This write-up is purely fictional and does not intend on being a representation for any future characters or factions.
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INTRODUCING:THE ANTARCTICA EXPEDITION
The precarious state of the Sirius Coalition in the first century of its foundation. sparked a flurry of strategic yet questionable ideas. The small population living beneath Volgograd's thick snow-covered surface faced the constant threat of annihilation from seismic events or other natural or man-made disasters. The leadership acknowledged that the descendants of the Alliance colonists likely thrived in far better conditions and were considerably stronger than the Sirius Coalition at that time.
A key strategic goal was to colonize another planet within the Goldilocks zone, which would later be named Jiangxi. Some research groups argued that to preserve the Coalition's people and their ideas, a more remote colony should be established, whether for actual colonization or resource extraction to support the metropolis.
The constraints of budget, materials, and personnel precluded the possibility of multiple expeditions. The lack of available research vessels was addressed by proposing a single, large research ship capable of traveling from one star system to another for decades, or even centuries, transmitting data back to the home base via encrypted long-range communications. Since immediate colonization was not a pressing issue, the ship's return was deemed improbable: therefore, the vessel was designed to maintain a simple, self-sustaining ecosystem to support the crew during extended research missions within a star system.
For the generation ship's purpose, the vessel needed to be vast, hence its construction in the orbit of Volgograd, on the Gorodok, as the Aralsk Shipyard was nothing but a mere plans in the future. The mission, being non-military and requiring only essential self-defense capabilities, opted for a somewhat outdated design: a large, cylindrical saucer with rotating habitats around its axis to simulate basic gravity. Such ships, prevalent during the early days of Sol colonization, offered ample space and self-sufficiency but lacked military prowess and maneuverability. Named the Antarctica, the ship measured 524 meters in length, with the diameter of its rotating "wheels" reaching 65 meters.
The ship's crew, numbering 320, was primarily composed of families, as there were no immediate plans to return to Coalition space. Selection was age-based: members were either old enough to have adult children or young enough to be childless. Some had placed their children in state care. The presence of many families ensured a nearly equal gender ratio. Given the mission's research focus, the service staff consisted mainly of enthusiastic but inexperienced researchers and engineers, supplemented by a few veteran supervisors, political commissars, soldiers, and others. This composition of the crew theoretically aligned with the concept of a generation ship, should it become necessary.
The ship's immense size was designed to provide the crew with all the essentials for sustaining future generations, ensuring a functional and secure existence over long periods. It featured advanced Coalition technologies of its time, especially in long-range communication, transmission, and encryption, in line with the mission's core objectives. Besides powerful communication antennas, the vessel was equipped with cutting-edge 3D printers and compact automated assembly lines, along with a vast array of blueprints and templates.
These facilities allowed the crew to manufacture various drones, probes, robots, and other devices and appliances, such as mining drones for resource extraction, production, repairs, and the collection of oxygen and water; probes for sampling planetary surfaces; robots for onboard service and conducting planet-based operations; and spaceship components and a range of devices and appliances, from personal spacesuits to stasis capsules.
At the request of the onboard science teams, there was a significant emphasis on biotechnology, particularly artificial self-sustaining micro-ecosystems to create a closed biomass cycle and plant-based oxygen generation, as well as other plant benefits during the voyage. The spacecraft included an extensive biomodule set up for hydroponics, outfitted with filters and a ventilation system for circulating oxygen and CO2. Hailing from the cold planet Volgograd, renowned for its underground habitats, the ship's biological component comprised simple life forms like lichens, fungi, bacteria, and basic invertebrates and insects. More complex life forms were stored as digital DNA imprints, awaiting sequencing when the necessary resources and equipment were available. The most commonly grown plants were potatoes and corn.
JOURNEY:INTO THE UNKNOWN
The Antarctica set off on its voyage in 267 A.S., aiming to reach a system within a vast constellation for research, with the journey estimated to take 58 years.
The ship arrived in 326 A.S., delayed by a year. The crew spent 16 months exploring the system, which lacked habitable planets or significant resources. After surveying and sending the data back home, they entered anabiosis for a 13-year trip to another system. However, they emerged in 428 A.S., not at their planned destination. A solar wind impact had damaged the central processing unit and the solar sails upon leaving the previous system. Relying on a backup computer, they lost the original course, and the corrupted data from the solar flare led them deeper into space. Approaching this new star, emergency protocols awakened the crew in an unknown space region, with a damaged star map and no fast inter-system travel. The central computer's failure made further anabiosis impossible, and with a defective navigation map, blind travel was too risky, leaving the Antarctica confined to this system and the crew to resolve their critical situation.
