Avalon Exploratory Initiative

### Role

To explore and expand human civilisation beyond Tantalus and into the CDC-41-Gamma nebula and return to Tantalus with resources.

### Status

Active from 0302 PCU

> "*We have the means to escape the confines of Tantalus, and reach out across the void for salvation. Though we embark upon this mission to preserve our species, we must not allow ourselves to ignore the grand opportunity before us.*"
> - Elizabeth Ancelet, Director of the Avalon Exploratory Initiative in an address to Expedition members, 0304 PCU
>
>

The **Avalon Exploratory Initiative** is a collaborative effort between the Centrum Assembly, the Frontier Union, and the Merician Freehold to send an expeditionary fleet across the intergalactic void to the CDC-41-Gamma nebula. Conceived as a last-ditch effort to address the Great Famine, an ongoing resource crisis within the Tantalus Cluster, the expedition fleet, led by Elizabeth Ancelet, was dispatched to the 3,000-light-year-distant nebula in 0304 PCU, hoping to return with new resources for humanity.

In the course of the expedition, the Avalon Exploratory Initiative made first contact with the nebula's native species, the Advari. The expedition caused significant religious and political upheaval within the government of the Holy Advari Empire, and the expedition was involved in a series of increasingly-violent encounters with the Advari. However, it also discovered edible vegetation and extremely fertile soil on a planet orbiting a pulsar in the nebula. Faced with a significant Advari attack, the expedition took the decision to abandon CDC-41-Gamma in 0305 PCU, returning to the Tantalus Cluster with a large cargo of food and soil.

## History

### Conception

The Tantalus Cluster is a relatively small galactic body, and the majority of its stars are cold, Population III red dwarves located at the centre of barren star systems. Very little star formation has occurred since the cluster's formation, with most of its stars being low-metallicity stars with little elements outside of hydrogen and helium. Paired with the rapid, unsustainable expansion of human civilisation, the lack of resources ultimately lead to the Great Famine, a severe cluster-wide resource crisis beginning around 0270 PCU. This was intensified by the Frontier War of 0290-0300 PCU between the Centrum Assembly and the breakaway Frontier Union.

In 0301 PCU however, the Carina Observatory in the Cardeus Brink System identified a new nebula, classified as CDC-41-Gamma, which had apparently manifested almost instantly around 3,000 years ago. The astrophysicist Doctor Sadavar Edric identified several potentially-habitable exoplanets and resource-rich systems across the nebula. This provided a new source of hope and inspiration to the people of the Tantalus Cluster, and the governments of the Centrum Assembly, Frontier Union, and Merician Freehold jointly agreed to pool their resources to create an expedition of unprecedented range to explore CDC-41-G.

### Deployment

> "*It is the 45th of the Summer Solstice, 304 Post-Unification, and humanity stands on the razor’s edge. The nebula is now within our reach, and the coming months will shape the future of billions, but the choices that will guide us to salvation or to annihilation, will lie in the hands of very few.*"
> - Elizabeth Ancelet on the eve of the expeditionary fleet's launch.
>
>

The Drift Gate necessary to reach CDC-41-Gamma from Tantalus, Edric's Gate, was constructed over a period of four years in the Cardeus Brink System. In that time, the *Wanderer*-class Explorer Platform *Avalon* was constructed as the expedition's flagship while ships and personnel were recruited from across the Tantalus Cluster. In order to supply the expedition, vast amounts of foodstuffs, fusion fuels, and other resources were requisitioned from across the Tantalus Cluster. The project was not without controversy, and such mandatory requisitions were sometimes met with violent resistance in the face of the intensifying Great Famine.

Shortly before the expedition's launch, Sadavar Edric suddenly retired. Having worked closely with her father in the development of the Initiative since its inception, Edric's adopted daughter, Elizabeth Ancelet, was quickly appointed Director by the international selection committee.

The swift change in the Expedition's command structure so close to deployment was controversial. Nevertheless, amid great public interest, the Avalon Expedition Fleet deployed through Edric's Gate to CDC-41-Gamma on the 45th of the Summer Solstice, 0304 PCU.

