Cacique Caribe | 14 Oct 2009 2:08 p.m. PST |
Ok. I need some help fleshing out this idea: 1) By the year (?) Earth partially terraforms Mars and establishes several colonies there (and maybe other planets/moons); 2) A (some major catastrophe) on Earth makes it impossible to continue sending supplies, equipment and additional people to the colonies (communication may be impossible too?); 3) The off-world colonies are forced to make do without any help from Earth, and develop independently and in competition with each other (How? Where are they in relation to each other? Who has what?) So . . . based on the above, could you suggest additional details to flesh out the premise further? Or, if you have played any "forgotten colonies" scenarios, what were they like? Did you have a background story for them? Thanks. CC TMP link |
Tom Reed | 14 Oct 2009 2:15 p.m. PST |
Sure, one of the colonies, now having to make do for themselves, discovers subterranean caverns that can support life. The moss on the cavern walls turns out to be edible by humans, and they start herding and subsiding on the insect like aphids. |
psiloi | 14 Oct 2009 2:19 p.m. PST |
An episode of Babylon5 had something along these lines. Earth had been devestated by a plague,had fallen into the stone ages, although the rest of humanity was cooperative. I believe it was in Season 5, but not sure without the series right in front of me, but the first thing that came to mind. |
AWuuuu | 14 Oct 2009 2:49 p.m. PST |
Nuclear exchange simple PS: In B5 it was also nuclear exchange, season 4 ep Deconstruction of Falling Stars was highly influenced by A canticle for Leibovitz :> |
Cacique Caribe | 14 Oct 2009 3:02 p.m. PST |
AWuuuu I think has it right. Nuclear is simple. Forward to 3:00 minutes into this clip . . . YouTube link CC |
The Black Tower | 14 Oct 2009 3:19 p.m. PST |
I guess if the colonies needed supplies they are not self sufficient. A terraformed Mars could support lichen but the planet whould still be cold domes could be used to sustain a more human environment The seas could be very productive the Antarctic on Earth has a rich fauna. Krill and chips anyone? I think a space elevator would be the best way to get supplies to Phobos & Demos I would not like to be stranded on the Moon
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CmdrKiley | 14 Oct 2009 4:25 p.m. PST |
Sounds like the fluff text to Dark Age. The world was pretty much an obscurre world in some backwoods part of the galaxy. It was colonized by a number of corporations to do covert R&D that was quite legal in the rest of the galaxy. Then some galactic catastrophe happens, civil war or something, and before word gets out to the general population, the upper management and all the high up scientists pack up and leave. The resulting evacuation creates chaos as news hits the general populous, destroying the spaceport and stranding the majority on the planet. No contact is ever made with this world again and a new civilization is created from the remaining low level support staff and security guards. dark-age.com |
Ed the Two Hour Wargames guy | 14 Oct 2009 4:46 p.m. PST |
LOL Earth Force vs. Sahadeen. What a coincidence. THW will be doing rules specifically for these fine figures covering this exact topic. |
Cacique Caribe | 14 Oct 2009 8:26 p.m. PST |
Ed, Really? Awesome! I was not thinking of writing my own rules. Instead I was trying to come up with a more structured background that would help me focus the terrain and scenics I have planned for mine (along with possible distinctive gear for each group). CC PS. Black Tower and CmdrKiley, excellent material there! Wonderful. |
Wyatt the Odd | 14 Oct 2009 9:01 p.m. PST |
For a Martian colony to be "forgotten" the earth would have to be bombed back to the stone age (or at least a Medieval equivalent) where the survivors would know that there's a Martian colony, but couldn't do anything about it. The story of space travellers would eventually become more of a legend to the following generations. But, there are at least a couple of other ways short of armageddon which could serve to achieve the same results: 1) Alien intervention – The alien equivalent of the UN considers humanity to be a rogue species that has not sufficiently evolved while nearing the scientific breakthrough that will grant us FTL. (Or, the survival of humanity is deemed so critical to the fate of the universe that the Earth must be protected – even from itself). A temporal displacement shield is erected around the earth that slows time so that 10 years pass for every Terran day. It is possible to get through this shield physically, but not electronically. Communication with anything in orbit or beyond can only be done by flying a spacecraft through the shield, but even a ballistic flight beyond low earth orbit means that an astronaut will be two years older than when he left the planet by the time he lands "4 hours" later. Left to themselves, the colonies evolve their own society and advance at a blistering pace compared to the earth (with or without assistance from the aliens). 