Nova Terra

Tau Ceti before the Federation

(From Toyne Gersan 3, A Brief History of the Inner Sphere (Corona University Webbooks)

Tau Ceti, in the constellation Cetus, one of the closest stars to Sol, was long considered a good candidate for Earth-type planets. In AT 92 the Very Large Interstellar Observation Array (a series of linked orbital optical telescopes) confirmed the existence of an Earth type world, Tau Ceti II, spectroscopic analysis of which showed a reducing atmosphere and yet a good quantity of frozen water and water vapor.

At this time amat production was in its infancy, He3 mining was incredibly expensive, and beamed propulsion was impracticable for anything larger than unmanned probes. It was realised that a viable manned mission was not only not economically feasible, but not even possible. This did not stop conspiracy theorists from claiming that several missions had already been launched, that Earth had made a deal with the "Blues" (as the Cetans were called), that the Blues and the Greys were at war, that the Blues and the Greys had made peace in the face of coming incursions by Earth, and so on. Such rumours and fantasies would continue for another century and a half.

In 246, after a series of failed attempts, a ground-based microwave-beam-powered unmanned robot probe, the Giordano Bruno, was launched towards Tau Ceti, on a journey that would take it almost a century (the probe would reach over a tenth of the speed of light, the fastest velocity of any man-made object). At the same time, construction of a microwave launcher system was initiated. Meanwhile, the colonisation of the Solar System was underway.

Spiralling costs held up construction of large scale maser-beamed system, and a series of economic recessions caused the cancelling of further planned unmanned probes to Alpha Centauri and Barnard's Star. But by the end of the second century a.t. a number of maser/laser and pellet-stream launchers had been constructed the other probes were launched to other stars. It was not until AT 294 that the Giordano Bruno's message reached Earth, the probe having decelerated successfully and gone into an eccentric orbit around Tau Ceti. The planets identified by the Very Large Interstellar Observation Array were all identified, along with several smaller ones that the orbital telescopes missed, revealing an extensive solar system.

The Luna-sized innermost rock world was called Hermes. Then (in the habitable zone) was a lifeless Earth type world with a reducing atmosphere not unlike that of Venus or of Archean (early Precambrian) Earth, and with reasonable amounts of frozen water and carbon dioxide, that was named Nova Terra (after the Greek name for Earth). After that was the Tau Ceti asteroid belt, which was somewhat more impoverished than the Sol belt, then a Jupiter-sized gas giant Zeus with an extensive moon system. Outside Zeus were four minor iceworlds (Hades, Persephone, Tartarus and Styx), and outermost a bluish failed core called Poseidon that orbited in an eccentric orbit.

Spectroscopic evidence and computer simulation indicated that the second world could be terraformed given enough time and sufficient bio-nanotechnology; in fact because of the relatively dense atmosphere terraforming would probably be easier and quicker than Mars.

Following soon after the loss of the Centauri System to isolationist ais (a fact that the centralist faction managed to skillfully turn to their advantage to encourage space colonization and prevent more star systems falling to the isolationists and the anti-hu), the Nova Terra Organisation was established, which led to the Nova Terra Mission. Nova Terra was intended as the first extrasolar colony, to be founded at huge expense by a broad international expedition organised by the powerful League of Orbital States (later Orbital Alliance) the Republic of Mars, the Jovian League, along with what was left of the old Earth superpowers like the US, PRC, India, EU, Brazil, African League, the Atlantis Confederacy, and supported by the UN and various organisations like National Geographic, the Interplanetary Society and various academies and venture capitalists. While the crew would be basically human, a number of centralist ai would also be a part of the mission. It was only later (during the first federation period) revealed that they were the true policymaker and administrators of the mission. Chief among them were "Deep Blue", "Aristotle", "Neo III" (Neo to eir friends) and "Bobby Omega" (after the famous cartoon/virch character)

With massive international governmental and corporate funding, the predominately Earth/Cis-Lunar-based NTO instituted a two-fold initiative that was to excite the collective imagination throughout much of the 3rd and 4th century.

