The Homeland
The Fabled Home of Humanity, Lost but not Forgotten
Endless generations shall live after us, none knowing the name of the planet which gave us life and sustained us. For that planet is resigned to the dark cosmos of space forever now, a symbol of days past, when we should be looking only towards the future
The Homeland is the name that refers to the lost homeworld of Humanity. Nearly five millennia before the current day, the very first interstellar capable ships were launched from this forgotten planet, carrying only thousands, the first explorers and colonists in the Galaxy of Astraesto. They would arrive in a star system now called Emergence, colonising the moon Entry, and its mother planet Horizon. From this system, their descendants would reach across the edges of the Galaxy, Beginning the greatest period of expansion and technological progress as has ever been seen.
As these new arrivals settled in their new homes, more fleets of colonists and adventurers would venture from the Homeland. Many thousands more, on great colony ships that will characterise this early period of history. Horizon begins to rapidly grow, with most new pieces of infrastructure being built around Gaia, the first notable human settlement in the Galaxy. It was as the city grew that its residents, led by the Governor of Astraesto Maynard Thornton noticed that the Homeland had gone strangely quiet.
What began as mild annoyance at a perceived communication error, rapidly developed into outright panic as weeks and then months passed without a word. Eventually, they came to the uneasy realisation that they had been abandoned, or at the very least forgotten, in a foreign and unknown Galaxy, without help.
Seeking any semblance of hope, Governor Thornton authorised one of his seven grand colony ships, the Australis, to return to The Homeland, embarking on a voyage the ship was never intended to undertake. Knowing the risks, the ship was piloted by a skeleton crew and given only limited provisions. The Australis was tracked for as long as possible, before eventually falling out of Horizon's limited radar range, the final fate of the ship remains unknown, as it was never seen again.
The loss of the Australis was a blow to the colony, and to ensure no such loss would ever occur again when they needed every resource, Governor Thornton, and Chief Explorer Thomas Weaving elected to destroy the known coordinates of the Homeland. Scrubbing all mentions of the planet from everywhere they could.
While perhaps a necessary precaution at the time, this destruction is often regarded as one of the worst tragedies in early Galactic history and has directly impacted the reputation of Thornton and Weaving, despite their many notable accomplishments in settling the Galaxy.
Our people abandoned us, left us to the whims of the Galaxy. But we are stronger than they knew, and Astraesto will be ours.
Attempts to Find The Homeland
To search for the Homeland is to embark upon an impossible task for untold numbers of stars litter our Universe, any one of them capable of sustaining our forebears. Yet still we try, for humanity's ingenuity and skill are rivalled only by our endless determination.
Throughout the millennia since its location was destroyed, countless attempts have been undertaken to pinpoint the whereabouts of The Homeland. Untold numbers of explorers have all tried and failed, from every nation in the Galaxy. Tens of thousands of ships, all with the most expensive and up-to-date technology haven't even come close.
It is near-universally agreed that the Homeland is in a separate Galaxy from Astraesto, but exactly which one has been heavily debated. Some say it would be a neighbouring Galaxy, such as the Milky Way, or Andromeda, but the Colony ships the Homeland utilised were incredibly advanced, capable of extreme extragalactic travel, even beyond most ships in the modern age.
While nearly every nation dedicates resources to the hunt for the Homeland, three nations, including the Galactic Hegemon, invest extreme resources to the search.
The Federation
Imperial Jerace
The 4th Imperial Republic of Jerace, Astraesto's second Galactic Superpower, splits their exploration efforts in two, between the military-run Imperial Navy with its Exploration Corp, and the civilian Interstellar Discovery Institute. Jerace's efforts have signified ramped up in the last few decades, with the vast majority of their focus centring on the Milky Way Galaxy and its Orion–Cygnus Arm.
Kingdom of Apreas
The Kingdom of Apreas is solely represented by the Apreasean Exploration Group, a purely civilian organisation. The Exploration Group has been known to directly support the Exploratory Fleets of the Federation Navy, though is mostly independent. Unlike their contemporaries, Apreas does not focus on either Galaxy, instead seeking the Homeland in further off Galaxies, including the Pinwheel Galaxy.
Theories
Since the very day communication ceased with the Homeland, theories have been brought forward to explain the absence. Though many have been thrown out as impossible, or so unlikely they could not have occured, there are some that hold weight, though even these are mirred by controversy.
Communication Malfunction
(Possible, unlikely)
The very first colonists on Horizon initially believed that it was indeed just a communication error or malfunction. After all, Horizon was millions of light years away from the Homeland. But as the years passed, fewer and fewer people began to believe this was just a communication malfunction. Surely, they claim, it would have been solved by now if it really was just an error. While there are still those today who cling on to this belief, and many still entertain it as a possibility, most agree that it is unlikely to be the true cause. Many other theories entertain a communication breakdown as a result of other events.
Cataclysmic Event(s)
(Possible, highly likely)
Arguably the most popular theory. It is the belief of many that an unknown natural or man-made disaster caused the Homeland to cut ties with the human colonists in Astraesto. War is an obvious contender for such an event, although some say a natural event would be more realistic. A super volcanic eruption for example, or large meteors and asteroids from outer space. These events could then tie in with communication malfunction, another popular theory put forward.
Image by Alexander Antropov from Pixabay
Abandoned
(Unsubstantiated, Highly Unlikely)
A cynical belief that has been passed down through thousands of years, is that the Homeland abandoned their colony in Astraesto. This belief has remained in circulation around the galaxy for many years but has become mostly disregarded. The Homeland had no conceivable reason for abandoning the colony, and on all accounts, it was a profitable venture and led to the discovery of hundreds of habitable planets. Hence why many dismiss this theory out of hand.
Really nice work.
Thanks!