Colonization of Vesta

I remember the day we woke up. The fear, the shock, but also the excitement of witnessing an alien world for the first time. I know we can never go back to Earth, but this... this is home now.

— Anonymous Founder, 0

Following the arrival of the Ulysses in the Aurigan system, the Initiative's recently awakened mission director and remaining advisors argued about what to do, and ultimately decided to settle the planet they were orbiting. Named after the goddess of hearth and home, the newly settled planet was to become a new home for the surviving members of the expedition. The colonization of Vesta began in earnest on June 12th, 0 After Planetfall and was characterized by the establishment and rapid growth of numerous settlements throughout Vesta. It later died down 69 years later when the last major settlement was founded.

This time period is considered to be a pivotal moment in human history, as the settlers, who would call themselves the Founders, were united in their goal of survival and expansion, and had nearly limitless resources at their disposal. The colonization of Vesta marked a new beginning for the human race, as since the fate of the Solar system was and remains questionable, Vesta was the only place where Humanity could decisively prosper. With less than four and a half million colonists, however, the task ahead was not simple, and not without dangers. The Founders worked tirelessly to avoid the mistakes of Old Earth, birthing a culture and mindset that would survive for centuries to come.

Early Colonization

Preparations

After reaching a stable orbit above the planet that would become Vesta, the Ulysses had completed the last of its directives, and thus awakened the ship's crew and mission command staff. While the mission command staff initially believed to have arrived in Alpha Centauri as planned, the remaining crew knew otherwise. After several hours of briefing and ship-wide inspection, it became obvious that the situation was dire. With more than a million casualties and most of their supplies expired, the ship's crew and passengers only had one way to survive, to make planetfall and start gathering food and raw materials for the first settlements.

As the first shuttles took off to explore this brave new world, the rest of the crew and mission command staff started to repair and restore what they could to support the construction of the first settlements. Between repairing or salvaging equipment from the Ulysses and exploring their new home, the ship's crew and these first settlers eventually named the planet Vesta, after the goddess of hearth and home. The star system was similarly named Auriga as the Ulysses' final guide. Finally, on June 12, year 0, after three weeks of exploration and repairs, the first batch of colonists was ready to be awakened.

Placeholder by Negev1812

Overview

Start date

32 649 A.D. (est.)
0 After Planetfall

End date

69 After Planetfall

Colonists

4.38 millions (0 A.P.)
6.67 millions (69 A.P.)

Nationalities

30.52% European
26.21% Chinese
14.47% Oceanian
14.21% American
6.13% Canadian
4.67% Bharati
2.51% Amazonian
0.67% African
0.019% Russian
0.023% Siberian
0.012% Saharian
0.007% Others

First settlements

Utilizing the Ulysses' initial analysis as well as the multiple reconnaissance flights performed in the last three weeks, six landing sites were selected to become the first permanent settlements to be established on the planet's surface. Three of those landing sites were located on the planet's largest landmass, two on the second largest landmass and the final landing site was on the southern landmass. Each had access to clean drinking water, vast fields of arable land and enough mineral deposits and other construction materials to sustain a moderately sized city. The first of these locations to be settled became the town of New Dawn and was a huge success. It was quickly followed by the remaining five landing sites, spreading humanity throughout Vesta. As these towns grew and were capable of supporting more and more people, the Ulysses awakened more and more settlers to contribute. These people were eventually called the Founders by the following generations, out of respect for their thankless work.

Life in these early settlements was hard, but relatively safe. Humanity's advancements in medical science allowed scientists to rapidly develop cures and vaccines against the local diseases, while creating new antibiotics to prevent the birth of super bacteria. The local wildlife was not so lucky, however, with several epidemics erupting around the largest cities and requiring mass slaughters to save the species. Some of these became aggressive in response, causing more and more issues in the smaller towns. As humanity learned, some paid the price, either to some new disease or by an unfortunate encounter with an aggressive or otherwise dangerous creature. Many explorers met such fate, as did soldiers, hunters and medical professionals. After a while, however, Vesta's most common grounds were finally tamed, and its most dangerous locations and species known and catalogued.

Return of industry

Hunt for resources

With the first few settlements established, the Ulysses woke up wave after wave of colonists to expand them. It soon became evident that more resources would be required to maintain this growth, as well as more industrial capacity to properly exploit these resources. Small outposts became villages and towns, factories and suburbs were rapidly constructed and numerous prospectors left in their hunt for mineral deposits. As more and more locations were settled, the meager fleet of shuttles used on the Ulysses was no longer enough to transfer goods and people between them. In response, roads, bridges and ports were built to connect every settlement across Vesta. unfortunately, these projects came at a cost, as numerous expeditions and worker crews were lost to accidents, natural disasters and aggressive fauna.

