"Uratowanie Rzeczpospolitej Polskiej naszym Obowiązkiem" - Rescuing the Polish Republic is our Duty" is the Motto of the Exploration & Colonization Agency (ECA), the agency tasked with finding and colonizing a habitable planet after the sudden and inexplicable destruction of Earth.
It was formed soon after the evacuation of Poland during the last hours of Earth as it was clear to survivors that they needed to find a new home and that they couldn't stay in space endlessly. The assumed date of Earth's destruction and agency origin is 2060 AD. Most historians were unable to pinpoint the exact timeline due to a variety of contradictions within the knowledge database and the restricted flow of information by the Polish Government to protect its interests and stability of the society's framework. Much of the homeworld's history has been lost or classified. Only history related to Poland remains fully unclassified, available, and taught to the public.
Only the Polish Republic succeeded in its evacuation efforts from a doomed planet as all other Nations have failed and have been exterminated, along with billions of people. Every other state on Earth was engulfed in chaos and disorder and didn't complete its space program in time. It is also not stated how the Polish Republic was able to evacuate and survive the armageddon. There are little to no official documents accessible to the public that relate to methods used by the Government to achieve its goal of evacuating its people. Following the destruction of Earth, almost all races of the Earth have gone extinct, leaving only Poles and small minorities of other ethnic groups and races, many of which became assimilated years after the evacuation.
According to revealed official documents, the Government pulled out 6 million Polish Citizens using six massive Ark Ships developed by the government space agency in secret using anti-gravity technology developed by Adam Stanczyk. He didn't board the Ark, and he didn't survive. He was one of the left souls that remained. He was in charge of the space program before anyone knew Earth was in danger and was also the first to know in advance of the incoming doom of the planet. The agency shared this knowledge with the entire world, although nobody believed them because nobody took Polish Space Agency seriously. It failed to be a legitimate space agency in the eyes of the foreigners - it didn't have any official launch sites, didn't send any satellites into space, and its activity was severely limited - for the public eyes. Thus most of the scientists and governments around the world took its findings with a grain of salt. Poland, however, didn't and started developing Ark projects in secret for ten years. It wasn't until 2059 that the rest of the world realized that their planet's finished. These states weren't able to secure the existence of their people in time and ceased to exist by 2060. They either died out of starvation, wars, chaos, and disorder or from the cataclysm.
Poland was one of the countries that had gone through the crisis. The Government couldn't avoid it without revealing its evacuation plans. Despite the odds, Poland remained a considerably peaceful Nation in comparison to its neighbors. This country didn't go through any wars with its neighbors. Riots were limited to only select instances that were relatively quickly quenched by the authorities before they were allowed to spread. Many historians argue that the main religion of Polish society has played a crucial role in maintaining stability. Many people accepted the cataclysm as the sign of the Apocalypse foresaw in the Bible. Therefore to maximize their chances of entering Heaven, they lived the end days as peacefully as possible, decreasing crime and disorder.
A highly religious society also did not come without consequences. An overwhelming amount of the people within Poland have accepted their fate and refused to evacuate, which led to unnecessary loss of life.
By 2161, nearly one hundred years after the evacuation of Earth, the Human population had increased from 6 million to 100 million. Polish Government established colonies all around the Solar System, colonizing every celestial body possible. During this period, Moon became a helium-3 mining colony for fueling civilian-grade engines, becoming a fuel depot for the spaceships. The Government created its capital on Mars during that time. It was thanks to the highest population of all planets and the most habitable environment of them all. All other planets and moons have become a mining colony with established necessary infrastructure for transport to Mars, such as hyperlinks.
In 2103 Hyperlinks were invented, and according to the Governmental database, the researcher responsible for this invention is unknown. Hyperlinks are two-point passageways that allow for Faster-Than-Light transportation. The Hyperlink is composed of at least two gateways, for point A and point B. They are usable when they become connected via a signal transmission that is not faster-than-light before the Hyperlink is finished and takes time depending on the distance between the Gates - due to that, there have been no hyperlinks constructed between solar systems. That wasn't a permanent problem.
In 2230, inventor Andrzej Spacki invented an upgraded version of the standard anti-gravity engine used by the Ark Ships two centuries ago. This engine was named 'Light Engine' because of a revolutionary at that time discovery. This engine is capable of Faster-Than-Light travel. It contracts the space in front of it and expands the void behind it. It shifts space around the engine so that it would shorten its way to the destination point. Weeks after inventing it, Andrzej Spacki became a new Head of Research within the ECA. He was in charge of developing an FTL-Compatible spaceship for interstellar travel and exploration. In 5 years, he and his team designed spacecraft compatible with the new Light Engine. He and his crew named it Horyzont.
"I have read your report and I am very happy to see that everything that needed to be done has been done and that you only need my approval to begin this mission." - Head Director of ECA made a short pause - "Although I would like to hear that everything is fine from you, Andrzej Spacki."
Andrzej Spacki smiled and answered: "Everything is in perfect condition, we managed to get a crew, establish starting exploration points, and finish the spacecraft half a year before schedule. Thank you sir for your care. So, are we ready to launch this mission?"
"Well, everything seems to be in order, and as much as I would like to find something to make you wait just a little longer I cannot. I just have this one thing. Why did you choose Commander Wladyslaw to command this ship over other candidates, what's so special about him?" He asked with a focused gaze on the Head of Research.
