Star Mogul Project Part 2: Background

 Hi!

As part of my Star Mogul project, I've decided to get the ball rolling with a quick look at the background to the setting so without further ado, let's take a peek at what we've got!

In 2227 the Tread Lightly Corp launched the Tachyon drive which allowed FTL travel and humanity began spreading across the stars. 

At this point, there were already working colonies on several of Jupiter's moons, Mercury, the Asteroid belt and Earth's Moon. Terraforming and settlement of Mars was already underway but the Tachyon drive's creation allowed for exploration of new worlds far from Earth. Initially it was the Earth's great powers who launched expeditions using the Tachyon drive to establish colonies on newly discovered worlds and exploit their natural resources but the blueprints for the drive were stolen and soon smaller groups were launching their own colonising efforts. These smaller expeditions sought to establish new and free societies, far from the overcrowded and tightly controlled Earth.

This time period became known as the Young Exodus as many of the colonists who enlisted were chosen for their youth and vigour. The call of the colonies lured many out into space to an uncertain future but many saw the benefits over a crowded and stifling life on Earth. 

The colonies were initiated, some over 100 light years from Earth but soon several began reporting discovering the ruins of an alien civilisation and further research and excavations revealed the ruins to be over 400,000 years old. These discoveries resulted in a fresh wave of exploration further into unexplored space as many sought to delve further into the mysteries of this lost alien society and the Great Expedition phase began with a new gold rush as prospectors rushed to the new frontiers in search of lost alien tech and the mysteries of the Mimjip civilisation.

By 2340 humanity appeared to be forging an empire amongst the stars. Earth had begun to regulate its population and biosphere thanks to the resources that poured in from its offworld colonies and recovered alien tech.

Things weren't all rosey though as many colonists began to resent the amount of resources and money they were being required to send back to Earth, despite a lack of political freedom or representation they had been promised. 

Soon several established colonies declared their independence from Earth but this wasn't too much of a concern to the Earth government as trade continued to flow and the sheer distances involved meant a military response wasn't feasible.

Then the discovery of the ‘Forge’ at Alpha Centauri occurred and relations broke down rapidly. The ‘Alpha Forge’, as it became known, was an orbiting starship construction platform the Mimjipani race had left behind. Its technology relied upon the gathering of rare elements from the local asteroid belt which were then shaped and tempered slowly into a near indestructible starship hull deep in the fires of Alpha Centauri itself. 

It was the outer colonists that discovered the forge and worked out its operating procedure, but the obvious military implications of the new starship hulls became apparent quickly to Earth and the governing bodies of the home system. Using heavyweight diplomatic and economic muscle, the council of Earth attempted to obtain possession of the forge for itself. 

The whole situation deteriorated badly not long thereafter when earth’s council declared all members of the newly formed ‘Federal Union’ on the Outer Rim in violation of their legal obligations and sent in a cohort of storm troopers to obtain the Forge by force. The assault was repelled, just barely, by the efforts of a lieutenant engineer Thomas Redcloud (awarded the ‘Gold Aurora’), who fixed the entire docking area to self destruct, catching the storm trooper reinforcement party off guard and allowing the defenders to consolidate their defences in time.

After this, the Frontier Union organised the Alpha Forge with heavy artillery in case Earth tried to take this valuable artefact by storm again. There was no declaration of war – the Frontier Union had no army. So they had no choice but to organise one in response to the actions of Earth, and also, the growing number of slave raids by the Hydrissian ‘devourer’ cult on the fringes of known space that began in 2442.  The Federal Defence Force (FDF) was organised and ties with the home system became much more restricted as the colonies strove for self sufficiency.

Around this time, shortly after the century turned to the 2400’s, a new threat loomed on the horizon.
The discovery of the ‘Mimjip Pathogen’ reared its ugly head, though too late for many on the frontier. Somewhere among the exploration and exploitation of the ancient Mimjip ruins a deadly virus had been released. 

The virus had lain dormant for many thousands of years, and was probably thought of as an innocuous infection by the ancient Mimjipani race. The accidental release of this virus had devastating consequences on humanity as it lay semi-dormant for several decades before it was discovered and made itself felt. By this time it had spread throughout the colonies and throughout the home systems. The resulting pandemic killed many millions, and has brought mankind’s fledgling empire among the stars to its knees.

Entire space colonies have now lain deserted for decades and much that was built has now been laid to waste. Finally, in more recent years, the Mimjip pathogen seems to have played itself out, and cases are becoming much rarer. Perhaps only those who are naturally able to fight the virus have survived. Nevertheless, the road is now open for those who are brave enough, or perhaps foolish enough, to begin the process of rebuilding what was lost.

This is where the game takes place with small groups of salvage experts exploring lost colonies for tech and fighting over the ruins of a once great empire. It is a lawless place but fortune favours the bold and money is to be made amongst the stars.

I'm hoping to take a look at what is required to play in the next instalment but I'm still humming and hahing about what miniatures to use. Do I go 28mm, 15mm or sculpt my own? Each option has it's pluses and negatives so I'll need to get my thinking hat on and figure out just what I want to do before I get the that point but I have plenty of other stuff that I can be getting on with, including putting together a bit of a campaign map showcasing the region that the action will be happing so watch this space!

In the meantime, All the best!