You need to add into this colonization of Arcturus (2304 per system description - a mere 8 years after the rumor is known to exist). Of note, there is planet in that system called Discovery which may or may not be relevant. There is another system with a planet Discovery per EDDB, Exphiay (again whether that is a hint is anyone's guess).Hope y'all had a good few days whatever you do or don't celebrate
Some of you may recall that I've been working on an attempt to reconstruct the Lore Bible up to 2296 in the hopes that it might help show if there was anything 'weird'.
Sadly the overall results aren't as promising as I hoped. For those that want to see or reference the full thing, please see this google doc. If you find lore from in-game that fits within the time period that I've not included I'd appreciate it if you let me know and I'll add it in. Please note I'm not interested in anything from non-Elite Dangerous sources.
For those that just want to see the reconstructed text, see the spoiler below. This is 99% Tourist Beacons, Galnet, and the Codex. I've made extremely slight tweaks to make some of it read better and chopped it around a bit, but I've not changed any details, you can find all the original sources in the google doc linked above. Please do check all the sources for errors!!
Lore Bible Reconstruction ver 1:
Mankind's first ventures into space were tentative and gradual. The early part of the 21st century saw the first manned spaceflights beyond the moon, but it took major population and economic problems to stimulate enough commercial commitment to start settlements beyond Earth.
Major resource problems force humanity to look to the stars once again for a way to relieve population pressures on Earth. Commercial organisations plan missions to build the first colonies on the Moon and Mars, as well as explore the rest of Sol for possible safe havens as political tensions on Earth come to a boil.
The Third World War saw this exploration expenditure dragged back again and it wasn't until the very end of the 21st century that colonies on Mars and the Moon became truly permanent and viable.
“A variety of relics from World War III, which took place between 2044 and 2055, have been found over the centuries. All nuclear exchanges between nation states were thought to be well documented, so this discovery comes as quite a shock.”“Although the missile’s origin remains a mystery, its location near the western seaboard suggests two possibilities. Either it was a failed launch from a silo in the United States, or it was an inbound enemy missile that failed to reach its target. In the latter case, it was likely disabled by the USA's defensive laser grid, which combined ground turrets with armed satellites. This was how America avoided a nuclear detonation on its soil during the war, unlike most other continents on Earth.”
The war caused tremendous devastation across the planet, decimating the population. Some reports claim over a billion people were killed in the war.
After the war, the dominant power was the United States of the Americas, and as the remaining other countries joined it over the next few decades, it was renamed the Federation of the United States and later "The Federation" as the implied reference to one of the pre-war powers was a block to the remaining countries joining it. It had a constitution and laws derived from the earlier powers, but much simplified.
Near the very end of the 21st century colonies on Mars and the Moon became truly permanent and viable.
Note: First attempt at terraforming of Mars presumably started sometime around the late 21st/early 22nd Century, but it doesn’t appear to have been recorded.
Before the development of faster-than-light travel, colonising distant star systems was a profoundly difficult proposition. For the people of the 21st Century, the answer was the generation ship. These vast interstellar arks, equipped with everything needed to sustain human life, were crewed by multiple successive generations – pioneers who were born, lived and died aboard a starship.
The first generation ship was launched in 2097, and in the centuries that followed, many more set off into the vastness of space. Most of these ambitious expeditions were funded by large corporations, and the penalties for interfering with them were severe, given the enormous cost of mobilising them.
Tobias Wreaken was a coal miner from old Earth. His company adopted a cautious and steady approach to its work and this won them a large number of contracts in the early space industry. Wreaken's descendants saw massive opportunities in the Colonial Charter policy of the Federation and few Colonial missions set off without a Wreaken representative and Wreaken equipment.
Thousands of ‘generation ships’ left the safety of Earth beginning in the 21st century onwards, and headed out into what was then largely unknown – with just some data from probes to guide them. The process was completely unregulated, and many were not as well prepared as they should have been. In those days when faster-than-light communication didn’t exist, many of these potential settlers faced terrible risks alone, travelling thousands of light years into the black, not unlike the wagon trains that set out across continental US in the 18th and 19th centuries before them. Not all were successful at founding new worlds. Most were not. Some managed to return with tales of their adventures. Some were lost in deep space, the dead hulk of their ship carrying on an almost endless trajectory ever deeper into space. Others managed to land and survived for many decades before being overtaken by some local disaster. Some may still be alive, just restricted to low power light speed communications, or no comms at all, as their equipment has failed over the centuries in between.
