NAN Special: Origins Expedition

The Mission - Returning to the Roots of Humanity

The day has come at last!
The day which thousands of abandoned terran colonists desperately yearned for their entire lives - close to four millenia ago - but which never came.

It is time for the human children of Sho-Caudal to return to their roots and find out what really happened to Earth and the cradle of their civilisation there. When the the humans of Sho-Caudal took the step out into the vastness of the Sho system, this dream once again materialized. But until recently this was nothing more than a dream. The vastness of interstellar space between the Sho System and Sol System was far too big to be bridged by even the most refined Sho drives of the FSVC [Tx link], the IVA and the Void Hegemony. Before the great breakthrough in FTL sho drives just five years ago, a trip to the Sol system would have taken 240 years. But now, thanks to the reversed engineering of an ancient salvaged colony ship - the TSS Burundi - found drifting in the Deep Void by daring ramian Void Mariners, a new Sho FTL drive has been built. It can transport scientists to the fabled Sol system in approximately five years. The dream lies at our doorstep!

When the breakthrough in FTL sho technology became official five years ago, the Free State members of the FSVC announced the Origins Expedition. Since then the entire Sho system has held its breath and followed the orbital construction of the FSS Mayatrish. The project has of course been subjected to controversy, wariness and sharp criticism over the last five years. The Iron Empire and its allied Duchies have made countless official complaints regarding its lock-out from any participation in the expedition and the results of the technological breakthroughs of the reverse engineering of the TSS Burundi FTL drive. The Iron Empire blames old prejudices and political embargos relating to the last Iron Curtain Conflict. As the Iron Empire is openly distrustful, if not hostile, to the Shan and the Greater Ramian Hegemony, it is seen as a delivberate slight that it has not been invited to share in the ancient secrets of their revered ancestors.

Also the appointment of the expedition crew and specialists has been heavily debated and has become a hot political topic. But the FSVC has been adamant in its exclusive right to appoint expedition members. But in order to appease its own member states, a mission kim has relatively publically evaluated various nominees and tried to balance the members of the expedition among the FSVC states and certain invited states and races, such as the Anasani and the Greater Ramian Hegemony. The expedition itself is formally led by a lystra, but which must heed the majority advice of an expedition kim.

Lastly there has been much discussion about the mission purpose and agenda. From the very day the Origins Expedition was announced, the FSVC and the mission Kim have stated that the expedition is primarily scientific. But as there is a good chance to meet with a surviving civilisation complex protocols have been created to facilitate a smooth first contact and ascertain any threat such a distanced human culture could pose to the peoples of Sho-Caudal. The military presence in the expedition and the latest sho-tech weaponry that will be stored onboard the FSS Mayatrish has been much criticized and sceptical voices have raised accusations of colonialism. But regardless of what sinister purposes webdancers might weave, the expedition's obvious main purpose cannot elude anyone in the Sho system - rediscovering Earth. As former Sandor Tuvell, the former FSVC chairman, stated "This is not only a scientific calling. It is also an ancient curiosity and cultural pilgrimage. We owe it top ourselves and to all of the children of distant Earth who look up at the stars and wonder where we came from. But most of all, we owe it to our brave ancestors who in the distant past were abandoned and never learned the reason of their fate."

One must not forget that it is no little sacrifice the members of the Origins Expeditiona are making. They will be spending more than ten years in stasis during the trips and will distanced from both kinsfolk on Sho-Caudal. All of them face the so far unchallenges of interstellar travel. But hopefully they will bring back beautiful images of humanity's cradle and words of peace from its surviving people. Regardless of what they find, they will return as heralds of a new era.

The FSS Mayatrish is scheduled to launch from Sho-Caudal orbit on 2nd Crith 28 - the traditional day of Mayatrish's arrival in Gauss more than three millenia ago. Below is a brief schedule of the Origins Expedition:

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