It is the 26th century. As Humanity begun to explore and colonize nearby star systems, they soon learned that they were not the first sentient species to travel in space. An Ancient race, named "the Progenitors" by archaeologists have left countless ruins on planets across the galaxy, housing advanced technology that the humans took decades to understand. They soon stumbled upon the Hyperdrive. A massive progenitor device capable of opening rifts in space-time through which ships could easily relocate from one end of the galaxy to the other in the matter of mere seconds relative to earth. It defied the theory of relativity and human understanding of the universe, showing how much the expanding young race still did not understand.
The Earthlings quickly learned how to use the hyperdrive, but they had no Idea how it really worked. Hoping to learn more from the progenitors so that perhaps one day the humans could build a hyperdrive of their own, they ventured into more and more remote ruins. During one of these expeditions, human explorers stumbled upon the Sphere. A mysterious mechanism on a desolate planet, devoid of all life, the Sphere was one of the most significant progenitor discoveries after the hyperdrive. Some archaeologists skilled in progenitor symbology believed it was a doomsday device of some sort. Regardless, studies continued on the machine, until it was successfully turned on-line. Around the sphere a shadow emerged, swallowing the day and those foolish intellectuals that had pursued investigation at the cost of safety. Dark and frightening. it grew larger and larger at an increasing rate, expanding outwards at just under the meter an hour, a frozen shockwave of obscurity. At least, at first- the speed of expanse of the sphere accelerated as it grew larger, exponentially larger. Those who ventured inside the sphere out of curiosity never returned, nor did they report back via radio or any other form of communication. Soon, the so-called Dark Sphere was so large the scientists evacuated the planet, then the star system. The star itself could no longer by seen. Soon, other stars went out as well in nearby systems, swallowed whole by the inky tide.
In the following weeks, panic spread across Terran space. Massive ships were built to evacuate populations in every sector, however, the physicists warned that there is little hope to escape with conventional engines. The sphere's rate of growth meant it would catch them rapidly. After some very precise calculations, they made a forecast. In a month, the sphere would reach earth. In the next, it would swallow 18 known galaxies. Nobody could tell what's after, but one thing was for certain- only the speed of the hyperdrive offered salvation, and that salvation was dubious at best.
The evacuation ships were all gathered to earth's orbit, clustered around the great ring of the hyperdrive. Not all could make it to Terra, but it was hoped more could join as the ships jumped away from the approaching doom. In the sky, the sphere only occupied a small portion of visible space. Mere dozens of stars blotted out by the nothingness, a hard thing to be afraid of. In reality though, it has almost reached the Terran's birthplace, according to the brightest minds humanity had to offer. The Hyperdrive was prepared, charged up with the thrumming generators of the entire world. It would warp the ships further and further away every 72 hours. The fate of those left behind under the wailing wall of night was not one to be contemplated.
Now the ships have made it very close to the edge of the known galaxy. The last few jump-points on the Hyperdrive's journey outwards beckon, and beyond them, the emptiness of the space between galaxies. Some more ships are joining the fleet, desperate additions from neglected worlds seeking survival. But if anyone will survive the End of All Things is yet to be seen.
(In short, Big space bubble grows at exponential rate. Nobody knows what happens if you get caught in it or when it will stop growing. Big ships are built to get the hell outta the galaxy using an alien space drive. You'll get to command one of these ships.)
The part below is not mandatory to read. You can also just focus on roleplay and leave it to the ship AI to manage resources. It is, however, a large part of this RP, so you'll miss out on part of the experience if you leave it all to the AI.
There wasn't much time to prepare. Many human ships lack supplies and equipment for the endless journey. Thankfully many vessels were equipped to manufacture needed supplies with the elements drifting in deep space.
Motherships can harvest many resources amongst the stars and planetoids of the galaxy, which include:
Light Elements: Mostly non-metals. Used to build life support systems and in provision production.
Heavy Elements: mostly metals, Used to build ships.
Rare Elements: Mostly Rare Metals. Needed for fancy weapons, fuel, and technology.
...and then use them to make what they need...
The Goods manufactured on board:
Provisions: Food and medical supplies for your crew. You'll be in serious trouble if this runs out. Each unit of crew consumes 1 provisions every 72 hours.
Fuel: Used to propel most spaceships forward and generate energy for ship systems. Better not run out of this either.
Weapon Munitions: Needed for reloading most ship weapons. Manufactured two at a time, for either 2 HE or 2 LE.
Small Arms: Used in Close quarters combat by ship crews. Does not consume munitions. (give 1 small arms to 1 unit of crew to arm them for close quarters battle)
Space Tools and Parts: Used to make repairs and upgrades on ships. (You can assign 1 crew for repair duty with 1 space tools. You can only repair minor damage. Destroyed sections have to be rebuilt from scratch)
Soma: Improves Crew Morale. ( give 1 unit of some for a unit of crew and they will be euphoric... or well, at least, not depressed for the next 72 hours. )
Scientific Equipment: Used up during research and construction.
Each Mothership consists of sections. Each section serves some purpose, though their situational utility may be limited. Each section has 10 HP.
There are also different types of spacecraft available... Small spacecraft reside in a mothership's hangar, others remain in space:
Transports and squadrons of fighter and corvette class craft (8 per squadron for fighter, 4 for corvette) are in the hangar.
Everything else will be stationed outside.
The Evacuation ships, or motherships built so far are of distinct classes...
While traveling through space, time will pass, as it does anywhere.
But Beware, In the cold depths of space, the fragile human mind can easily be corrupted.
Work and Fighting isn't the only thing your Crew can be assigned to.
Finally, Each Mothership can give orders to its spacecraft...
Alas... There is one more thing I haven't explained...
Research tree will be shown once IC is up.
Also, there are some things Crews specialize in.
Crew Types:
Ace Pilots - +1 HP for all fighter and corvette class spacecraft. Free repairs for all fighters in hangars.
Production Engineers - +1 Production line in each production facility that uses no workers (but still uses energy). Retooling production lines takes no time, but costs 4 Energy.
Space Miners - +1 Resource collector capacity in each refinery (so you can assign more workers and energy to get 3 unit of elements in the end). Refineries with refinery retrofit produce 6. Mobile refineries also gather one more unit of Elements on each trip.
Gene Engineers - +2 Provisions or Soma production in Greenhouses (with the same energy and crew invested). Can also develop special technology.
Particle Scientists - +2 Fuel produced when refining rare elements in Enrichment Plants. Can also develop special technology.
- Code: Select all
APP
Mothership's Name:
Short history of the people behind it:
Mothership's Crew type:
Mothership's Class:
Mothership's Appearance (optional):
All credit to Harkback, lord and originator of the concept of Homeworld and her mechanics. Outbound existant vessels, just TG me your stats, and make sure to slap them up in your first IC post. Note that Sensors Jammers will have slightly altered functionality.