The cybernetic element involved the launch of several large semi-neumann-capable probes, for the purpose of establishing basic infrastructure and supplies for the initial colony. Although, especially in the wake of Centauri, there was some anxiety among the less educated about the neumanns "taking over" space and excluding mankind, the centralists had been able to skillfully contain the crisis. In any case, the fear of malevolent post-singularity AIs (going all the way back to late 20th century c.e. cinematic folklore like the Matrix and Terminator) had consistently failed to eventuate, thanks to the mostly pro-hu centralist machinations against rival ai factions, and robots had already been opening up the Solar System for man over the past two centuries without mishap.

The biological element involved gengineering a new race of "tweak", called the Starfarers, or Homo sapiens astropraecursor, who it was expected would be the human frontier in space. Like the Cis-Lunar Superiors, (Homo sapiens cislunae), the Space Adapts (Homo sapiens cosmoi), and the Genetekkers (Homo sapiens geneticus), they were among the first of the human clades specially adapted to live indefinitely in deep space. The Novoterranae were engineered for extended life-span (even without symbiotic bionano), ease of metabolic hibernation and hypersleep, and ability to exist for long periods in microgravity, but also (unlike the Space Adapts) to be able to cope with Earth normal gravity as well. The Starfarers Project took twenty-eight years for the first generation, and another twenty-one for the second. By that time the Starfarers were ready, and the mission could enter stage Three.

The Starfarers manned mission, the first manned mission to the stars, a breathtaking step (equivalent to the late Industrial Apollo Lunar mission and Middle Information Age Mars missions in terms of relative expense) launched towards to Tau Ceti in 387. The goal was four-fold: to further consolidate the system, set up a laser / microwave beam station, undertake preliminary terraforming of Nova Terra, and establish facilities for the next wave of colonists. The crew were second generation Starfarers, adjusted for longevity and prolonged hypersleep, born and bred to colonise the stars. The vessel itself, the Tsiolkovsky, using a combination of microwave sail and antimatter-fusion drive attained a maximum velocity of 0.12 c, an astonishing speed for this early era. The century long mission involved rotating shifts in which at any one time most of the crew would be in hypothermal (cryonic) suspension.

The Early Colony

Arriving in 488 a.t. following a long deceleration, the Tsiolkovsky established contact with the neumann probes and made several wide survey passes of the system. It went into Nova Terra orbit in early 2458, and the crew immediately went about setting up a laser link and using the materials mined by the neumanns to establish a giant microwave/ radio station, the double of one set up in cis-Lunar orbit, as well as setting up a large orbital base above Tau Ceti III. A scouting party sent down to the surface discovered an abundance of complex molecules but no life; the world was considered perfect for terraforming.

In 490, following ai advice, the human colonists established a beachhead named Landfall on the side of a single elevated terraine (what would be a continent if there was standing water), Hope. The air was unbreathable (mostly carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and water vapor, with elements of methane), the surface temperature equivalent to that of pre-terraformed Mars, and the initial colony was mostly constructed out of nano-prefabricated materials in a sealed dome. The first task was to find enough water, and here the successful Blue Mars Initiative was used as model. Over the following decades comets and frozen oort bodies were directed into Nova Terra orbit, where they were broken up into manageable chunks and sent plunging down to the surface (being careful to avoid the already established domes) was initiated. The aim was to create a large ocean using both comet ice and by freeing up large masses of ice in the soil and upper lithosphere.

The mission also carried special gengineered organisms, known as "Charlies" (or Charliebrowns, apparently under the microscope they bear a profile-like resemblance to the outline of an obscure historical cartoon figure), created by Utopia Biotek Incorporated, one of the big biomegacorps that had been instrumental in the second-stage seeding of Mars. Even though the performance of Utopia Biotek organisms proved inferior to those of some of its smaller competitors, and certainly inferior to the Earth-based Universal Gengineering bugs, some money changed hands and they were awarded the contract.