### In CDC-41-Gamma

#### Scattering

Upon arriving in CDC-41-G, the Expedition Fleet was scattered in an anomalous ice belt, which led to the damage or disappearance of several ships. All four Gatehaulers, carrying the components necessary to build a return gate to Tantalus, were lost. The Unioner Outrider *Mariana* was embedded in an ice fragment while the Centran tanker *Sunbeam* was lightly damaged, but successfully rendezvoused with the Unioner frigate *Abigail*. Both managed to link up with the *Avalon*. Much of the Frontier Union Militia contingent disappeared. The Merician Treasure Ships *Friendly Expedience* and *Swift Conveyance*, along with their private military contractor escort, successfully rendezvoused with one of the Gatehaulers. The Centran Defence Force ship *Shabayev*, carrying the Initiative's Defence Adjutant, Vice Admiral Winston Redfield, was also missing. Over the next two months, the *Shabayev* successfully re-established contact with two other CDF ships, the *Bracewell* and the *Republic*, as well as a Gatehauler.

As the corvette *Guinevere* attempted to free the *Mariana* from the ice fragment, both were engaged by the *Cloak of Mercy*, a lightship of the Holy Advari Empire, the nebula's native civilisation. The *Mariana* was destroyed, and the *Guinevere* was lightly-damaged, but escaped. The *Mariana's* wreckage was recovered by the *Cloak of Mercy* for analysis. After learning of this, Empress Valendra the Sixth of the Holy Advari Empire ordered Inquisitor Castian Vadric to investigate the fleet's arrival.

Elsewhere, the fleet led by the *Friendly Expedience* also encountered an Advari lightship. Its PMC escort was destroyed investigating the ship, forcing the three surviving ships to hide in close orbit of a large gas giant, where they remained hidden for another eight months. The Unioner outrider *Rodrigo*, captained by Omar Maalsuwda, successfully re-established contact with six other Unioner vessels - *Hotstepper*, *Tserekai*, *Winchell Chung*, *Sutedo*, *Seraphina*, and *Whiplash* - as well as recovering one of the missing Drift Gate components.

Within three days of arriving in CDC-41-G, the *Avalon* had successfully made contact with six ships and had begun a preliminary scientific survey, concluding that the ice field was larger and denser than anything previously considered possible by science. After a Stardancer fighter of Farrier Flight encountered an anomalous area of warped space, Director Ancelet concluded that it was a theoretical construct known as a Lauralyn Conduit and surmised that these had been responsible for the scattering of the fleet. The *Guinevere* followed the conduit four light-seasons to a star system, where it discovered the wreckage of GH-0007-VG, one of the missing Gatehaulers in a decaying orbit around a gas giant. Boarding the wreck, Ancelet and the crew of the *Guinevere* rescued a single wounded survivor and recovered an essential gate component.

#### The Avalon Bombings

Shortly after arriving in CDC-41-Gamma, the *Avalon* was bombed in a terrorist attack perpetrated by Inventory Officer Michael Favara, destroying the ship's stock of remote resupply drones. Favara, a traumatised veteran of the Frontier War, believed that the Frontier Union contingent would inevitably betray the Centrans and seize the *Avalon*. Favara planted Frontier Union-made explosives at the site of the blast, prompting Ancelet to transfer Unioner personnel off the *Avalon* to the frigate *Abigail*.

As the *Abigail* was refuelling from the *Avalon* before departing, a second device was discovered in the *Avalon's* fuel lines, which detonated before the *Abigail* could get clear. Captain Tamika Jinn's last act was to steer her ship to a safe distance before its damaged reactor exploded.

The destruction of the *Abigail* left the *Guinevere* the only armed vessel still part of the fleet. Along with the capture of the *Mariana*, the explosion of the *Abigail* alerted the Holy Advari Empire to the Avalon Expeditionary Fleet's location.

#### Discovery of the pulsar system

On Summer Solstice 98th, 0304 PCU, Director Ancelet led the *Guinevere* on an expedition to a pulsar system, the first to be visited by Humans. Director Ancelet and Captain Farren made a surface exploration of its sole planet. Despite the Director being seriously injured in the expedition, they discovered edible vegetation on the planet, as well as a wrecked Advari spacecraft and the remains of its pilot. Discoveries of Advari ruins on the planet also allowed the expedition to begin deciphering the Advari language. Director Ancelet and Captain Farren subsequently returned to the system with the *Siochana* to establish harvesting shelters in the hope of laying the foundations for a new colony.