These sacrifices were not in vain, however, as the newly interconnected towns and cities allowed for a robust distribution of people and resources throughout Vesta, ensuring a healthy population growth and the gradual founding of more and more towns and settlements. As the population grew, from both the Ulysses' statis pods and natural births, more and more people began to focus their efforts on research, looking for ways to adapt to their new world and find innovative technologies. Machines quickly became a dominant part of the manual tasks, with remote controlled or autonomous drones taking the tasks of mining, farming and exploring the world under human supervision. At the same time, construction accelerated with the revival of 3D printing technologies and automated workers.

Corporations and Rivalries

With an abundance of resources, manpower and scientific discoveries, the Founders progressively stopped using Initiative standard issue items and instead started to create their own through the first manufacturing companies. The service industry soon followed, slowly recreating the economic structure of Old Earth. Unfortunately, the birth of these corporations led to the return of greed and envy among the population and the companies themselves. This led to the rise of tensions between communities and even cities, as trade became more and more regulated and influenced by the companies rather than the population's needs.

Final stages

As the years passed, fewer and fewer Founders remained to maintain a semblance of unity between the various cities and towns spread across Vesta. Left in their place were successors to whom Earth was nothing more than history, and Vesta was their home. With these newer generations never knowing scarcity or conflicts, their ethics and personal values progressively shifted from the Founders'. As a result, the six original settlements, now large cities with suburbs and interconnected road and rail networks, slowly started to expand their influence towards the nearest towns, eventually forming de-facto nations:

Alagonian Republic

Alagonia, or formally the Alagonian Republic, is one of the six major nations formed in the 30s by the first settlements. Alagonia's Founders were mostly of European, Indian and Canadian origins, though many others eventually came. Alagonia's landing site was retained due to its large fertile plains and temperate climate, an ideal location for sustaining the Ulysses' population with food. As a result, Alagonia's food exports form the bulk of the country's revenue, though its high-quality industrial capacity also allows it to remain competitive in other domains.

Sheng Commonwealth

The Sheng Commonwealth is a nation founded in the 30s mostly by Chinese, European and American Founders, though others settled in as well. It is a nation whose industrial capacity remained unmatched throughout the Colonial Era, providing the Ulysses and all other settlements with manufactured goods of all sorts. It is also boasting the second largest population behind Alagonia. While the nation itself is self-sufficient, the large quantities of manufactured goods and processed materials produced each year are traded for food, fuel and raw materials.

Milian Directorate

The Milian Directorate is a technocratic nation based on a vast island off the coast of New Eden and Sierra Palida. Formed in the 30s by the scientific communities living there, the Directorate is a leading power in innovation and technology, possessing or maintaining most of the Ulysses' available knowledge. Due to its location, the Directorate is also a major exporter of fish and other aquatic resources such as corals and algae. It is also one of the two nations to have built a dedicated spaceport, the other being the Shen Commonwealth.

Sierra Palida

The nation of Sierra Palida takes its name from the mountain range that remains visible all year-long from the main settlement. It is a relatively large nation, but most of its territory remains unexploited, as the settlements remain concentrated on the coast to extract deuterium fuel for the rest of the world. Most of it is exported by ships, with the Palidan navy being the largest of Vesta due to their role in escorting the freighters against the local wildlife. Sierra Palida's Founders are mostly of European, Chinese and Amazonian origins, though others have joined as well.

Synergist Union

The Synergist Union is one of the first established nations on Vesta. Its main goal was to provide the other settlements with construction materials and raw resources for further processing. As a result, the majority of the population are workers and engineers specialized in mining operations, most of them of European and Chinese origins. Through the use of mining drones and other automation techniques, the relatively small settlement covers large swaths of ground with open-pit mines and industrial foundries, making it somewhat similar to the Sheng Commonwealth.

New Eden

New Eden is a rather peculiar place founded by a majority of American Founders. It is an idyllic city focused on religious rituals and service economy. With many hotels, temples, restaurants and other businesses, it has many visitors all year round, though its lack of infrastructure makes it difficult to support a large amount of them. Its heavily religious inhabitants also make it somewhat awkward to visit, especially for citizens of the Milian Directorate, whose ideology directly clashes with any form of religion.