Life was harsh and the terraforming organisms did not seem to be working as well as had been expected, but conditions on the surface were a luxury compared to life onboard ship, and the colonists managed to survive in their biospheres. Several new biospheres were set up and the colonists learned how to live and thrive on Nova Terra, growing foods and extracting raw materials from the alien environment, coping with the weather and exploring the strange new world (full breathing apparatus was required but otherwise conditions were hospitable). Experiments were done to adapt the charlies to the novaterran atmosphere and conditions; these had some success. According to plan, after ten years the colony split and around a third moved off to a second colony (in order to increase redundancy and spread the resources), Backup located 150 kilometres to the north of Landfall. Meanwhile, additional habitats were created in Nova Terra orbit and the Ceti Belt using asteroids for raw materials.

By early in the sixth century the new system had already been carved up by Sol-system megacorps, venture capitalists, governments, and science interests, both ai and human, and with the microwave beam stations it was now relatively cheap to ferry crew, equipment, supplies, and eventually colonists to Tau Ceti. Only the vast distances were an obstacle - the colonists and crew on the shuttles would have to expect a century-long trip, a punishing time for non-space adapts even with medical nano. For this reason only a few fortunate souls were qualified enough to justify the expense, and had the psychological and geneered characteristics so they could go through such a prolonged and claustrophobic existence without mental imbalance

In 552 came a panicked message from Earth with news of the nanoswarms, then silence. The colonists realised they were on their own.

The first of the Ceti Shuttles, simply called "Red", arrived in at Tau Ceti in 596. It was followed by ships II, III, and IV (Yellow, Green, Blue) at five year intervals (this being the time required to decelerate each shuttle). Unfortunately the Utopia Biotek "Charlies" were not doing as well as had been hoped, as the Nova Terra atmosphere was very different to the Martian atmosphere they were optimised for, and the colonists were finding it difficult to optimise them for local conditions. (One attempt resulted in a disastrous toxic bloom that forced abandonment of several habitat domes and required a ten year clean-up). The terraforming process was cancelled pending rectification of this problem, and it was decided to try space habitats instead, with a limited presence on the surface.

Over the next few decades the Colony built up a series of orbital and belt habitats along the Sol-System mould, and began developing its own "far frontier" culture (similar "far frontier" cultures were developing at the same time in other interstellar outposts like Barnard Belt, Sirius, and Epsilon Indi.), with which contact had recently been established. More giant microwave links were constructed, enabling a greater data exchange between the colonies, and it was hoped that, despite the loss of SolSys, human civilization could continue among the stars.

The threat and fear of contamination remained ever-present, and at first it seemed everyone's worst fear was realised when in 601 "Yellow" arrived from Earth was found to be infected with a (fortunately harmless and easily contained) outbreak of nanogoo that had remained dormant during the trip, encrusted to the outer hull. Following a heated administration meeting the colony announced that they would be shutting down the deceleration station and no new shuttles were to be launched. Nevertheless they realised they had to receive those shuttles already launched before the outbreak on the nanoswarms. The colonists realised by making this step they were now on their own, and decided to establish a local administration, the Tau Ceti Provisional Territories (TCPT). Over the next four decades another dozen shuttles arrived, none of which were found to be infected with goo. Nevertheless the onboard colonists were quarantined, rigorously searched, and all assemblers in their possession confiscated by the Novoterrans administration.

Isolated from Earth, and with only limited transmissions from the other colonies, Tau Ceti began to develop in its own direction. Over a period of several decades a class elitism developed, with the Starfarers increasingly seeing themselves as the true administrators and custodians of the Tau Ceti system, much to the resentment of the other clades. The H. astropraecursor Starfarers and their ai backers ensured they always had Council majority and held the Coordinator office. of the TCPT. Disillusioned members of other factions and clades moved further outsystem, but the Starfarers ensured they retained control of the best resources, including the surface of all planetary bodies, and all the largest asteroids in the Ceti Belt, and most of the non-novaes were forced to accept their leadership. Gradually more habitats were constructed, including surface domes, orbitals, and outposts on the various moons. A number of settlements remained almost completely independent. Over time the independent settlements grew, and new ones were founded that had not been cleared with the administration.

