NationStates Jolt Archive

OOC: Just as the title says. Random stories in the Rush to colonize Venus. This thread is open for all my fellow groupies.

****IC****

Lonna Wood found herself in freefall as the TransCorp shuttle's engines stopped boosting. Her stomache turned a bit at the new sensation, but soon eased thanks to the meds she took just a half an hour earlier. She looked out the window of her sleak little craft and gasped.

The view was beautiful. There stood the Venus colony ship over a glowing blue orb.

http://members.cox.net/sincityraiders/images/NeilRiddle(DropShip).jpg

Home she thought, [/i]I'll miss home.[/i] But she knew it didn't bode well to dwell on the past. She had a future, a future on Venus.

After a short time, the tiny shuttle attached with a soft clang and a hiss of air. The middle aged biologist unbuckled, floated in line using her hands to steady herself, and boarded the ship.

Soon, I'll be put to sleep with 50,000 others, minus me, and it will seem that soon that I arrive, she reflected, the first load of many.

****OOC****

So I know Wazzu isn't the only nation going to Venus...or already on/around Venus. If this is the case for you, please post some random charicter story...if you like. :)

Farrion Johten hated Venus. This hellhole was supposed to be the lifelong dream of Pilon's expansion into the universe. It was hot and cramped in the Terraforming station, the construction kept him up at night, and the Nodelink was constantly bothering him wiith insessant questions and queries from Pilonese citizens requesting details about his work. Everyone and their Dog-Hybrid seemed to be interested in the work. For all he was concerned they could have it.
The super-insulation structure took up most of the room in the station making it hard for the 10,000 Terraformers and Engineers on surface to get much personal space to themselves, the mass sleeping quarters were always hot.
According to the news reports some progress was being made in orbit on hashing out a treaty that would allow the existance of the station he lived in. As it stood currently it was a secret building masked by some sort of technology developed by Pilonia and given to Pilon. He couldn't wait for the day expansion of the facility would allow further workers and more room to live...

Continuing from here (http://www.nationstates.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=45541&start=20).

Once they had driven up the ramp and into the 'docking bay', the doors closed behind them and turbo-pumps began clearing out the deadly Venusian atmosphere, in favor of something a bit more... breathable. Once all that was finally taken care of, Marvin climbed out of the cab, left the vehicle, and crossed the tile floor of the brightly lit room to a door to forward right. After waiting a moment for Hilary, he walked through the automatic door, and into the hallways of the Outpost. The two of them were quickly met by a rather flustered looking Snel, who nearly bumped into them.

"So very sorry, sorry... oh!" The amphibian looked up, to see who it was that he had almost run over. "Dr. Minksk! Dr. Ivanov! So sorry I'm late, I meant to meet you right at the dock, oh, things are not going well for me today... You may call me Alfy, all the other humans do. Welcome to Outpost Ishtar Alpha."

***Sometime Last year***

The SS Hephestus, Wazzu's third generation ship, sped inward from the outer edge of the solar system. It's forward cargo "basket" was loaded with ball berrings, all coated with something uniquely Wazzuian.

Closer, closer, on a planned trajectory...then stopping acceleration...reversing it. The berrings left the basket in a clump, a clump moving at a healthy clip and with a small explosive core.

Inside, a technician spoke to another, "I do hope they are out of the agreed upon orbit. If anyone crosses there when those things move past."

"Don't worry, no one will be there, or on the ground either. They all know the drill, and the math has been checked upteen times."

"Yea, I know, but I still hope."

Watching the clump move away, "Me too."


***A bit more recently***

Something large and moving very very fast approached Venus at an angle. Smaller then the earlier clump, it would strike soon.

A small charge popped...5mm berrings spread out in three dimensions...and...did they miss or hit? On target, they didn't react with the thick atmosphere of Venus. They didn't burn up. They didn't even get hot. But they certainly hit the ground hard enough.

In an uninhabited part, eighth really of Venus, huge clouds of dust formed over suddenly molten rock as tiny masses impacted on the surface. Nothing had enough energy to reach orbit, but something else happened.

The angle of incident torqued Venus, suddenly, violently.

Then another set or berrings, and another, and another...all struck Venus...and the planet increased its spin. Faster, and faster.

By the end, Venus would have a 22 hour day.

The question was...did it create a magnetic field?

By the end, Venus would have a 22 hour day.

The question was...did it create a magnetic field?

OOC: Most probably not. Dynamo theory doesn't attribute the generation of a magnetic field to the spin of a planet as a whole. Other stuff: that's gonna take a really freakin' long time. And why bother trying to get it all the way down to 22? Shouldn't we be happy with 24? Or even 48?

By the end, Venus would have a 22 hour day.

The question was...did it create a magnetic field?

OOC: Most probably not. Dynamo theory doesn't attribute the generation of a magnetic field to the spin of a planet as a whole. Other stuff: that's gonna take a really freakin' long time. And why bother trying to get it all the way down to 22? Shouldn't we be happy with 24? Or even 48?