#### *Triumph* hostage incident

In Ancelet and Farren's absence, Lieutenant Jasper Ravi was left in command of the fleet, and soon had to deal with the unexpected arrival of the *Triumph*, a civilian orbital ferry manned by the Aiden's Prospect Agricultural Commune that had illegally accompanied the fleet through Edric's Gate. Led by the charismatic Foreman Richard Sedgewick, the commune believed that CDC-41-Gamma was the site of a "Verdant Paradise" being deliberately hidden from the rest of the Tantalus Cluster by an elite conspiracy.

Unconvinced by Ravi's insistence that no such "paradise" existed, Sedgewick took a team of technicians sent from the *Avalon* to the *Triumph* hostage and demanded to know the "colony world's" location. Ravi considered deploying a team of Centran Marines, but was convinced to allow Tamara Melari and Mathias Croft of the *Guinevere* to board the *Triumph* and seek to defuse the situation. Boarding the *Triumph* through its waste disposal system, Croft and Melari successfully won over its technician, Bridget Volkova, who convinced the rest of the crew to release the hostages and detain Sedgewick, who was subsequently handed over to the *Avalon's* Marine garrison.

Following the successful resolution of the crisis, many of the families who had been aboard the *Triumph* were brought aboard the *Avalon* and Bridget Volkova was assigned the *Triumph's* temporary captain. Ravi considered reassigning many of the agricultural workers to work in the harvesting shelters on the Vitrified Planet.

#### Redfield's coup attempt

After two months travelling alone in the nebula, Vice Admiral Redfield's force captured Castian Vadric, an Inquisitor of the nebula's native Holy Advari Empire who had been assigned by Empress Valendra the Sixth to investigate the Avalon Fleet. Brought aboard the *Shabayev* for interrogation, Redfield ordered that the injured Vadric be denied medical treatment until he cooperated. However, his interrogation was interrupted when two Advari ships attacked the force. Attempting to withdraw to the safety of the Callandra Nimbus, Redfield ordered the Gatehauler abandoned, and the *Bracewell* and the *Republic* were destroyed by Advari fire, leaving the *Shabayev* the only survivor. Following this encounter, Redfield became convinced that the Advari posed an existential threat to the Tantalus Cluster.

The Advari successfully recovered the Drift Gate component aboard the Gatehauler Redfield had been forced to abandon and brought in inside the Aegis of Invia for examination. Omar Maalsuwda's force, however, successfully tracked the component and established a holdfast on the edge of the Aegis to secretly observe the Advari and plan for the component's recovery.

After escaping into the Callandra Nimbus, the damaged *Shabayev* unexpectedly encountered the *Avalon*, which prompted scenes of celebration on the platform. Redfield swiftly made his presence known, promoting Lieutenant Jasper Ravi two ranks to Lieutenant Commander, neglecting to tell Director Elizabeth Ancelet about his Advari prisoner, ordering civilian vessels to assist in repairs to the *Shabayev*, and vociferously arguing for the fleet to be moved to the pulsar system to begin harvesting operations. Reviewing the fleet's logs, Redfield became increasingly convinced that Ancelet's leadership was inadequate for the situation, believing that only luck had spared the fleet from disaster. Redfield invoked Section 24-D of the CDF's Uniform Code of Conduct, removing Elizabeth from command and seizing the Avalon Expedition Fleet for the sole purpose of striking back against the Advari. Elizabeth Ancelet and Captain Cassandra Farren were placed under arrest.

The situation in the Avalon Fleet swiftly passed out of Redfield's control: Vadric continued to refuse to respond under interrogation, while the *Kestrel*, *Triumph*, and *Siochana* refused to accept his leadership without hearing from Elizabeth Ancelet. When Marines were deployed to take control of the *Kestrel*, it manoeuvred to prevent them from docking, and Redfield proved unwilling to order a forced breach. Furthermore, in an effort to expedite repairs aboard the *Shabayev*, her commanding officer, Commander Lewis Harper, ordered double shifts, which provoked a brawl in the ship's dining hall among exhausted CDF sailors. This proved impossible to contain as the *Shabayev's* Marines had been re-deployed to secure the fleet's civilian ships.

