MARS COLONY
Welcome to Mars.
The year is 2121 (109 years in the future).
IMPORTANT NOTE:With Atlas dropping out, I am once again taking over recruitment
- Chrystal (GM)
In 2025 Japan launched the first of a dozen unmanned Mars Probes, aimed at gathering more data with a view to eventually carrying out a manned mission. However the Japanese space program was inexplicably cancelled in 2031, two years before the scheduled launch of the manned mission.
In 2032, Virgin Corporation (formerly owned by Sir Richard Branson) joined forces with Boeing Corporation, United Airlines, JAL, Amoco, and a consortium of other smaller investors, to create the late Sir Richard's dream, Virgin Galactic. The Boeing 801 space plane became the mainstay of this new privately funded push into the beyond.
In 2035 the first public passenger space flight took place.
In 2037 the USA, Britain, France and Russia contracted with Virgin Galactic to build a new orbital space station in high orbit.
The new station, with a rotating torus to provide gravity, was completed in 2041.
In 2067, the Japanese Government released the data gathered on it's Mars missions, publishing it on the internet.
In 2069 Virgin Galactic declared it's intention to launch a manned mission to Mars by the end of the century.
In 2073 Virgin Galactic went bankrupt, but the Mars Mission was so advanced that the US government stepped in.
In 2075 the US Military launched the first manned mission to the Red Planet.
In 2076 the mission arrived safely.
In 2078, Triple M (For Manned Mars Mission) returned safely to earth.
In 2083 a second mission, this time manned by US civilians under military command, sets out for Mars.
In 2084 3M2 arrived, reporting one fatality en route.
In 2085 3M2 withdrew from Mars, having spent the longest period ever on an alien world.
In 2086 3M2 returned to Earth.
In 2091 3M3, this time manned by an international crew, left for Mars.
In 2092, 3M3 arrived safely on Mars. However two weeks after arrival, they reported several fatalities and a number of injuries, largely due to a ground vehicle being caught out during a sudden dust storm. The Mission was withdrawn the following day.
3M3 returned to earth in 2094.
In 2100, President Van Hurren of the USA declared his intention to establish a permanent scientific base on Mars.
In 2101, MarsCorp was set up, to fund the base's establishment, ensure it's profitability, and fund such resupply as necessary.
Also in 2101, MarsCorp began it's genetic recruiting process, selecting young couples to have the honour of being parents to the first extra-terrestrial colonists.
In 2120, the Mars Colony Mission (MCM) was launched from the Richard Branson Space Station.
And, on August 23rd 2121, the MCM lander touches down on the Hellas Platina.
The previous manned missions have left behind all the equipment they brought with them, including the air-tight habitation domes, ground vehicles, communications equipment, meteorological equipment, electricity generation equipment, water purification equipment, etc. There is also a store of dried food. MCM-1 has brought with it additional habitation modules, food supplies, a hydroponics laboratory, several tonnes of fresh water frozen into blocks of ice, and several tonnes of liquid oxygen.
After unloading it's colonists and cargo, MCM-1 has left Mars Orbit and is on it's way back to Earth.
MCM-2 will leave Earth in a year's time and will arrive in two years. This ship will have further colonists, resupply of certain foodstuffs, and water, and a number of luxury items.
The job of the colonists is to create a liveable environment before they arrive. If it can be self sustaining, so much the better.
The story will start with the first group of colonists setting foot on the planet for the first time. The reason for this should be obvious to anyone who has played at least one group RP here. The journey to Mars is a year long. If we start with them leaving Earth, we'd never get there! However, events on the journey can be alluded to in "flashbacks".
I require the following characters (in no particular order, just the order i thought of them in):
Note, all characters can be male or female and can be of either orientation. No futa or hermaphrodites please. Also, there can (and probably should) be more than one of each character not in red.
Characters in red there can only be one of.
Characters in blue are technical characters. While the player need not have any actual knowledge of the field in question, a working knowledge of howe Google works plus the ability to type convincing technobabble would be useful for them.
Characters in purple are technical characters of which there can be only one (red+blue=purple)
This character must be a reasonably senior military officer - Rank not lower than Major. Age preferably over 50 and having been on at least one previous Mars mission, although he/she would have been a junior officer back then. However, this is optional if you can give me a good reason why not.