2) Plague – A superbug escapes which triggers the primitive fear of heights and attack from above – giving humanity debilitating acrophobia – even extending to things that go high. Launch facilities and skyscrapers are abandoned and transportation reverts to land or sea travel. The colonists are unaffected, but unable to return for fear of being shot down or bringing the plague into space. 3) Social upheaval – Al Qaeda and a few other like-minded groups get lucky and Pakistan's nukes go off. India is obliterated, as are parts of Central Asia and China. Ironically, Iran is one of the countries to suffer nuclear devastation due to an overenthusiastic, semi-literate goat-roping herdsman – the only survivor of his jihadi cell – who punches in the wrong coordinates for a few missiles. Thinking that it was an Israeli or American attack, Iran fires off its missiles plus detonates the suicide nukes secreted in various embassies in Western countries along with launching cyber attacks. Chinese-crafted sleeper malware which has been implanted within the firmware of internet- and BlueTooth capable consumer items does not receive the expected monthly "all clear" code and activates destroying the parts of the Internet that the Iranian viruses didn't hit, along with "protected" networks used by governments and militaries. Beijing is vaporized by ICBMs from Russia, the US, the UK and France in an uncoordinated, but brutally effective series of attacks. North Korea isn't certain what's going on but its abortive attempt at taking advantage of the situation is stopped brutally cold leaving everything north of Pyongyang unable to support human life. In the chaos, several ethnic and separatist groups decide that the time to press their claims is at hand and fundamentalist religious sects decide that their time is nigh as well. Two months later, a series of quakes just south of Kyushu, including the 10.6 Amami Quake utterly devastates the western Pacific, destroying Japan completely, finishing off South Korea, and coastal China as well as drowning much of the Philippines, Viet Nam and Indonesia. Tsunami waves cause massive damage as far away as the Kamchatka Peninsual, northern Australia, Hawaii, the Pacific coasts of North and South America and even Madagascar and parts of Africa's east coast as the water either sweeps over the islands of Indonesia or is compressed through the channels separating islands and forming a relatively narrow, but insanely powerful currents. This brings the fighting to an abrupt stand-still as it is seen as a "Sign of God" and that the End Times approach. This swells the ranks of the "faithful" (either by sudden belief, or being converted by promises of food or execution) Dissenting or "fringe" religions are expunged and the formerly quarreling factions unite forming a theocracy dedicated to being ready for the rapture and the Battle of Armageddon. As every soul is needed on earth, the faithful are called home from space with those who remain (or escape) considered heathens with no chance of salvation. Wyatt |
Cacique Caribe | 14 Oct 2009 9:14 p.m. PST |
Wow, Wyatt. You are amazingly creative and thorough. That is a fantastic account. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Anyone want to take a shot at trying to outdo Wyatt??? :) CC |
Cilidar | 14 Oct 2009 10:37 p.m. PST |