Despite feeling increasingly overwhelmed, Redfield left the *Avalon* under Ravi's command and crossed to the *Shabayev*, where he successfully put down the brawl with a single speech to the ship's crew. Recognising that he could not command the respect of the civilian fleet, Redfield chose to release Elizabeth Ancelet and Cassandra Farren from the brig and restore them to command. However, he re-iterated his concerns about Elizabeth's leadership and insisted that he be included in all command decisions from then on, a condition that Elizabeth accepted.

### Conflict with the Advari

#### Rescue of the Merician ships

With Director Ancelet's leadership restored, Redfield returned to the CSV *Shabayev* and Cassandra Farren continued as Defence Adjutant. Redfield's advocacy for moving the fleet to the pulsar system was accepted by Ancelet, where they established a harvesting colony that they nicknamed "the Greenhouse". Over the following four months, the fleet harvested a large amount of flora from the planet. Without the fleet's gatehaulers, however, a return to the Tantalus Cluster was impossible: three months after the fleet's estimated return date to Tantalus, Ancelet speculated that the Cluster had given the entire expedition up as lost.

With efforts to harvest the planet's flora proceeding apace, Redfield advocated for an aggressive effort to seek out the fleet's lost gatehaulers to enable a return to Tantalus. The fleet soon intercepted a distress call from the Merician ships led by Maxine Blake. Accompanied by Castian Vadric as a guide, the *Guinevere* ventured deep into the nebula to rescue the Merician ships. The *Guinevere* discovered disquieting information about the nature of Advari control in the nebula unknown even to Vadric, namely the discovery that Deacon's Post was completely abandoned. Despite any encounter with an Advari Lightship, the *Guinevere* successfully made contact with the Merician ships and led them back to the fleet.

## Composition

* *Avalon* - Command ship, *Wanderer*-class Explorer Platform, destroyed in battle with Advari
	+ Elizabeth Ancelet, Director
	+ Captain Cassandra Farren, Defence Adjutant
	+ Lieutenant Commander Jasper Ravi, Centran Defence Force, Security Garrison Commander, deceased in battle with Advari
	+ Ensign Arin Bankole, Centran Defence Force, Communications Officer, deceased in battle with Advari
	+ Michael Favara, Centran Defence Force, Inventory Officer, deceased in Avalon Bombings

* *Guinevere* - Independent Privateer, *Huntress*-class Ambush Corvette
	+ Captain Cassandra Farren, Commanding Officer
	+ Mathias Croft, Pilot
	+ Tamara Melari, Medic

* CSV *Shabayev* - Centrum Assembly, *Tripathia*-class Third-Rate Ship of the Line, missing in action following in battle with Advari
	+ Vice Admiral Winston Redfield, Centran Defence Force, Commanding Officer
	+ Commander Lewis Harper, Centran Defence Force, Executive Officer
	+ Lieutenant Commander Gates, Centran Defence Force
	+ Ensign Lydia Telfer, Centran Defence Force, deceased in skirmish with Advari
	+ Chief Petty Officer Faraday, Centran Defence Force
	+ Corporal Larsen, Centran Marine Corps, deceased in raid on the Aegis of Invia
	+ Corporal Paul Dalcop, Centran Marine Corps
	+ Private Pritchard, Centran Marine Corps, deceased in raid on the Aegis of Invia
	+ Private Waters, Centran Marine Corps, deceased in raid on the Aegis of Invia
	+ Private Barkov, Centran Marine Corps
	+ Dubois, Centran Marine Corps

* CSV *Bracewell* - Centrum Assembly, *Tripathia*-class Third-Rate Ship of the Line, destroyed in battle with Advari

* CSV *Republic* - Centrum Assembly, *Confiance*-class Frigate, destroyed in battle with Advari

