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= The Never Object =
= The Never Object =


"Never Trespass."
"Never" was the name given to the aloof Posthuman Intelligence that operated in the inner system by the initial survey team, who warned them off their approach of a then under construction project with the broadcast "Never Trespass On These Grounds." (At least the official version- the full version of the transmission read "Never Trespass On These Grounds Without My..." before cutting off. It was classified for obvious reasons)


This was the command given by an active posthuman communications system to the initial survey team as they approached the orbit of Helios II- which was at the time being cannibalized by a von neuman swarm and converted into a sizable posthuman structure.
Further attempts to communicate were met with silence, and further attempts to approach were met with flybys by AI drones. As a result, the UNCCA was content to leave the AI to its projects, the largest of which involving the construction of a latticework of geodesic spheres- some sort of habitat structure.  


The intelligence did not initiate any communication beyond repeating its initial transmission whenever any vessels came too close- and if they passed a certain demarcation boundry, AI drones were dispatched to destroy it.
This structure, nicknamed "Never's Object" would see significant growth and advancement over the colony's initial three years of operation, cumulating in the start of a grand experiment by the AI with the purpose to evolve a species of intelligent life. Each biosphere was grossly accelerated in development, and in time produced many a biological nightmare- be it an evolutionary perfect (but non-sentient) predator, or a terrifyingly efficient virus. But non produced the results Never was searching for.


For five years after the colony of Helios 3 was established, no vessel officially crossed the demarcation zone. "Never" was left to its solitude, to be studied only by scholars and stealth ships. Over those five years over five hundred unique drone craft were identified, captured, tagged, and released back into the wild. From the data gathered, it was determined that "Never" was constructing some sort of biosphere experiment. Several geodesic domes, constructed of hyperdiamond and forcefield, were linked together. Each held a different biosphere. One maintained a water habitat, another a desert- a third a verdant jungle. Periodically- at regular eight month cycles- a sphere would undergo an extinction event. After each such event, a given sphere would be cleaned and repopulated.


It was perhaps to their credit that the scientists of the Helios colony had tagged and identified so many drones, for after Helios 3 was destroyed, "Never" dispatched all but a skeleton force to the location of the former world. These vessels operated under some sort of stealth shield- but enough of their emission profiles were on record that the colonial forces were able to identify them against the stellar background radiation- stealth shield or not.


Before these vessels arrived, "Never" transmitted a single message- a command. "Leave this system or be destroyed." After having narrowly escaped destruction at the hands of a violent nature, the colonists were once again faced with a kind of destruction.
When Helios entered its period of heightened activity and the colonists were forced offworld, Never re-established communication with the local UNCCA office (specifically, he sent them an email), and offered the use of a specially constructed habitat as an 'interim' measure (although what constitutes 'interim' was never really discussed). Given the lack of other options, the UNCCA took the AI up on its offer, and the resulting colony was named "Never's World"- although this was later shortened to "Never" and then to the current name of "Nefer" after the AI grew increasingly distant and eventually went completely silent shortly prior to the Breakdown.
 
Faced with possible death in battle or a long, wasting death in an attempt to find or create a habitat, many captains chose the former- in a near unilateral action, almost every vessel with any sort of armament and several without, all engaged "Never"'s forces in as close to a surprise attack as one can manage when dealing with posthuman intelligences.  
 
Ultimately successful, the battle took a heavy toll on the survivors. Several vessels were severely damaged- and a few destroyed. There were many casualties- but the battle was not yet done. "Never"'s remaining forces fell quickly to the combined onslaught of the colonial fleet, and the Posthuman AI itself retreated, beaming itself through a short lived wormhole before the spire self-destructed.
 
The spoils of their victory in hand, the colonists set about making the spheres compatible for human use.
 
 
Although their world was gone, there was still a colony. A castle of gods, shining and beautiful both without and within.
 
Nefer.