“Before hyperdrives, generation ships were a viable way to colonise distant star systems. Millions of people lived out their whole lives within self-contained societies, so their descendants might walk upon new worlds.” - Erik Gunnarson, Galnet
Unfortunately, many of the corporations that funded these colonisation initiatives have since been dissolved, and their records lost or destroyed, making it hard to determine the vessles’ number or exact locations. The majority arrived at their destination without incident; in an ironic twist, later developments in hyperdrive technology meant that a generation ship’s destination was sometimes colonised prior to its arrival.
The 22nd century saw early pioneering projects begin to take shape. The discovery of a workable hyperspace theory by Li Qin Jao and others and the design of the first unreliable, inefficient and slow 'faster than light' drive (compared to those we are used to in 3300) opened the possibility of exploration and settlement. A new frontier of science and engineering opened, confirmed by the first detailed messages and system scans to be received back to Earth from an interstellar probe sent to the Tau Ceti system years earlier. This led to a corporate race-for-the-stars as massive commercial colony projects were founded, funded, built and launched, overtaking the generation ships sent in the previous decades, together with hundreds of automated probes sent to all the nearby systems. Despite the huge dangers involved, a massive land-grab followed, fuelled by the voracious corporations.
Tau Ceti was the first colony established outside of Sol. Tau Ceti 2 had long been determined viable for habitation with life already present (due to free oxygen detected in the atmosphere absorption spectra) - though observation and probe data confirmed this. By 2159, the settlement was largely self-sufficient and able to elect a civilian administrator.
The issue of what to do about alien life became a question of real significance the day humans first set foot on Tau Ceti 2. The early colony found itself battling to survive and adapt in a challenging environment. The priority of preserving the indigenous life was secondary to preserving the lives of the colonists themselves, and indigenous life was suffering due to being out-competed by imported but feral Earth life forms (both intentionally (pets, crops) and accidentally (disease etc.) imported). This hardy 'survival' attitude did not abate as things grew easier and the colonists, led by John Taylor, saw the environment as something to master. When automated agricultural systems came online, hunting, which had been a necessity, became a trade. Taylor was elected civilian administrator in 2161 and immediately pushed for the colony to become fully independent from Earth. In response and at the behest of the mission's corporate backers, Earth sent a delegation to Tau Ceti 3 to scrutinise its practices. What they found was widespread active destruction of the planet's native ecosystem. The Authority for Ecological Control issued guidelines for habitat conservation and recommended a second mission be sent in twelve months to judge if any improvements had been made. When this arrived in 2163 and found the situation had grown worse, trade sanctions were recommended and imposed. This further strengthened the hand of Taylor who in 2165 proposed a referendum on independence, which was narrowly defeated in the colonial forum.
Those who believe in the existence of the Dark Wheel consider it to be a continuous and clandestine organisation, operating since the very earliest days of interstellar travel. According to self-professed Dark Wheel expert Lyta Crane, a conspiracy theorist and 'people's journalist' who has painstakingly assembled an archive of relevant data, the original group was based in a disused starport orbiting the eighth moon of an unnamed gas giant. The station was toroid, hence 'wheel', and operated with a minimal power output so as to avoid detection, hence 'dark'.
Delta Pavonis, Beta Hydri and Altair were all explored and settled between 2190 and 2230, and an uncontrolled expansion followed, with corporations and all sorts of groups of private individuals heading off into the stars. There was a 'wild west gold rush' atmosphere to it all, as news of vast tracts of land, huge wealth, giant dinosaur-like beast, and heroic acts filtered back to Earth, with the romance of the process causing many to want to leave the mother planet.
In 2182, fragile indigenous life, still at an early stage of its evolution, was discovered in the Delta Pavonis system and through a bacteriological accident, completely wiped out in the same year. When further alien ecologies were discovered in the Beta Hydri and Altair systems, and with the failure of the project to terraform Mars, it looked like humanity would bring the cosmos to its knees, much as it had managed to do to its own planet.
The 23rd century saw new leadership and initiative. The Earth Environmental Recovery Programme to restore the polluted and radioactive regions of the planet was much more successful.
