The year is 2140. Humans began off-world colonization over a hundred years ago, in the late 2020s. That first civilization on Mars had it rough. They didn’t have the technology, the experience, or the provolution to help them adapt to the rapid and destructive changes in gravity and radiation that caused their bones to crumble and their muscles to weaken. The first generation suffered, but the second and third generations adapted faster than the most optimistic 21-century elder could have ever predicted. As soon as we found ways to exploit the natural resources available in space, we expanded our colonies to Earth’s moons and the moons of Jupiter. From there, Venus and the larger asteroids were a challenge, but by no means reckless. Genetic engineering advanced to the stage where we could take control of our evolution and proactively create bodies that were better adapted to the harsh environment of space and the physical challenges of interplanetary travel. It started with curing cancer, which removed the barrier of radiation that had long plagued the interplanetary explorers. But it wasn’t until we moved on to dramatically increasing the efficiency of oxygen absorption and enhancing kidney function to the point of eliminating urination that we really took our evolution into our own hands. Humanity was not just surviving in space; we were thriving. And our numbers were thriving too, to an alarming extent. We had engineered water reclamation in the body to the point where we no longer lost moisture to sweat or urination, but the human body is still composed of 70% water and water remained our most precious resource. It wasn’t that we didn’t have water in the form of ice - we had more asteroids and frozen subsurface lakes than we could survey. But turning ice into water required work. And work required fuel. And despite the efforts of the united solar system federation and the intervention of the united assembly of planet and non-planet identified object dwellers with unspecified genetic or sexual orientation, water was becoming more and more scarce. We needed new sources, and we needed them soon.
After decades of vicious trade wars, interplanetary FUEL trade was largely dominated by a small group of corporations. They maintained tight control over the VALUABLE THING trade and dominated the credits market [either set up your currency here or set up the need to break free from this repressive currency and start a new crypto society]. Humanity settled into an uneasy lull where there wasn’t enough misery to prompt a rebellion but the quality of life was barely tolerable. This time became known as the great regrettion, due to the lingering feeling of regret that we couldn’t quite articulate. Human expansion wouldn’t burst again until the next great “land rush” in the early 2100’s when a new line of gravity assist ships opened access to the outer worlds. In time, these ships came to be generally known by the name of the most popular brand of ships, “Orbiters”. Thanks to the Orbiter ships, the human frontier once again pushed further outward, all the way to the edge of the solar system.
As humans spread to encompass and colonize the whole of the solar system, it seemed that yet a plateau was reached. We worried that the second regrettion was imminent and that maybe, after all, we were just too fragile to expand past the barrier of our sun, which after all, provides us with ALL of the energy that sustains every form of life. Leaving our planet was the tiniest of steps compared with leaving our sun. Once again it seemed that there were no new worlds to explore and no new empires to build. That is no longer true today.
In just the last few decades, we’ve seen rapid improvements in Obiter technology, drastically reducing travel times between planets. This technology recently crossed a whole new threshold with the successful interstellar test of the Orbiter 8 spacecraft. We are no longer confined to our solar system.
The Orbiter 8, originally built as a next-gen prototype ship, was designed 4 years ago with the strongest hull, most powerful engines, and most advanced onboard AI console available at the time. After the Orbiter 8 smashed every planetary slingshot speed record on the books, the manufacturer refitted the Orbiter 8 with upgraded engines and the latest Minerva AI console.
Today, the Oribter 8 successfully accomplished what few ships before have even attempted. Under the sole command of the Minerva AI console, the Orbiter 8 successfully took a slingshot course around our sun, making it the second ship ever to do so without being crushed by the pressure. The Orbiter 8 then successfully left our Solar System. The only other ship to have accomplished this was a customized version of the super-duty Orbiter 6 series, which is now lost in deep space. The Orbiter 8, however, not only left our Solar System, it also returned. Thanks to the new AI and powerful engines, the Orbiter 8 made the interstellar trip in under 36 hours, braked to orbit speed, and dynamically plotted and executed a return slingshot path using a foreign star for the first time in history.
The first line of interstellar Orbiters are being assembled right now and will be on sale soon. Order yours today. A Galaxy Awaits!
Liberta Galactica!