Unvanquished

In the early 23rd century, humanity sent its first ships to the stars. Spurred on by the allure of new frontiers, the pioneers of interstellar travel embarked on massive colony ships by the thousands, certain that they would never see their homeworld again. In these old days of human space travel, transit times to even the nearest stars took several decades, and thus the colonists were kept in suspended animation, to be awoken at their final destination. Some of the more unfortunate volunteers ended up stranded in space, drifting through the endless sea of darkness, while others met a swifter death during collisions with asteroids or planets with powerful gravity wells. Yet, the multitude of ships sent out ensured that some were bound to successfully reach their targets, leading to the first human colonies. Confronted with barren, rocky wastelands, the first generation of colonists did not stray far from their landed ships, which had taken on the role of providing life support and power generation. Each ship was equipped with sufficient facilities for the nano-manufacture of tools and industrial components that the colonists required, along with a stock of blueprints containing the sum of all human technological knowledge up until the date that the ship was launched. In addition, each ship was stocked with a large complement of sterile, genetically modified clones, along with the means to produce more of them. These clones, created specifically for labor, were crucial to humanity’s expansion through the stars. With greater strength and resilience than the average human, along with an utter lack of fear and a heightened tolerance for the harsh conditions outside of the early colonial base, the clones tirelessly performed manual labor for the colonists, mining for raw materials and setting up the infrastructure for continued growth. Wearing protective suits and equipped with hand-held devices capable of emitting a directed spray of nano-machines, the clones laid down solar cells and ventilation systems, allowing for the first structures to be built beyond the colony ships. The first crops were grown in the lifeless soil of distant worlds, supported by immense greenhouses and tended by teams of clones. While many worlds were initially incapable of supporting life, and would not be able to do so until the future introduction of terraforming by later expeditions, a few were gifted with a suitable atmosphere that permitted colonists to step outside with a bare minimum of protection, and for a few hardy plants to grow beyond the immediate attention of humans. These planets were the first to thrive, and would come to attract the most attention from Earth, where newer generations were lured into migration by the first transmitted images of vast grasslands under a distant, setting sun. Aided by the laborer clones and a wealth of unprocessed minerals, along with a distinct lack of alien life, the earliest pioneers would enter old age amidst the first cities to have been built outside of the ships, with the deactivated ship itself often becoming a monument to the past.