Cosmic Empires

What if the space race had started in the Victorian era?   What if the two superpowers of Britain and Germany had both sent competing missions and what if those ships had been sucked trough a black whole to a different galaxy?   What would these castaways do? Assimilate into the strange alien cultures they encounter? Or would they both plant new Empires in the name of there earthly homelands!         In the year 1866 the british made a breakthrough discovery in propulsion power. At the same time German scientist made the same discovery and the two nations started a competitive race for space.   By 1887 the two countries had explored all of their own solar system. This halted all exploration as it was impossible to travel farther. But that same year a wormhole was discovered somewhere past Pluto. This hole led to an unknown galaxy. In 1889 England and Germany both sent missions to cross through this hole in space and time.   The British mission was led by Sir Roger Huntington, Lady Jane Huntington The crew was comprised of 7 "Royal Aethernauts" 7 Royal Space Marines with there wives. (Also there was one stow away.)   The German expedition was led by Commander Siegfried Vogel and a crew of 5 Weltraum Men, 12 men of different professions and their wives. The Germans looking to get ahead purposely tried to send more colonists than there rivals.   The two ships both went through the wormhole at the same time. The Time/space shift was so great it nearly tore both ships apart but both made it through but not in the same spots.   The British ended up in the New Britannia system. Where they crash landed on New Britannia. From the planet they could see where the wormhole was and were very distressed to see it close cutting them off from their home forever. In time with the help of their nearby neighbors on the nearby planet they dubbed "Fairyland" The British rebuilt there society and became perhaps the most powerful faction in this new galaxy. They remained staunchly British and even after 1000 years they haven't given up hope of returning home. There culture is very Victorian even if there technology is very advanced.   The Germans came out in a different system than their rivals. With their ship less damaged. They were attacked by hostiles when they landed on the only habitable planet in the system. Later named Konigreich. The inhabitants fought bitterly at first but eventually peace was made and the Germans flourished in their new home. Unlike the British they didn’t think very much about their old home as they had come as colonist anyway. After 1000 years they are much more numerous than the British and far richer in trade and technology though they lack the organization and powerful war ships of their old rivals. With their great numbers they have expanded to other systems more rapidly and colonized many worlds.   Travel between Planets and star systems is done by means of an energy field projected by a ship into a plane known as “The shift” a dimension of nothing but light in this dimension one can plot courses for stars based on their light signatures. Depending on the ship one can only stay in this dimension a certain amount of time without disastrous effects so it is necessary to make stops along the way if your destination is far.   Cosmic Empires is a shared universe created by four brothers. A place to set there various short story's and novels.   Enjoy!