Mon Jul 05, 2004 12:39 am
The Texas Incident, 500 A.S. and other general knowledge
This is my interpretation of the Texas Incident which I must say is explained very poorly in Freelancer. A long time ago I came across the IGN thingy on Freelancer. It had several in-depth histories and information things on the various houses of the Sirius that was written by the Digital Anvil team for IGN. Apart from stories about the creation of Synth foods and in-depth information on the history of the Kepler and Gallileo systems (fascinating) it also had a part on the Texas system. It had this to say about the Texas incident
Deep Space Engineering built its headquarters here during the great construction boom following the announcement in 95 A.S. that Texas would be Liberty's R & D center for the practical application of Ageira I technology. In 500 AS, a next generation Jump Gate test near the Dallas Research Station resulted in a horrific explosion that destroyed all man made objects within a large radius of the gate. 300 years later, the vast debris fields riddled with radiation pockets serve as a stark reminder of that dark day.
That is quoted directly from the paper. Now it is my inclinement that suggests to me that Liberty were not trying to build a jump-gate to the S-H-I-K-O-K-U system from Texas (Im not saying that they didnt want to, im merely saying that this was not connected in anyway) but the Texas incident involoved new Jump-gate technology. Now perhaps the jumpgate was new technology to enable people to travel long distances but, for what ever reason, whether it was linked to S-H-I-K-O-K-U or not it malfunctioned and spewed out to dark matter clouds a.k.a radiation clouds on either side of it. If you are familiar with the system you will note that between them is a debris field which is the wreckage of the jump gate, apparently spared of total destruction by being at ground-zero, if you understand that concept. I mean it wasn't totally destroyed because the main radiation blast was spewed on either side, rather like a Pulsar. It just so happened that Dallas research station happened to be on the side of it. Also, the same document, with information on the Kepler and Gallileo systems had this to say
One area remained consistently free of the clouds. It came to be known as the Kepler system, even though there really wasn't a system, just a hole in the clouds. When the great jump-gate routes were constructed at the end of the third century, this was the path chosen. Deep Space Engineering and Ageira were well aware of the problematic nature of building Gates that crossed dark matter zones. They had the potential to seriously disrupt and even destroy an object attempting to displace that space. The Kuryo anomaly would have to be bypassed the old and slow way. The Gates to Shikoku and Colorado were constructed between 290-300, and opened in 301. The trade route was linked.
For those of you confused, the dark matter clouds are part of a very thin, but wide nebula called the Kuryo Anomaly, found by the early Kusari explorer Matsuo.
The next part is half information by the Digital Anvil sheet, half patched together from rumours at Ames research station.
The second phase of construction would not come for another 150 years. With the introduction of trade lanes, Kusari hoped to finally traverse the anomaly with secure, high-speed technology. Deep Space Engineering was brought in. It was a challenging task, as the clouds moved over time unpredictably. The Ames Research Station was established in 550 to study and map the movements of the clouds for 20 years. Their data, fed into Deep Space Engineering (DSE) computers, created a reasonably accurate forecast of potential cloud movements and their potential outcome. The trade-lane routes would need to be periodically moved. This was left to a squadron of heavy lifters, run by DSE. The station, deemed independent, also houses a collection of Zoners, who eventually took over the general maintenance, leaving the trade lane operations to the DSE crew. The two factions make an odd group, and there is little social mixing.
It was decided to construct a second insurance trade-lane route that would cross the anomaly at a second location. Surveying commenced immediately, with a new route mapped within two years. Deep Space Engineering crews rushed in and built the new route in record time. A second remote monitoring station was set up in Galileo, as the new system was called. Plans were made to dismantle the trade rings in Kepler at the first sign of danger. The long wait began. After the 50-year limit came and went, a few Ageira programmers murmured that maybe there had been a flaw in the program. The eventual fallout was tremendous atAgeira, forcing several executives and an elite development team out. This would become part of the historical core of the lane hackers, along with the California scanner group. The technical experts, very knowledgeable of the Kuryo anomaly, soon planned their revenge. Within 10 years, mysteriously accurate attacks on trade lane shipping began to occur in Kepler and Galileo, matching the accuracy of the California area attacks. Ageira suspected that the programmers had left with more than a severance check. The investigation continues to this day, but has so far been unsuccessful in locating the lane hacker bases. There are rumors that the Lane Hackers have somehow figured out how to traverse the gap between Kepler and Galileo, an extremely dangerous route given the historical precedent of the Texas incident.
For those of you wondering 'what the heck are dark matter clouds?' Dark matter clouds are highly radioactive nebula-like clouds that exist whether by nature or man-made (The Texas Incident), like nebulas. Wheter they could actually exist in reality is a debatable subject which I do not intend to argue here. The fact is, in Freelancer they are very dark clouds, with a heavy dose of radiation. They can be quite hard to see on your nav-map but instantly recognizable when you're flying towards one. Hint: Look for massive towering thundercloud shape that looks very foreboding and you'll be right
Finally, as for the lack of trade-lanes, I presume (I have no proof or evidence) that perhaps since it was 500 A.S. that maybe trade-lanes wern't as established as they are today or were only performing in a limited capacity. Maybe they only linked to Dallas? That was sounds like it was a big station but look how much is left of it.
Also for any of you interested in the subject, you will notice on the two right dark matter clouds in Kepler system there are three wrecks and very old broken trade-lanes. If any of those interested want to see the Digital Anvil, backround information on Freelancer document which is very interesting, I have complied the separate pieces into one, easy to read continuous document. For those interested in the fictional backround of the Sirius sector, from the first planetfall on Manhatten to the 80 year war it is a very good document with dates (years) for a lot of main events you may hear tiny bits about in rumours. Email me at [email protected], and i shall send you it as soon as possible. Feel free to critisize or provide your own theories.
