Flight of the Phoenix 2800
The Flight of the Phoenix 2800 recounts the voyages of a lost Terran colony fleet before it founded the Solomani Preserve.
- The Phoenix 2800 was modified into a sleeper ship.
Description (Specifications)
This recounts the journey of the colony fleet that founded Havensmith and the Solomani Preserve. The 5 year voyage of the Phoenix 2800, and the ships it acquired for its fleet, is a well known Galaxiad sequence. Logs of the voyage were preserved at VoidBridge 1 (...moved to VoidBridge 2 in 1134 as part of fortifying VoidBridge 1), allowing for exceptionally accurate and detailed simulation.
Route of the Phoenix 2800
World | Sector/Hex | Remarks |
---|---|---|
Terra | Solomani Rim 1827 | Started with one underpopulated colony ship, the Phoenix 2800 |
Agidda | Solomani Rim 1824 | Acquired colonists, near-filling low berth capacity, started making more low berths |
Apishal | Solomani Rim 1622 | None |
Tyudhuar | Solomani Rim 1619 | None |
Flanders | Solomani Rim 1517 | Acquired Surfing Lighthouse and Secure Rapid Arrival w/some colonists |
Hieronymus | Solomani Rim 1316 | Uninhabited at the time |
Boskone | Solomani Rim 1214 | None |
Alphanor | Solomani Rim 0914 | Acquired colonists |
Anacreon | Solomani Rim 0912 | Finished initial retooling of first three ships |
Quaver | Solomani Rim 1110 | Uninhabited at the time |
Ascalon | Solomani Rim 1207 | Acquired colonists, transported some families to Biggles |
Biggles | Solomani Rim 1205 | Arriving families bought fuel as payment for transport; acquired colonists, near-filling current fleet capacity |
Sase | Solomani Rim 1202 | None |
Dawns | Diaspora 1340 | None |
Usheriima | Diaspora 1138 | None |
Cole | Diaspora 1035 | None |
Frey | Diaspora 1133 | Acquired empty colony ships from migrants to Frey, transitioned from 3 ships to substantial fleet |
Chicago | Diaspora 1331 | None |
Hammett | Diaspora 1328 | None |
Iusea | Diaspora 1325 | Acquired colonists |
Wellun | Diaspora 1124 | None |
Gegaasha | Diaspora 1021 | None |
Millo | Diaspora 0819 | Recorded drill of "just passing through" w/no interaction with locals |
Vaasa | Diaspora 0617 | None |
Gai | Diaspora 0515 | None |
Ferry | Diaspora 0512 | Acquired colony ships w/colonists |
Vita Levu | Diaspora 0410 | None |
Soyuz | Diaspora 0209 | Acquired colonists, refitted manufacturing equipment |
Isaasakhur | Diaspora 0407 | None |
Jae Mona | Diaspora 0306 | None |
Jumar | Diaspora 0303 | None |
Sarabin | Massilia 0240 | None |
Ermi | Zarushagar 3139 | Acquired colonists; some Darmine were accepted |
Kees | Zarushagar 3037 | Acquired colony ships w/colonists; voted to stop acquiring more ships for a while |
Cold Heart | Zarushagar 2935 | None |
Qisoy | Zarushagar 2832 | None |
Irap | Zarushagar 2630 | Acquired colonists; some Darmine were accepted |
Pora | Zarushagar 2528 | None |
Hentier | Zarushagar 2426 | None |
Reunder | Zarushagar 2225 | None |
Clavert | Zarushagar 2222 | None |
Cesall | Zarushagar 2321 | None |
Serenity | Zarushagar 2119 | None |
Port Artemus | Zarushagar 2216 | None |
Nahsora | Zarushagar 2115 | None |
Birmingham | Zarushagar 2112 | None |
Westminster | Zarushagar 2009 | None |
Compunccioun | Zarushagar 1907 | None |
Al Mansur | Zarushagar 1904 | None |
Wilson's World | Zarushagar 2001 | None |
Uki | Dagudashaag 1839 | None |
Irrii | Dagudashaag 1737 | None |
Sh'si | Dagudashaag 1635 | Maintenance overhaul; learned of a large group of prisoners on Vland awaiting some unclear fate; decided to "recruit" said prisoners as colonists |
Miir | Dagudashaag 1534 | None |
Gaesh | Dagudashaag 1631 | None |
Vipac | Dagudashaag 1930 | None |