I'll give it a go! Though, I think all the ideas presented are really neat. More than a lifetimes gaming! Civil War- For the last 160 years humanity has set about spreading into its planetary neighborhood. The moon is heavily colonized and large orbital colonies are built in place around the Earth, Moon, and at near-Earth Lagrange Points. Other places that have been colonized include Mars, it's two moons, and orbitals around these planetoids. Mars has under gone basic terraforming Over the years the human population has exponentially grown in all the new available space. It is to the point that the U.S.N (United Solar Nations) is no longer able keep control over many of it's colonies. Civil War erupts and many new factions emerge from the colonies. The largest of these factions takes aim at Earth itself and decimates the surface with asteroids propelled at the planet and effectively removed U.S.N. Earth forces from the equation (With the moon being the only remaining stronghold in direct U.S.N. control) Things did not bode well for Mars as well. All terraforming projects were cut off when vital personnel, and resources from other locations were cut-off by war. The shipyards and communication stations on Deimos and Phobos were also destroyed, effectively cutting off the Red Planet from the rest of the Solar System and stranding the survivors there. (You could also insert rediscovered or reawakened alien life on Mars if you wanted more mayhem/excuse to use non-human minis) Most of the factions are too busy to deal with Mars or lack the spare resources to make it worthwhile to rebuild the Phobos, and Deimos bases and claim them as their own. |
Eclectic Wave | 15 Oct 2009 8:35 a.m. PST |
If there are colonies on Mars, there should be some sort of Moon Bases as well. Moon bases would probably be less self sufficient the Mars colonies, I mean why go to the troouble when Earth is just a few days away. So the Mars Colonies might start sending ships to the Moon to salvage equipment. There should be a few ships in transit from Earth to Mars, so a few ships might still be around. Colonies might end up fighting over choice bits on the Moon, or find survives, in a base or two that they might end up fighting or rescuing. |
The Black Tower | 15 Oct 2009 10:07 a.m. PST |
There is a stock market crash on Earth. The suits go through the books and do what they always do – cut long term investment and expensive projects such as terraforming Mars cannot pay for the cost of rocket shuttles and is isolated The citizens of Mars declare independence
I mean look how quick the citizens of the USA got tied of funding Apollo missions. |
Lion in the Stars | 15 Oct 2009 11:04 a.m. PST |
1) By the year (?) Earth partially terraforms Mars and establishes several colonies there (and maybe other planets/moons); let's push this out a bit, say, 2200. This gives us enough time to figure out important things like carbon nanotubes for the orbital elevators. The thing is, once we can figure out how to make an orbital elevator actually work, we're halfway to ANYWHERE in the solar system, in terms of energy needed, so actually having an orbital elevator on earth may render this entire exercise somewhat moot. 2) A (some major catastrophe) on Earth makes it impossible to continue sending supplies, equipment and additional people to the colonies (communication may be impossible too?); I like the 'horrible' though from Gundam 00: We ran out of oil. The resultant economic shockwaves render continuing to support the colonies with food (when we can barely get food to our own populations) politically unsustainable. Sucks to be the colonists, but that *was* in the contract. If we can't afford to send food your direction, we can't afford to send a rescue mission, either. 3) The off-world colonies are forced to make do without any help from Earth, and develop independently and in competition with each other (How? Where are they in relation to each other? Who has what?) Any competition between the colonies will be over the resources that one controls that the others need. One colony would be at the base of an orbital elevator, they have more electrical power than they know what to do with. They'd be the major industrial source. I'd assume that all colonies were located with reasonable access to water, but other minerals needed for fertilizer, etc are not usually conveniently co-located on earth, so why would they be on Mars? Picture conflicts in developing africa, or the range wars in the Old West. For whatever reason, that's what comes to mind when you talk about stranded colonies fighting over scarce resources. |
Cacique Caribe | 15 Oct 2009 3:58 p.m. PST |
Oooooo, you guys are good! Imagine the following captions under either one of these pictures of a partially-terraformed Mars . . . picture picture "Well, Johnny, I went ahead and transferred all my funds over to a bank back on Earth. We have big plans when we get back." "Wait Rachel. I'm getting a message that there's major trouble back on Earth" CC link link |