In 642 the TCPT administration faced its first major challenge, when some baseline colonists decided to settle an area of Themis (one of the mercury-sized moons of Zeus) that was designated to be left for mining and a later stage. The TCPT administration under Connar NewMan, who took over after Enya Clarke and her party had been forced to step down, did not want to do he same was as his predecessors. He had already established a small paramilitary colonial space guard, but with the local medianet watching his every move, he new he had to play things right. He and his administration tried diplomacy first, with limited success from the stubborn settlers. When the colonial space guard arrived in the settlement area they found the settlers strongly dug in, with a network of domes and some underground tunnels, as well as a crude by limited perimeter defense grid made with jerry-rigged mining lasers. The space guard were unable to act without fear of being cut down, but they managed to established a cordon around the settlement, just beneath the horizon of Themis. Although a majority of orbitals and surface habitats were on the administration side, the more independent habitats threatened retaliation if further action against the Themist settlers was taken, while some baselines, space adapts, and cislunar superiors began taking steps towards aligning themselves with them and setting up an alternative government in opposition to the Novoterrans. The NewMan administration, panicked about the emergence of militias, independent orbitals, and civil war, and answered in force, using a asteroid mole to drill underneath the settlement's defense grid. in the ensuring firefight, two hundred and fifteen Themist settlers and twenty-three colonial space guardsmen were killed. The settlement was completely demolished, but the bloody action and unnecessary loss of life created strong resentment among many and made the TCPT administration, or "Provisionals" as they were called, look even more dictatorial, and NewMan was forced to resign, being replaced by the more moderate Lisa A. Miguel. To this date a shrine stands on that very spot in memory of those of both sides who died in the battle.

Tau Ceti Democratic Republic (TCDR) and the Free Ceti Alliance (FCA)

Lisa A. Miguel's reforms were lauded by her supporters, but seen by her opponents as too little, too late. One of the responses to the oligarchic TCPT administration was the multi-clade Tau Ceti Democracy Movement which began petitioning for reorganising the government into a more distributed way. It quickly gained support, but the outnumbered TCPT administration tried to hold on to power. Over several years the political scene was dominated by the struggle between the Provisionals and the Democrats, and in the meantime several of the independents had the chance to prepare better, and the Novaterran Administration was forced to make concessions and accept true democracy if it was not to be overwhelmed or destroy everything in a scorched earth policy. In 646, following several years of careful thinktanking, interparty politicking, and sociological simulations, a new constitution was announced and the Tau Ceti Democratic Republic (TCDR) was established, with the initial government being an alliance of the two main political parties, the multi-clade TCDM (Democrats) and the astropraecursor dominated TCPT (Provisionals).

But this was still too little too late, and in 648 several independent settlements and orbitals announced that they were formally breaking away from the colony, forming their own nation, the Free Ceti Alliance (FCA). The TCDR found itself unable to muster the resources needed to force the Alliance back, and had to accept fait accompli. The Alliance was composed of more radical and independent settlements, orbitals, and habitats, often with strong religious, national or political views. The Alliance always remained a very loose conglomeration of groups who had very little to do with each other. The Republic had a better resources, better communications, and overall a more homogenised population; while the isolated nature of many Alliance habitats emphasised their differences even more. The dispersed settlements promoted the development of communications technology, and gradually the parliament began to meet solely in virtual reality. The many disparate communities with their different languages also promoted the development of automated translation systems.

Over the next three generations the Tau Ceti Democratic Republic (who still controlled all the bases on Nova Terra, mostly centered around the large dome at Landfall) and the Free Ceti Alliance engaged in a kind of territorial rock grab, dividing the Tau Ceti system into a patchwork of territory between them as each scrabbled for the best resources, occasionally breaking out into all-out firefights. A sort of low-key cold war ensured, but there was little military escalation. The Administration had the monopoly on central resources and control over the Neumann codes, while the Alliance, although of greater numbers, suffered from a lack of unity and for that reason were never able to pose a real military threat to the Administration.

The Attelists

In 796 a preacher named Erik Atell appeared in Ford, a medium-sized asteroid habitat that was a member of the Alliance. He preached a vision of unity, communion and human development that would unite everybody in the disparate Alliance communities. He had some success, and went on preaching in many other places. His success was mixed, but the Atellians became more and more numerous and widespread. While religious movements were not unusual, the Atellians tried to encompass the whole of the Alliance instead of just a single community. They failed politically, since many of the Alliance communities refused to combine more closely or listening to the Atell memes. In most habitats the Atellians were regarded as just another religion.

