Chapter 6: No Longer in the Cradle
Chapter 6: No Longer in the Cradle
2200 to 2220
Alisa Seleznovya’s Term as Primer would see earth become fully united fullfilling a long awaited dream. Though terrorists worked hard at trying to prevent it from coming to pass. At the same time mysterious and secrets found in other star systems would begin to rewrite what humanity knew about the galaxy and their own history.
Fighting Terrorism
February 2201. Gagarin Station.
Yevhen Sychyov and several members of his crew were doing yoga exercises when a messenger came running to the room. After three knocks, the crew stopped their workout and then Sychyov went to meet with the messenger.
“What is the matter, comrade?” He asked as he rolled his neck lightly.
“We. just got word from Pluto. Terrorists have attacked the miners and crew working to build a new mining station there. Interkosmos command wants the fleet alerted at once.” the messenger said.
For a single moment Yevhen said nothing but balled his hand up tightly into a fist before taking a breath and then opening it. “Thank you, Comrade. The fleet shall be made ready at once” Yevhen responded.
The fleet crew would then be called into action. Interrupting what many of them were doing at them. The fleet that existed was a small one consisting of three ships, the Odwazny, Qinzhou, and the Pioneer. It was the Pioneer that served as the center ship and the one that Yevhen commanded the small fleet from.
The first Battle in space
April 2201 The space between Mars and the Asteroid belt
“Admiral Sychyov, they are refusing all communications.” Hua Wong spoke as she tried to hail the hijacked ship again.
“We have given them plenty of ways to end this peaceful,” He said pausing before he pressed a button to speak to all three ships in the Kosmoflot that was pursuing the terrorists.
“Proceed to fire on my command, but keep the ships alive.” He said and then nodded to give the order to fire on the ships. Several lasers were fired at the three terrorists ships. Sychyov watched the combat information center that displayed the military information. Due to the distances in space, combat was not the same fast speed on earth. Broadsides were fired at thousands of kilometers at best
As the lasers reached their target several blue reflector shields were raised. Sychyov and the whole crew blinked as the terrorists ships had shields. “That shouldn’t be possible. They have Deflector Shields..” Wong said as she monitored communication between the three ships. Sychyov clenched his jaw before taking a breath.
After sometime of fighting, Wong noticed something on her screen from the opposing ship. “The ship has stopped firing. Its sensors have stopped” Wong said, pausing before she spoke again. “I do not know if anyone is alive but a small boarding party would be able to infiltrate and figure it out.”.
“Very well, I will take a small crew with me. Be prepared for any sort of deception” Sychyov responded.
A shocking discovery
A week later the small boarding ship had docked with the Terrorist ship. As Sychyov and the crew boarded, the power had been cut but oxygen was still stable. Despite the fact that the crew were not taking any chances and had their helmets on.
As they crossed a hallway, gun fire illuminated the terrorists ship. Instead of saying a word, Sychyov gestured quickly to take cover and return fire. They would move from hallway to hallway and soon they were able to corner and disarm several terrorists and were brought to a temporary holding cell in the SZK Pioneer.
“Have you been able to get anything out of this group” Sychyov spoke to a man who had been interrogating and questioning them.
“Yes. They are descendants of a lost colony ship from roughly sixty years ago. Deeply Religious. It seems that they want to create a theocracy and for all humankind to worship their religion.” He said.
“Religious Zealots. I thought such zealotry died out ages ago.” Sychyov spoke with a shake of his head.
“Be that as it may. They do have some allies in our government. Hence why they had deflector shields” The man responded.
“How many do they have?” Sychyov asked.
“I was unable to get that out of them. That said I will inform the Shield at once.” He said to which Yehven nodded in agreement.
Later at the CIC Hua Wong approached Sychyov. “Admiral. I was able to detect some faint ion readings from past the Kuiper Belt. They match the same readings as the ships we fought. Several Star systems away from Earth is where they are coming from. That is what we can trace. The closest one is in the Bernard’s Star system.” She stated formally as she relied the information to the admiral.
“Make a course for Bernard’s Star at once then and Prepare for anything” He stated. After which the fleet would begin to make its way towards Bernard’s stary system and another cell of terrorists.
