Home Star System: Sol
Nation: Senatus Populesque Romanus
Date: This the 18th Day of the Ides of Iulius, In the Year of 2757, Ab Urbe Condita.
Heads of State: Pro-Praetor Flavius Curius Strabo, Imperator Casca Rufius Longinus
National Flag:
PrologueIn the Misty Legends of Roma, that are lost in the haze of time, it is said that Iuppiter and Mars had foreseen the time when the barbarians would overcome Roma Mater. Iuppiter despaired of ever seeing his children out among the stars. So he along with Mars began to weave the ether to recreate Sol down to the last detail, and then created the volcanic eruption of Vesuvius Mons, while devastating, it allowed Vulcan to pass on the secret of Fulminata. Armed with Fulminata and trained by Mars himself Roma was able to overcome her enemies and continued to expand the empire. Iuppiter reasoned that if these Romans whom he deemed worthy of fulminata could not carry Roma Mater to the stars, then none would be worthy to carry on the name Roman.
Iuppiter warned that they had to display all the virtues of a true Roman and these virtues were: Officium (Duty), Aequitas (Respect), Gravitas (Dignity), Nobilitas (Nobility), Concordia (Harmony), Humanitas (Culture), Pietas (piety), Virtus (Courage), Firmitas (Tenacity), Industria (Hard Work). And if not displayed the people of Rome would go the way of the Alexandrian empire, fragmented and finally conquered. These Romans had to have more in common with Seneca and Cicero than with Commodous and Nero.
As Iuppiter had foreseen only true Romans would prosper and eventually make it to the stars. But what is a Roman without conflict? So Mars placed within the grasp of other cultures that he deemed worthy to fight the Imperium, the secret of fulminata. If the Romans were not vigilant these other cultures would be able to fight for the fate of the new world Iuppiter and he had created. If these Romans were not worthy, then none would be. It would be an interesting fight either way.
In the Year 2757 A.U.C. Ab Urbe Condita, the Romans had shown they were worthy of Iuppiter and Mars, for they had finally conquered the Orbis Sericum (Chinese Sphere) and united Terra under the Pax Romana.
The Discovery of the Gates of Apollo was just a few short years away. ***
Roman Terra, like our Earth, has their version of Luna they call Pugio Caelum, The Sky Dagger. Sky Dagger is approximately 24% the size of Terra and like Luna is tide locked to its parent planet. Sky Dagger is named for the unusual pattern the dark and light areas of the moon make. Where in our reality these resemble a ?face?, the Roman version of Luna in this reality resembles a large Dagger, which has its point down and to the right, and it?s hilt up and to the left.
As the closest astral body to Terra the Sky Dagger was studied throughout Humanity?s history in much the same way Luna has been studied on our Earth. As with Luna a lot of speculation has been made as to why Sky Dagger is not a Terran type world. After all it?s at the same distance, developed at the same time and is almost as big. Plans were made to try to terraform the moon, but more recent analysis the Romans had determined it to be out of the question with current technology.
During the latter part of the Roman Republic?s final take over of Terra, one of the other nations, the Han, looked into opening up off world mining operations to try and improve it?s chances of holding out against the Roman Republic?s expansion. As part of their planning they decided that it would be a good idea to see what was on the other side of Sky Dagger. So they launched satellites to the far side of Pugio Caelum to see what was there. What they found only became public much later and in the end had helped speed up the growth of the Senatus Populesque Romanus and their eventual demise.
***
As the small spacecraft passed around the far side of Sky Dagger one of the instruments added as an after thought detected something that no one had expected. When it finally came back out from the radio shadow of Sky Dagger it passed on the information. The small spacecraft had picked up a radio signal from the surface!
For the first time in the history of Terra the leaders of all the nations came together and discussed the implications. Unless the satellite was faulty the Human race was not alone in the galaxy. An agreement quickly followed joining all of the smaller nations under Roman leadership. The now stronger, and greatly expanded Roman Republic finally was able to remove those nations that refused to join the Republic from existence.
Plans then began for a manned mission to the far side of Sky Dagger. Even with the resources of the whole planet the mission was a challenge for the Romans. It took nearly a year to get to the point where everything was ready and even then the odds were that it would be a one-way trip. The Emperor felt no more time could be taken; whoever was on Sky Dagger might decide to do something at anytime.
***
Four Brave Romans were blasted into space along with a number of relay satellites to allow signals to be sent from the dark side of Sky Dagger.
