11,150
edits
Forum:Titania (system): Difference between revisions
m
→History: Step one completed.
mNo edit summary |
m (→History: Step one completed.) |
||
| Line 101: | Line 101: | ||
Following the Second Collapse of Earth, and the loss of much of the solar system to Darkness, a ragtag fleet of some two hundred and twenty ships arrived in Titania's orbit. Among their number were Cabal and Fallen vessels. At their van was the shattered hemisphere of the Traveler, broken beyond repair. They settled into orbit around the Obelisk and converted the fleet and the Traveler's corpse into a space station—the last surviving refuge for humanity and its allies. A governing council was established and expeditions to harvest resources began. | Following the Second Collapse of Earth, and the loss of much of the solar system to Darkness, a ragtag fleet of some two hundred and twenty ships arrived in Titania's orbit. Among their number were Cabal and Fallen vessels. At their van was the shattered hemisphere of the Traveler, broken beyond repair. They settled into orbit around the Obelisk and converted the fleet and the Traveler's corpse into a space station—the last surviving refuge for humanity and its allies. A governing council was established and expeditions to harvest resources began. | ||
=== | ===Making Contact=== | ||
''' | It was almost by accident that the Alliance discovered the system's native inhabitants. A Hunter-Warlock pair had begun exploring the strange ruins scattered upon Oberon, investigating the strange flows of time about the warped structures, when they came across the Hivers. Alone the Hivers were little more than mindless beasts, deliberately so, but enough of them congregated about the pair that they formed an overwhelming consciousness. This consciousness demanded to know their purpose; unfortunately this contact did not go well. The Guardians assumed they were under attack and retaliated. Wisely their Ghosts hide themselves away as the Hivers tore apart the two then retreated into the shadows of their dead world; the Guardians revived they too retreated, as each exercise of the Light was more taxing than even during the Red War. | ||
The Council was informed of the attack and they prepared for an invasion. Ikora and Elise decided to go explore themselves and make contact with the strange aliens. The same meeting occurred, and ended more amicably. The Hiver intelligence demanded to know why they trespassed on their world; Ikora explained their history. After deliberation the Hiver intelligence gave them leave to visit Oberon, but to not touch anything. They refused to answer questions about their past or why they attacked two Guardians. | |||
The next contact occurred two years later—this time in the depths of Titania. An Allied scoopship, piloted by Eliksni and Exo engineers, plumbed the atmosphere of the Jovian to harvest the hydrogen there. A psionic burst rendered the Eliksni unconscious and the Exo struggled to maintain control of the craft as a noopathic assault attempted to overwhelm their minds. Before the last one blacked out they sent out a distress signal, prompting the dispatch of a Ketch, four Proas, and a Guardian jumpship. The scoopship was found drifting deeper into the atmosphere, dangerously close to a major stormsystem. The craft was undamaged, which puzzled the first responders, but was able to be towed out. When revived aboard the Ketch, the engineers explained that a mental transmission had warned them to depart. This time the Alliance was ready, and a team of Warlocks attempted to contact the alien intelligence within Titania. After receiving no response they contacted instead the Hivers, inquiring about any other alien species that lived in their system. The Hivers were reluctant to talk and gradually said it was something greater than they, and refused any further information. Undaunted the Warlocks tried a second time—and got an answer. | |||
A single ship boosted itself out of Titania's atmosphere and came within knife-fighting distance of Sanctuary. In appearance it resembled an ice comet, which made up most of its body, with angled motors clustered behind it. Halfway down a tether was a block filled with radiation shielding, and at the extreme end was a small habitat, containing a single organism. This was not a Crystalien but one of their engineered hyperturing AI. It formally initiated First Contact by apologizing for the defensive measures its people had taken upon the scoopship operators, then offered to give a brief overview of their history if the Alliance would respond in kind. The city leaders gave an annotated history of the Traveler's arrival, the Golden Age, Collapse, subsequent Dark Age, and finally the City Age, ending with the Second Collapse and the reason they were here. The hyperturing offered sympathy for their plight and assured them that the Crystaliens would not force the refugees to leave. It then explained the Hierarchy's history and experience with the Traveler, telling them of their mortal sin to emulate a god(dess), and the punishment which result from it. Contact ended after the Alliance offered a formal embassy with the Hierarchy. The hyperturing accepted, but warned them to not approach Titania for their protection, as it was the Crystaliens' home and would not appreciate atmospheric mining. In exchange the Hierarchy would provide them with resources to settle one of their many moons in an approximation of their homeworlds, Earth, Torobalt, and Riis. Contact finished, the hyperturing departed. | |||
===Settling a New World=== | |||
===Arrival of the Black Fleet=== | |||
==References== | ==References== | ||