OOC: As I understand it, the faster it spins, the higher the magnetic field.

I admit to not being aware of a theory called "Dynamo theory", all I know is that it is speculated (by my astrophysics textbook) that Venus has no detectable magnetic field because it isn't spinning quickly enough.

So spinning it has at least some chance of starting one...even a little one is better then none.

And yes, IRL it would take "a really freakin' long time", but this is NS. Besides that, that Venus meeting Menelmacar and Wazzu had was not supposed to take years. We call 1 day 1 year, but that doesn't work for RP. So we can assume it has been going on for years if we like.

we're cool with that.

(OOC: Info on Venus's magnetic field: http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/papers/venus_mag/. To summarize- you need some way of getting the outer core to circulate, and spinning the planet wouldn't do very much of that. But 22 hours is really overkill, regardless. And by "really freakin' long time", I mean "several hundred, if not thousand, years". Soo... even NS time, it'll be a while.)

Kawaash, Vallis Province, Qaaolchouraav Mars:

Tarathe Waolaa (Deputy Head of Communications Depatment for Qaaolchouraav Mars): "Any word on Venus yet?"

Zaade'are' Miniivleio (Head of garrison for Northwest Military Group of Qaaolchouraav Mars): "We are to begin arming and preparing transit"

TW: "We shall begin colonization then?"

ZM: "No, we are to remain on ready and send out feelers."

TW: "Ahh. And should Melemecar react violently. (spoken as a statement)"

ZM: "Then we shall seek allies to force them to disgorge the planet."

TW: "And Should that fail"

ZM: "Well the president shall likely be out of a job."

TW: "But diplomatically?"

ZM: "Qaaolchoura is well suited for a guerilla war."

TW: "But our infrastructure, and Mars, and our sattelites? Even if a Guerilla war could be accomplished that is."

ZM: (silence)

. . .

Edit: Continuation.

In orbit above Venus.

Dzarroea T'r'bar (A Space Pilot): "Sir, If you go through ith this Melemec-<cut off>"

Luke saQaaolchoura(President of Qaaolchoura, over radio): "Look, I've heard it before, but we are not the only ones, there are some on this planet before us. We can leave if things get too hot-er no pun intended-, this is just a probe. We are waiting, and Wazzu, Pilon, and Snel shall take most of the blame if she makes things too hot. Soon we shall be sending a small mission down, but we leave our options open. Over and Out."

(saQaaolchoura turns off radio and sits down with head in hands)

Edit:ed due to an RP mistake.

Cygan shall take most of the blame if she makes things too hot.
(OOC: Quick note: No one should ICly know that Cygan even exists yet.)

<mark, will comment later.>

'He couldn't believe it, this pathetic dump of a planet was going to be turn into a paradise. Dylan Sturmharden, high ranking officer of the Diplomacy Corps, sat there in his office, staring at images of the planet that was supposedly going to bring in profit levels never seen before within the company.
I just can't believe that this craphole of a planet was going to bring NGEN into another age of prosperity, this planet that NGEN Corp was wasting billions on...that's right wasting. There were no return investments, no money was being brought in from this, we can't even begin construction on the future Venus HQ until the terraforming process was complete.'
'What was the point of all this.' Dylan pondered to himself. 'The CEO must have plan...that's right, the old man always has a plan' Dylan assured himself. 'This has to be part of the grand scheme of things...it has to be...it better be...'

(OOC: Info on Venus's magnetic field: http://www-ssc.igpp.ucla.edu/personnel/russell/papers/venus_mag/. To summarize- you need some way of getting the outer core to circulate, and spinning the planet wouldn't do very much of that. But 22 hours is really overkill, regardless. And by "really freakin' long time", I mean "several hundred, if not thousand, years". Soo... even NS time, it'll be a while.)

OOC: Run on sentance time:

In a universe of gravships, nanotech, FTL, force-fields, plasma cannons and phasers, teleportation, magic, fantastical creatures, alien beings, artifical intelligence, and many other wonders many of which are quite likely impossible, your going to quote one of multiple scientific theories on why rotating Venus might not work then tell me that it'll take me thousands of years to even try without giving me any equations?

I think you have some pondering to do.

In a universe of gravships, nanotech, FTL, force-fields, plasma cannons and phasers, teleportation, magic, fantastical creatures, alien beings, artifical intelligence, and many other wonders many of which are quite likely impossible, your going to quote one of multiple scientific theories on why rotating Venus might not work then tell me that it'll take me thousands of years to even try without giving me any equations?

I think you have some pondering to do.
OOC: Hey, I'm just saying there are alternatives. Personally, I would've taken a different approach, as this particular one seems rather inefficient to me. If you want, I can do the math, but I don't think it's really necessary. I don't mind your method, go for it, and even if you/I/we do find that it's totally implausible, we can just invoke NS physics, but I would've done it differently. Just my opinions. Oh, and think about replacing "might" with "probably"...

