Reise, Reise

[Lynneth]

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/a3ad3117be740232ec87b7328c094a87.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_a3ad3117be740232ec87b7328c094a87.jpg[/img][/url]

"Earth, boys."
"It's beautiful. Looks so different from up here."
"Let's hope it won't be sterilised by nuclear fire by the time we're back."
"Heh, yeah."

The crew of the GDSV [i]Explorer[/i] was standing in the large 'observation' deck, if it could be called that. It was essentially a room utilizing hologram- and other video-technology to project pictures of space around the ship into this room so one could watch it without the ship being in the way. A magnificent sight, standing with a few friends above earth, like gods.
This vessel was the most advanced construction ever made by human technology and industry, an exploration vessel of the highest quality.

A few minutes later, an announcement sounded through the ship.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, please prepare yourself. The mission will start in ten minutes with the start of the main engines. I remind you again that there is plenty to do on the ship; We've got about 2080 hours of movies, each of you have his own music collection as well as a few books on board. Exercising areas are available, you know where. If you feel wrong, consult either our psychologists Matthias Erchenbald and Haresh Sharma, or our doctors Johann Genzwürker and Park Janggeum. We'll also be in continuous contact with HQ on the Kanzler Bismarck, even if it may take minutes to hours for a response, depending on how far we are away. If this mission is a success, it'll be a thriumph for all of mankind."


Ten minutes later, the powerful VASIMR drive of the ship ignited, accelerating it away from Earth and towards its first destination:
Mars.


________________________

[center][url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/GDR/East_Germany_Coat.png"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/GDR/th_East_Germany_Coat.png[/img][/url]


[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/GDR/East_Germany_Flag.png"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/GDR/East_Germany_Flag.png[/img][/url]

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/1269292414145.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_1269292414145.jpg[/img][/url]

"Today is a great day for all of mankind, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is such a day because the first spaceship dedicated to exploration has begun its long mission towards Mars, and later to Jupiter.
The German Democratic Space Vessel [i]Explorer[/i] began its journey away from the space station [i]Kanzler Bismarck[/i] into the depths of space.
Let us wish them the best, for they are the vanguard of Man's studies of space."[/center]





OOC: I suck at good speeches. Anyone wanna write one for me?

Also, this is a semi-open RP. You can participate by sending me a PM with your character, position, rank and name as well as some background. All are citizens of the GDR, but numerous ethnicies are possible, including but not limited to:
German, French, Italian, Slovene, former Nordic, Japanese, Korean, Singaporean, Magyar/Hungarian, Croat.
Rank can be found here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_Army_rank_insignia"]German Army ranks[/url] - nothing above [i]Major[/i], as the commander of the mission is [u]Oberstleutnant[/u].
Astronaut positions are here: [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronaut_ranks_and_positions"]Clicky[/url] - use those from the space shuttle, though others can and will be added.
The ship has 45 people on board.
If nobody wants to participate, I'll just write it on my own. :3

Edited May 3, 2010 by Lynneth

[Lynneth]

The Commander of the mission was an Oberstleutnant with the name Matthias Wovereit. As Commander, he was responsible for ensuring that the mission was a success, which meant sending several probes onto Mars and, in about half a year or so, doing science near the large jovian giant of the Sol system, named for the Roman head god Iupiter. The main concern was exploring the moons and rings of the planet, whether it would be feasible mining them for resources or even colonizing them in due time. Europa, the ice moon, was seen as most likely colonization possibility, though habitats could theoretically be built on all these moons, just like with Earth's satellite, Luna. A concern was the planet's powerful magnetic field which could result in severe radiation damage to colonists as well as its large gravity well, which could make it hard to impossible to leave the moons once one had landed on them.
This was the main concern of the mission, after which the ship was scheduled to return to its homeworld ASAP, without taking another trip to Mars. However, it was hoped that they could at least visit the asteroid belt and take samples from various larger asteroids, hopefully giving enough information about whether or not it could be mined.

