Thoughts about Colonia
04 Jul 2018Tharrn
Back in 3002, when the Jaunt to Jaques expedition originally set out to help the stranded barkeeper, a unifying goal created a great spirit of community amongst the participating pilots. This endured for months: there was only one Jaques out in Eol Prou. A singular haven amongst the stars, that had little to offer in terms of equipment and goods but much in terms of feeling like home. Politics had no place in Eol Prou at that time and unsavory elements rarely found their way this far out, while the jumpranges were low and ships could not be transferred for a few credits from the old world.Times have changed, and as usual not really for the better. People with the wrong motives pushed for expansion into a new region to reap its riches. A few stations were errected by the original colonists at first, who had come to Eol Prou with the Jaunt to Jaques expedition. Then the CEI initiatives increased the toll to 91 stations in 70 systems and introduced 82 factions. Politics had found its way into what was once a haven for people looking to escape the same.
Not few of the factions that came with the CEI just did so to see if they could pull it off. Few on the other hand stayed or ever had the intention to stay and help develop the fledgling colonies. Empty executive offices in almost unvisited stations make up a portion of the Colonia infrastructure. The workforce of these stations and the small planetary communities are still there though - simple people who signed up for a great adventure that was merely a crazy idea for a group of independent pilots.
Recently I was approached by a group of colonists, who live in a small planetside setlement on Metztli 6, a planet that comes close to Earth. They were rather upset that their neck of the wood sees so few pilots bringing in much needed goods or carrying the fruits of their labour (or rather the fish, as Metztli 6 is the main producer of fish and algae in the region) to the workers of industrial colonies elsewhere. They had heard of famines raging in other systems and (rightfully) did not understand how this could be, as the colonists should work together to help develop the idea of Colonia.
They really made me think - I was originally planning to head out again quickly to further investigate an area near Colonia that I dubbed Elysian Fields for it's richness in otherwise rare star types, but now I am willing to spend a little more time in Colonia to help these forgotten people.
The colonies can only thrive if we look beyond affiliations and work together like we did when Colonia was only Eol Prou RS-T d3-94. Else it will end up being no more than a smaller version of the old world. And that would be sad indeed.
Modified from a NASA Visions of the Future image. https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/imagepolicy/