The Mission Commander is a key role. I may end up taking this one myself, and I will only grant it to someone I know is going to stay the course.
This character is military. Communications remain firmly in the hands of the Military, who are still providing a fair bit of MarsCorp's funding.
The character must be able to operate close range communications equipment as well as the special (and energy consuming) long range radio that links Mars with Earth. He/she must also be capable of carrying out any repairs on any and all communications equipment.
The Comms tech may well end up doubling as radio DJ, broadcasting an entertainment signal to the colonists.
The doctor is of necessity a GP and surgeon. There should be no bacteria or viruses brought with the initial colonists, due to a rigorous sterilization procedure before launch. There is no life on Mars itself, so nothing native that could infect the colonists. But you never know. Broad spectrum antibiotics and antiseptics form the majority of medical supplies, but those two categories are outweighed by far by the pain killers.
The doctor is expected to be mostly treating wounds and injuries caused by accidents, and then hopefully assisting in the births of the first true Martians within the first ten or eleven months.
This player is the heavy. While all characters can me male or female at the player's whim, this character needs to meet a certain physical profile. He/she is military, possibly a senior non-com, or a junior officer. He/she is physically fit. He/she is an expert at unarmed combat, and a crack shot with pretty much any weapon going.
He/she will also have been in the military police, and have experience of criminal investigations.
The hydroponics lab is vital to the success of the colony. If they can grow sufficient edible plants to be self sufficient, it will ensure the colony's survival. If the hydroponics lab fails, they will be reduced to eating tinned vegetables, of which they have a finite supply.
Hydroponics is also vital for supplying oxygen for the colonists to breath, recycling the colonists waste, and removing the harmful CO2 from the atmosphere.
Growing vegetables on an alien world is also step one towards teraforming that world, and so the success of the hydroponics lab is key to that endeavour too.
This character is obviously responsible for the correct functioning of everything electrical in the colony. This means the lighting, the heating, the air conditioning (which is a lot more important on Mars than it is on Earth). In fact, if any electrical system fails, the lives of those on the colony are threatened.
This character is responsible for maintaining everything mechanical. This includes the air compressors that make the Martian atmosphere thick enough to breath, the plumbing that supplies fresh water and removes waste water, as well as the various ground and air craft that have been designed to work on Mars.
If more than one mechanical engineer is in play, the duties could be spit between colony maintenance and vehicle maintenance.
This character is responsible for the smooth and safe running of the colony's nuclear fusion reactor.
It need not be stressed how vital this role is. If the plant fails, not only would the colonists all die (power is vital to life) but depending on the nature of the failure, they could all die in a very spectacular and unpleasant fashion!
The colony psychologist is there to help the colonists deal with the stress of their every day lives on a hostile alien world. As such, the psychologist character needs to meet a certain profile him/herself.
He/she must be very stable, totally calm, especially in a crisis. He/she will have a psych profile on every one of the other colonists, and must therefore be able to maintain confidentiality even in the face of direct orders from the colony commander.
The eating of meat may be distasteful to some and may be against some people's religion, but it has been proved beyond doubt that the human metabolism requires protein to survive. Vegetable proteins are fine but animal proteins are actually better.
Animal embryos have been transported to Mars and the geneticist/husbander is responsible for selecting which to rear when. He/she is also responsible for their welfare.
Mars has a thin dry atmosphere, but wind speeds can exceed 320Kph (200mph). Martian dust storms have been observed that last for days or even weeks. The air is so thin that a 320kph storm would feel like a moderate wind on earth, there is little danger of structural damage from the wind itself. But the dust storms can be lethal, the dust being so fine that it can clog filters, cake wind-shields and reduce visibility to zero.
Predicting these storms and giving adequate warning is thus vital to the colony's success.
The deputy Mission Commander is the representative of MarsCorp. He/she is 100% company, and is there to ensure that the colony is actually worthwhile and profitable. If it is not the Deputy Commander's job will be to let his/her bosses back on earth know so that they can close it down and cut their losses. The deputy commander is also empowered to take over in the event the commander becomes incapacitated.