Cacique Caribe | 15 Oct 2009 4:17 p.m. PST |
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javelin98 | 16 Oct 2009 2:55 p.m. PST |
At the close of the 22nd century, Earth was exhausted by war, famine, overcrowding, and a growing sense of its own numbered days. Efforts to terraform other planets and moons in the solar system had met with some success, and it was only a matter of time before the governments on Earth, trying to keep so many various lids on so many various pots before they boiled over, began to look to the stars for solutions to their problems. Space had held the promise of a bright new future, but it was in a time of darkness that the tarnished human race finally set forth to settle the rest of its solar system. Exhausted, patience lost, dreams dead, and future surely dying, the governments of Earth began to round up their wretched refuse, the tired and poor, and ship them off-planet. The first pioneers were not those with bold strides and defiant hearts, but were rather those unable to defend themselves against deportation. Massive population movements took place, with billions of people eventually rounded up and sent into space to one of Earth's new bastard-child colonies. Blue-helmeted Peacekeepers no longer investigated and prevented crimes of humanity against disadvantaged populaces; their role now was that of facilitators. Ships able to carry a million hapless souls at a time were filled to capacity as Earth shed those she could no longer support. Age-old tribal rivalries and political vendettas led to entire ethnic groups being forcibly removed from the planet and sent abroad. The assumption was that Earth would be a better place once its population numbers returned to levels not seen since the 1800's. And for a while -- a century or two -- that was true. Earth gave little thought to those it had discarded like chaff to the wind. No one cried for them, no one told their story. Too many were too busy with nursing the weary planet back to a state of health to regret the evil which they had come to inflict upon their fellow humans. And then, as always, things changed. As technology progressed and the nightmares of the 22nd century receded, it became clear that the need for new and exotic minerals -- heavy metals, fissile material, silicates -- was outstripping Earth's ability to provide them. The planet was still overtaxed from the rapacious treatment it had received since the Industrial Age. The governments of Earth began to reach out again to the worlds that they had shunned, thirsty for those elements that human civilization now needed to thrive. But those worlds were a far different place than they had been. Hundreds of millions of people had died after being dumped on the solar system, but billions had survived, and they held no love for Earth. They were toughened by their long quest for survival and hardened by the pitiless face that life had turned on them. They were also resourceful; autonomous mining plants eventually became rudimentary factories for necessary equipment, while hydroponic farms not only sustained the offcasts with food, but with basic medicines as well. The creche-vats, where millions of animal embryos had been grown to maturity in a fraction of their normal maturation times, now helped the human populations grow and thrive. And being rich in metals, the offworld colonies had no trouble in mining and refining the necessary materials to produce machinery, batteries, photovoltaics, structures
and weapons. When Earth arrived to wrap its arms around its long-lost children on their far-flung homesteads, the Earthers found that those children didn't want to be reclaimed, and they had arms of their own. Unprepared for what they might find, the Earthers, while superior in technology and training, were slaughtered by the thousands as the offcasts extracted blood to repay the blood their ancestors had shed upon those frontiers. Once again, humanity found itself at war with itself. As Earth Force began to wrest portions of Mars from the populations it found there, none resisted more fiercely than the Sahadeen. An amalgam of North African, Arab, and Mongolian cultures, the Sahadeen were descendents of those who had headed to the mountains of Tharsis to contrive some advantage from the mineral riches of the area. In the shadow of Olympus Mons, they had established one of the rare bright spots in the colonial systems, and it was their capital city, Bounty, and its bright lights that first attracted Earth Force. The Sahadeen were not going to go without a fight. They were a rugged people, they knew the terrain, and they knew that sheltering in the mines and canyons of Tharsis would prevent Earth from simply obliterating them with a thermonuclear fist. Thus, it was up to the ground troops of Earth Force to go in and bring them out. The Sahadeen priests prayed for God to have mercy on the souls of the Earthers, because the Sahadeen themselves sure as hell had none to spare. |
