Ad Astra, Per Felix

Earth, the cradle of humanity, suffered greatly at the hands of its dominant species. The polar ice caps melted, flooding great swathes of the planet's surface. Those humans that survived the initial flooding fled to the highest mountain ranges or burrowed deep underground. Eventually, survivalist civilisations formed within the Himalayas and in subterranean caverns and shelters created by the collapsing governments of the world. Some brave or mad souls defied the deadly solar radiation to sail the seas, providing trade and information to the disparate settlements. However, we are not here to talk about those intrepid adventurers that would become the stuff of myth and legends. Today, we are talking about how humanity slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God. Or, at least, the face of the closest friendly alien species.

In the years following the Great Flood, humanity faced total extinction. Those within the mountains and caverns had been struggling to grow crops, without success. Food was becoming scarce as the great stockpiles that had supplied many of the colonies were running dangerously slim. However, humanity still held hope as a flickering torch against the darkness. Scavengers continued to search the ruins of their destroyed world to find any scrap of usable technology. Many thought the search was in vain, until the day that a young scavenger by the name of Dorje Dhondup came across a lost research lab while diving into what had once been Murmansk. There she recovered, amongst other things, the incomplete schematics for a starship. Not fully understanding what she had found, but knowing that it could be important, she brought it to one of the great settlements and there found a scientist by the name of Elias Hodge. Expecting Hodge to simply buy the schematics and associated scavenged tech, Dorje was surprised when Hodge took her under his wing. Together the two began to devise a plan that would save all of humanity. 

They would establish communication between the various surviving holdouts to pool their resources and construct as many of these starships as possible. Under the banner of hope, they came together to follow Elias and Dorje’s plan. So, the Ark project was begun. However, significant difficulties presented themselves throughout the construction. Most notably was that the schematics Dorje had recovered did not include a method of interstellar navigation. Unwilling to abandon their last chance, it was decided that the solution would be to fire off the arks in as many directions as possible. The hope being that they encountered a place that would allow them to survive. The second barrier that stood in humanity’s way was the dire lack of resources, allowing only 21 arks to be created. They would be unable to contain the entirety of the human survivors, leaving thousands stranded on the dying planet. Unable to face the choice of who would get the chance to survive amongst the stars and who would most likely die on Earth, Elias left the decision to the remaining civic leaders. Reports greatly differ as to what Dorje's opinions were on the matter, some casting her as a great pragmatist while others claim that she displayed incredible empathy for those left behind, openly weeping at the prospect of abandoning them.

The day came for the arks to be launched. This is where Elias Hodge famously inscribed the words "Ad Astra, Per Felix" onto the hull of the ark that would take him and Dorje to the stars. The meaning of this phrase has been lost to time in the current galactic era, but it is a common occurrence to see it painted on human ships. It is also quoted ritualistically by the Church of Terranism, which regards both Elias Hodge and Dorje Dhondup as spiritual, almost deific, figures. It is currently known what befell 20 of the arks: 4 facing total annihilation, while a further 10 managed to achieve planetfall and establish rudimentary colonies before they were found, and the final 6 surviving arks converting themselves into space stations, attempting to harvest the planets that they orbited. 

However, the fate of the 21st ark, the ark that carried Elias and Dorje, remains a mystery.