At some time around the start of the 23rd Century a second attempt at terraforming Mars was initiated. (Note: This is inferred from the later entry regarding its completion)
Further ecological transgression by Tau Ceti colonists was uncovered in 2228 when an undercover documentary found its way back to Earth. In it, Tau Ceti colonists were seen flouting Earth decrees and guidelines on a variety of matters, most notably native ecological preservation and the exploitation of natural resources. Mindful of the failure on Mars and the continual inflammatory role played by John Taylor, now well into his eighties. Earth sent a military task force to the system with order to revoke its colonial charter.
In early 2240, Hours before the Earth fleet arrived in Tau Ceti, the main settlement changed its name to Taylor Colony and voted for independence from Earth. Without the starships to give battle, the colonists targeted the Earth fleet dropships as they attempted to land. Neither side could could an advantage and so diplomacy resumed. With some bitterness on both sides, a negotiated settlement was reached and in 2242, the Federal Accord was announced. This was effectively an extension of the constitution of the Federation, which briefly changed its name to the "Federation of Star Systems" - but this did not stick, and the term "Federation" returned.
The Federal Accord granted independent rights and membership to each system that signed it, provided they met certain development goals. Initially each of the signatories (including Earth) did not meet the goals, as the core principle of the agreement made at Tau Ceti was to eliminate the political games that had been played in the previous century.
The renewed sense of purpose this strategy brought to the planet extended outwards to the interstellar colonies. Agreements were reached with Beta Hydri and Altair. In exchange for further self-determination each system agreed to maintain and preserve the natural habitats of indigenous life in their star systems. Shortly after this, Delta Pavonis also joined this agreement to act with restraint should any further life be discovered in the system.
From this point the Federation provided a stable framework to facilitate the further expansion of humanity to ever more distant star systems, but not all colonies wanted a part of this. A distant early colony, formed by a band of political idealists as far from Earth as they could manage, in the system of Achenar would eventually spark another defining moment for the Federation and indeed humanity as a whole.
The Achenar system was first colonised in the middle of the 23rd century. It was founded by an expedition led by Marlin Duval, a wealthy woman who had grown disillusioned by the ever increasing rigidity of the Earth governments and stifling social conformity.
Marlin Duval vowed to get as far from Earth as she could, and after a long and treacherous journey across what was then unexplored space, most of the convoy eventually reached the Achenar system.
The system of Achenar was chosen for the outdoor world orbiting one of its gas giants, already capable of supporting human life, now known as Capitol.
The colonists were aware that the planet they had settled, Achenar 6d, had indigenous life, but at first it wasn't appreciated that this included a sentient species, nicknamed the 'mudlarks' after they were observed digging through riverbank mud in search of food. Although the mudlarks were at a pre-agricultural stage of development, they appeared to have developed the beginnings of language. They also created crude forms in moulded clay with no obvious practical purpose, possibly indicating a nascent artistic culture. The mudlarks proved fatally vulnerable to the bacteria carried by the colonists, and within a few decades of the colony's founding the species was extinct. Rumours subsequently emerged that Henson Duval had purposefully removed all traces of the mudlarks, partly in fear of Federal reprisal, and partly to ensure that his development plans would not be hindered by ecological constraints.
In 2280 the first nonhuman relic was found in space. Very little is known about the so-called Martian Relic, an object discovered beneath the surface of Mars, except that it is relatively small, measuring no more than a few centimetres square. Indeed, there is so little concrete information in the public sphere that some have questioned the Relic's very existence. But leaked Federal records confirm that the object, which was sequestered by the Federal government shortly after its discovery, is very real.
In 2291, the second attempt to terraform Mars was eventually successful. The techniques employed were crude by later standards and the project had taken nearly a hundred years, but finally, humans could walk on the surface and breathe without the need for oxygen suits or respirators.
In 2296, only four years after the founding of the Republic of Achenar, Marlin Duval was killed in a shuttle accident, in which her partner and children also perished. No evidence ever surfaced linking her brother Henson to the incident, but even the most loyal Imperial historians openly accept that the event was suspicious in light of his subsequent actions.