Junivaar | Dagudashaag 1927 | Bought fuel |
Zukalis | Dagudashaag 1625 | Unoccupied at the time |
Omegindus | Dagudashaag 1424 | None |
Khiishpur | Dagudashaag 1323 | None |
Nakharpii | Dagudashaag 1420 | Unoccupied at the time |
Nafud | Dagudashaag 1418 | None |
Adele | Dagudashaag 1516 | None |
Nguma | Dagudashaag 1613 | None |
Cimmeria | Dagudashaag 1511 | None |
Imgaa | Dagudashaag 1409 | None |
Bastion | Dagudashaag 1507 | Bought fuel; offloaded some colonists |
Liikirba | Dagudashaag 1705 | None |
Kemnagii | Dagudashaag 1904 | None |
Imga | Dagudashaag 1901 | Irony of mainworld names noted |
Zolo | Vland 2139 | None |
Gaarid | Vland 2236 | None |
Segikin | Vland 2233 | Forced to accept colonists |
Zaakkusham | Vland 2332 | None |
Irgar | Vland 2429 | None |
Zikurag | Vland 2227 | None |
Shib | Vland 2125 | Bought fuel; gained intel on Vland |
Karfir | Vland 1825 | Recruited ships & troops to help with plans for Vland |
Kalimgar | Vland 1725 | Further recruitment, with blessings from Karfir |
Asanik | Vland 1722 | None |
Sazisi | Vland 1719 | None |
Vland | Vland 1717 | "Rescued" prisoners awaiting exile/recruited colonists |
Luunbu | Vland 1515 | Bought fuel so as to jump again quickly; arrivals start being on alert, in case word from Vland caught up (they did not know Vland had not sent pursuit) |
Karka | Vland 1412 | None |
Gagzoe | Vland 1211 | None |
Suragginsu | Vland 1109 | None |
Kunumi | Vland 0807 | None |
Arfaan | Vland 0508 | None |
Lankhi | Vland 0208 | None |
Gerbetord | Corridor 3207 | To pass base, claimed to be a colonization fleet heading to unspecified spinward destination, promised to check in at Treedisk |
Twophur | Corridor 2908 | None |
Brytsee | Corridor 2710 | None |
Treedisk | Corridor 2409 | Presented documentation of claim from Gerbetord; non-alert arrivals resumed |
Amwaz | Corridor 2109 | Purchased fuel |
Munhofen | Corridor 1810 | None |
Veu Belle | Corridor 1609 | None |
Xinox | Corridor 1408 | None |
Shushaka | Corridor 1109 | Requested to assist Antra evacuation |
Bersha | Corridor 0807 | Acquired partial charts of Gvurrdon and Tuglikki from droyne ship |
Aka Gee | Corridor 0605 | None |
Sigma 7 | Corridor 0407 | None |
Pergzitt | Corridor 0209 | None |
Olokono | Deneb 3110 | None |
Tensas | Deneb 2810 | None |
Niven | Deneb 2512 | None |
Mazirbe | Deneb 2210 | Uninhabited at the time |
Bangwe | Deneb 2109 | None |
Antra | Deneb 1808 | Evacuated several colonists and ships; system would fall to vargr within a few decades |
Yef | Deneb 1606 | None |
Lome | Deneb 1306 | None |
Kamisaraki | Deneb 1006 | Checked in to let off any evacuees not wishing to continue; almost all stayed with the fleet |
Jode | Deneb 0805 | Last purchased fuel; dumped all remaining Second Imperium currency to buy parts and supplies |
Carmel | Deneb 0604 | None |
Spectre | Deneb 0503 | Last human world |
Marz | Deneb 0201 | Uninhabited at the time |
Rugbird | Spinward Marches 3102 | Uninhabited at the time; last non-alert arrival, save for known uninhabited systems, until after Thaethouvu |
Rruthaekuksu | Gvurrdon 2840 | None |
Ksunekso | Gvurrdon 2540 | None |
Torrknungazarr | Gvurrdon 2537 | Uninhabited at the time; resupply |
Vakunggvoruego | Gvurrdon 2634 | None |
Oegaeldu | Gvurrdon 2832 | None |
Taekhoengsegzo | Gvurrdon 2830 | Uninhabited at the time; resupply, consider staying, realize they need to go all the way; transitioned command from Phoenix 2800 to Surfing Lighthouse |
Ungrughz | Gvurrdon 3029 | None |
Ogzang | Tuglikki 0128 | None |
Az Outs | Tuglikki 0226 | None |
Aengin | Tuglikki 0424 | None |
Oersung | Tuglikki 0522 | None |
Kugoerr | Tuglikki 0419 | None |