Exploring the Stars
2200 - Gagarin Station
“Konstantin Tsiolkovsky once stated ‘Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever’ These words would later be echoed by Vladimir Komarov when he stepped onto the moon for the first time in 1969. Today we eacho them as we seek to travel the stars. As we explore new stars to understand our galaxy. Our mission is to explore new worlds and stars, To seek out new life, and to go where no one has gone before.” - Kryspyn Szczrur as the SZK Sputnik made its maiden voyage to beyond the solar system.
As the SZK Sputnik departed from Gagarin Station and traveled past the Kuiper belt to begin the jump to lightspeed and travel to another star, there was much fanfare throughout the solar system. This would be the first time Humans left the solar system. As everyone watched the ship travel beyond the solar system the anthem of Interkosmos, 14 minutes to start, began to play. No one knew what lay beyond the Solar system but what they did discover would change what people knew of the galaxy forever.
Secrets on Alpha Centauri
2203 - Alpha Centauri
Kryspyn Szczrur and a small crew had descended to the planet to get a better look at strange readings that had been uncovered.
“Finally I got the system up and working” Berenika Kovalchuk said as she had finished rewiring the ancient data center. “Let us see what this thing can tell us” She added, with more than a hint of pride at her work.
The station began to hum with life as a map of the nearby star systems glowed faintly from a holographic projector. Several stars including Alpha Centauri glowed more brightly than the rest.
“This looks like our own section of the Milky Way” Szczrur commented.
“That it does.” Kovalchuk responded before pausing to add “Caracharorion...”
“You have a clue what that means?” one of the other crew members commented.
“The name of their species I think,” Szczrur states after staring at the map, before continuing, “Caracharorion... If this map is correct and this is our section of the Milky way then these Caracharions operated here thousands of years ago.”
As the crew descended the lower levels of the station they came into a room filled with pods. They were densely packed throughout
“Oh.. God…” Berenika stated clearly horrified as she looked over one of the pods. In the pod was another human. It looked to be a young woman no more than 17 wearing shackles. It was clear from her expression that she died from suffocation.
Kryspyn looked at the pod next to him and was equally horrified. “They are humans.” He stated as he looked over the pod containing a human man with crude nervous implements embedded into their flesh. “All of them are human…” He said less horrified and more somber and melancholic as he and the crew looked over the various stasis pods.
“We shall take these pods back up and give each of them a proper funeral back on earth.” Kryspyn stated firmly and with sorrow. “Not like this grave that these monsters gave them.”
It would take some time to load the numerous pods onto the Sputnik, still it was done. They would stop on earth to bury the ancient humans. This discovery shocked most of humanity as it did the crew of the sputnik. The other star systems that the map seemed to indicate would be the next stops for the Sputnik to travel to.
Alien Life
2205 Tau Ceti III
The SZK Sputnik arrived at the third planet of Tau Ceti. The third Planet was similar to earth in size, though its moon was made entirely of water.
“The readings from the Planet indicate that the atmosphere is breathable. But that isn’t the strangest thing.” Berenika Kovalchuk stated.
“What would be the strangest thing” Kryspyn asked curiously as he looked over the scientific readings.
“Well it could be the floating land masses or the skyscraper ruins. Take your pick.” She said simply.
“Well we shall head down to see if they have anything to do with those monsters in Alpha Centauri.” Kryspyn said as he went to the elevator that would take him to where the shuttle was to visit the world.
Arriving on Tau Ceti III was an experience. As Kovalchuk stated the planet was covered in floating islands and landmasses. Some of which did indeed have the scattered villages and cities that looked similar to ones back on earth.
A large six legged animal that looked somewhat like a cross between a polar bear and a dog with large floppy ears, ran towards the crew. Everyone was on edge and they all had their side arms drawn and ready should the alien animal turn hostile. This did not happen. Instead the creature ran up to Kryspyn and acting like a puppy began to lick at them and run around them.
“I think it likes you captain.” Kovalchuk said with a playful smile
“That it certainly does” Kryspyn said as he petted the animal that was attacking him playful licks.
As they explored the Planet they discovered that the ruins were left in pristine condition. There was no sign of who built them. They were just gone. No sign of them at all or where they went.
“The planet deserves a closer look to excavate the ruins of who ever built them.” Krypsyn said to his crew.
“We still have our mission to explore the star systems around Earth” another member of the crew spoke up.
“That we do. That is our primary goal.” He stated.
