Nebular 1 The Triton Base

NEBULAR is a science fiction series that takes you to the year 2113. It is an era in which nation states are a thing of the past. United in the Solar Union, humanity faces its last great challenge: the exploration of the outer Solar System. The Union Fleet already maintains scientific outposts on the distant moons of the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Private companies are prospecting for raw materials and spaceships shuttle between the planets. The causes of earlier civilisational setbacks, such as wars, disease and poverty, have been overcome. Around ten billion citizens of the Solar Union populate the Earth, and another 250 million people settle in the growing colonies on the Earth’s moon and Mars. The furthest outpost from Earth is on Neptune’s moon Triton. It is a frigid world populated mainly by scientists and private companies. The crew’s main task is to explore the Kuiper Belt with its dwarf planets, also called the Outer Ring. Astrophysicists use the remoteness of the celestial body to advance the search for extraterrestrial life. The scientists of the new SETI project use their receiving antennas to examine neighbouring stars for potential radio signals from alien civilisations. A total of around two thousand men and women are on duty at the Triton Base. The icy deserts on Jupiter’s moon Europa, the dust storms of Mars and the primordial hydrocarbon seas on Saturn’s moon Titan have been seen by space travellers from Earth with their own eyes, but so far they have not found extraterrestrial life. One of humanity’s most important goals remains to make peaceful contact with alien civilisations in space. Unconsciously, most scientists hope that these life forms are similar to us and that communication is possible. So far, the search has been unsuccessful, but this does not rule out the possibility that they exist in the vastness of space and are already observing us.

NEBULAR is a science fiction series that transports you to the year 2113. It is an era in which nation states are a thing of the past. United in the Solar Union, Humanity faces its last great challenge: the exploration of the outer Solar System. The Union Fleet already maintains scientific outposts on the distant moons of the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune. Private companies are mining for raw materials and large spaceships are travelling between the inner planets. The causes of earlier civilisational setbacks, such as wars, diseases and poverty, have been overcome. Around ten billion Union citizens populate the Earth, with another 250 million humans settling in the growing colonies on the Luna and Mars. The furthest outpost from Earth is located on Neptune's moon Triton. It is an icy cold world where mainly scientists and private companies are based. The crew's main task is to explore the Kuiper Belt, also known as the Outer Ring, with its numerous dwarf planets. Astrophysicists are using the remoteness of the celestial body to advance the search for extraterrestrial life. The scientists of the new SETI project use their receiving antennas to examine the neighbouring stars for potential radio signals from alien civilisations. A total of around two thousand humans are working on the Triton Base. Space travellers from Earth have seen the ice deserts on Jupiter's moon Europa, the dust storms of Mars and the primeval hydrocarbon seas on Saturn's moon Titan with their own eyes, but so far they have not found any extraterrestrial life. One of Humanity's most important goals remains to make peaceful contact with alien civilisations in space. Unconsciously, most scientists hope that these life forms are similar to us and that communication is possible. So far, the search has been unsuccessful, but this does not rule out the possibility that they exist in the infinite expanses of space and are already watching us.

A Solar Union scout ship lands on the Kuiper object Quaoar. The crew, led by squadron leader Bill Davis, finds alien artefacts on the dwarf planet. The team enters an underground cavern and discovers a terrifying, frozen alien creature during their exploration. After the alien’s rigidity has given way, the spacemen have no choice but to flee. Through the extraterrestrial’s extreme bioelectric radiation, the humans receive fragments of its thoughts. The creature transmits an impulse that takes root in the minds of the landing team: Globuster! The bestial-looking creature behaves in an extremely hostile manner. Peaceful contact seems impossible. One crew member is killed in the collision, the others manage to escape from the Globuster cave. The bizarre intelligence creature begins to race, destroys the scout ship of the exploration team and starts a hunt for the survivors. It has the ability to detect other creatures by their mental aura. While trying to escape, Bill Davis and Caroline Tubian realise that they are inferior to the extraterrestrial in every way. Hand weapons they carry with them prove ineffective. The Globuster envelops itself in a protective field against which there seems to be no remedy. At the last second, a commando from the Triton Base appears and is able to evacuate the two astronauts. The alien retreats in the face of the supposed superiority and escapes in a lenticular spaceship. Before doing so, it triggers a fateful process and changes the orbital path of the dwarf planet. It now lies exactly on a collision course with Triton ...