The following is an extract from the log of the mission?s landing stage. Nova Capua {Capua} is the Roman equivalent of Houston in terms and location of their early space program. Aquilia is the name given to the Lunar Excursion Module and Peregrine to the Command Module.
<Beep>
?Aquilia, Capua. If you read, you?re Go for powered descent. Over.
?Aquilia, this is Peregrine. They just gave you a Go for powered descent.
<Beep>
?Aquilia, Capua. Your alignment is Go on the AGS. On my mark, 3:30 ?til ignition.
?Roger.?
?Mark. 3:30 ?til ignition.?
<Beep>
?Ignition. 10 percent, Throttle up. Looks good!?
?Aquilia, Capua. Everything?s looking good here. Over.?
<Beep>
?Okay, Capua; (garbled) the ED Batts are Go... ...at 4 minutes.?
?Roger. You are Go. You are Go to continue powered descent. You are Go to continue powered descent.
<Beep>
?Aquilia, Capua, 6 plus 25. Throttle down...?
?Roger. Copy.?
<Beep>
?Capua, Aquilia, 5000 feet. 100 feet per second (descent rate) is good. Going to check my attitude control. Attitude control is good.?
?Aquilia, you're looking great. Coming up 9 minutes? Aquilia, Capua. You?re Go for landing. Over.
<SNIP>
<Beep>
?Contact Light. Okay. Engine Stop? Mode Control, both auto. Descent Engine Command Override, Off. Engine Arm, Off. 413 is in.?
?We copy you down, Aquilia.?
<Beep>
?Capua, Campus Tranquilatus here. The Aquilia has landed.?
?Roger, Tranquilatus. We copy you on the ground. You got a bunch of guys about to turn blue. We?re breathing again. Thanks a lot.?
<Beep>
<SNIP>
?Tranquilatus. Be advised there?re lots of smiling faces in this room and all over Terra. Over.?
?Well, there are two of them up here.?
?Roger. That was a beautiful job, you guys.?
?And don?t forget two smiling faces in the command module.?
<SNIP>
?Campus Tranquilatus, Capua. All your consumables are solid. You're looking good in every respect. We copy the DPS (Descent Propulsion System) venting. Everything is going as planned. Over.?
?Thank you, Capua.?
<Beep>
?Peregrine, Capua. We have a P22 update for you, if you?re ready to copy. Over.?
?At your service, sir.?
?Roger, Marcus. T1, 104:32:18; T2, 104:37:28. And that is 4 miles south. This is based on the targeted landing site. Over.?
?Roger. Understand. Based on the targeted landing site; T1, 104:32:18; T2, 104:37:28, and 4 miles south.?
<Beep>
?Arminius: From the surface, we could not see any stars out the window; but out my overhead hatch, I'm looking at Terra. It's big and bright and beautiful. Decius is going to give a try at seeing some stars through the optics.?
?Roger, Tranquilatus. We understand. Must be a beautiful sight. Over.?
<Beep>
?Aquilia, Capua. Have a latitude (and) longitude-over-two update for Suspected Signal position. Over. (Pause) Aquilia, Capua. Over.?
?Go ahead, Capua.?
?Roger. Aquilia, it's plus 7 - correction - plus 0.799 for the Lat, plus 11.730 for the longitude-over-two. Over.?
?Thank you. The signal strength remains unchanged??
?That's affirmative Aquilia.?
<Beep>
?Capua, Tranquilatus.?
?Go, Tranquilatus. Over.?
?Roger. Our recommendation at this point is planning an EVA, with your concurrence, starting about eight o?clock this evening, Capua time. That is about 3 hours from now.?
?Stand by.?
?Campus Tranquilatus, Capua. We thought about it; we will support it. We?re go at that time. Over.?
?Roger that.?
<Beep>
?Peregrine. Did you see any signs of a base? Over.?
?Well, the area looks smooth, but I was unable to see any sign of a base. I just picked out a distinguishable crater nearby and marked on it.?
?Peregrine. Capua. I understand you could not see any signs of a base. What were you marking on? Over.?
?Capua, Peregrine. I say again, I could not see anything. Auto optics pointed at a spot very close to the coordinates which you gave me, so I picked a tiny crater in that area and marked on it so I will be able to have repeatable data, but I was unable to see any signs of a base.?
?Roger. Copy that.?
<SNIP>
?Capua, this is Campus Tranquilatus. We are beginning our EVA Prep.?
?Campus Tranquilatus, this is Capua, Roger. Copy.?