When the VASIMR drive had reached its maximum output for the time being, Matthias unbuckled and left the cockpit for the hab modules, planning to send the next few hours on the exercise machines. One needed to keep fit in space, after all, especially on a mission such as this.


OOC:
For convenience's sake, the ship:

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/GDR/Spess-1.png"]Click[/url]
and [url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Bayern/GDR/Explorer-1.png"]Click[/url]

Also, for the participants: I reserve the right to kick those who want to sabotage the mission and void their latest one or two posts. This mission is supposed to be a success. :3

[Subtleknifewielder]

To begin with, Haresh Sharma (he still had trouble thinking of himself as a Leutnant--after all, he was hardly a military man, and probably the youngest person in the crew) had little to do. The voyage was just starting, the crew was in high spirits from the launch and the view of the planet fomr the observation room. Which he had been in himself, not long ago. In actuality, he had been the last one to leave.

The comments of the other crewmembers, almost in a joking manner, about it becoming a nuclear cinder, were not enough to detract from his enjoyment of the view. [i]'By Allah, it's a beautiful sight from up here.'[/i] Looking at it from above, you wouldn't see the violence of nature, nor the brutal degradations and divisions of man that threatened to rip it apart.

But finally, even he could no longer remain here. Other than its receeding into the distance, the view didn't really change all that much. There were other things to do in the meantime. He considered the options. He could go and exercise for a little while--one needed to keep fit even in zero gravity. He could listen to some music in his quarters (OOC assuming they have individual rooms, if not, make it whatever is appropriate), or view a movie. They were sure to have some he hadn't seen or heard before. Or he could attempt to get to know some of the crewmembers he had not yet truly been acquainted with.

As he drifted out of the observation room, he still was not quite sure where he intended to go or what he planned to do...

[JEDCJT]

[quote name='Lynneth' date='02 May 2010 - 08:00 PM' timestamp='1272859183' post='2284683']
lolsnip

OOC: I suck at good speeches. Anyone wanna write one for me?

sniplol
[/quote]

OOC: I'll do it. Here's one:

"Today is a great day for all of mankind, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is such a day because the first spaceship dedicated to exploration has begun its long mission towards Mars, and later to Jupiter.
The German Democratic Space Vessel [i]Explorer[/i] began its journey away from the space station [i]Kanzler Bismarck[/i] into the depths of space.
Let us wish them the best, for they are the vanguard of Man's studies of space.
Oh, and before I forget, when I finish this magnificient speech, the German Democratic Republic will join the Federated States of America as a state, starting immediately. Don't ask why, just trust me."


Copy and paste that into your post :3

Edited May 4, 2010 by JEDCJT

[Lynneth]

[quote name='JEDCJT' date='04 May 2010 - 06:54 PM' timestamp='1272992075' post='2286494']
OOC: I'll do it. Here's one:

"Today is a great day for all of mankind, Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is such a day because the first spaceship dedicated to exploration has begun its long mission towards Mars, and later to Jupiter.
The German Democratic Space Vessel [i]Explorer[/i] began its journey away from the space station [i]Kanzler Bismarck[/i] into the depths of space.
Let us wish them the best, for they are the vanguard of Man's studies of space.
Oh, and before I forget, when I finish this magnificient speech, the German Democratic Republic will join the Federated States of America as a state, starting immediately. Don't ask why, just trust me."


Copy and paste that into your post :3
[/quote]
OOC: Get out >:|
This isn't a thread for your silly "lulz", this is srs bsns.

[Thomas Grimshaw]

Earth. Astronomically it was a planet, but in the eyes of Matthias, it was the king of stars. Though, the only thing that made it ruler of was the dead.

[i]The dead and the dying[/i]

Like so many stars, he was dying. It was a condition he had experienced since the day he was born, one all humans shared.