Since no planet in the system was capable of supporting a landing, the decision was made to head for the nearest asteroid belt and seek shelter from radiation behind a large, ideally metal-rich asteroid.
By the year 429 A.S., the crew had used mining drones to carve out a space large enough to partially shield the ship within the asteroid, hoping to block out some of the radiation. However, the chosen asteroid, despite its size, lacked sufficient metal content to provide adequate protection. Moreover, taking refuge inside the asteroid diminished the sunlight reaching the solar batteries, which served as a secondary power source alongside the fusion core. The increased radiation levels, possibly emanating from a star or undetected black hole in the vicinity, led to crop failure and a significant decline in the crew's health. By 430 A.S., malnutrition and weakness had claimed the lives of 30% of the ship's inhabitants. The situation was indeed grim.
Dying in space was not an acceptable destiny, and the Coalition commended resilience. Upon arrival, biologists discovered that fungi could absorb a significant amount of radiation, surpassing even lead. Furthermore, fungi acted as natural air and soil filters. Bioengineers recognized the project's potential and began developing genetically-modified fungi capable of superior radiation absorption without compromising their edibility.
By 431 A.S., they had partially succeeded with a new species, the Mana Salutis, which was more radiation-resistant and could concentrate toxic substances from air and soil filtration, and radiation absorption, into specific body parts. This allowed the safe consumption of the remaining parts as food or their reuse as fertilizers. To address radiation, the ship's ventilation system was revamped, incorporating soil and seeded fungi. This extensive system spanned the ship, requiring little more than nitrogen-based fertilizers, soil, or hydroponics modules for the fungi to thrive, thus creating a biological shield against radiation, enhancing air filtration, and providing an additional food source. The new biosystem increased the demand for water and nitrogen, leading the crew to further investigate resource management and maximize the use of mining drones.
An unbalanced cycle, radiation, nutrient deficiencies, and psychological challenges weakened the crew, which dwindled to 184 people over the following decade. However, through trial and error, they refined the collection of resources from nearby celestial bodies, achieving an ecosystem balance that allowed sustainability. During these years, the crew prioritized survival; thus, repairing the engines and navigation map, though initially urgent, was deferred as fixes proved ineffective.
FOUNDATION:THE RISE OF COMMONWEALTH
The year 441 A.S., later known as Voidbirth year 1 (VB 1), marked the inception of what would become the Pontus Commonwealth -- the small but sustainable society, with significant scientific contributions and a modest but efficient industrial capacity through 3D printing, resolved to pursue their fate among the stars with the resources at their disposal, in a do-or-die effort. Consequently, a technocratic governance emerged in 1 VB (441 A.S.), fitting for a society that required cooperation for survival, making barter less critical than resource redistribution. Thus, managing food, alloys, personnel, machinery, and crucially, energy, became paramount, necessitating precise allocation towards established objectives.
The Commonwealth governance model, with its regulated economy, leadership by scientific and engineering experts, and a science-driven approach to societal issues, was well-suited to the needs of the Antarctica. With no political commissars surviving, there was no significant ideological resistance; the prevailing ideology was pragmatic survivalism. Initially less formalized, the technocratic government would expand its authority as the society grew.
The initial agenda of the Commonwealth focused heavily on biotechnology and its development, emphasizing the need for food diversification and controlled mutations to aid the crew's survival in space: the plan included standardized genetic modifications and controlled procreation to boost human productivity and fill vacancies on the Antarctica. The strategy also entailed expanding the ship, integrating it with an asteroid to enlarge living quarters, spaces for cultivating fungi and other plants, and additional manufacturing areas. Furthermore, there was a buildup of droid forces to scale up automated construction and resource gathering, along with the construction of smaller, piloted or AI-guided exploration ships.
PROGRESS:SHAPING THE FUTURE
Over the subsequent 100 years, as the Antarctica expanded, the population increased and underwent genetic modifications to better endure the rigors of space life. Reduced gravity led to taller statures, diminished muscle tone, and increased blood flow to the head, causing health issues that could not be remedied due to the unchangeable environment. Therefore, genetic alterations were essential to adapt bodies to lower or zero gravity and the consequences of such conditions.
