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Author Topic: Colonizing Hell  (Read 2262 times)

michail

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Colonizing Hell
« on: May 31, 2021, 03:26:03 PM »

(warning: quite image-heavy)

In November of 227th cycle Carson Summerstar's fleet on its grand quest to survey every lump of rock big enough to call itself a planet approached a peculiar star system. Triple star systems are rare enough, but one with two pulsars is unheard of:

Spoiler


(as in, there's only one in the Sector I've got this time, and I don't recall seeing them before)
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Summerstar, having gone quite mad by this time, immediately ordered a jump into the gravity well of a local ice giant, ignoring the protests of crew and quartermaster's warnings about astronomical repair costs and massive radiation exposure. The fleet emerged inside one of the pulsars' beams. Were it happening mere two or three days ago, they'd be in the intersection of both beams. The fleet retreated to ice giant's shadow and scanned the local volume.

Spoiler

You can smell money burning even in vacuum.


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To everyone's surprise, the system actually contained a few planets that could be habitable. How could a planet keep its water and atmosphere while being blasted with monstrous doses of hard radiation every other week remained a mystery. Theories were proposed, the two dominant being Ludd's blessing and Moloch's trickery. But even if one of them would indeed prove habitable, only a fool would try to colonize it. Summerstar looked at the scans, decided that navigating here would be too much of a hassle, and ordered to jump out. But the unusual system remained in his memory and his personal notes...

...until July of 229. Word spread across Samarra system and remote worlds: Carson Summerstar is hiring crew by thousands and bying every starliner, civil transport or troop  carrier he sees in docks. It couldn't be preparations for yet another archeological expedition. Soon, a massive colonization fleet with a completely inadequate warship escort departed to an unknown to the future colonists location via Samarra Gate. Summerstar's officers were confused when they learned the destination gate. There were some good places in Sonora constellation near it, but not anywhere near enough for the amount of people and materials the fleet brought. Everything became clear and horrible when Summerstar ordered to set course for Alpha Jeresh.

The fleet arrived to the system at 17th of July inside the shadow of the ice giant. The first batch of colonists were shoved into spacesuits and out of the airlock towards the ice giant with a promise of hazard pay. The colonists chose a name for it and were left under the meagre protection of its magnetic field. But the mad warlord wasn't done.

Spoiler

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He plotted a "scenic route" course around one of the pulsars towards the nearest stable location and enjoyed the stellar fireworks while the crew was suppressing dissent among future population of Alpha Jeresh system. After installing a comm relay the fleet burned at best speed towards its next target - the nearest toxic world - and dumped another batch of colonists there. Pulsar beams made direct approach to the remaining planets difficult and another scenic route (this time around the other pulsar) was plotted. The arid world and its tundra-covered moon received their people and new less-than-flattering names in two weeks, and the remaining colonists found themselves on a barren rock nearby shortly after.

Spoiler




Scenic route. Pulsars in Starsector are as beautiful as frustrating to navigate around.
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The insane project of the insane warlord was complete. The system would in time become a jewel of the Northern Rim, even if it would forever remain Hell.

Spoiler

[close]

A question to everyone who managed to suffer through my ramblings: have you seen a more horrible system? What'd have? Although this one isn't really horrible - the set of planets is quite nice: the habitables are good, toxic one has decent mining, barren is fine for fuel/military base/heavy industry. But y'know, double freaking pulsars.
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Spearton95

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Re: Colonizing Hell
« Reply #1 on: November 02, 2021, 07:54:21 AM »

I know I'm necro-ing, but this AAR was too amazing to be left unanswered.
You did a good job, it was short but fun to read.
And no, I don't think I've seen a double pulsar system already, it sounds devastating to navigate.
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brroleg

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Re: Colonizing Hell
« Reply #2 on: January 13, 2022, 08:16:03 AM »

And no, I don't think I've seen a double pulsar system already, it sounds devastating to navigate.

In current patch some skill, i dont remember which, negates any damage from sun plasma or pulsar rays when Emergency Burn is engaged.
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