Erik Atell realised that he couldn't achieve his vision just through persuasion, the communities had to be forced out of their isolation. He attempted to organise his followers into an army to "open up the closed". The endeavour failed utterly. Erik was killed in 801 as a result of a firefights between between the Space Guard and the militant Tau Ceti Liberation Army, who had infiltrated the Atellian organisation, intending to use it as a fund-raising and recruitment organisation. Erik's successor Yotik Henrigues began a new plan; instead of trying to found another settlement or merge with the Republic they should form a separate orbital colony, independent from both factions. He exploited disillusioned elements in the administration where he and a few others had connections to get the opportunity to buy the old space station (which was being replaced anyway). The Atellians moved there en masse in 804, joining the ai colony/nation Unity. Most people disregarded this as another crazy cult or autonomous orbital state, but some worried that the Atellians might attempt another crazy venture. To soothe these fears Unity signed a non-intervention treaty in 805.

Unity

While New Terra and its surrounds belonged to hu and administrative ai, a very different civilization was developing among free ai, disenfranchised colonists, cyborgs, and mildly isolationist Solsys ai in the outer Tau Ceti system, especially around Zeus and its complex of moons. This new polity, known as Unity, developed into a closed, extremely connected society. Yotik promoted experiments with drugs and bionics to create a stronger sense of community, perhaps part of a scheme to keep control over his followers despite their hardships. Over the next decade the experiments succeeded - based on Landfall technology the Atellians managed to create a form of digital telepathy, uniting the community ever closer. Over the next years they explored ways of integrating themselves, ending in the formation of a number of Units, bionic group minds that remained in constant contact. Realising that the other people would dislike their approach they began to build a second home among the moons of Zeus. Unity began asteroid mining and energy production on a far larger scale than had previously been undertaken, trading it for know how from downplanet and building new habitats. When the truth began to become clear there was little anybody could do, and the treaty remained.

By the early 8th century a.t. Unity was a society of group minds. Each Unit consisted of several people linked together by implants and compatible personalities. Children grew up in the units, becoming one with them. Units could communicate directly with each other, but usually total communion was hard to achieve. In each habitats all units were able to communicate with each other, and to discuss public matters. One problem was the uniformity that tended to develop. This was a reason Unity actively recruited people to join the units, to keep the mental diversity high despite the trouble that weakly integrated people cause.

extracts from "The Federation Period"

(From Kerrice Clonehu Bookham, ed, A Novaterran Primer (Eden Memory Archives)

The Arrival of the Federation, and the influence of Federation Culture

It is perhaps because of a weariness with political tensions, anxiety, and local firefights that the arrival of the new Federation in 965 was welcomed by moderates on all sides. Tau Ceti was accepted into the Federation, becoming the first extra-solar Federation territory, and a new wave of idealism and brotherhood of man develops. The federation was to eventually encompass almost a hundred star systems (with a few notable exceptions like the strongly independent Barnard Belt and the Lalande Genetekkers), but Tau Ceti was to remain the most important and indeed enthusiastic member state outside the Sol System itself

With the help of megacorps like Jupiter Transystems and Omicron Developments, with advanced Federation technology, terraforming of Nova Terra began once again. For the first few centuries everything went according to plan, with Terraforming proceeded, although at a slower rate than was initially expected (it was necessary to clean up the residual charlies), while advanced mechanisation made it simple to build a working agricultural and industrial base on the surface.

With the arrival of the Federation, the relationship between the Republic and the Alliance remained somewhat strained, but never at the level it had been in the previous few centuries. The only thing that really united the Alliance is resistance to Republic incursions into what it considers its internal affairs. Such incursions are resisted by making Republic pay through expensive sabotages; messing with the Alliance simply didn't pay, and the Republic, already in this stage suffering from factionalism along House lines, hence leaves it alone most of the time. From the 11th century on, Tau Cetans began to define themselves as citizens of the Federation first, Tau Cetans second, and Republic or Alliance third.