“Captain. May I suggest when we speak with intkos command about this discovery to have Dr. Hamidi lead the excavation of the ruins” Kovalchuk stated.
“You know her well?” the captain asked.
“Yes. She is quite the talented researcher. I worked alongside her before I joined the Sputnik. I believe she would be perfect for the job.” Kovalchuk stated.
“Very well I shall make sure that they know.” Kryspyn said.
A Report on the Ruins of Tau Ceti III
2215
The Ruins from Tau Ceti III are of an ancient design. While at first it might be assumed that these ruins belong to the Caracharorion of Alpha Centauri, that is not the case. The architectural styles are completely different. Further examination of the ruins put the ruins of Tau Ceti III somewhere in the Billions of years ago at the very least, likely last lived in around the Proterozoic era back on earth.
They were built by a species known as the Zroni. Unfortunately the examination in Tau Ceti III did not give us much insight into their biology or even what they look like. The ruins left very few traces of them. However the central data core did detail some important details about their spiritual beliefs.
Compared to the previous theory that if there was to be any alien species out they they would have given up on religion, the Zroni throw some doubt into that idea. It seems that they were rather religious and superstitious believing strongly in the idea that there was some sort of misty veil between the spirit world and the mortal world that is translated simply as Shroud. They believe that when a person’s spirit goes across this shroud they become a deity of some sort. Furthermore, it seems that they believe in the ability for spirits and demons to affect someone through interacting with their dreams.
We still do not not know what caused their disappearance. It is unlikely to be mass suicide as their is no evidence of mass killing. Nor did they seem to abandon their cities as we have not found anything that would suggest that they left the cities for the wilderness. However, while we currently do not know what happened to them; we do know that they had colonies in the Galaxy. Further study could illuminate more as to whom these Zroni were.
Unification Day
2213.09.08 - Earth
The goal of uniting the earth into one nation, one Soviet Union, was a long awaited dream. It was also an objective that Alisa Seleznyova had promised back in 2200, and many were wondering if she was going to achieve the goal of the 2217 deadline that the Supreme Soviet had wanted.
However in 2213 the dream final materialized and for the first time in Human history, Humankind was united into one government. Thus the 8th of September would be dubbed Unification Day. All throughout the earth people were celebrating. From Moscow to London, from Beijing to Casablanca, from Toronto to Santigo and everywhere else there were parades and marches as people celebrated this day.
It was this act that helped ensure Seleznyova her legacy. While the process was almost a century old if not longer, Alisa gave a face to the unification movement in the final stretch of the process. While there were other acts that helped ensure she would be remembered, notably cleaning up the Pacific Ocean and removing the Great Garbage Patch. It was her actions in bringing the earth together that was a cause for celebration.
The fact that there were humans who rejected this and had joined the Terrorists who were not bound by the rules of Earth was a cause of concern for those within the government. After the terrorists were destroyed in the Banard’s Star system in 2205, most on earth regarded them to be over. It was the so called Caracharorion that occupied the fears of far more than terrorists. While no one knew if they were still out there or not, this discovery frightened many.
The colony of Mars grow
2216 - Mars
While humanity had long been on Mars and settling Mars since the late 21st century and 22nd century. It was only in the 23rd century that the planet was opened up for colonization. Before than one had to be either born on Mars or be part of Interkosmos due to the intense conditions on the planet.
To that end a number of programs had begun to make it more hospitable for humanity. Water had been discovered deep underground in Mars. This would bring about a terraforming project that while small in scale did help to contribute to making the planet more habitable for humanity. Though despite this, Mars was still largely inhospitable for humanity. Thus the cities of Mars were built into great domed cities.
By 2216 conditions and cities were established enough that it was migrating to Mars was made much more open. Though not to all, as one had to show that they were healthy and fit for living on an alien planet. This did mean that more people on Mars tended to come from among the elite and well off.
Life on the red planet was often described as a strange mix of rural and urban life. Because of the obvious fact that one’s space was limited by the domed city they were in, one had to make the most of the space. However, compared to most cities on Earth they had far less people. So the housing blocks were more like communal villages then communal apartments. Naturally this had the effect of making the Pro-martian voices demanding that Mars become an SSR grow louder and louder and by the end of Seleznyova’s term of office in 2220 this issue had yet to be resolved.