Cacique Caribe | 16 Oct 2009 11:35 p.m. PST |
Oh, Javelin! That is beautifully written. It read as a true story, and I hated it when it ended. Wow. Fantastic. And I find it interesting that you mention Tharsis and Olympus Mons as part of the Sahadeen territory. That is exactly where I visualized them, but extending into Valles Marineris and Arsai Mons as well. picture picture Thanks so much for that. CC |
Cacique Caribe | 17 Oct 2009 5:49 a.m. PST |
Imagine Sahadeen waking up in the morning, getting out of their tents, and seeing this kind of terrain all around them: picture picture picture picture CC |
Cacique Caribe | 17 Oct 2009 6:08 a.m. PST |
Javelin: "An amalgam of North African, Arab, and Mongolian cultures, the Sahadeen were descendents of those who had headed to the mountains of Tharsis to contrive some advantage from the mineral riches of the area." Check this out: TMP link CC |
Cacique Caribe | 17 Oct 2009 4:46 p.m. PST |
Oooo, I may make something like this for my Sahadeen to defend: picture What do you think? CC |
javelin98 | 17 Oct 2009 8:09 p.m. PST |
Glad you liked it, CC! Always glad to make a contribution. |
Cacique Caribe | 17 Oct 2009 9:21 p.m. PST |
It was very good! I also liked the idea of a quarantined Earth. CC |
Cacique Caribe | 21 Nov 2009 10:00 p.m. PST |
Guys, Any new contributors or, perhaps, anyone wanting to extend a second chapter to their background stories above? :) Dan |
Lampyridae | 23 Nov 2009 12:57 a.m. PST |
Ironically the future history of my never-finished book reversed the roles of the two sides. The "Earth Force" Marines are Martians and the Sahadeen are neo-Taliban from Earth bent on maniacal conquest, after having taken over the planet. Mars has no shipyards but can manufacture weapons. Earth has shipyards but carting AFVs to Mars is a quick way to bankrupt yourself. So, the Sahadeen attack with lightly-armed infantry in drop pods and Thors, and the Martians drive around trying to wipe them out before they break into the underground colonies slaughtering everyone. That the Sahadeen live in tents shows you that they are not natives of the planet. Tents = slow death by radiation on a partially terraformed Mars. |
Cacique Caribe | 24 Nov 2009 10:38 a.m. PST |
That is quite a role reversal (Earthers as the fanatics). Very interesting! Thanks. Dan |
ZeroGee2 | 24 Nov 2009 11:05 a.m. PST |
Many SF authors have used the idea of colonies isolated for long periods when their central civilisation breaks down, giving a "hiatus" or "Long Night" when there is no contact between worlds, until a few regain enough industrial base to resume star travel – by which time each world/society has developed on its own course; two examples that spring most readily to mind are Poul Anderson's Ensign Flandry/Polesotechnic League series, and Dave Drake's current Daniel Leary/RCN (Republic of Cinnabar Navy) novels; both series are great rollicking space adventure stuff, with some interesting parallels despite being written forty-odd years apart. Jon (GZG) |
Cacique Caribe | 24 Nov 2009 11:08 a.m. PST |
Jon, That is perfect. I'll look them up asap. Thanks! Dan |
BlackWidowPilot | 24 Nov 2009 11:22 a.m. PST |
<ahem> why limit yerself to Mars? I got dibs on Ganymede for colonization by my Scandahooligan cousins: link
When Earth government began their deportations, one of the most outspoken and aggressive critics and opponents were the peoples of the Scandinavian countries, who rankled at the barbarity of the mass deportations of the poor and the helpless. As their efforts became more strident, Earth Gov retaliated, deporting hundreds of thousands of innocent Scandinavians -often entire extended families- whose only crime had been one (1) of their members their voicing their objections to crimes against humanity by a despotic Earth Gov. But Earth Gov was in no mood for voices of dissent, and took the path of many a tyranny before, collectively punishing entire families for the "misdeeds" of one.