Uel Dathkoeng | Tuglikki 0617 | None |
Khoergh | Tuglikki 0516 | None |
Alldhouzae | Tuglikki 0414 | None |
Aeg Gzou | Tuglikki 0212 | None |
Odhonandon | Tuglikki 0210 | None |
Fa Gegdha | Tuglikki 0109 | None |
Ozago | Gvurrdon 3107 | None |
Ukokhuvoen | Gvurrdon 2806 | None |
Uerkfadzigue | Gvurrdon 2507 | None |
Gaengour | Gvurrdon 2404 | None |
Karrksinarka | Gvurrdon 2302 | None |
Vorroeng | Gvurrdon 2101 | None |
Saenrae | Knoellighz 2038 | None |
Dhognodozelldzours | Knoellighz 2036 | None |
Errkhe | Knoellighz 1834 | None |
Rriuerak | Knoellighz 1831 | None |
Ksoo | Knoellighz 1829 | Built collapsible drop tanks |
Nouon | Knoellighz 1927 | None |
Ghokhougaks | Knoellighz 1924 | None |
Ghurrakhalorr | Knoellighz 2222 | Used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
Empty space | Knoellighz 2219 | Arrived with full fuel tanks, jumped soon after arrival |
Odaefidae | Knoellighz 2216 | None |
Guigzdhaell | Knoellighz 1916 | None |
Oor | Knoellighz 1714 | None |
Ngokhirraang | Knoellighz 1811 | None |
Rarrllundazrruz | Knoellighz 1910 | None |
Tsoggandzous | Knoellighz 1708 | None |
Llaerrghorr | Knoellighz 1705 | None |
Oaezogzueks | Knoellighz 1504 | None |
Aaghzkhagzarrsoukh | Knoellighz 1702 | None |
Knarzuenfong | Knoellighz 1901 | None |
Easououdhue | Ghoekhnael 2039 | None |
Kfoangthuell | Ghoekhnael 2338 | None |
Angaegoeng | Ghoekhnael 2436 | None |
Aeragzgvoun | Ghoekhnael 2534 | None |
Nguearrgor | Ghoekhnael 2834 | None |
Ovae | Ghoekhnael 2932 | None |
Thaekhver | Ghoekhnael 3130 | None |
Ghoudoukeng | Ghoekhnael 3228 | None |
Ghuergnogzu | Ksinanirz 0227 | None |
Kheduzksuzuk | Ksinanirz 0330 | None |
Tuedukhsaghz | Ksinanirz 0631 | None |
Thaethouvu | Ksinanirz 0829 | Contacted by Gvegh, directed to Kechk; resumed non-alert arrivals |
Kasakhe | Ksinanirz 0928 | None |
Ghueaae | Ksinanirz 1126 | Built and used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
Empty space | Ksinanirz 1123 | Arrived with full fuel tanks, jumped soon after arrival |
Thoudzanang | Ksinanirz 1121 | None |
Ksauelloeae | Ksinanirz 1319 | None |
Roeagha | Ksinanirz 1517 | Made contact w/Kechk, directed to Aedzaue |
Kaethoukue | Ksinanirz 1514 | None |
Aekfuezarr | Ksinanirz 1511 | None |
Rrozuetsae | Ksinanirz 1508 | None |
Aedzaue | Ksinanirz 1406 | Extensive contact, helped spawn Kechk Reversion |
Tsoeghours | Ksinanirz 1506 | Running away, resuming alert arrivals; faked a claim of heading to Gnughenangi/Ksinanirz 1707 |
Aeghaedhi | Ksinanirz 1806 | None |
Thouirru | Ksinanirz 1803 | None |
Irtaek | Ksinanirz 1703 | None |
Oukegaeguerr | Ksinanirz 1501 | Built and used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
Kiden | Thaku Fung 1739 | Hopped in just long enough to say goodbye to Vargr space |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 1736 | Back to non-alert arrivals, after confirmation there were no more vargr ahead |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 1934 | None |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 1932 | Water refuelling finally allowed; Phi mutinies and jumps out early; the rest of the fleet believes Phi misjumped instead of mutinied |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 2130 | None |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 2127 | None |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 2124 | None |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 2323 | None |
Barren world not named at the time | Thaku Fung 2321 | Built and used drop tanks to initiate double-jump |
VoidBridge 1 (empty space at the time) | Thaku Fung 2318 | Surfing Lighthouse stayed behind to begin constructing an experimental jump bridge, in case anyone wanted to come back; command transferred back to Phoenix 2800 |