?Peregrine, this is Capua. We request that you perform another P22. We'd like you to let the Auto optics take care of the tracking and devote your energies to trying to pick out the LEM on the lunar surface. Then we want you to keep looking for signs of a base or signal tower. We?re looking for marks on it; but tracking of geographical features doesn?t do us all that much good. Over.?
?Okay. Fine. I'll do it.?
<SNIP>
?Capua, this is Tranquilatus. We?re standing by for a Go for cabin depress. Over.?
?Campus Tranquilatus, this is Capua. You are Go for cabin depressurization. Go for cabin depressurization.?
?Roger that.?
<Beep>
?I?m at the foot of the ladder. The LEM footpads are only depressed in the surface about 1 or 2 inches, although the surface appears to be very, very fine grained, as you get close to it. It?s almost like a powder. Groundmass is very fine. I?m going to step off the LEM now? That?s one small step for a Roman; one giant leap for the Senate and people of Rome.?
?Aquilia this is Capua, begin recon of the landing zone.?
<Beep>
?Capua this is Aquilia, we have arrived at the transmission site, there is nothing on the surface. We?re beginning a sweep of the local area.?
<SNIP>
<Beep>
?Capua this is Aquilia, We have found a hidden door 50 yards from the transmission point.?
<Beep>
?Capua this is Aquilia, I believe we have found the opening device. Should I open the door??
<Beep>
?Aquilia this is Capua, wait one while we confirm the go-ahead for you.?
<Beep>
?Aquilia this is Capua, permission granted.?
The ground team entered what turned out to be a small base, which had been abandoned by whomever had built it. The few pieces of equipment still in the base indicated that the base was for research of some sort. There was no sign of any aliens, however the control devices (keyboards etc.) seemed oddly designed to the Romans and so the conclusion was made that they were extra-solar. Further investigation revealed some plants and animals from Terra. From the study of those plants and animals it became apparent that the base was several thousand years old. Almost immediately the Romans began to wonder just how much of a ?myth? their origins were.
The discovery pushed the Romans into space and they quickly visited the other planets and moons in their home system to see if there was any sign of other bases or the makers of the base found on Sky Dagger. They found nothing. One of the side effects of this was that various theories were formed and eventually they led the Romans to their most recent discovery, the Gates of Apollo. It also led to the Roman usage of corvettes as survey craft as they felt they needed to quickly go looking for whomever or whatever built the base.
***
Casca once again turned to his Magister Classis and said, "So nothing was found on that base? How long did you say it had been evacuated?"
Tiberius Drusus Pomponius replied, " Imperator, the botanists and biologists reports say that the age of the specimens found on Sky Dagger were, they estimate, several millenia old, and that the base must have been abandoned for at least several thousand years. We have dispatched an archeological team to comb the base for any possible technology the base builders may have been left behind."
***
News Extract from the Imperial News Network
Today the Classis announced that they have recently tested an ?Ion drive engine?. This follows amateur astronomer reports of fast moving ships seen close to Terra over the last few months. According to a Classis spokesman the ?Ion drive engine? will revolutionize intra-system travel.
"Imperator, I am happy to announce that our first test of the new drive technology we found on Sky Dagger was a resounding success. With this drive we should have no problems exploring the rest of Sol."
"Very good Tiberius, keep up the good work. Tell your men that the Senate and people of Rome are proud of their Classis."
***
Deep space, Sol system
Far out in the Sol system, beyond the planet Iuppiter, a small probe slowly activated itself once the parameter for revocation of observation status was achieved. Millennia ago the probes builders had set the probe with the task of watching this world. And now its sensors had detected a drive signature powerful enough, near the planet under observation, to indicate the species in question has finally developed an Ion drive, the first technology needed to begin the first steps to the stars.
For a few moments the probe double-checked its results ensuring the information was correct. Then it powered up its Ion drive and began to head out of the system. It headed unerringly for an empty spot in space very similar to infinite other spots in space. When it arrived at the spot it suddenly stopped.
If the probe could have been confused it would have been. The probe?s jump drive should have opened up the wormhole at this location, but it wasn?t here. It double checked its maps and checked the local stellar marker stars to confirm it was where it should have been. The probe went over to a back up program and began to spiral out from the wormholes supposed position. Once it reached 5 Light Seconds from the point it had stopped at, a new program took over and the probe aimed itself for deep space.
After almost 6 months it self destructed far from the system to ensure the inhabitants would never find any trace of it.