As part of that vindictiveness so characteristic of despotism, Earth Gov shipped those "violent political agitators" to Ganymede, reasoning that the Scandinavians were already acclimated by countless generations to a cold, icy environment, so they should have little trouble adjusting to life on a frozen iceball. But that apparent cruelty backfired in the long run on Earth Gov, as there was indeed a vast ocean under the surface of Ganymede, and it could sustain life once the plucky colonists introduced enough heat by taping the planetary core, and seeded the waters with terrestrial deep water species able to adapt and propagate without direct sunlight. Aquaculture abounded as a result, making Ganymede a rich trading partner with the other colonies, providing badly needed protein and related products to their neighbors. But fishmongering did not become the only trade of the inhabitants of Ganymede, as the need for self-defense from potentially hostile neighbors who covet their resources prompted the colonists of Ganymede to organize a professional defense force from the beginning, following ancient Scandinavian traditions of every able-bodied person contributing to their collective defense. Over time, the Ganymedians developed an efficient armaments infrastructure for their defense, and became an exporter of note amongst the colonies for increasingly sophisticated and reliable weapons systems, including everything from light spacecraft to ground vehicles and small arms. Relations with the Sahadheen have actually become very strong of late, as the Ganymedians have no desire to be subjugated by Earth anymore than the other colonies, and have sent both advisors, arms, and some troops to assist the Sahadeen in their struggle for freedom. Ganymedian space forces skirmish semi-regularly with Earth Force elements that venture too close to their declared zone of influence, and the colonists have been waging a successful campaign in the mass media to win the hearts and minds of the Earth public against the "imperialist aggression of their government." While the Ganymedians know they are hardly strong enough to overcome Earth Gov forces on their own, they know full well that if a sufficiently large enough alliance of colonies can be forged, Earth Gov will be forced to the bargaining table, and liberty can be preserved. It is in this effort that the Ganymedians are leading the way, sending diplomatic missions far and wide in the solar system seeking alliances with their far-flung fellow deportees. Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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Cacique Caribe | 24 Nov 2009 11:35 a.m. PST |
LOL. Sahadeen and Scandahooligans, Unite! Dan |
the evil morlab | 24 Nov 2009 2:48 p.m. PST |
"A terraformed Mars could support lichen but the planet whould still be cold" perhaps colonizing mars would include shooting something into the core to heat it up again? electromagnetism would support an atmosphere, then that atmosphere could be heated. would take a lot of tech, but it will prolly be doable in the future (that is if we don't blow ourselves up first) |
BlackWidowPilot | 24 Nov 2009 5:41 p.m. PST |
"Sahadeen and Scandahooligans, Unite!" Earth Gov hasn't got a snowflake's chance in Hell against such a coalition
. Bwaahahahahahaahahahaaa!!!
Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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BlackWidowPilot | 24 Nov 2009 5:44 p.m. PST |
?!!! Dan, you never read the works of Poul Anderson?!!!! SHAME ON YOU!!! Leland R. Erickson Metal Express metal-express.net
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Cacique Caribe | 17 Dec 2009 2:27 a.m. PST |
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Cacique Caribe | 20 Jan 2010 9:14 p.m. PST |
My Sahadeen are going to have competition over the meager resources on the planet . . . TMP link Dan |
Cacique Caribe | 25 Sep 2010 10:34 a.m. PST |
Well, while we continue to wait on the Khurasan Non-Jawa Chewks* to fight against the Rebel Minis Sahadeen, check out these cool-looking 12mm tall "Sandrider" guys: link TMP link TMP link There may be other options out there: TMP link Thanks, Dan * TMP link |
Cacique Caribe | 25 Mar 2011 10:45 a.m. PST |
Guys, Check out what GEM has in the works: link TMP link Not "Jawa" types, but suitable for no-tech alien desert dwellers. Dan TMP link |