The Deputy Commander must therefore fit into a certain profile. He/She must be a company man/woman through and through. He/she must have a certain ruthlessness in dealing with anything that is not going to turn a profit for the company. She represents the company's interests to the colony. But she is also the representative of the Colony's interests to the company.
This may sound like a posh term for a cleaner, but in fact it is so much more. The sanitation engineers have a job that is probably the least desirable, but the most vital on a colony that is dependent for survival on recycling.
Their job includes making sure that nothing is wasted, that everything that can be recycled is recycled, and that the recycling plants work smoothly. This includes the water recycling plant.
The job is not technical by any means. Any breakdown in any of the recycling plants requires a call to the engineering department. The Sanitation Engineer simply feeds and monitors the plants, changes filters, and keeps things flowing smoothly.
The scientific community is there in force and probably represent the bulk of the civilian contingent.
They are there to study and to learn. Every discipline of science will be represented, from those studying the plants and animals being raised for food, to those studying the weather, to those studying the Martian night sky, to those looking for ways to exploit Mars' mineral deposits, to those studying the planet's history.
Anything and everything scientific could, indeed should be represented.
"Guards? What from? Aliens?" Was the complaint when the Military announced they were sending a contingent of armed troops with the colonists. Of course the answer was, "No, from human nature".
The guards are all military, mostly low ranks (how low depends on the rank of the security chief). They are all armed, although they don't expect to have to use their firearms. They also have pepper-sprays and night sticks.
They are effectively the Martian police force.
The nursing staff would probably be small, and be there to assist the doctor(s) in everything from scheduling patient appointments to assisting in surgery.
Of course the colony needs a dentist. Teeth are "God's greatest mistake", and need constant attention.
The only real solution is to have all your teeth pulled and replaced with gold caps. No-one likes a dentist, especially after "Little Shop of Horrors", but they are sadly a necessary evil!
Not the most vital role admittedly, but someone needs to ensure that the colonists eat healthily and get a good balance of vitamins and minerals, especially during the early days of the colony when there is no fresh food available.
The quartermaster is responsible for the stores. Keeping track of vital stocks of food and equipment, ensuring that everyone gets a fair share. You might say he/she's a glorified shopkeeper or accountant, but without him/her, the colony would run out of vital supplies long before becoming self sufficient.
The chief engineer is in charge of the maintenance of the colony. He/she is the one with whom the buck stops if something cannot be fixed. The chief engineer is the one the other engineers call if they can't fix something. He therefore is an expert in all fields of engineering.
The head scientist is the elected head of the science department. He/she can be of any discipline of science but he/she must be either older than the rest or possibly hold a number of Nobel Prizes. At the very least he/she must be a well respected member of the scientific community, and have published ground-breaking research in the past.
At least at first, all meals will be communal, taken in a dining hall. The catering department must be versatile, able to produce a varied menu from limited resources. It doesn't need to be cordon-blue, but it needs to satisfy the nutritionist and the fussy eater!
This character is not what most of us think of when we hear the word "butcher". He/she is not a man/woman in a striped apron with a fancy white panama hat selling pre-packaged cuts of meat.
Rather, he/she is what a butcher used to be, and where the use of the word to describe a mass murderer comes from. He/she is the slaughter-man. He/she is the one who kills the animals, skins them, cleans them, cuts them up, cures the meat if required and passes it on to the cooks. He/she will probably not have much to do at first, until the first animals mature
Just as the butcher is not just a shop keeper, so the baker is not just a cook. He/she is also the miller. The grain grown in the hydroponics lab won't turn itself into flour, after all. The mill is electric and uses tungsten-carbide grinders instead of granite, but the basic principal of producing flour to make dough to bake into bread is the same.
Initially, the baker will use the supplies of flour brought on the colony ship.
This job involves strip-mining the Martian iron-ore fields, using equipment transported from Earth on the colony ship. This ore is then smelted, refined and processed into ingots to be shipped back to Earth. The mining vehicles do pretty much all the work in this. Some knowledge of metals and metal working would be useful for this character, but are not essential.
