Islands Cluster
The Islands Cluster is an astrographic feature located in central Reft Sector.
Description (Specifications)[edit]
In 2050 AD, the European Space Agency on Terra launched an extremely long-range colonial expedition. It consisted of three specially created vessels, the Voyageur, C-Jammer and Marinus van der Lubbe. These colony ships would found the various Human nations of 'the Islands', deep within the Great Rift.
Languages[edit]
Each of the three original colony missions had a primary national identity, and aboard each there was a primary language:
- C-Jammer: English
- van der Lubbe: German
- Voyageur: French
Other languages were spoken by the colonists, but these gradually faded away after contributing a few words and figures of speech to the main language of the ship.
The colonies established were largely isolated for a thousand years, with only occasional visits from sublight vessels. The local language of each world therefore drifted considerably, though common recorded media slowed the process. The version of French spoken on Amondiage is therefore somewhat different from that of Sansterre, though the difference is one of dialect rather than a different language entirely.
Since Anglic is largely derived from English, with some French influence, the Galanglic-speaking Imperials who first visited the Islands had little difficulty with translation. However, the majority of Islanders see no real need to learn Galanglic. Only those dealing regularly with outsiders are likely to do so.
Terminology in the long-isolated Islands is often subtly different from the standard Imperial usage. For example, the Islanders have no use of the term 'system defence boat' and overall make no real distinction between Jump-capable and non-Jump-capable vessels. Centuries of sublight interstellar flight have resulted in a different mindset that the more recent availability of Jump drive hasn't considerably changed.
Culture[edit]
Here too the long isolation has led to distinctions from Imperial society. The blanket opposition to Psionics doesn't exist in the Islands (though Psionic individuals are rare), and the prohibitions on weaponry attached to robots are also not in evidence.
Military[edit]
Naval assets in the Islands are overall smaller than in the Imperium. One consequence of this is that fighters are a more credible threat to so-called "capital ships".
All navies in the Islands make use of vessels which are larger than fighters but not significant combatants by outsider standards. These range from overgrown fighters through to about 300 tons displacement. The 100-ton 'small craft' breakpoint used in the Imperium is essentially meaningless to the Islands. Instead, local craft are designated according to their role.
- FAC, Fast Attack Craft: Used for any highly manoeuvrable craft, whatever the armament
- PC, Patrol Craft: Slower vessels, usually with greater endurance
- SC, Support Craft: A catchall term for small combat-capable vessels that fit neither of the other designations.
See also: New Colchis System.
Travel[edit]
Within the Islands, there are obvious Jump-2 trade runs. It is possible to go from Serendip Belt to New Colchis via Topas, Berlichingen, Neubayern, Sturgeon's Law, Elysee and Herzenslust. This route is generally termed the 'Crescent Run'.
Another transit, known as 'The Loop', runs from Neubayern via Schlesien Belt, St Genevieve, Sansterre, St Denis, Amondiage, Acadie and Colchis to New Home. It is possible to loop back to Neubayern via Sturgeon’s Law, or to cross from the Crescent to the Loop.
The Trans-Rift Route[edit]
The typical Great Rift crossing from the main body of Imperial territory to those regions 'behind the claw' is via the Islands Cluster:
- Authorities at Filentred make a stringent drive check; upon passing, a vessel is allowed to Jump into the Rift, to Riftspan Station.
- From Riftspan Station a jump is made to Amondiage, another Jump-4 (or 2-Jump-2) away.
- Most vessels then proceed via New Home, Elysee and then Serendip Belt. Gloire is an alternate destination but this is discouraged by the government of Serendip Belt.
- Another four-parsec transit takes the vessel to Zuflucht, on the very outer edge of the Islands. Zuflucht is the exit (or entry) point for virtually all trans-Rift traffic.
- Transit on from Zuflucht requires another deep-space refuelling operation, this time at a purpose-built deep-space installation named Chandler Station.
History & Background (Dossier)[edit]
The Islandbridge Trading Corporation is of considerable influence within the Islands economy.
The Convention of Interdiction is a legal agreement to protect the world of the region's only non-human intelligence.
Worlds & Sectors (Astrography)[edit]
This astrographic feature is primarily found in the following areas:
Charted Space:
World Member Data[edit]
The mainworlds found at this astrographic feature are:
World Listing: 1105[edit]
The following systems and worlds are associated with this astrographic feature:
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Timeline[edit]
Years are given in Terran (and so Islander) and then Imperial calendars.
- 2050, -2462: ESA colony missions leave Earth (Terra)
- 2089, –2431: Jump Drive invented on Terra
- 4512, –9: Colony ship C-Jammer enters orbit around New Home
- 4516, –5: Colony ship Van der Lubbe enters orbit around Neubayern
- 4518, –3: Colony ship Voyageur enters orbit around Amondiage
- 4521, 0: Founding of Third Imperium.
- 4608, 87: C-Jammer enters Serendip Belt
- 4788, 267: New Home launches first ship, Outward Bound
- 4814, 293: Outward Bound lands first colonists on Colchis
- 4860, 339: Van der Lubbe and Voyageur return to Neubayern
- 4861, 340: Amondiage launches first colony ship, Asterix
- 5232 711: Colony ship Infinité forced down on Sturgeon's Law
- 5500, 979: Third Frontier War begins
- 5501, 980: Imperial strike cruiser Eldorado Misjumps into the Islands and makes contact with Serendip Belt
- 5504, 983: Serendip Belt vessel C-Breaker makes first Jump
- 5534, 1013: Imperial Scout Service mission spreads Jump technology through the Islands
- 5542, 1021: Concordat of Topas establishes principle of planetary sovereignty among Islands worlds
- 5575, 1054: Convention of Interdiction declares Orphee a closed world
- 5576, 1055: Coup on Herzenslust; government declares allegiance to New Colchis. Several major signatories repudiate Concordat of Topas
References & Contributors (Sources)[edit]
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This article is missing content for one or more detailed sections. Additional details are required to complete the article. You can help the Traveller Wiki by expanding it. |
- Martin Dougherty. The Great Rift (Mongoose Publishing, 2018), TBD.
- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: IISS Junior Administrator and Master Astrographer Ensign Phillips
- Author & Contributor: MIMIC - Minor Imp of the Ministry of Information and Communication
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science