2200 to 2220
Alisa Seleznovya’s Term as Primer would see earth become fully united fullfilling a long awaited dream. Though terrorists worked hard at trying to prevent it from coming to pass. At the same time mysterious and secrets found in other star systems would begin to rewrite what humanity knew about the galaxy and their own history.
Fighting Terrorism
February 2201. Gagarin Station.
Yevhen Sychyov and several members of his crew were doing yoga exercises when a messenger came running to the room. After three knocks, the crew stopped their workout and then Sychyov went to meet with the messenger.
“What is the matter, comrade?” He asked as he rolled his neck lightly.
“We. just got word from Pluto. Terrorists have attacked the miners and crew working to build a new mining station there. Interkosmos command wants the fleet alerted at once.” the messenger said.
For a single moment Yevhen said nothing but balled his hand up tightly into a fist before taking a breath and then opening it. “Thank you, Comrade. The fleet shall be made ready at once” Yevhen responded.
The fleet crew would then be called into action. Interrupting what many of them were doing at them. The fleet that existed was a small one consisting of three ships, the Odwazny, Qinzhou, and the Pioneer. It was the Pioneer that served as the center ship and the one that Yevhen commanded the small fleet from.
The first Battle in space
April 2201 The space between Mars and the Asteroid belt
“Admiral Sychyov, they are refusing all communications.” Hua Wong spoke as she tried to hail the hijacked ship again.
“We have given them plenty of ways to end this peaceful,” He said pausing before he pressed a button to speak to all three ships in the Kosmoflot that was pursuing the terrorists.
“Proceed to fire on my command, but keep the ships alive.” He said and then nodded to give the order to fire on the ships. Several lasers were fired at the three terrorists ships. Sychyov watched the combat information center that displayed the military information. Due to the distances in space, combat was not the same fast speed on earth. Broadsides were fired at thousands of kilometers at best
As the lasers reached their target several blue reflector shields were raised. Sychyov and the whole crew blinked as the terrorists ships had shields. “That shouldn’t be possible. They have Deflector Shields..” Wong said as she monitored communication between the three ships. Sychyov clenched his jaw before taking a breath.
After sometime of fighting, Wong noticed something on her screen from the opposing ship. “The ship has stopped firing. Its sensors have stopped” Wong said, pausing before she spoke again. “I do not know if anyone is alive but a small boarding party would be able to infiltrate and figure it out.”.
“Very well, I will take a small crew with me. Be prepared for any sort of deception” Sychyov responded.
A shocking discovery
A week later the small boarding ship had docked with the Terrorist ship. As Sychyov and the crew boarded, the power had been cut but oxygen was still stable. Despite the fact that the crew were not taking any chances and had their helmets on.
As they crossed a hallway, gun fire illuminated the terrorists ship. Instead of saying a word, Sychyov gestured quickly to take cover and return fire. They would move from hallway to hallway and soon they were able to corner and disarm several terrorists and were brought to a temporary holding cell in the SZK Pioneer.
“Have you been able to get anything out of this group” Sychyov spoke to a man who had been interrogating and questioning them.
“Yes. They are descendants of a lost colony ship from roughly sixty years ago. Deeply Religious. It seems that they want to create a theocracy and for all humankind to worship their religion.” He said.
“Religious Zealots. I thought such zealotry died out ages ago.” Sychyov spoke with a shake of his head.
“Be that as it may. They do have some allies in our government. Hence why they had deflector shields” The man responded.
“How many do they have?” Sychyov asked.
“I was unable to get that out of them. That said I will inform the Shield at once.” He said to which Yehven nodded in agreement.
Later at the CIC Hua Wong approached Sychyov. “Admiral. I was able to detect some faint ion readings from past the Kuiper Belt. They match the same readings as the ships we fought. Several Star systems away from Earth is where they are coming from. That is what we can trace. The closest one is in the Bernard’s Star system.” She stated formally as she relied the information to the admiral.
“Make a course for Bernard’s Star at once then and Prepare for anything” He stated. After which the fleet would begin to make its way towards Bernard’s stary system and another cell of terrorists.
