1. WELCOME TO SPACE
Considering it’s mostly made out of nothing, there’s a mind-bursting wealth of sights to see in SPACE. From the many strange worlds in its depths to the wonders of the twinkling void itself, the sky isn’t even close to the limit when you holiday here. Big enough to hold a lifetime of surprises, but not so massive that it’s scary, SPACE is a destination you’ll never get tired of.
Why SPACE?
If you’ve got the sort of wanderlust no forest or ocean can satiate, you need to get your arse to SPACE – the Sector of Pseudofictional Astro-Cultural Environments. And if you’re put off by the long acronym (I know they can be intellectually intimidating), fear not: the good news is that unlike real space, SPACE couldn’t be easier to understand.
While most of the Worlds are restricted to single planetary surfaces, with space travel either technologically infeasible or just not worth bothering with, this destination is dramatically larger, containing a plethora of stars and planets, and loads of interplanetary societies. Astrophysicists grumble about ‘everything being way too close together’, and the region being ‘not proper space’, but as far as I’m concerned they’re just missing the point.[1] SPACE is just as packed with magic as any of the other Worlds – it just so happens that the magic here involves spaceships. Or rather, SPACEships.
NATURE ABHORS A VACUUM
In grudging recognition of the astrophysicists, I’ll say this: the ‘vacuum’ that fills SPACE is pretty odd stuff. It’s only moderately freezing, it soaks up stellar radiation, and in some places you can just about breathe it. It even carries sound, so you can hear the ace engine noises that all the SPACEships make.
Thanks to SPACE’s strangely forgiving nature, the technological barriers to entry for starfaring are surprisingly low. As a result, dozens of cultures have reached beyond their planets of origin to trade, explore, bicker and battle in this strangely crowded abyss. Travelling among them means meeting humans – and strangely familiar aliens – from bizarre civilisations, and living constantly on the edge of information and sensory overload. It’s a place where technology is sufficiently advanced as to be indistinguishable from magic, and where even on a slow day you can achieve five impossible things before breakfast. So get yourself a SPACEsuit and travel, with the stars your destination.
WHY SPACE IS THE PLACE FOR MEBy Sam Turbo, Ensign on the independent trading vessel Rowdy Ronald
I always dreamed of being an astronaut as a kid, but it turned out that not only did you basically have to be a living god to do it (I couldn’t be bothered with that), but space was also a complete nightmare full of freezing emptiness that would murder you at the first opportunity. So I became a recruitment consultant instead. When I came to SPACE, however – on an adventure holiday with my estranged father – I realised that my dreams were possible after all. You see, this place isn’t that scary: the distances aren’t mind-shatteringly vast, the aliens are basically just people with strange faces, and the holographic, monster-based board games are really cool. Hell, in my early years on the Ronald I even accidentally forgot to put my helmet on before opening the outer door of the airlock (lol), and ended up floating in the big empty! It was a bit dicey, but the crew got me back in again soon enough using the SPACE Rope, and we all had a good laugh about it. Everything’s a good laugh out here – I think I’ve found my orbit.
‘Can’t Miss’ Experiences
1 Take a giant leap for mankind
Although pretty much every world in SPACE has been discovered by someone, only a tiny fraction of the asteroids, moons, comets, planets and unexplained artefacts within its limits have been officially surveyed by us. Which means they’re up for grabs, right? And with durable plastic flags available from plenty of gift shops for a modest sum, it’s never been easier to claim a distant body of rock as property of the Earth.[2]
2 Outwit an alien
Although the sentient aliens of SPACE are basically just humans with minor anatomical differences and/or a different skin colour, they are at least interesting in that each of their cultures is defined by one or maybe two overwhelming character traits, and none of them are as cunning and plucky as humans.[3] Starfarers familiar with these wily beings – such as the celebrated Captains of Syndicated SPACE – know the ins and outs of alien psychology like clockwork, and regularly engage in duels of wit and intrigue with these creatures while negotiating trade and diplomacy out in the black. Get chummy enough with one of the Captains while on board ship with them, and who knows – they might even give you a turn on their giant communications telly!
3 See things other people would never believe
The many star systems encompassed by SPACE include just about every gorgeous conjunction of stellar bodies[4] imaginable, and with everything so close together, there’s virtually nowhere you can stand (or float) and not be blasted to mental smithereens by the view. Planetary night skies swarm with nebulae, shooting stars and strange moons, while days can boast between one and nine suns in a range of spectacular colours, depending on what’s nearby. It’s all extremely pretty.
‘And why should we cede mineral rights to the Go’ka Cloud to you fod-zeh humans?’ growled the Olang elder on the big screen, the orange flanges of his nose wrinkling in exasperation. Sitting in the bridge’s command chair, Captain Aquitaine steepled her fingers and breathed deeply, tension
