The Jeffinator
Captain Manbeard
- Joined
- Mar 13, 2005
- Posts
- 8,365
The Ark began construction in 2064, and was completed in 2079. It was designed to be an artificial living environment, equipped with a prototype gravity plate system and intellicrops. It was a space ship, but moreso than that a life ship. Its mission was to transport one thousand passengers -- men, women, and children -- to orbit above Mars. At the time there were already manned stations on the surface of the red planet, but the Ark was the first major step towards civilian colonization.
The Ark departed Earth in 2083 and entered Martian orbit in 2084. It was like a small city inside a space ship, and researchers lived there while catching a shuttle down to dozens of new dig sites and construction zones across the planet. Shuttles also transport passengers and supplies between Earth and Mars. This was a huge step forward, but progress was still very slow. But one emerging technology might have sped things up -- a joint venture between NASA, DARPA, and MasterTech Solutions, Inc. -- the Anti-Matter Drive. This could significantly reduce travel times between Earth and Mars and open the local galaxy up to exploration.
Our characters are passengers -- civilians and researchers -- aboard the Ark. The year is 2094, and the Ark has been above Mars for ten years. There is much fanfare and celebration as we all tune in to a broadcast from Earth showcasing the activation of the first large-scale Anti-Matter Engine within the Drive. That is, until the Engine malfunctions and drops the entire fuel supply of Anti-Matter into the reaction chamber at once. A moment later, the feed from Earth is cut. Static follows.
It takes fifteen minutes in its current position for light and data from Earth to reach the Ark. Shortly after the feed is cut, the passengers witness a bright explosion light up, realizing the Earth has been destroyed, but that it already happened fifteen minutes ago and they are just now seeing it. Probes sent to the coordinates of the blue planet eventually confirm the planet and its entire population have been shattered.
Now our characters must come to terms with the fact that they are never going home. Their friends and families gone forever, and now they must mine minerals from Mars, nearby asteroids, and the remnants of Earth to sustain their lives. Their synthetic food replicators can only provide sustenance for so long, and a state of panic falls over much of the crew. A civil war erupts on the Ark, before researches finally agree to use animal DNA samples in cold storage to grow clones of cows, chickens, and pigs in artificial wombs.
From here, the story can go many places.
The Ark departed Earth in 2083 and entered Martian orbit in 2084. It was like a small city inside a space ship, and researchers lived there while catching a shuttle down to dozens of new dig sites and construction zones across the planet. Shuttles also transport passengers and supplies between Earth and Mars. This was a huge step forward, but progress was still very slow. But one emerging technology might have sped things up -- a joint venture between NASA, DARPA, and MasterTech Solutions, Inc. -- the Anti-Matter Drive. This could significantly reduce travel times between Earth and Mars and open the local galaxy up to exploration.
Our characters are passengers -- civilians and researchers -- aboard the Ark. The year is 2094, and the Ark has been above Mars for ten years. There is much fanfare and celebration as we all tune in to a broadcast from Earth showcasing the activation of the first large-scale Anti-Matter Engine within the Drive. That is, until the Engine malfunctions and drops the entire fuel supply of Anti-Matter into the reaction chamber at once. A moment later, the feed from Earth is cut. Static follows.
It takes fifteen minutes in its current position for light and data from Earth to reach the Ark. Shortly after the feed is cut, the passengers witness a bright explosion light up, realizing the Earth has been destroyed, but that it already happened fifteen minutes ago and they are just now seeing it. Probes sent to the coordinates of the blue planet eventually confirm the planet and its entire population have been shattered.
Now our characters must come to terms with the fact that they are never going home. Their friends and families gone forever, and now they must mine minerals from Mars, nearby asteroids, and the remnants of Earth to sustain their lives. Their synthetic food replicators can only provide sustenance for so long, and a state of panic falls over much of the crew. A civil war erupts on the Ark, before researches finally agree to use animal DNA samples in cold storage to grow clones of cows, chickens, and pigs in artificial wombs.
From here, the story can go many places.
. All water and bodily waste on the station is reclaimed, boiled until evaporation, and then condensed back into fresh water. This happens in the lower decks of the Ark.