Exploring the Stars
2200 - Gagarin Station
“Konstantin Tsiolkovsky once stated ‘Earth is the cradle of humanity, but one cannot live in a cradle forever’ These words would later be echoed by Vladimir Komarov when he stepped onto the moon for the first time in 1969. Today we eacho them as we seek to travel the stars. As we explore new stars to understand our galaxy. Our mission is to explore new worlds and stars, To seek out new life, and to go where no one has gone before.” - Kryspyn Szczrur as the SZK Sputnik made its maiden voyage to beyond the solar system.
As the SZK Sputnik departed from Gagarin Station and traveled past the Kuiper belt to begin the jump to lightspeed and travel to another star, there was much fanfare throughout the solar system. This would be the first time Humans left the solar system. As everyone watched the ship travel beyond the solar system the anthem of Interkosmos, 14 minutes to start, began to play. No one knew what lay beyond the Solar system but what they did discover would change what people knew of the galaxy forever.
Secrets on Alpha Centauri
2203 - Alpha Centauri
Kryspyn Szczrur and a small crew had descended to the planet to get a better look at strange readings that had been uncovered.
“Finally I got the system up and working” Berenika Kovalchuk said as she had finished rewiring the ancient data center. “Let us see what this thing can tell us” She added, with more than a hint of pride at her work.
The station began to hum with life as a map of the nearby star systems glowed faintly from a holographic projector. Several stars including Alpha Centauri glowed more brightly than the rest.
“This looks like our own section of the Milky Way” Szczrur commented.
“That it does.” Kovalchuk responded before pausing to add “Caracharorion...”
“You have a clue what that means?” one of the other crew members commented.
“The name of their species I think,” Szczrur states after staring at the map, before continuing, “Caracharorion... If this map is correct and this is our section of the Milky way then these Caracharions operated here thousands of years ago.”
As the crew descended the lower levels of the station they came into a room filled with pods. They were densely packed throughout
“Oh.. God…” Berenika stated clearly horrified as she looked over one of the pods. In the pod was another human. It looked to be a young woman no more than 17 wearing shackles. It was clear from her expression that she died from suffocation.
Kryspyn looked at the pod next to him and was equally horrified. “They are humans.” He stated as he looked over the pod containing a human man with crude nervous implements embedded into their flesh. “All of them are human…” He said less horrified and more somber and melancholic as he and the crew looked over the various stasis pods.
“We shall take these pods back up and give each of them a proper funeral back on earth.” Kryspyn stated firmly and with sorrow. “Not like this grave that these monsters gave them.”
It would take some time to load the numerous pods onto the Sputnik, still it was done. They would stop on earth to bury the ancient humans. This discovery shocked most of humanity as it did the crew of the sputnik. The other star systems that the map seemed to indicate would be the next stops for the Sputnik to travel to.
Alien Life
2205 Tau Ceti III
The SZK Sputnik arrived at the third planet of Tau Ceti. The third Planet was similar to earth in size, though its moon was made entirely of water.
“The readings from the Planet indicate that the atmosphere is breathable. But that isn’t the strangest thing.” Berenika Kovalchuk stated.
“What would be the strangest thing” Kryspyn asked curiously as he looked over the scientific readings.
“Well it could be the floating land masses or the skyscraper ruins. Take your pick.” She said simply.
“Well we shall head down to see if they have anything to do with those monsters in Alpha Centauri.” Kryspyn said as he went to the elevator that would take him to where the shuttle was to visit the world.
Arriving on Tau Ceti III was an experience. As Kovalchuk stated the planet was covered in floating islands and landmasses. Some of which did indeed have the scattered villages and cities that looked similar to ones back on earth.
A large six legged animal that looked somewhat like a cross between a polar bear and a dog with large floppy ears, ran towards the crew. Everyone was on edge and they all had their side arms drawn and ready should the alien animal turn hostile. This did not happen. Instead the creature ran up to Kryspyn and acting like a puppy began to lick at them and run around them.
“I think it likes you captain.” Kovalchuk said with a playful smile
“That it certainly does” Kryspyn said as he petted the animal that was attacking him playful licks.
As they explored the Planet they discovered that the ruins were left in pristine condition. There was no sign of who built them. They were just gone. No sign of them at all or where they went.
“The planet deserves a closer look to excavate the ruins of who ever built them.” Krypsyn said to his crew.
“We still have our mission to explore the star systems around Earth” another member of the crew spoke up.
“That we do. That is our primary goal.” He stated.