Cheers for listening to my rant
Deep Space Engineering built its headquarters here during the great construction boom following the announcement in 95 A.S. that Texas would be Liberty's R & D center for the practical application of Ageira I technology. In 500 AS, a next generation Jump Gate test near the Dallas Research Station resulted in a horrific explosion that destroyed all man made objects within a large radius of the gate. 300 years later, the vast debris fields riddled with radiation pockets serve as a stark reminder of that dark day.
That is quoted directly from the paper. Now it is my inclinement that suggests to me that Liberty were not trying to build a jump-gate to the S-H-I-K-O-K-U system from Texas (Im not saying that they didnt want to, im merely saying that this was not connected in anyway) but the Texas incident involoved new Jump-gate technology. Now perhaps the jumpgate was new technology to enable people to travel long distances but, for what ever reason, whether it was linked to S-H-I-K-O-K-U or not it malfunctioned and spewed out to dark matter clouds a.k.a radiation clouds on either side of it. If you are familiar with the system you will note that between them is a debris field which is the wreckage of the jump gate, apparently spared of total destruction by being at ground-zero, if you understand that concept. I mean it wasn't totally destroyed because the main radiation blast was spewed on either side, rather like a Pulsar. It just so happened that Dallas research station happened to be on the side of it. Also, the same document, with information on the Kepler and Gallileo systems had this to say
One area remained consistently free of the clouds. It came to be known as the Kepler system, even though there really wasn't a system, just a hole in the clouds. When the great jump-gate routes were constructed at the end of the third century, this was the path chosen. Deep Space Engineering and Ageira were well aware of the problematic nature of building Gates that crossed dark matter zones. They had the potential to seriously disrupt and even destroy an object attempting to displace that space. The Kuryo anomaly would have to be bypassed the old and slow way. The Gates to Shikoku and Colorado were constructed between 290-300, and opened in 301. The trade route was linked.
For those of you confused, the dark matter clouds are part of a very thin, but wide nebula called the Kuryo Anomaly, found by the early Kusari explorer Matsuo.
The next part is half information by the Digital Anvil sheet, half patched together from rumours at Ames research station.
The second phase of construction would not come for another 150 years. With the introduction of trade lanes, Kusari hoped to finally traverse the anomaly with secure, high-speed technology. Deep Space Engineering was brought in. It was a challenging task, as the clouds moved over time unpredictably. The Ames Research Station was established in 550 to study and map the movements of the clouds for 20 years. Their data, fed into Deep Space Engineering (DSE) computers, created a reasonably accurate forecast of potential cloud movements and their potential outcome. The trade-lane routes would need to be periodically moved. This was left to a squadron of heavy lifters, run by DSE. The station, deemed independent, also houses a collection of Zoners, who eventually took over the general maintenance, leaving the trade lane operations to the DSE crew. The two factions make an odd group, and there is little social mixing.
It was decided to construct a second insurance trade-lane route that would cross the anomaly at a second location. Surveying commenced immediately, with a new route mapped within two years. Deep Space Engineering crews rushed in and built the new route in record time. A second remote monitoring station was set up in Galileo, as the new system was called. Plans were made to dismantle the trade rings in Kepler at the first sign of danger. The long wait began. After the 50-year limit came and went, a few Ageira programmers murmured that maybe there had been a flaw in the program. The eventual fallout was tremendous atAgeira, forcing several executives and an elite development team out. This would become part of the historical core of the lane hackers, along with the California scanner group. The technical experts, very knowledgeable of the Kuryo anomaly, soon planned their revenge. Within 10 years, mysteriously accurate attacks on trade lane shipping began to occur in Kepler and Galileo, matching the accuracy of the California area attacks. Ageira suspected that the programmers had left with more than a severance check. The investigation continues to this day, but has so far been unsuccessful in locating the lane hacker bases. There are rumors that the Lane Hackers have somehow figured out how to traverse the gap between Kepler and Galileo, an extremely dangerous route given the historical precedent of the Texas incident.
For those of you wondering 'what the heck are dark matter clouds?' Dark matter clouds are highly radioactive nebula-like clouds that exist whether by nature or man-made (The Texas Incident), like nebulas. Wheter they could actually exist in reality is a debatable subject which I do not intend to argue here. The fact is, in Freelancer they are very dark clouds, with a heavy dose of radiation. They can be quite hard to see on your nav-map but instantly recognizable when you're flying towards one. Hint: Look for massive towering thundercloud shape that looks very foreboding and you'll be right
Finally, as for the lack of trade-lanes, I presume (I have no proof or evidence) that perhaps since it was 500 A.S. that maybe trade-lanes wern't as established as they are today or were only performing in a limited capacity. Maybe they only linked to Dallas? That was sounds like it was a big station but look how much is left of it.
Also for any of you interested in the subject, you will notice on the two right dark matter clouds in Kepler system there are three wrecks and very old broken trade-lanes. If any of those interested want to see the Digital Anvil, backround information on Freelancer document which is very interesting, I have complied the separate pieces into one, easy to read continuous document. For those interested in the fictional backround of the Sirius sector, from the first planetfall on Manhatten to the 80 year war it is a very good document with dates (years) for a lot of main events you may hear tiny bits about in rumours. Email me at [email protected], and i shall send you it as soon as possible. Feel free to critisize or provide your own theories.
Cheers for listening to my rant