[i]Fifty years left Matthias, then you're off to whatever god you please. Fifty years...barring the possibility that some mathematician misplaced a decimal, or confused metric with standard. Though in that case, it'd almost be worth laughing over.[/i]


Matthias chuckled. One of the men responsible for ensuring the mental stability of the crew was a black humor aficionado, go figure. As he stared into space he caught his own reflection. His chin was squared off, with his jaw running back at a slight elevation. His cheekbones were subtle, lingering above gaunt cheeks. Crew-cut blond hair, navy blue eyes and a rough complexion made him a paragon of the "Freud Shrink" stereotype.

He zipped up his black leather jacket. Dress code had never been a big thing in his unit. Besides, in his experience casual attire was a boon to his work, it was less imposing.

He took his leave from the room amongst a group of others, clandestine analysis was another boon. Idle chit-chat said more about a person than most people believed. It was in the exit of the observation room that he bumped into his colleague to be, Haresh Sharma.

"Lots of technology, specialists, everything at stake...reminds me of my days in Special Forces. Nice thing about it, loose dress code," Matthias extended a hand, "Matthias Erchenbald, the other psych officer for this mission."

Edited May 6, 2010 by Thomas Grimshaw

[Subtleknifewielder]

Haresh, with one hand still resting on the wall he'd been gently bumped against, still managed a smile as he took the hand offered. "From your introduction, I'm guessing you already know my name, but in case you don't...Haresh Sharma."

His skin was a touch darker than most of the crewmbers, an inheritance from his parents, refugees from the long-defunct island-nation of Taiwan. Of course, the skin wasn't the only indication...his facial features also proclaimed his Asian heritage. That heritage also explained his religious convictions, though few other than his parents and siblings were aware of these.

"So, you were in the Special Forces? My parents were military too, though nothing so drastic...just common soldiers."

"So tell me, Matthias, how long did you serve? Forgive me if my question is presumptuous."

[Thomas Grimshaw]

"Nice to meet you Harseh. Though I must say, you're pretty concerned about causing offense for a psychologist. Is it a defense mechanism? Perhaps you've spent too much time with schizophrenics?"

Matthias grinned. "That's the genius of 'insanity'. It explains everything, attempts to prove one's self sane become defense mechanisms, reluctance to cooperate with an incorrect diagnosis, and the irritation resulting from it, becomes paranoid delusion. It’s the cheapest trick ever pulled by a storyteller. That, is why you and I exist, for both diagnosis and the prevention of misdiagnosis."

He released his grip on Haresh's hand, "But business discussion is for business time, if I'm not mistaken it is five o'clock somewhere. What say we find a lounge and some club soda and get acquainted?"

[Lynneth]

Wovereit had arrived in Hab module 2. In total, there were 6 cabins in each module. Most has the normal number of four inhabitants, but two had only two and three, respectively, so the theoretical maximum complement of the ship was 48. Space was an issue in space, and thus the cabins were rather small, but the beds had close-able sides, somewhat like if one could open a coffin at the side instead of the up-side. The room in those beds was bigger than a coffin, but just enough to sleep comfortably, roughly 2.3 times 1 times 0.6 meters, resulting in a total sleeping space of roughly 1.4 cubic meters. It was little enough to make claustrophobics absolutely crazy, but each and every single member of the crew had been examined and tested for any traumas, phobias or other deficiencies.
None of them had any of these, neither did they have sicknesses such as cancer, AIDS or anything of the like. And even if they had had them, they'd have been cured of them before the mission, something that was entirely possible in the GDR.