= Military =
= Military =

Revision as of 13:57, 9 September 2011

Nefer
System Info
System Name: Helios
Map ID:
Surface Gravity: 1.0 G
Climate: Artificial
Atmosphere: Nitrogen-Oxygen Mix
Population: 39,000,000
Population Breakdown: 98% Baseline
Capital: Heliopolis
Type of Power: Independent
Infrastructure

History

The Helios Event

The colony world of Helios saw its earliest beginnings as an outpost from which to launch exploration missions into the deep rim. Situated on the world of Helios 3, nicknamed Neferti, a low gravity world lush with a complex biosphere and extensive precursor dust deposits, the colony would harvest resources to build and maintain an expansive exploration fleet, and bring the wealth of discoveries back to the Core where they could be studied and profited from.

It was, on paper, an ideal setup- and it saw significant investment by several major corporations and research institutes over the first five years of its operation.

Then the Helios Incident occurred. Helios entered a period of heightened stellar activity- and approximately six months into this period released a massive plume of stellar ejecta. A plume headed straight for Helios 3.

Of course, the plume would take several months to reach the planet, but there was still considerable panic before martial law was established and an evacuation was set in motion. Of course the colonists couldn't take everything with them- most machinery was too bulky to be moved in the time allotted. Instead they loaded up on valuable supplies- be it processed ore or extracted delta dust. Moreover, an initiative was fast tracked to save samples of Helios 3's biosphere.

Even so, the escape from the doomed world was extremely close- the last of the colonists didn't leave until roughly ten hours after the impact of the ejecta plume on the opposite face of the planet- by then the air was nearly molten and a massive firestorm was consuming the planet.

Nevertheless, the colonists had survived. Packed onto every ship available- loaded into pressurized shipyards and half-finished exploration vessels, even the orbital ore processing stations had been tasked to provide temporary habitation for the colonists.

But these measures were merely temporary- a more permanent solution had to be found.

The Never Object

"Never" was the name given to the aloof Posthuman Intelligence that operated in the inner system by the initial survey team, who warned them off their approach of a then under construction project with the broadcast "Never Trespass On These Grounds." (At least the official version- the full version of the transmission read "Never Trespass On These Grounds Without My..." before cutting off. It was classified for obvious reasons)

Further attempts to communicate were met with silence, and further attempts to approach were met with flybys by AI drones. As a result, the UNCCA was content to leave the AI to its projects, the largest of which involving the construction of a latticework of geodesic spheres- some sort of habitat structure.

This structure, nicknamed "Never's Object" would see significant growth and advancement over the colony's initial three years of operation, cumulating in the start of a grand experiment by the AI with the purpose to evolve a species of intelligent life. Each biosphere was grossly accelerated in development, and in time produced many a biological nightmare- be it an evolutionary perfect (but non-sentient) predator, or a terrifyingly efficient virus. But non produced the results Never was searching for.


When Helios entered its period of heightened activity and the colonists were forced offworld, Never re-established communication with the local UNCCA office (specifically, he sent them an email), and offered the use of a specially constructed habitat as an 'interim' measure (although what constitutes 'interim' was never really discussed). Given the lack of other options, the UNCCA took the AI up on its offer, and the resulting colony was named "Never's World"- although this was later shortened to "Never" and then to the current name of "Nefer" after the AI grew increasingly distant and eventually went completely silent shortly prior to the Breakdown.

Military

Military Command students


Uniforms: The uniforms employed by the Nefertan military are an adaption of those used by Pyramid's exclusive military training institute, which serves as a prerequisite to actual military service. The uniforms are a blend of military service finery, as well as the more business oriented garb of Pyramid's civilian employees.

In order to allow for quick identification of roles and specialties, Pyramid assigns each department a specific colour. Those departments utilize that colour on the ties of their uniforms, indicating their specialty.

The most recent up to date Department to Colour information is as follows:

Command - Red
Science - Green
Tactical - Yellow
Medical - Blue
Civilian Authority - White/Other colours (See appendix III for details)
Unassigned - Black

Weapons of Pyramid Nefertan Slang