Mars itself is a harsh and hostile world. The atmosphere is thin, about one hundredth that of Earth's surface at the bottom of the Hellas Platina (where the colony is) and composed of CO
2, the gravity is low, about one third that of Earth, the planet is half as far again from the sun as Earth, and the day-time temperature never exceeds 0°c. At night, in the winter, it can drop to -85°c. It is clearly not an environment in which human beings can survive unaided. Venturing outside requires the use of a pressure suit. It would be possible for a human being to survive for a few seconds, say in an emergency transfer from one life-support zone to another, but after that anoxia would quickly set in. It is debatable whether the victim's blood would freeze (due to the temperature) or boil (due to the pressure).
The reason for establishing the colony at the lowest point on the planet's surface is to maximise the chance of survival in the event of a pressure drop!
TechnologyThere have been major advances in medical science, but that's about it. Transport technology is now mostly electric, with the electricity either solar or nuclear. Communications have moved on only to keep pace with the advances in biotechnology. It is now commonplace for an individual to have a computer chip in their head that allows them to perform all the functions that we currently use a smart-phone and/or a PC for.
Limb regrowth has become possible, as has cryogenics - the colonists would all have been in stasis for the bulk of the journey. The common cold has not been cured as such, and nor has the flu, but the bacterium and virus that cause them have been isolated and the ability to sterilise them for a limited time in an isolated environment has been developed.
Artificial insemination is now quite commonplace, and techniques have been developed whereby same sex couples of both genders can have a baby that is
theirs, by taking genetic material from one partner and placing it in either sperm or an ovum (depending on the gender of the couple), then using in vitro fertilisation. It has also become acceptable for gay men to carry their own children to term in a specially constructed "womb" within the belly. Birth is always via caesarean section in these cases.
Weapons technology has also advanced, but again only to keep up with biotechnology. A military grade cranial implant can control, target and fire a weapon all by itself so long as the user has the correct interface chip in his/her palm. Gauss weapons are becoming commonplace, (using an electric field to accelerate a metal projectile) but traditional cordite bullets are still common on earth.
Lasers are NOT viable weapons, unless your only intention is to blind your opponent. A laser powerful enough to actually shoot a beam capable of killing someone with a single shot needs a mains electricity supply. As the Ghostbusters were fictional, it is unlikely that you would see a soldier carrying a nuclear reactor on his back! Plus, to defend against a laser beam all you need is a shiny surface! This reflects the beam of light straight back at the person firing it!
character ProfilePlease click the select link, then use <ctrl>+c to copy the code below, and paste it into either a post or a PM, fill in the form and send it to me.
[b]player:[/b] your login id
[floatright][img height=300 padding=5]Insert the URL of your character image here[/img][/floatright]
[b]Name:[/b] Your character's name
[b]Nationality:[/b] What country are they from?
[b]Gender:[/b] M/F
[b]Sexuality:[/b] Straight/bi/gay
[b]Age:[/b]
[b]Job:[/b] Which of the above character positions are you after?
[b]Specific skills:[/b] What specific skills or qualifications does the character have?
[b]Height:[/b] In cm please.
[b]Weight:[/b] In kg please.
[b]Eye Colour:[/b] If not clear from picture.
[b]Hair colour:[/b] If not clear from picture.
[b]Distinguishing marks:[/b] Tattoos, piercings, scars, birthmarks etc.
[b]Likes:[/b] What sort of things does he/she enjoy?
[b]Dislikes:[/b] What does he/she not enjoy?
[b]Psych profile/personality:[/b] What is his/her personality like?
[b]History:[/b] How did they get on the Mars Mission?
[b]Other info:[/b] Anything else you think is relevant that I haven't put in.
A couple of things:The RP will go in light human.
This is a sandbox RP. Players are expected to make their own stories. I have a few random events that I will throw in the mix, but on the whole, you will need to work at it if you want to get anything out of it!
THREADS:OOCRecruitment thread (This one)
OOC DiscussionApproved CharactersNPCsIC1)
Martian surface2)
Main dome3)
Command Centre4)
Maintenance block5)
Science Block6) Stores
7)
Habitat 18) Habitat 2
9) Habitat 3
Topic: Mars Colony - Still open to new players (Read 34841 times)