Within the next hours, the ship would move past Luna's orbit, around 300,000 kilometers away from their homeworld, Terra, accelerating to incredible speeds and towards Mars.
Though he was in the gym, the Captain was notified of this and made an announcement, by virtue of having a comm unit with him.
"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are now past the moon's orbit. Some nations claim that they sent people beyond this treshold, to Mars. I doubt their claims, for few of those have been backed up by independent sources. Perhaps people were sent past this point. It is, however, likely that they never returned, left to die on a barren red world's surface so others could claim glory. If it is so, it is despicable. If not, I stand corrected.
However, none have send a ship like ours beyond this point. Rockets, non-guided 'ships' on pre-determined orbits, fueled by normal rocket fuel? Quite possible. However, an actual vessel that is capable of changing its course at will? A vessel able to move vastly beyond its intended target? No. Not a single nation has yet sent such a vessel beyond the orbit of Luna.
Ladies, Gentlemen, we are pioneers. We are a vanguard. We are like the men of the Apollo missions, going into uncharted territory, exploring the unknown. However, unlike Louis Armstrong, we have technology of incredible capability with us, not only enabling us fire probes onto Mars' surface and send a shuttle with men to walk on it, but also to bring back samples with incredible ease. But Mars is only the first stage of this mission. We will go even further, beyond the inner asteroid belt, to Jupiter and its accompanying worlds. This will be the furthest any man has gone. The Sun will be but a dot in the sky while we orbit the jovian giant and explore the worlds orbiting it with probes and, if possible, our shuttle. Its gravity well is immense, and leaving it again will take much, but nothing that our Ion- and VASIMR engines cannot provide.
This is a journey no man has made before. It is one few will repeat in the coming years. But it is a journey that will open the solar system for our nation and eventually the entire world.
I'm proud to be part of this mission, together with the best our nation could provide."

[Subtleknifewielder]

[quote name='Thomas Grimshaw' date='06 May 2010 - 01:18 PM' timestamp='1273177118' post='2289255']
"Nice to meet you Harseh. Though I must say, you're pretty concerned about causing offense for a psychologist. Is it a defense mechanism? Perhaps you've spent too much time with schizophrenics?"

Matthias grinned. "That's the genius of 'insanity'. It explains everything, attempts to prove one's self sane become defense mechanisms, reluctance to cooperate with an incorrect diagnosis, and the irritation resulting from it, becomes paranoid delusion. It’s the cheapest trick ever pulled by a storyteller. That, is why you and I exist, for both diagnosis and the prevention of misdiagnosis."

He released his grip on Haresh's hand, "But business discussion is for business time, if I'm not mistaken it is five o'clock somewhere. What say we find a lounge and some club soda and get acquainted?"
[/quote]
Haresh laughed. "It's just how I work. Where some might be direct and prying, I make the patient feel it's their idea to tel me all about their problems. I find they tend to resent me less," he joked, a twinkle in his eye.

"But yeah, sure, I could go for something to drink. Haven't had anything since breakfast."

It was, at that moment, that the Commander's voice cut in, to make his speech to the entire crew. If any had been in doubt exactly what their mission entailed...they would no longer be left in the dark. He chuckled internally at the pun. There were few places darker than the depths of space. And fewer places closer to Jehovah or Allah or whatever god you worshipped, some might say.

A few of his patents had done just that, in the past.

"The Oberstleutnant, he makes an inspiring speach, ja?"

[Thomas Grimshaw]

((OOC:I'm assuming this ship has a recreation and relaxation area.))


The speech was typical. Nationalism, bravado, military chest thumping, the reason Matthias had preferred to distance himself from the normative soldier.

"I prefer inspiring action to inspiring words. Why tell a man you will win the war, when you can merely shoot the enemy's general from a mile off? No disrespect to the Oberstleutnant, but speeches fall on deaf ears in my case. Let's find the lounge, shall we?"

Matthias turned and consulted a wall-mounted map. With that guidance he led the way to the lounge. It was well-furnished, sterile and white, but well furnished.

He selected a drink from a refrigerator, sparkling blood orange juice. He gestured to Haresh and sat at one of the many identical tables.

[Subtleknifewielder]

"But this is hardly a war," Haresh replied, amused. "We aren't here to kill anyone." But he didn't push the issue further, simply following his collegue to the lounge. Even in a place where space was a premium, they had made a place for the crew to relax, showing the commitment they had to keeping everyone healthy and sane.

Heresh merely got himself some water and sat where Matthias indicated.