These initial minor changes set the stage for cumulative genetic mutations, controlled or otherwise, that would make the voidborn markedly different from the rest of humanity. Alongside genetic changes, some individuals opted for cybernetic enhancements to better fulfill their roles. By 100 VB, bio- and cyber-augmentations had become widespread among the population.
In the year 115 VB, the first spaceship was constructed: a small-scale explorer designed to hold five people, built from parts printed by a 3D printer and then assembled.
The design showcased the century's biotechnological advancements, with many components, like the plexiglass, made from organic materials. These were derived from the organic waste of fungi aboard the Antarctica and from parts cultivated specifically for this purpose.
The ship's exterior was reinforced with organic polymers and self-repairing fungal layers that utilized cosmic radiation as an energy source. This innovation granted the vessel self-regeneration capabilities, crucial for the harsh conditions of space and shielding from radiation. Tasked with deeper system exploration, the ship's mission also included searching for jump holes and probing the mysteries beyond them.
This blend of organic and inorganic materials, combined with an emphasis on exploration and research, laid the groundwork for the Commonwealth's shipbuilding philosophy.
By 218 VB, Antarctica had transformed into a vast, mobile station. The population soared to 25,000, bolstered by genetic engineering, artificial wombs, and artificial insemination. This growth was propelled by advanced biotechnologies that introduced novel hydroponics, synthetic food production, and enhanced longevity. Concurrently, the government system was refined into a traditional tripartite structure: the Directorate (Executive), the Collegium (Legislative), and the Adjudication Board (Judicial). Despite their formal independence, these branches were under the purview of the Directorate, comprised of five preeminent experts in administration, ecology, astronomy, engineering, and genetics.
The subsequent century was characterized by space exploration and the construction of modular habitats within the Colchis asteroid belt -- it took over a decade for drones and their supervising crews to build each one, but they were spacious and better suited for human living. Strong artificial Earth-like gravity was abandoned as the population had become accustomed, both biologically and psychologically, to low gravity environments.
A total of six modular habitats were built in 100 years, with eight more in progress. Some specialized in research or agriculture, yet all maintained the essential feature of self-sustainability. For efficiency, the administrative and research hub was relocated from Antarctica to the largest station, Simferopol, thus becoming the Commonwealth's capital.
The rapid expansion of habitable areas allowed for a significant population growth: cloning gained wider acceptance, and the population increased tenfold to 300,000.
The 3rd century VB also marked the introduction of symbiotic fungi to the populace. These fungi, feeding on nutrients ingested by humans, conferred enhanced disease resistance, limited regenerative abilities, improved compatibility with cybernetic implants, and better integration with nanobots in the bloodstream.
This advanced regeneration and metabolism ultimately resolved the biorythm challenge, as the symbiotes eliminated the need for sleep, allowing brain functions to regenerate while the host remained awake.
The symbiotic bond with fungi also enabled pilots to 'connect' to their ships' organic components, enhancing survivability through increased regeneration and sensory integration, permitting pilots to 'feel' what the ship sensed, albeit with the drawback of experiencing limited pain when the ship sustained damage.
One of the greatest achievements of Commonwealth scientists was the invention of biocomputers. The term "bio-" denotes two aspects in this context.
Computations were conducted not with semiconductors, but through the nitrogen bonding of nucleobases: adenine, thymine, guanine, cytosine, and uracil in RNA-based computers. DNA also acted as a self-repairing data storage medium in the event of data corruption.
The second aspect was the integration of biocomputers with the cellular-level bio-modules of ships, enhancing the computers' functionality and sensory range. Subsequently, with the advancement of symbiotic fungi, biocomputers were incorporated into human organisms, with fungal mycelium serving as a sensor grid. This allowed for the collection of data from all parts of the human body, enhancing bodily control, coordination, and providing valuable feedback to the host.
Additionally, biocomputers integrated into humans afforded voidborn individuals the ability to connect with one another, forming a human-to-human network, provided the distance between them was sufficient for data transfer. The full potential of this networking capability was realized with the creation of the Commonwealth's supercomputer "Mat'," which functioned as the central server and processor for the entire voidborn society. It was not the peer-to-peer networks, but the connection to this central computer that endowed the voidborn with a sub-gestalt consciousness, enabling their society to operate at an unprecedented level.