The earliest recorded mention of Raxxla dates from 2296, from the journal of Art Tornqvist, a shipboard mechanic based in the Tau Ceti system. He writes: 'Cora comes home soused and raving with wild stories, a new one every night. She claims she's found a map to some pirate stash, and all I have to do is loan her my ship so we can go dig it up. Maybe we should go find Raxxla while we're at it!' Although Tornqvist's account is the first known attestation of Raxxla, it is clear from text that the myth was already in circulation.
The quest for the mysterious Raxxla, the location of which is a deadly secret, was said to be the principal aim of the Dark Wheel, a putative fraternity of legend-chasers from the early days of interstellar travel.
"To the jewel that burns on the brow of the mother of galaxies! To the whisperer in witch-space, the siren of the deepest void! The parent's grief, the lover's woe, and the yearning of our vagabond hearts. To Raxxla!" - Alleged toast of the Dark Wheel
I'm interested to know what you all think. As I said there's no 'smoking gun'. I'd hoped to find a mysteriously blank section of time, or something weird. I don't think there's anything like that here.
There are a few things I think are interesting to consider:
1) Generation ships. As per my pervious posts, I still can't see any reason why so many were made in such a short time. Not sure it's significant to Raxxla hunting though. A lot of text went into the Generation ships, clearly a lot of thought, MB was describing Gen ships back in 2015. I personally think they're important to something, it may be just the base narrative to set up any mystery they want in the future so getting that firmly established early on is a good idea.
2) Martian terraforming 1 & 2. For what must have been a massive project using some high-end sci-fi ideas, there's actually no mention of the first Martian terraforming project at all, other than it failed. This is almost casually mentioned in the 2182 entry about life on Beta Hydri and Altair. My assumption is that it was started at some point after the first colony on Mars, late 21st Century, early 22nd - but that's a total guess since it's bizarrely never mentioned. The second attempt is also never explicitly mentioned until it's completed in 2291, that reference suggests it was stared around 2200, but again, no details whatsoever.
3) Martian Relic. Obviously this is the big ticket item - however, the discovery date of 2280 means it's found towards the very end of the second Martian terraforming effort, so it's probably not a Total Recall-martian-air-making machine. Sorry.
4) Why those four? Prior to 2296 the only actual known colonies were Tau Ceti, Beta Hydri, Altair, Delta Pavonis, (and Achenar). Of the four near Earth, no mention is made of specifically why those four systems were chosen except Tau Ceti. Maybe the others had planets that were considered possible to terraform more easily than others? Who knows! I'd like to, but I assume the lack of information is because it's not important.
5) Achenar. "after a long and treacherous journey across what was then unexplored space, most of the convoy eventually reached the Achenar system." This gives us a very good idea of travel in this era. 139ly for an incredibly well-funded mission is considered extremely hard, there's reference that indicates not all ships made it. Later (not included in my timeline) we know that the Fed military fleet also found it incredibly hard to reach Achenar a few decades later.
Does any of this help?
In short... no. Sadly. I don't think actually adds anything new to the search. We're still left with the general idea that whatever Raxxla is, it was known widely enough to become a colloquial myth, but obviously considered something "lost" in the sense that you could go search for it.
If you compare this research to the older games timelines you can see the majority of the events in Elite Dangerous are basically the same, although some dates are shifted a little bit.
The only really major thing that's jumped out to me doing this is that Tau Ceti has been adjusted in Elite Dangerous. In the earlier timelines it lists Tau Ceti 3 as the colony world. In Elite Dangerous it's Tau Ceti 2. That text mistake actually occurs in the text of Tourist beacon 0169 so, not sure why that's a thing. Those of us that have been around for a while know that the Tau Ceti system in Elite Dangerous has been added to and changed over the years (the comet stations, etc.) and for a while after Odyssey launch (and still in the database) the newly added Tau Ceti 4 is called "Starty McStart Planet" for some reason. It's weird, but I don't know if it's significant. It's only really standing out because of the Tau Ceti reference in the Codex.
We're still left with the options that Raxxla may have been detected remotely by FTL probes, telescopes, psychic visions, aliens visiting earth, etc. It may have been discovered in one of the four colony systems, or Sol itself. It may have been linked to the Martian Relic, but there's no obvious connection other than it's something weird that may relate to another weird thing. It may have been found by Duval's expedition to Achenar. It may have been found by any of the (presumably) unregistered or unrecorded expeditions that (presumably) were also happening.
However, I'm sharing this so if anyone wants to look into it, you've got this to build off.
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