01
Oretani System
Jump point collapsed on 04.11.2485
Discovered in 2481, by Micah Zahir, Oretani is home to six planets, two of which were ideal for terraforming and/or colonization. There is also an asteriod belt, Oretani Belt Alpha, rich in nitrogen. The belt was to be used to set up agricultural farms to provide much needed food to support the terraforming projects in the system. After the sale of rights from Zahir to the UNE, Turiya Terraforming was awarded the lucrative contract to terraform the system. With the construction of new built stations, thousands of workers flocked to the Oretani System to work. The first terraforming machine above Oretani II came online in 2483. Two years later the project was in full swing and ahead of schedule. However, despite the great results spouted by Turiya, there were alarming reports coming out of the Oretani System about food rationing on stations due to delayed shipments. Growing resentment from the workers appeared to be mounting due to misgivings of being lied too by Turiya. In an effort to undercut the growing negative press, CEO Adriana Bratanek invited a handful of journalists to tour the system and Turiya’s operations with her. On April 11, 2485, two days after they entered the system, the jump point connecting Oretani to Ferron suddenly collapsed, cutting off all connection to the rest of civilization.
02
UEE Efforts
The UEE launched massive campaigns to re-establish contact with Oretani System
The loss of Oretani struck a heavy blow to Humanity’s psyche. The idea of easy, confident expansion across the stars was damaged. When news first broke of Oretani’s loss, many didn’t know such a thing was possible. Jump points were known to be unstable but not disappear completely.
The UNE dispatched a massive fleet of scanning and scientific ships into Ferron hoping to reopen the lost jump point or discover a new one. Humanity’s best and brightest minds offered their help, and companies throughout the universe donated credits and supplies to the cause. The most brilliant minds in the UNE grappled with a cosmic question: can you open a collapsed jump point? Yet, all of their efforts were in vain, as the frantic search settled into a systematic exploration of options. Days turned to weeks, then months, and though the story still sat on everyone’s mind, the realization that the system might be gone for good slowly sank in. Eventually, the UNE reluctantly reduced the resources dedicated to rediscovering Oretani and installed an extensive array of sensor beacons near the former jump point. A fleet of military pathfinders was also deployed to the system and assigned to patrol the region on a regular basis.
The fear that this would happen again kept settlers from venturing further into the stars, and systems began to stockpile supplies to make sure that they could self-sustain should the unthinkable happen. The population was shaken by this development too. Systems with multiple jump points saw a noticeable increase in population, and there was increased immigration back to Earth – the exact opposite of what the UNE hoped to accomplish.
To this day, the UEE government maintains an array of sensors and has pathfinders patrolling that sector of Ferron in the hopes that the jump point will reopen. Centuries later there is still no good news to report. In fact, all accounts of people escaping the system or even transmitting messages from it have been confirmed as hoaxes. The most famous of these being the so-called ‘Oretani Beacon’, claimed to have been found by Erling Bradford in 2506. The recording of a shaky voice proclaiming that she was an Oretani survivor was later proven to be made by Erling and his niece. Regardless, there are some who still believe that the plea is genuine evidence that contact with the system is possible.
Despite the desire to know what happened to the inhabitants of Oretani, the best any of us can do is guess.
Many hope that if the original jump point doesn’t reappear, then another will be found back into the system, so that we may finally discover the fate of those cut off so long ago.
03
THE MISSION
PROJECT ORETANI is headed by UEMC Exploration Division
Primary focus for the PROJECT ORETANI is to establish communication with the cutoff Oretani System. Technology and Jump point research has advanced leaps ahead in comparison to the time of the collapse. Scientists have been completing exhaustive studies on jump points and other wormhole physics that have sparked renewed hopes of reestablishing a new path to the system.
Research is not the only area that has hindered efforts to start new exhibitions to Oretani. Funding, Regulatory Roadblocks, and Press have all been obstacles to overcome. The costs for such exhibitions can swell into the billions of UEC. Add in the bureaucratic red tape to the mix, and it often leads to cancelled projects.
Enter the United Earth Mining Corporation (UEMC).
UEMC being the largest ore mining, refining and hauling corporation, next to Shubin Interstellar, will look to advance their mining operations into the Oretani System. UEMC Exploration Division will utilize their Science & Research department to help direct Project Oretani. While the primary focus is to discover what happened to our lost relatives, the UEMC is committed to expanding mining operations into a relative untouched system.
UEMC was able to secure permission from the UEE government to launch Project Oretani.