Just kidding! Don't bite my head off! I'm just bein' a jerk...

Other stuff: regardless of my OOC opinions, it will somewhat piss off the Snel. As is evident from the Pilon negotiation thread, they aren't very receptive to spinning Venus by any method or for any reason.

OOC: Hey, I'm just saying there are alternatives. Personally, I would've taken a different approach, as this particular one seems rather inefficient to me. If you want, I can do the math, but I don't think it's really necessary. I don't mind your method, go for it, and even if you/I/we do find that it's totally implausible, we can just invoke NS physics, but I would've done it differently. Just my opinions. Oh, and think about replacing "might" with "probably"...

Just kidding! Don't bite my head off! I'm just bein' a jerk...

Other stuff: regardless of my OOC opinions, it will somewhat piss off the Snel. As is evident from the Pilon negotiation thread, they aren't very receptive to spinning Venus by any method or for any reason.

OOC: Well, as far as the Snel...Wazzu wasn't at that meeting. It would not know that spinning Venus would piss off the Snel. It made a private arrangement with Menelmacar. So I guess there is nothing left to do but RP it out, if the Snel are that serious about it.

I really don't think they are militantly against it, they just don't see a practical reason for spinning Venus as their Worldring provides an artificial Magnetosphere.

I really don't think they are militantly against it, they just don't see a practical reason for spinning Venus as their Worldring provides an artificial Magnetosphere.
OOC: They would become so if/when it starts wreaking havoc with the airbarges and surface colonies, though. Anyways, back to the stories.

OOC: Well, as far as the Snel...Wazzu wasn't at that meeting. It would not know that spinning Venus would piss off the Snel. It made a private arrangement with Menelmacar. So I guess there is nothing left to do but RP it out, if the Snel are that serious about it.
OOC: True. Which means that the most you'll likely get is an annoyed letter.

Cygan shall take most of the blame if she makes things too hot.
(OOC: Quick note: No one should ICly know that Cygan even exists yet.)
OOC: Sorry I shall edit it.

Four Years (ICly for this RP) Later

Qaaolchouraav Venus:

Dzarroea T'r'bar (Commander of Northwest Terraform Station): "Any news of Melemecari notice yet?"

Tarathe Waolaa (Co Head of Communications Depatment for Qaaolchouraav Mars, Over the Radio): "None yet, I still think that the president is out of his mind. You hear that he is now trying to nab a bit of Europa?"

DT: "No, but no susprise there. Any idea of his intent in all this?"

TW: "I hear that he has put before the parliment a suggestion for a national name change."

DT: "A [unrepeatable] national name change! What the [unrepeatable] for?"

TW: "Why should I know, I am merely the messenger?"

DT: "What does he want to change it too? Some politically correct mumbo-jumbo like 'The Alliance of Western Zhaucauozia?'"

TW: "Well he did put forward 'Western Zhaucauozia', but it became apparent that most of the nation, including the Ahaaondaav, Bhaouz, and Wassaar were against it, so he gave up."

DT: "Good riddance"

TW: "He is trying to get the parliment to change the official long form to 'The Quatra-Planetary Socialist Imperium of Qaaolchoura.'"

DT: "'Imperium?' It does not bode well"

TW: "That it does not, over and out"

DT: "Over and out."

Somewhere within cyberspace, a simple iteration program hit 3 million.

Marvin Mason stepped off the 5 year old Venus colonization ship and onto the likewise unnamed Venus space station. The view through the clear dome was as fantastic as the one he had seen only yesterday...no, it was a week ago that he boarded the ship. The long sleep made it seem like yesterday.

Whereas before he saw overcrowded Earth, still somehow retaining its fragile beauty, now he saw...lustrous (he decided, after the goddess Aphroditie) planet Venus. It's attractive charm was a deception, it hid the hot, heavy, poisonous atmosphere beneath. Just like a real woman he thought, I wonder if the Greeks really did know.

One thing he knew is that he would be down there in the week. It feels like getting married he decided, I'm diving deeper into her torrid emotions, and will be trapped in her gravity well. He sighed and remembered his work. It was what he lived for. It was why he was here. Perhaps here he could make a name for himself. Perhaps. Life did not easily offer the chance to be remembered forever.

"So very sorry, sorry... oh!" The amphibian looked up, to see who it was that he had almost run over. "Dr. Minksk! Dr. Ivanov! So sorry I'm late, I meant to meet you right at the dock, oh, things are not going well for me today... You may call me Alfy, all the other humans do. Welcome to Outpost Ishtar Alpha."

"Yes, well. We've come to see your progress on atmospheric conversion, as you well know. This is an airbarge docking station, yes? When can we get a tour of one?"

"Ah, one what?"

"An airbarge!"

"Oh, yes, of course... ah, next one is due in 23 hours, I believe. Until then, I can show you to guest quarters."

(OOC: A cleverly disguised bump... D'oh! I gave it away!)

OOC: Qaaolchouraav Venus is pretty boring right now.