The year is 2113. Scorge has arrived in the system of Epsilon Indi with the YAX-KUK-MO. Together with Toiber Arkroid, Vasina and Lai Pi, The Shwakan is following vague clues in search of the homeworld of an ancient robot civilisation. The trader is bound by a promise he made to 40028, a robot of this people that he recovered from an asteroid on a trading trip. Scorge follows the sparse clues and scans the supposed target system. Despite an extensive search, the centre world remains untraceable. The home of 40028 seems to have disappeared, just like the builders of the spherical robots, who anchored a high cosmic moral standard in the basic programming of their artificial creatures. Where have the brothers of the spherical robot gone? Scorge doesn’t give up and persists. He investigates every moon of Epsilon Indi, hoping to soon discover a trace of the Techno-Clerics.

The Soulwanderer and his Spike pose the greatest threat in the history of the Solar Union. The extraterrestrial being, which resides in the eternal ice of Antarctica, is pursuing a sinister plan. It is determined to rob united humanity of all its modern achievements, to dominate and mentally subjugate every individual. The reasons for the extraterrestrial's actions are unknown. At this point, no one knows that the present is linked to the distant past. History seems to be repeating itself. Once before, a battle was fought on Earth against the Soulwanderer, but there were no humans who resolutely opposed him. While about a million years ago the Progonauts were fighting for survival, this time human civilisation is on the brink of extinction. In the greatest need and as a last means of defence, the leaders of the Solar Union use a special weapon. It is the Army of Nanobots.

NEBULAR takes you into the year 2113 - a time when nationalistic interests are things of the past. United in the federation of the Solar Union, Humanity faces its greatest challenge - the conquest of space. Manned spaceships have already reached the outer edges of the Solar System and are advancing into the Kuiper Belt. The most distant outpost is located on Neptune's moon Triton, a freezing cold world, where scientists and private mining companies are braving the harsh conditions. Their aim is to explore the outer belt and to search for crucial natural resources needed by humankind. Around two thousand men and women are stationed on Triton on a permanent basis. One of their main targets is to get in contact with fellow alien civilisations. Scientists use the remote location of Triton to align their antenna arrays towards the stars in the search for extraterrestrial life. Unconsciously, most Humans hope these alien cultures will be similar to us and that Humanity will be able to learn from these beings. So far the radio telescopes on Triton have been unsuccessful to intercept signals of intelligent origin. It is almost as if alien civilisations don't want to communicate with Humanity. However, that doesn't mean they don't exist ...