Havensmith | Thaku Fung 2315 | Founded Havensmith |
History & Background (Dossier)
In -1690, as the Second Imperium lay dying, some Solomani grew fearful that the Vilani would seek to re-establish the First Imperium (which would technically happen by means of the Third Imperium, though only after the Long Night, and rather than the Vilani-dominant culture envisioned, would see a thorough blend of Vilani and Solomani inheritances, both culturally and biologically). In response, they hatched an ultimately successful plan to establish a colony on the far side of the Vargr Extents, using them as a shield to keep the Solomani and their descendants safe from conquest. (They knew there had been previous Solomani expeditions rimward, and feared the Vilani would start seeking them out. Coreward, they trusted the Vargr Extents to stop such actions - and planned to add some distance to shield them from the Vargr Extents to boot; given the Vargr Pillaging, they suspected that most vargr expansion would be into territory the Imperiums contested. Spinward there were more colonies, and trailing were the even less trustworthy hivers and k'kree.) Starting with just a single ship and several thousand people, they traded, hauled passengers and freight, and went on several adventures to keep themselves in maintenance and, more importantly, grow their fleet. While exact census records fell by the wayside, it is estimated their fleet had grown to over a hundred thousand people by the time they founded Havensmith.
That they were able to get a few thousand colonists and a single ship to start out was a small miracle of fortuitous timing: their voyage started when the Rim Province was forced to decommission most of their already trimmed fleet due to severe budget shortfalls. Among the decommissioned ships were the Phoenix 2800, a mobile manufacturing ship that the colonists would spend much of the early part of the voyage fitting out with low berths and equipment for their new colony, the Surfing Lighthouse, an observatory ship that would prove critical to safe navigation, and the Secure Rapid Arrival (usually just called S.R.A.), an armed cargo ship. As with all ventures of this size and nature, it had less of a true start date than a slow agglomeration of resources over time: by the time the Rim Province formally released these three ships to the colonists, negotiations had been taking place for over a year, ever since it became apparent that the Rim Province would soon need to release part of its fleet. The deal was mostly verbal, and not recorded other than the final formal release of ships, but early captain's logs state that the terms were, "Promise to make good use of these ships and take care of their maintenance, and you can have them." That said, the formal start is almost always designated as the launch of the Phoenix 2800 from Terra with its colonists in late -1690; while the other two ships were waiting at Flanders, legends note that the fleet had but a single ship for its first few jumps, since title transfer for the other two ships did not happen (and thus, the other two ships were technically not yet colonist property) until the colonists reached Flanders. Although the purpose and spirit of this expedition was very similar to the Phoenix Expeditions launched during the Interstellar Wars, all records suggest that those who constructed and named the Phoenix 2800 30 years earlier (in -1720, or 2,800 A.D. in the Solomani calendar) had no idea that the starship would ultimately be put to this particular use.