Head of Research blushed at this question. "Well, heh, Stefan - I mean, He is my childhood friend, I know him since I remember. I chose him because I know him personally, and I'm sure that He will do the job."
Head of ECA laughed at it, "Nepotism isn't punished or illegal, and I don't mind it myself, given the fact that You have my trust, I'll let it slide. Going back to your question, you have my full approval. Go ahead and start when you want to. I will handle the paperwork."
Suddenly, his smart-watch beeped with a notification that in ten minutes He will have to handle another meeting, "Good Lord, it's already that late. As I've said, you have my full approval to proceed. This meeting is over, you can go, farewell."
"Good day, have a pleasant meeting sir," Andrzej said while tipping his head.
Andrzej stood up from the chair that He was sitting on and left the office of his superior. He left for his own office to give out an official order that the mission is in effect immediately, something that everyone already knew was about to happen today. Polished components, routine checks finding zero problems whatsoever. Systems working at double the minimum safe capacity. Personnel on-board the space dockyard were all happy today - administration received no insults and complaints from civilians and was left alone for most of the day to play online games in their workplace, technical employees sitting on the cargo smoking faggots and playing cards, security details playing space-races with their security shuttles outside of the station - a lucky, calm, and at the same time a gigantic day.
Message sent - Pixels firming up those words have informed Andrzej Spacki that everyone involved with the mission now knows what they are supposed to do. Soon after everyone got into the appropriate positions to prepare the first FTL-capable ship to take off. The crew entered the ship and began operating it while the military personnel went on their way to prepare their sleeping quarters in advance.
"Systems check... Engines OK, Life-Support OK, FTL Drive... doesn't appear to be-" A singular instrument on the control panel changed its color to green, "Scratch that, FTL Drive OK, Power OK, Weapon Systems OK, Communications OK, Miscellaneous systems are all OK The ship appears to function as intended. Engines are operating at around a hundred percent efficiency. We are picking up signals from all around the solar system, checking audio communications."
The operator switched and pressed an army of buttons and sent multiple commands to the ship's computer using a standard keyboard. After a few seconds, the sound started coming out from the communications receiver across the whole deck.
"Try out our special wine crafted by our most advanced and experienced members of the team! We accelerated the aging process so that you, the consumer, could taste a hundred years' worth of wine in just a day! Use the following promo code for a -30% disco-" The male voice with classical music in the background ceased to give any more decibels.
"We just picked up an ad from Kepler's orbit. Far enough to count that in. That does the audio communications check."
"Hey, you could have at least waited a bit longer! He was about to give the discount code for that wine. Oh, come on... does nobody here care about some wine?" Said a second operator sitting on a chair a few computer lines away from her.
"I confirm that all systems are functioning and nominal. We are ready to take off, Commander." Said the female operator.
Commander Stefan Wladyslaw is standing on the back of the bridge, watching as everyone in the room does their jobs. He has his arms behind him and looks into the giant monitor attached right in the front of the bridge relaying live feed from the front camera.
"Take off. Navigators move us into twice as high orbit so that we can use the FTL Drive. Afterward, you initiate the Jump procedure to the Tetri Tau system and wait for my mark to activate the Light engine. If anybody sees anything out of place, report that immediately."
Spaceship's engines began to roar and emit bright cyan light bending light back and forth meters away. The gigantic vessel began to rise above the ground while personnel outside began to scuttle before blast doors protecting the crew from space open.
Blast Doors opened, revealing space and in the distance Martian moon Deimos. Epic metal beast with the capacity to lay waste to entire cities and terrorize billions left the space docks showcasing all the traveling vessels might of the Interplanetary Polish Republic - the triumph of technology, engineering, and belief all embodied within a single craft in the endless void.
Patrol craft escorted the Horyzont to its destination point and established a perimeter around it to defend it from potential terrorists who could have risked their lives to destroy this 8th wonder. Minutes later, space between the craft began to bend and shake.
"Commander, our FTL engine sensors are telling us that it's overclocking way beyond its maximum threshold." An operator said.
Stefan Wladyslaw bolted from his chair to the operator to take a glance at the sensors, "Shit, shut it down immediately!"
The operator pushed a series of buttons and wrote several lines of commands to the ship. All returned in errors.
"What is going on? Why can't you shut it down?" Stefan yelled at the operator shooting saliva out of his red and veined mouth.
"The system is not, it's not, it's, it's not accepting my commands, I can't do anythi-" The operator was stopped in mid-sentence as the ship made a jump into space and the FTL drive exploded, shaking the interior uncontrollably and making everyone grab onto their nearest objects.
"We've lost connection to most FTL sensors! The ones that remain say that it's still running! Alerts report heavy damage in the area next to them!" Another operator loudly cited what she saw on the screen.
"Sir," the same operator that failed to stop the armageddon turned to the barely conscious Commander, "FTL Fuel is depleting rapidly. We should be able to exit this jump in a few minutes without doing anything."
Stefan Wladyslaw got back on his knees and realized that this ship, wherever it will land, will have to stay there for good without the functioning FTL Drive, whether it will end up inside a Black Hole, in the dead void of space, uninhabitable system or, in a lucky scenario, a system with a habitable planet on it. The ship wouldn't be able to call for help because their communications are as fast as the light, and before it would reach their home, they would probably be long dead.
He only hoped for survival at this point, nothing much more.
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