Update 1: A Serpent in Eden
Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. He drove out the man; and he placed at the east of the garden of Eden Cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life.
-The Conclave Bible, Datalinks
The thrusters fired, straining against gravity to slow down our descent.
The metal screamed in protest, as the pod screeched to a halt, carving a huge scar across the fertile valley.
There was a series of clicks as the outer airlock hatch popped open, and a man climbed down the retractable ladder unsteadily. He planted a boot firmly on the red soil, and the bridge erupted in cheers.
I turned away; there was work to be done.
-Provost Zakharov, “In the Beginning”
I was one of the initial group of colonists who built our first base on Planet. Provost Zakharov had the honor of naming it “University Base”, representing our dream of a life dedicated to science.
As one of the few among the
Unity security crew who had elected to join the University, I was drafted into the first military unit – a scout patrol, equipped with what we could salvage from the pod’s meager weapons bay. Our mission was simple, to chart the land around University Base.
Specifically, we were to scout out the mineral deposits west of University Base, and to explore the mysterious fungus growths that dotted the landscape.
What we didn’t expect was that the fungus would fight back.
A single scout, sent ahead of the main body, reported seeing a mass of worms trickle out of the fungus to form a coherent boil. We could hear his screams; see the worms tear into him before the video uplink blinked out. What we didn’t understand was [CLASSFIED].
Not taking any chances, the only mortar we had was ordered to engage the boil at long range. The boil erupted in a bloody cloud, and the remaining worms dissipated back into the fungus. When we came across his body, his eyes had been clawed out and [CLASSFIED]. We burnt the body.
The men were quiet, but I could see some of them had been hardened by death.
-UniTV interview with anonymous soldier, alias “breadbocks”University Faction Report – TOP SECRET
Our colony pod, built from the blueprints of the original
Unity pod, found a suitable place to establish a base.
The researcher in charge of the expedition – one Simmura McCrea – named the base “McCrea Labs” after himself.
He also constructed a monument, ostensibly to “encourage the people by showing them how far we have come”.
Things have been progressing well on the scientific aspect.
Our researchers made a breakthrough in Social Psychology.
And the results from that study were enough to make another significant breakthrough. We now understand the mechanism of human consciousness.
The excitement of the discovery simulated a burst of inspiration amongst our researchers. This led to the completion of a full report on almost every aspect of Planet’s simple ecosystem. Among other things, we can now construct terraforming machines that are efficient enough to justify the cost.
The monument at McCrea Labs was updated to further emphasize our advances in science.
Finally, our researchers are dedicating their efforts into reinventing a large-scale internet, rather than the temporary networks we have set up for now.
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Topic: Let's Play Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri! (Read 13363 times)