An often-overlooked focus of the early journey was reconfiguration. The Phoenix 2800 was originally a Tvastar class Manufactory Ship intended to help out resource-poor colonies, designed to jump into a system, grab asteroids, then jump back, refining and processing during the week-long return. (It would either use drop tanks to arrive at the intermediate destination with full fuel tanks for a return, or scoop unrefined fuel then spend the next day processing it while grabbing asteroids.) The idea was somewhat of a flop, but proved very useful when remade into a colony ship, a process involving retooling quite a bit of the processing equipment (and asteroid storage) into low berths to handle tens of thousands of colonists. (Rough plans for this were complete before acquisition of the Phoenix 2800, and were broadly similar to designs for purpose-built colony ships but with better industrial capacity. This capacity attempted to retain an effective TL-12 manufacturing base upon arrival; while it was not entirely successful, it did partially arrest the typical new colony slide back as colonists realize what support equipment they forgot too late to go back and get replacements.) The need for this was demonstrated after their first jump to Agidda: they had started with 10,000 low berths and filled more than half on Terra; Agidda saw the rest fill up, with a few hundred volunteering to sign on to the ship's crew long enough to build their own low berths during the next jump. (Many of these would stay "live" until Anacreon.) Rebuilding one's own ship during flight is difficult enough that historians call this the first adventure of the flight, lasting past the pickup of (and including the retooling of) the Surfing Lighthouse and Secure Rapid Arrival. This was completed during their stop at Anacreon (whereupon the low berth building volunteers, their task complete, finally suspended themselves), and a few jumps later they would find all 60,000 low berths on the Phoenix 2800 (roughly half of the fleet's final count) filled to capacity. Further colonist capacity was added by picking up more ships, starting at Frey, but none would be as large as the Phoenix 2800.
While many who have barely heard of the Phoenix 2800 concentrate their attentions on the many dangerous jumps through the Vargr Extents during (technically just after) the Vargr Pillaging, in truth that was less than half of the trip, and in some ways the more boring part. By the time they hit vargr space, they had already spent over two years powering through from nearly the rimward extent of the Second Imperium to the coreward side, then Corridor and Deneb sectors to boot. They could and did speak and trade with human populations; with the vargr, exposure risked being shot on sight, so much effort went into avoiding interaction.
Still, the entire trip was a heroic adventure, so it is no surprise to see mostly-accurate representations in the Galaxiad. The most glaring difference, according to historians, usually lies in what happened during the jumps and at most systems, where no specific adventures occurred (whether in human or vargr space). This, by definition, accounts for the vast majority of the time the colonists spent. The Galaxiad depictions tend to gloss over this: wilderness refueling is wilderness refueling, and the fleet just knew which way to go. Historical accounts lay bare that lie.
During most jumps in the Vargr Extents (between Taekhoengsegzo and Thaethouvu), the command ship Surfing Lighthouse (having been given command from the Phoenix 2800 at Taekhoengsegzo, and surrendering it back when it stayed behind to work on VoidBridge 1) was abuzz with sophontologists, astrogators, and other specialists wringing every possible clue from what deep space data they got during their last refueling stop in order to detect lack of gas giants, likely fortifications or high volume of patrols, and other conditions that would make jumping into a given system extremely dangerous. The other ships entrusted their astrogation - and with it, their very lives - to these people; there are many recorded instances of captains of these other ships leading actual prayer sessions directed at the command ship's astrogators. Even in human space, many of the jumps were into systems with low or no population, to avoid attention - especially in the immediate aftermath of the "raid" on Vland, when the colony fleet incorrectly thought they would soon be pursued by warships bent on recapturing the rescued solomani prisoners (who had merely been exiled from Vland, and were waiting for the bureaucracy to decide where to exile them to).
Refueling, too, was a buzz of activity. The first actions were to make sure everyone made it (fortunately, only one misjump happened during the entire migration - commonly known as Phi's Betrayal - and that eventually turned out to not be a misjump after all), then to see if they were detected (they almost never were; the few exceptions are well known and documented) as they set up in stationary orbit on the dark side of the gas giant they had targeted, then for any ship that could to gather unrefined fuel and deliver it for processing. This processing was largely automated but took the bulk of their time between jumps. While this processing happened, fleet communications were opened up (always tightbeam), crew transfers happened as needed, and occasionally nearby asteroids were surveyed, with any mineral-rich ones swallowed whole for processing during the next jump. All this time, sensor crews across the fleet would scramble to gobble up every bit of data about systems on their projected path (and alternate paths, just in case).
Very rarely do Galaxiad representations detail any of this. Many presume psychic navigators who just knew what the safest routes were, and if they detail the refueling at all, most often show it as a kind of party (to be fair, there was a celebratory aspect each time the fleet broke out of jumpspace and could once more see each other). To be clear, while none of the navigators had been tested for psychic potential, none were historically noted to have displayed it, and in any case interstellar range clairvoyance was unknown in Charted Space at the time.
References & Contributors (Sources)
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- Traveller Wiki Editorial Team
- Author & Contributor: Atymes
- Author & Contributor: Lord (Marquis) and Master of Sophontology Maksim-Smelchak of the Ministry of Science