* Farrier Flight - Centrum Assembly, S-36 Stardancer flight

* Foxfire Flight - Centrum Assembly, S-36 Stardancer flight

* *Sunbeam* - Centrum Assembly (civilian), Sunlight-Type Liquid Haulage Barque

* *Rodrigo* - Frontier Union, *Alessiah*-class Fast Frigate
	+ Captain Omar Maalsuwda, Frontier Union Militia, Commanding Officer

* *Hotstepper* - Frontier Union, *Indria*-class Outrider, destroyed in battle with Advari
	+ Captain Lucas Darnick, Frontier Union Militia, Commanding Officer, deceased in battle with Advari

* *Tserekai* - Frontier Union, *Indria*-class Outrider, destroyed in battle with Advari
	+ Captain Darin Heijai, Frontier Union Militia, Commanding Officer, deceased in battle with Advari

* *Winchell Chung* - Frontier Union (civilian), 'Porter' Medium Packet Schooner, improvised hospital ship
	+ Captain Ken Burnside, Commanding Officer

* *Jamake* - Frontier Union, Outrider, destroyed in battle with Advari

* *Sutedo* - Frontier Union, Outrider, destroyed in battle with Advari

* *Seraphina* - Frontier Union, *Indria*-class Outrider, missing following battle with Advari
	+ Captain Taida Jadina, Frontier Union Militia, Commanding Officer, missing following battle with Advari

* *Whiplash* - Frontier Union, Outrider, missing following battle with Advari

* *Mariana* - Frontier Union, *Florencia*-class Outrider, destroyed in battle with Advari
	+ Captain Edwin Darwish, Frontier Union Militia, deceased in battle with Advari

* *Abigail* - Frontier Union, *Alessiah*-class Fast Frigate, destroyed in Avalon Bombings
	+ Captain Tamika Jinn, Frontier Union Militia, Commanding Officer, deceased in Avalon Bombings
	+ Tech Sergeant Rhadal, Frontier Union Militia, deceased in Avalon Bombings

* *Belladonna* - Merician Freehold, 'Traverser' Heavy Packet Schooner, destroyed in battle with Advari
	+ Captain Keagan Quintero, Commanding Officer, deceased in battle with Advari

* GH-0007-VG - Gatehauler, destroyed in transit, gate component retrieved
	+ Kayda, Staff Medic, deceased in transit

* *Friendly Expedience* - Merician Freehold, Treasure Ship
	+ Captain Maxine Blake, Commanding Officer

* *Swift Conveyance* - Merician Freehold, Treasure Ship

* *Golden Opportunity* - Merician Freehold, Freighter, destroyed in transit, cargo salvaged

* *Kestrel* - Centrum Assembly (civilian), 'Caspian-P' Express Passenger Schooner, destroyed in battle with Advari
	+ Captain Felix Labelle, Commanding Officer, deceased in battle with Advari

* *Siochana* - Henshall Institute, *Yukita Falls*-class SWACS Ship, in battle with Advari
	+ Captain Rachel Weisheimer, Commanding Officer, deceased in battle with Advari

* *Triumph* - Centrum Assembly (civilian), N-Series Transorbital Ferry, illegally accompanied transit through Edric's Gate, cannibalised for use as improvised bomb
	+ Foreman Richard Sedgewick, Commanding Officer, detained following *Triumph* hostage incident
	+ Bridget Volkova, Technician, succeeded as Commanding Officer following *Triumph* hostage incident, deceased in battle with Advari

Total: >27 ships, 60,000 personnel

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 *The Cold Divide*
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *The Sojourn Visual Dictionary - Edition One*
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 The Sojourn: Drift and Drift Gates - Avalon Archives
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 The Sojourn: Worlds of Tantalus: The Centrum Assembly
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 *Centrum Broadcast Radio: 45th of Solstice, 304 PCU*
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 *Inclement Weather*
7. ↑ *Non-Zero Sum*
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 *Theirs Not to Make Reply*
9. ↑ *Golden Opportunity*
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 *Contact, Wait Out*
11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 *Beneath The Banner*
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 *Yesterday's War*
13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 *Dust and Shadow*
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 *The Promised Land*
15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 *Theirs Not to Reason Why*