal and dream for the future. And so they left Unity, and left the idea of a United humanity behind.
However once they crashland, they find themselves on a frigid, unforgiving world. The native life attacks all foreign life that arrives, coming in many forms(see below). The air requires a respirator to survive in. The fact is, its Barely suitable for human life, and it will take a complete revival of infrastructure and ecological research to actually be able to use the land. Mankind is no longer master of the Earth, and like every other animal must now fight for its survival.
And thats where the story leaves off in this RP. We'll start a day before his assassination, on the starship Unity, and before we actually begin our "colonization."
The rest, though, is below.(Well not the Entire Story. Some of it you'll find out yourself.
Indigenous Lifeforms:
Xenofungus are the dominant lifeform on Planet. It grows like crazy and is a barrier as well as spawning ground for other lifeforms. It exists both on land and in the water, and is dangerous to humans.
Mind Worms are 10cm worm like creatures that psionically paralyze their victims. While one is paralyzed in fear, the Mind Worm will burrow into your skull and lay eggs for their ravenous larva who will soon devour you. While you're still alive.
The Spore Launcher is a native lifeform that launches acidic spores quite a fair distance. These spores can damage structures and especially humans caught in it.
Sealurks are rather like Mind Worms of the sea. They're somewhat bigger and fewer in number, however.
Isles of the Deep are huge clusterings of native life, glued together as if it were an island. This island floats around and may be host to ANY other indigenous life.
Locusts of Chiron are rare and dangerous native life, only appearing if ecological damage is high.(at least ingame) They are flying organisms that travel in swarms.
Noteworthy Individuals(Faction Leaders ingame, the ones who will control the pods and possibly US):
*NEW*Technology in the game is quite advanced. As you would expect a species advanced enough to traverse between the stars to be. However ALL of the in game technology is based heavily on real science. There is not one thing that the developers just made up. They show that they researched heavily before working on the game. Everything from Lasers to Graviton Cannons are explained with thorough, real human science from the day. However, some of the applications for this science may have less basis on scientific fact. So, what is there?
First, Weapons. Weapon technology starts with the Fission Laser in-game. We have access to these sorts of lasers today; they are used to cut metal precisely(guided by computers) in factories. However these lasers require a TON of energy to do this, and in real life its very expensive and fuel consuming. In the game, soldiers all wear a backpack with a reactor on it, that provides power to his armor and weapon(and respirator). I doubt we will get very far beyond these sorts of lasers in this RP.
Second, how does Captain Svensgaard make a completely oceanic based society? The answer is given in the game. There are three great pieces of technology developed in the game shortly after Planetfall that Svensgaard has access too before EVERYONE else.
Tidal Harness: This device is built on the shore. What it does is use the Rising and Lowering tide to generate power and energy. Using a Thermocline(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermocline for more, if possibly fallible, info) Transducer it does this quite easily and cheaply.
Mining Platform: Essentially, a floating platform that holds all the necessary equipment and quarters that miners need to live and work in Shallower waters, mining the underwater reefs and shallow floors for sedimentary rock and ores.
If you have already known the Alpha Centauri storyline or already read that, congrats. You're basically ready to RP. Theres plenty more to the story, but to read more would spoil some things. Really, the above is all you need to know. The rest you'll probably find out in the RP or if you decide to take the time and look yourself.
We will start on the time of the ship a day before the assassination of Captain Garland, as any person onboard you please. When the time comes that we must board a pod and head for Planetsurface, feel free to choose whoever you want to follow, or only board one for the ride and then head off on your own to survive. Whatever you choose you gotta write this Application out for me to accept. The below is a recommended template, my application. Feel free to add, change, or take away anything to suit your characters.
Name: Marcus Anart
Age: 37
Gender: Male
Description: A middle aged and scrawny man, his hair starting to thin and grey. He often noses into other people's business. Sometimes he may think something over to hard, not noticing the obvious and try to apply knowledge to mundane tasks. He's very introverted and antisocial, preferring to tend to his work and pride then deal with people he doesn't consider as intelligent as he is.
Background(What you are on Unity, What you were on Earth, that stuff.): On Unity, ranked as a Civilian research associate.
Equipment: Nothing really technical.
Weapons(If Any): None, and lacks training with them.
Bio: Marcus was a man who pursued a high level education, earning a Bachelors Degree in Biochemistry. He was accepted into the Unity Project as an associate to a more advanced Biologist to study the lifeforms of their new world.
Ask questions, post applications, whatever. Just, Post.
Current Members of this RP(Eight):
Me (Marcus Anart)
Majhudeen (Nowak O'Connar)
Grimmend (Shane Ferringer)
Jec94277 (James Carrack)
silencekyo (Sarah Brynhild)
Captain Pyjama Shark (René Toussaint)
Tiberius Decimus Maximus(Charles von Kriemheld)
Diputs(Version 1.376.873)