"So..." he said, taking a sip of the water. "I'd normally ask what you do for a living...but with both of us here, we each already know what the other does. And we can hardly talk about the weather in space, can we?" He grinned, still in good humor from the launch. He likely would remain in good spirits for some time.

"So what does that leave us to talk about?"

[Thomas Grimshaw]

"Perhaps politics or religion...if we wish to incite a riot. Perhaps a more gentlemanly subject...literature, the arts, perhaps?" Matthias said. He took a swig of his drink, pleased at the stock the ship carried. "Or if we want to get straight to the chummy part, there is always the interesting personal experience department, otherwise known as story telling."

[Subtleknifewielder]

Haresh took another swallow of water. He chuckled at the mention ofreligion and politics. Two of the subjects mankind always managed to find disagreements on if they could find nothing else to argue over.

"Well, since we are collegues, and there will be undoubtedly plenty of time to get to know one another, we don't have to start with the storytelling, unless you have some particularly humerous anecdote to tell?"

He could probably dredge up a few. Being one of six children meant he had a lot of material he could potentially use to amuse a new friend.

[Thomas Grimshaw]

"Well, there was this one time when the entire country almost got wiped out, that was fun," Matthias acknowledged his colleague's sentiments, they would have plenty of time to get to know each other.

"Have you seen the Obsterleutnant's psych profile? I've not gotten the chance, I was unsure if it was classified or not."

[Subtleknifewielder]

No man, woman, or child who had been a citizen at the time could forget that attack. The dark days, just before the Emperor's removal from power, when no one had been sure of anything except the enemy's advance...andthe one time technology had seemed unlikely to have tghe capability of saving them.

"I'm afraid not. I was planning on requesting it soon, though. I've gone through just about everyone else's, except for my own and yours."

[Lynneth]

Several months had passed.
On board of the [i]Explorer[/i] things went on in a somewhat boring schedule, with few things to be done until arrival at the Red Planet. Luckily, the journey took only 41 days, a little more than actually scheduled, but well within the possible timeframe.
Mars, the Red Planet, god of war for the Romans, was in sight.

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/8f9bd611dec58d3cc2e21b149af6a5fd.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_8f9bd611dec58d3cc2e21b149af6a5fd.jpg[/img][/url]

"Mars, ladies and gentlemen.
Our dear red neighbour. We've arrived. Please prepare yourself, we're going into a stable orbit around the planet."
With this, the thrust of the ship changed ever so slightly, slowing down somewhat for a stable GMO - geosynchronous Mars orbit. Soon, the crew would be able to look down upon the small brother of Earth, the one world of which it was thought that it could be terraformed rather easily.

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/d415b17bd2ccb0d7472006c59daa13dd.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_d415b17bd2ccb0d7472006c59daa13dd.jpg[/img][/url]

Mars.
For the time being, only probes and other automatic equipment would be sent down, though a manned mission was indeed planned.

[iKrolm]

Selenarctos Mars Base sends it's regards from the planet's surface.

[Subtleknifewielder]

Even in the little time, with so many aboard and relatively more room than would be for any other nation's comparable ship , it was natural that some degree of problems and tensions between crewmembers would arise. Hence why both himself and Matthias were there, to solve unexpected problems that arose.

And the landmark achievement of reaching, and eventually surpassing, Mars, had just about everyone high on anticipation. Even normally calm andrational people could be forgiven for having short fuses on occasion.

[Lynneth]

"Mars."
"This is but a small step for us, Gentlement, yet a great one for all of Man."
"Indeed. Let us rejoice."

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/57134bf64678b1d77d680b9a8e0f988a.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_57134bf64678b1d77d680b9a8e0f988a.jpg[/img][/url]

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Mars__the_planet_by_edgarliborio.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_Mars__the_planet_by_edgarliborio.jpg[/img][/url]

"It's almost as beautiful as Earth."
"Needs more water, in my opinion."
"Hey, it's possible to terraform the planet. Very possible, even."
"I know, the eggheads back home are already scrambling over the possibilities."
"Well. Let's get some material and make tests."
"To work."

