Hope

The Hope is a pretech colony ship manufactured nearly twenty years ago. It was initially used to evacuate civilians off of Astronius before its sun exploded, and has since become an interstellar exploration ship. The Astronius Collective was created to put the ship, the only and likely last of its kind, to use exploring the stars and seeking out possible locations for future human colonies.

History

Night Knights logo by Rin Garnett

In 3208, the Night Knights worked with Tavari Zima to engage a pretech ship manufactory in the Selandic Empire of Astronius. It began constructing a massive colony ship using materials left over from before The Scream. The belief is that pre-Scream Astronians had prepared this ship for their own evacuation, but died before beginning the construction, then the Silence made such plans impossible.
Once started, construction took close to a year, during which time multiple groups vied for ownership of the proto-ship. The Osangar government was first, but scandals forced several officials to resign. The Emperor of Selandia then took over, promising to work with citizens on the ship's use, until it was revealed his “elite guard” was actually the Emerald Legion who'd been manipulating the Emperor for their own purposes.
Local militias, militaries, and uncharacteristic pro-bono help from the Invincibles overpowered the Legion to reclaim the manufactory. They continued to defend it even from their own government, before eventually using it to help evacuate citizens from the dying planet. The groups defending the ship came to call the ship the Hope, and themselves, the Astronius Collective.

Present Day

Today, the ship continues pushing the bounds of documented space. Its variety of personnel and caliber of equipment make it a near-ideal exploration vessel. However, there are concerns about how long this will last. The ship's size makes it difficult to maneuver, the high population is difficult to manage aboard a vessel, and nobody alive has the knowledge of pretech systems required to make significant repairs.
For now, the ship is a sign of hope, that we may yet regain what we lost in the Scream. Yet until we do regain that knowledge, hope dangles on a precipice of defeat.

Information

Current Location

Namuci Cluster

Last Docked At

Nisora, May 3228

Creation Date

March 3209

Owning Organization

Astronius Collective

Related

Structure

The Hope has three main pieces: the main column, within which sits the engine and spike drive; the biodomes, one at either end of the main column; and the ring encircling it all.

Biodomes

Most of the ship's populace resides within the two biodomes. These massive gardens produce the food and oxygen required to sustain the Hope's inhabitants, along with housing, classrooms, and working spaces. While allowing citizens ready access to such vital systems is a risk, in this case it also helps prevent negative health effects of long-term residency aboard a ship.

Ring

The outer ring contains housing, offices, and other civilian structures similar to the biodomes, but primarily for researchers and engineers. Distributed databanks and redundant power systems are scattered throughout, serviced by those who live nearby. Smaller ships dock in designated locations around the ring, providing the main location for receiving visitors or dispatching to other locations.

Hope

Open full size

Map of key locations of the pre-tech colony ship owned and operated by the Astronius Collective.
(Art by Annie Stein)

Main Column

Ship infrastructure mechanisms primarily reside within the main column. This includes central command, telecoms, gravity control, main power sources, and other large engineering spaces that control the ship's functioning. The details of the more complex systems are still a mystery, even to the Collective.
In the center of this column resides a zero-gravity core with the main engine and spike drive. This center of mass is the center and source of gravity on the ship, pulling everything else toward it. A safety barrier prevents direct access to the engine, which can only be disabled if the ship is powered down. With no manufactory large enough for the ship to drydock, there are some concerns of how future repairs and maintenance will take place.