Thrust Vector Lore - The W-Layer
Ancient Surface Megacity - Amerikas Continent, Sector L18
Photo taken from Salvage Group 3 aboard Consortium Ship Ithaca
In the final dying hours of the Earth War, humanity ended the world. Endless nuclear winter changed the very environment of the planet, the once fertile womb of life was turned into a factory of starvation and plague. The millions of lives initially lost to the fires of terrifying ordnance paled to the billions left dead in the changing earth. No longer could the food be produced to sustain the mouths of the starving, nor could medicines be created to combat the changing scales of biology.
As civilization crumbled, the cities were born. Surrounding the last remaining bastions of humanity, these megastructures swelled as refugees from the destitute earth flooded into their walls. Each growing in power, separated by the ever scarce resources they fought for. Alliances were created, subjugated, and formalized. In the end, two powers rose from the ashes of the old world.
Their uneasy peace did not last.
Caches of hidden technologies were unleashed upon each other in an ever escalating conflict, weapons more horrible than the nuclear firestorms decades prior used with reckless abandon.
It is only known as the W-Virus. The ultimate pinnacle of bioweaponry was accidentally spread across the world in the chaos of war. Entire cities were annihilated within weeks, citizens packed within the concrete walls vectors for an uncaring force engineered for death.
There was only one single place free from the grasp of plague: the sky.
Above four kilometers in altitude, the W-virus is unable to transmit itself, and in the world above the earth, humanity survived.
Today, all population exists within the thin line between four and eight kilometers in altitude. Below such a limit, the concentration of radiation and W-virus counts becomes lethal to all human life. Above it, there is simply not enough oxygen to breathe.
Humanity, although adapted to living at a higher altitude, still desires to return to the surface one day. However, research in terraforming Earth back to its original state has grinded to a standstill over the centuries. Radioactivity removal and atmospheric adjustment processes are already difficult to implement, and even worse, the W-Virus itself is impossible to combat. Ever changing, ever evolving, the virus is able to continuously adapt and change to any attempt at a cure. Because of this, all attempts at developing a countermeasure have been suspended, lest a hyper lethal, altitude resistant strain be accidentally produced.
The W-Layer does, in rare occasions, provide opportunity for people. Although it is possible to use remote drones ships to salvage wreckage on the surface at any time, as many large salvaging companies use, there is another method. The blanket covering the world sometimes pulls away, weather patterns opening up the smallest openings in the layer to allow for a full scale operation to the surface. A majority of intact technology is salvaged along with the recovery of massive warship hulls during these occurrences.
Though the W-Layer does, at times, attempt to extends its reach. Updrafts occur rarely, but their occurrences are relatively dangerous. The W-Virus itself is not so much a threat in cases of high altitude contamination. Instead, the pollution and radioactive particulate from W-Layer updrafts is much more deadly. If a city state is caught within one, the standard procedure is simply to shut down all operations and ride it out. If combat takes place in such a updraft, there is a specific term used by both Pilots and Sailors: Stormout.
When ash and particulate blot out the sky’s light and the eyes of all are blinded there is nothing else other than sheer skill and luck. For Vector Pilots, such a situation is the even ground in a world of avantages, almost always ending with casualties. For those within warships, a battle within a stormout is almost guaranteed to be in bloody close quarters combat. It is for this reason both Pilots and Naval Commanders detest and actively avoid combative situations within W-Layer updrafts. The allure of honor and glory long dead between enemies and the concept of horrendous casualties a point of avoidance for those in leadership.
Today, the W-Layer is a constant reminder of mankind’s arrogance. In every movement of life, the ground below is always there, never reachable. It is a tragedy that haunts all humanity, yet also a common hope to one day return to the lost world beneath them. And in the end, there are somethings that cross the borders between timeless enemies.
“Terra accueli” -
Motto of Terra Novia
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