[Lynneth]

While on Mars, many experiments had been run, samples recovered and a flag planted, to show that the GDR - now the VDL, though its flag unfortunately hadn't been included - had been there, on this red planet.
It was considered to leave a small colony of [url="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anaerobic_Respiration"]non-aerobic[/url] bacteria to test if they could thrive on the planet and eventually produce sufficient amounts of various gases to make it livable. However, this idea had been rejected as being too timeconsuming, amongst other things.
Uncontrolled bacterial growth wasn't that great, either.

Once all this had been done, the crew had returned to the shuttle and with it to the [i]Explorer[/i]. They now were on their way to a certain Jovian Giant.
[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Jupiter.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_Jupiter.jpg[/img][/url]

Jupiter.

[Lynneth]

OOC: Need to post more often in here...

IC:

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Jupiter__s_Trojans_by_Overtkill_UD.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_Jupiter__s_Trojans_by_Overtkill_UD.jpg[/img][/url]

"My god...this is beautiful."
"I'd never have thought that a living person would see it from [i]this[/i] close."
"Yet we do. Jupiter, highest of most mythological pantheons."

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/e5bbca68a89da349851cfd4385418ea0.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_e5bbca68a89da349851cfd4385418ea0.jpg[/img][/url]

"It's still amazing that this ship could travel this distance in such a short time."
"Yeah. Goddamn."
"Guys, I don't want to break the mood, but...We do have some tests to do."
"Lots of them, actually."
"Too bad..."
"Hey, you can stare at it when we're leaving."
"Yeah, yeah, fine."

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Jupiter_by_Planetarium.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_Jupiter_by_Planetarium.jpg[/img][/url]

Such a moment happened only once in several lifetimes. It merely showed just how [b]small[/b] Earth was in the Solar system, and the Universe.
An amazing moment for the crew.

[HHAYD]

[quote name='Lynneth' timestamp='1276139506' post='2331130']
"Mars."
"This is but a small step for us, Gentlement, yet a great one for all of Man."
"Indeed. Let us rejoice."

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/57134bf64678b1d77d680b9a8e0f988a.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_57134bf64678b1d77d680b9a8e0f988a.jpg[/img][/url]

[url="http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/Mars__the_planet_by_edgarliborio.jpg"][img]http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v284/Lynneth_del_Serpentas/AE/CNRP/Possible/th_Mars__the_planet_by_edgarliborio.jpg[/img][/url]

"It's almost as beautiful as Earth."
"Needs more water, in my opinion."
"Hey, it's possible to terraform the planet. Very possible, even."
"I know, the eggheads back home are already scrambling over the possibilities."
"Well. Let's get some material and make tests."
"To work."
[/quote]
OOC: Hate to wreak your srs bsns, but every once in a while, a massive solar storm fired by the Sun hits Mars and strip away the atmosphere due to insufficient magnetic field. Add in the atmosphere and let people walk around without any space suits, there's going to be a [i]little[/i] problem when a solar storm hits.

[Lynneth]

Finally, all tests and experiments had been run.
The crew could return home, back to Earth.

A planet where, by now, the nation of their origin had fallen to communist hordes and been resurrected by fascist hordes intent on "ethnic preservation".
It wasn't necessarily a good time to come back, but the only possibility. Supplies were slowly running low, as they had been calculated to last for exactly as long as needed.
Only, there was nobody they could ask to resupply them. No European nation, at least.

A bit further in the east, a small and ambitious nation was rising, however. The crew didn't know it yet, but this little island would be their saviour.






OOC: Fin, I guess.
Kinda meh, I had hoped for more participation and interest. Writing this on my own was kinda...boring. This had much potential.
Ah, well. Can't change that now.

Also, HHYAD, I'd have appreciated you sending a PM instead of OOC-posting.