***
"Imperator, I have grave news, and we need to speak of it." Tiberius said with a nervous tic, not knowing how the Emperor would react to the news he bore.
"Go ahead Tiberius."
"Approximately 144 minutes after the Ion drive of our Experimental Vessel was activated a second Ion drive signature was detected in the outer reaches of the Sol system. The operators initially believed this was a sensor image from the Experimental Vessels Ion drive. After additional analysis of the drive signature it became apparent that the drive signature was markedly different from the Experimental Vessels drive signature."
"Unfortunately, the unknown Ion drive signature was visible for only 30 seconds before vanishing. This sighting combined with the base found on the dark side of Pugio Caelum brings the Classis to the conclusion that some unknown person or persons is watching Terra and they now will know we have developed an Ion drive and the technology to support it."
"We recommend outfitting a ship as fast as humanly possible to investigate the locale of the unknown Ion Drive's last known position."
Casca was dumbfounded! Somone else was in their system, and they had to find out what was going on. "Tiberius, I think you are right, we need to get a ship out there quickly. Unfortunately, there are no such ships with which to do that."
"The architects on my staff have thrown together a design for a scout to survey the area where the unknown disappeared. They also took the time to prepare a design for surveying the other planets and moons for signs of any other bases or technology left behind."
"Very good Tiberius, show me the plans for the new ship classes you were telling me of."
"First off Imperator we have the Liburnia Class scout, it consists of:
Liburnia class Survey Ship 5000 tons 540 Crew 1241 BP TCS 100 TH 118 EM 0
2360 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 36/36/22/5/0 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 12
Magazine 400 Replacement Parts 5
Apollo J5000(3-50) Jump Drive Max Ship Size 5000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Mil Ion Engine EE0.76 AR-0 (4) Power 59 Efficiency 0.76 Signature 29.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 160,000 Litres Range 181.9 billion km (892 days at full power)
Missile Launcher 06-060 (2) Missile Size 6 Rate of Fire 60
Artemis Class Missile Fire Control S02-040 (1) Range: 400k km
Thermal Sensor TH2-36 (1) Sensitivity 36 Detect Signature 100: 3.6m km
Excubitus Active Sensor MR1920-R2.4 (1) GPS 192 Range 1.9m km Resolution 2.4
Cura Grav Pulse Detection Sensor GPD2-36 (1) Sensitivity 36 Detect Strength 100: 3.6m km
Custos EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1) Sensitivity 22 Detect Strength 100: 2.2m km
Phased Gravitational Sensors (1) 5 Survey Points
"next we have the Magellus class survey ship, it consists of:
Magellus class Geosurvey Ship 5000 tons 540 Crew 1041 BP TCS 100 TH 118 EM 0
2360 km/s JR 3-50 Armour 1 Shields 0-0 Sensors 36/36/22/0/1 Damage Control 0-0 PPV 12
Magazine 400 Replacement Parts 5
Apollo J5000(3-50) Jump Drive Max Ship Size 5000 tons Distance 50k km Squadron Size 3
Mil Ion Engine EE0.76 AR-0 (4) Power 59 Efficiency 0.76 Signature 29.5 Armour 0 Exp 5%
Fuel Capacity 160,000 Litres Range 181.9 billion km (892 days at full power)
Missile Launcher 06-060 (2) Missile Size 6 Rate of Fire 60
Artemis Class Missile Fire Control S02-040 (1) Range: 400k km
Thermal Sensor TH2-36 (1) Sensitivity 36 Detect Signature 100: 3.6m km
Excubitus Active Sensor MR1920-R2.4 (1) GPS 192 Range 1.9m km Resolution 2.4
Cura Grav Pulse Detection Sensor GPD2-36 (1) Sensitivity 36 Detect Strength 100: 3.6m km
Custos EM Detection Sensor EM2-22 (1) Sensitivity 22 Detect Strength 100: 2.2m km
Geological Survey Sensors (1) 1 Survey Points
"Outstanding Tiberius, how long will it take to get these into production?"
"We can have one prototype of each available in a few of weeks, but to get a production line set up will take a considerable amount of time."
"We can't wait that long, so knock out the prototypes with all haste."
?Vestri ero perfectus Imperator.? (Your will be done Emperor). There was nothing more to be said so Tiberius turned and left.
NOTE: technically speaking, the ships should not have their jump engines yet, but I just did not feel like making an extra design just to show a temporary version without the jump engines.