“Captain. May I suggest when we speak with intkos command about this discovery to have Dr. Hamidi lead the excavation of the ruins” Kovalchuk stated.
“You know her well?” the captain asked.
“Yes. She is quite the talented researcher. I worked alongside her before I joined the Sputnik. I believe she would be perfect for the job.” Kovalchuk stated.
“Very well I shall make sure that they know.” Kryspyn said.
A Report on the Ruins of Tau Ceti III
2215
The Ruins from Tau Ceti III are of an ancient design. While at first it might be assumed that these ruins belong to the Caracharorion of Alpha Centauri, that is not the case. The architectural styles are completely different. Further examination of the ruins put the ruins of Tau Ceti III somewhere in the Billions of years ago at the very least, likely last lived in around the Proterozoic era back on earth.
They were built by a species known as the Zroni. Unfortunately the examination in Tau Ceti III did not give us much insight into their biology or even what they look like. The ruins left very few traces of them. However the central data core did detail some important details about their spiritual beliefs.
Compared to the previous theory that if there was to be any alien species out they they would have given up on religion, the Zroni throw some doubt into that idea. It seems that they were rather religious and superstitious believing strongly in the idea that there was some sort of misty veil between the spirit world and the mortal world that is translated simply as Shroud. They believe that when a person’s spirit goes across this shroud they become a deity of some sort. Furthermore, it seems that they believe in the ability for spirits and demons to affect someone through interacting with their dreams.
We still do not not know what caused their disappearance. It is unlikely to be mass suicide as their is no evidence of mass killing. Nor did they seem to abandon their cities as we have not found anything that would suggest that they left the cities for the wilderness. However, while we currently do not know what happened to them; we do know that they had colonies in the Galaxy. Further study could illuminate more as to whom these Zroni were.
Unification Day
2213.09.08 - Earth
The goal of uniting the earth into one nation, one Soviet Union, was a long awaited dream. It was also an objective that Alisa Seleznyova had promised back in 2200, and many were wondering if she was going to achieve the goal of the 2217 deadline that the Supreme Soviet had wanted.
However in 2213 the dream final materialized and for the first time in Human history, Humankind was united into one government. Thus the 8th of September would be dubbed Unification Day. All throughout the earth people were celebrating. From Moscow to London, from Beijing to Casablanca, from Toronto to Santigo and everywhere else there were parades and marches as people celebrated this day.
It was this act that helped ensure Seleznyova her legacy. While the process was almost a century old if not longer, Alisa gave a face to the unification movement in the final stretch of the process. While there were other acts that helped ensure she would be remembered, notably cleaning up the Pacific Ocean and removing the Great Garbage Patch. It was her actions in bringing the earth together that was a cause for celebration.
The fact that there were humans who rejected this and had joined the Terrorists who were not bound by the rules of Earth was a cause of concern for those within the government. After the terrorists were destroyed in the Banard’s Star system in 2205, most on earth regarded them to be over. It was the so called Caracharorion that occupied the fears of far more than terrorists. While no one knew if they were still out there or not, this discovery frightened many.
The colony of Mars grow
2216 - Mars
While humanity had long been on Mars and settling Mars since the late 21st century and 22nd century. It was only in the 23rd century that the planet was opened up for colonization. Before than one had to be either born on Mars or be part of Interkosmos due to the intense conditions on the planet.
To that end a number of programs had begun to make it more hospitable for humanity. Water had been discovered deep underground in Mars. This would bring about a terraforming project that while small in scale did help to contribute to making the planet more habitable for humanity. Though despite this, Mars was still largely inhospitable for humanity. Thus the cities of Mars were built into great domed cities.
By 2216 conditions and cities were established enough that it was migrating to Mars was made much more open. Though not to all, as one had to show that they were healthy and fit for living on an alien planet. This did mean that more people on Mars tended to come from among the elite and well off.
Life on the red planet was often described as a strange mix of rural and urban life. Because of the obvious fact that one’s space was limited by the domed city they were in, one had to make the most of the space. However, compared to most cities on Earth they had far less people. So the housing blocks were more like communal villages then communal apartments. Naturally this had the effect of making the Pro-martian voices demanding that Mars become an SSR grow louder and louder and by the end of Seleznyova’s term of office in 2220 this issue had yet to be resolved.
