"The Farsiders were the first to make contact with earth. Galactic neighbors really. They coveted our biology so we bartered and learned highly advanced technology in return. Now, eight decades later, we roam the endless scratch of space between our galaxy and theirs. Stations have been built, select planets are being colonized. Many races have joined the intergalactic exchange, but the Farsiders remain our closest contacts. And they have proven no less corruptible than any other race.
Freighters deal with the constant threat of piracy. Thieves and hackers thrive on the public Stations, and frequent territory disputes keep the entire Scratch on the brink of war. As if uncharted space doesn't offer enough threats for us to handle; life support malfunctions, meteor showers, new poisons and viruses found on every planet. Nobody ever said living in the Scratch was easy."
- Captain A. LaPoe
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Starship Galaxy |
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A Space RPG |
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All rights reserved.
In July of 2023 the Farsiders made their first formal contact with Earth. Their public arrival validating dozens of previous claims of crop circles, UFO sightings and abductions. Scouting missions that they were quick to point out always returned the subject unharmed if not always in a timely manor.
Peaceful negotiations soon resulted in a mutually beneficial trade agreement. The Farsiders were to provide us with the energy and propulsion technologies that allowed their ships to reach our galaxy. In return mankind effectively agreed to put it to good use.
The plan was for Humans and Farsiders to terraform and populate a wide swatch of space between their galaxy and ours known as ‘the Scratch’. Mankind’s reproduction rate proved to be our biggest bargaining chip as it almost tripled the rate in which Farsiders were able to reproduce. In fact some claim that part of the agreement was to offer human genetic material and even cross species birthing rights to the Farsiders that they might eventually increase their own reproduction rate. These accusations were flatly denied by our government.
With this new agreement came the foundation of IC corp, The Corporation of Intergalactic Colonization, which financed the relocation initiative in exchange for proper rights to Farsider engine technology. Construction soon began on a transport ship named The Arc which was to bring the first human pilgrimage out to the Scratch. However even with the help of this new technology the trip would still take twelve years to complete. This proved the first practical use for mankind’s recent breakthroughs in human hibernation technology and cryogenics. A subject’s aging process could be made twenty times slower in cryostasis. So after twelve years of hibernation they will have aged just over seven months, and that time spent in a deep coma.
After seven years The Arc was completed, fitted with enough cryo-stasis pods to house 350 passengers. In 2030 the first pilgrimage left for the Scratch, with plans to send the Arc back to earth after a round trip of twenty four years.
It is now seventy eight years later and so far mankind has made three consecutive pilgrimages from Earth to the Scratch. Rough estimates as to the human population along the Scratch is around 900 and growing. The IC corporation continues to finance human colonization, and has assumed a strong governing role over the colonies in order to protect their assets. Many have settled on barren planets to form small but independent Terraforming communities, while the elite take more administrative roles living on orbiting space stations positioned all across the Scratch. Yet the bulk of our population still resides in the few central cities we built on planets that could already sustain human life.
The Arc is scheduled to arrive in the Scratch in six years, bringing with it the fourth human pilgrimage from earth. Since our arrival we have build many starships of varying size, with the help of our Farsider neighbors of course. A trade agreement still stands between Humans and Farsiders in the form of Amber Cells. These compact energy cells have proven difficult for us to produce and are the cornerstone to all stellar travel. Starship Captain is a growing profession along with the many crew positions on each ship. Exploration, transporting cargo, and even piracy are now main staples of income in the Scratch.