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Building Pressure, Ecoforge
A macro-technology developed and optimized in the 27th century to allow humanity's expansion and spearhead across the galaxy towards the D’zarak home world. Ecoforges are a holistic approach to terr... More
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Neal Ulen
When : Where
551 DE (2861 CE) : Loop I Bubble Perimeter / Hél 13 / EcoforgeA macro-technology developed and optimized in the 27th century to allow humanity's expansion and spearhead across the galaxy towards the D’zarak home world. Ecoforges are a holistic approach to terr... More #17
Terran standard, 14.7 ± 0.3 psi, surface, ecospec, per contract.
It was a lofty goal, but one that is drummed into us by the Triocracy
When the entirety of Earth was plunged into literal darkness and chaos in the years following the Cold Boot, humanity reverted to its most base form ... survival of the fittest and strongest. The near... More on every terraforming colony, from Gliese all the way out here to Beta Arae. Never once have we actually hit that target, but we never stop trying. In all truth, none of us have ever breathed Terran
Following the Transcendence Wars (2300-2310 CE), Terra became an inhospitable world compared to its pre-war state. Regardless, huamnity was forced to eek out an existence there with most survivors of ... More standard anyway, so ecospec be damned. TerraFollowing the Transcendence Wars (2300-2310 CE), Terra became an inhospitable world compared to its pre-war state. Regardless, huamnity was forced to eek out an existence there with most survivors of ... More had its atmosphere stripped away 320 years ago. The closer we get to 14.7 the bigger the bonus … and the more Infinispace time we can buy. Heart attacks drop dramatically the closer we get to TerranFollowing the Transcendence Wars (2300-2310 CE), Terra became an inhospitable world compared to its pre-war state. Regardless, huamnity was forced to eek out an existence there with most survivors of ... More standard atmospheric pressure. Hél 13 is no exception. The EcoforgesA macro-technology developed and optimized in the 27th century to allow humanity's expansion and spearhead across the galaxy towards the D’zarak home world. Ecoforges are a holistic approach to terr... More were dropped on Hél 13 twenty years ago: melting ice caps, vaporizing subsurface water, spewing dust into the atmosphere, seeding the skies with organic accelerants, cracking the crust with nukes and asteroids to release carbon dioxide, essentially using every trick in the book to warm up this small ball of shit.
Why?
14.7 ± 0.3 psi, surface, ecospec, per contract. It was a lofty goal, but one that was drummed into us by corporate on every terraforming colony.
Military ops and expansion of course. Hél 13 is the final stellar bridgehead in a long line of bridgeheads stretching back to the smoldering remains of TerraFollowing the Transcendence Wars (2300-2310 CE), Terra became an inhospitable world compared to its pre-war state. Regardless, huamnity was forced to eek out an existence there with most survivors of ... More. The invasion of the D’zarak homeworld waits for no one, or no planet. Five years from now Hél 13’s sulfur-rich atmosphere will be scrubbed free and ready to accept the first ships of the invasion force. I have maybe one more forming operation in me before retirement. Who knows, maybe the war will be over by then and I can retire early. Fat chance.
After hundreds of years of this slow war of attrition, the one thing humans finally learned to be proficient at is … patience. Wars are no longer fought in years, but centuries; they are no longer fought for the control of borders, but for the control of star systems. We’ve adapted and fallen into the tedious doldrums of the long war. It will happen tomorrow, or in a hundred years … but the inevitability of it kept us going.
Revenge.
Humans are very proficient in that as well. Someone once said it’s a dish best served cold. It’s also said to be best served unexpected and without remorse.
.FIN.
Images & Words © 2020-2023, Neal Ulen.
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