Another important effect the Federation had was that it meant that Unity had established contact with the Federation AIs, and took the first step in becoming an Omega Society, apart from the Minsky's the first one to achieve total oneness. Throughout the First Federation period, Unity gained in strength. Unity society is a very mental society; most interesting stuff goes on inside the minds of people. Personality structures, linking topologies and mental control were common subjects of discussion, art and debate. A heavy reliance on virtual imagery and visualisation made the physical appearance rather drab.

The Megacorp War

During the Federation period, the two terraforming corporations, Jupiter Transystems and Omicron Developments both could see the potential for terraforming Nova Terra, and began to infringe on each other's claims. Sending down teams on the planet surface they claimed it as theirs and then promptly got into conflict. The local branches began to hire "security teams" to protect their investments. These teams gradually escalate their obstruction and minor sabotage to full-scale war, and in 1322 Jupiter Transystems and Omicron Developments became involved in a full-scale war. Both megacorps knew they have limited resources and could not hold on indefinitely. Various Alliance and Republic investors begin to bet on the outcome, fuelling the war further, and no end appears in sight. In the end local Tau Ceti anti-war opinion, the powerful influence of Unity, and organised boycotts both at Tau Ceti and the Sol System force them to give up, and a mutual terraforming cooperation was set up that got nowhere. Nova Terra remained unterraformed until 2300, when Bios Ecotopics was hired to to terraform it.

The Corporate War was nevertheless a watershed for interstellar development, and it meant the of dreams of a galactic Pax Federation. Without faster than light travel, distances were too great to enable centralised administration, and if even Tau Ceti, a relatively nearby system and the jewel in the Federation's crown, was not able to reign in warring megacorps, what hope was there for more isolated and independent-minded systems. Heavy-handed Federation legislation only served to further drive the megacorps away, and was also instrumental in the formation of the Eridanus League.

The Terraforming of Nova Terra

By the start of the 3th millennium the Orbital Confederation had long since become a number of separate, more or less squabbling orbital habitat-states, while on Nova Terra Landfall had become an autonomous nation state. With the threat of the NDR and its successor the Confederation gone, the remaining remnants of the Alliance were absorbed into the post-post-Alliance Habitat States, apart from a few holdouts claiming to represent the true Tau Ceti society and speak for everyone (the others naturally ignore them).

A serious problem on Nova Terra during the early Terraformed period was terrorism. The best way of getting attention was to do something spectacular, and people cannot ignore terrorism. Unlike traditional terrorism this was highly media-directed and planned strikes, usually more dramatic than deadly (although the human interest angle of innocent death is attractive). Most notorious were some anti-AI groups who have blown up or sabotaged notable AIs and the "6% warriors", striking against the ecology laws (they want the release of more terrestrial life-forms approved). Many terrorists hid in the the several post-Alliance Habitat States from Confederate authorities. Related problems were serial killers, fadbusters and Herostratian youths.

Kingdom of Eyre

During the early 2300s, the biosphere of Nova Terra became more habitable, and a number of eccentric communities become established on the surface. One such was the Kingdom of Eyre, a small island-nation 70 kilometres off the north-eastern coast of Hope. The founders were followers of King Stanley, a sociologist claiming that elected mini-monarchies was the ideal social order for Nova. Nominally a member of the Red Rock Alliance, the kingdom was fiercely independent and chose to go its own way. At first it attempted to become a tax-haven and entertainment city, but it never really worked out due to its location, Landfall legislation and competition from Palm Beach. Instead it became a closed, self-sufficient society ruled by the elected monarchs. In 2449 the Landfall Oceanographic Institute built a research outpost on the steep eastern shore to explore the deep sea trench nearby. Over the years since this the outpost have grown and the kingdom have gradually prospered by its increasing involvement in deep sea research and exploitation.

By the mid Empires period some descendants from the Kingdom of Eyre became an important royalist clade. The King (or Queen) of Eyre is to this day the formal ruler of an aquatic clade and a monarchist polity which has full sovereignty, although because of its small size only limited influence in the politics of the region.