NEBULAR nous entraîne en l’an 2113 – une époque où les intérêts nationalistes et le patriotisme aveugle appartiennent au passé. Le fléau des guerres internationales n'est désormais plus une menace. En combinant les ressources et la connaissance, l'Humanité a presque éradiqué la maladie et la pauvreté. Rassemblés en tant qu’Union Solaire, les hommes relèvent le dernier défi qui se pose à eux – la conquête de l'espace. Les colonies prospères de la Lune et de Mars font partie de la vie quotidienne. Des avant-postes scientifiques ont été établis sur les lunes des colossales planètes extérieures tandis que des vaisseaux spatiaux sillonnent le cœur du système. Environ dix milliards de personnes vivent sur Terre, alors que deux cents cinquante millions se sont installées dans les colonies lunaires et martiennes. Des prospecteurs recherchent des matières premières cruciales dans la ceinture d’astéroïdes et des astronefs avec équipages naviguent à la périphérie du Système Solaire pour étendre davantage les zones ouvertes à l'exploration. L'avant-poste le plus éloigné de l'Humanité est situé sur la plus grande lune de Neptune, Triton ; un monde glacé où les scientifiques et les compagnies privées d'exploitation minière travaillent conjointement. Ils poursuivent l’étude complète des régions externes du Système Solaire pour trouver les matières premières nécessaires à la Terre et à ses colonies, et essaient de tirer profit des conditions gravitationnelles locales particulièrement stables pour aligner sur les étoiles voisines les grandes antennes du nouveau projet SETI. Environ deux mille hommes et femmes de l’Union Solaire ont accepté une vie de solitude, loin de leur patrie. Les explorateurs humains ont déjà affronté les déserts de glace d’Europa, une des lunes de Jupiter, les orages de poussière de Mars et les océans primitifs d'hydrocarbure de Titan. Mais jamais ils n’ont rencontré d’autres formes de vie. L'établissement d’un contact avec des civilisations extraterrestres amicales demeure l'un des plus grands objectifs de cette époque. Inconsciemment, la plupart des hommes espèrent que ces cultures non humaines leur seront semblables et que l’Humanité pourra apprendre beaucoup de ces êtres dans un échange pacifique d'informations. Toutefois, l'installation sur Triton a été jusqu'ici un échec en ce qui concerne la réception de signaux d’origine intelligente. Comme si ces cultures lointaines ne voulaient pas communiquer avec l'Humanité… Ce qui ne signifie pas que ces étrangers n’existent pas... ou qu’ils n’écoutent pas. Ni même qu’ils ne soient pas déjà là à nous observer…

Peter Hubble is an astronomer and director of the Mount Wilson Observatory in California. After the sudden death of his wife Margret, he cares for their 16-year-old daughter Sally and tries to cope with the challenges of a single working father. On the way to his workplace, the two are caught in a violent storm. A landslide temporarily cuts off their way back to Pasadena and the mountain road is blocked. On the way, Sally and he find an unconscious woman on the side of the road. They administer first aid and take the stranger to the observatory. What they do not suspect at the time: The encounter sets in motion a chain of terrifying events that seriously changes the scientist's entire world view ...

NEBULAR nous entraîne en l’an 2113 – une époque où les intérêts nationalistes et le patriotisme aveugle appartiennent au passé. Le fléau des guerres internationales n'est désormais plus une menace. En combinant les ressources et la connaissance, l'Humanité a presque éradiqué la maladie et la pauvreté. Rassemblés en tant qu’Union Solaire, les hommes relèvent le dernier défi qui se pose à eux – la conquête de l'espace. Les colonies prospères de la Lune et de Mars font partie de la vie quotidienne. Des avant-postes scientifiques ont été établis sur les lunes des colossales planètes extérieures tandis que des vaisseaux spatiaux sillonnent le cœur du système. Environ dix milliards de personnes vivent sur Terre, alors que deux cents cinquante millions se sont installées dans les colonies lunaires et martiennes. Des prospecteurs recherchent des matières premières cruciales dans la ceinture d’astéroïdes et des astronefs avec équipages naviguent à la périphérie du Système Solaire pour étendre davantage les zones ouvertes à l'exploration. L'avant-poste le plus éloigné de l'Humanité est situé sur la plus grande lune de Neptune, Triton ; un monde glacé où les scientifiques et les compagnies privées d'exploitation minière travaillent conjointement. Ils poursuivent l’étude complète des régions externes du Système Solaire pour trouver les matières premières nécessaires à la Terre et à ses colonies, et essaient de tirer profit des conditions gravitationnelles locales particulièrement stables pour aligner sur les étoiles voisines les grandes antennes du nouveau projet SETI. Environ deux mille hommes et femmes de l’Union Solaire ont accepté une vie de solitude, loin de leur patrie. Les explorateurs humains ont déjà affronté les déserts de glace d’Europa, une des lunes de Jupiter, les orages de poussière de Mars et les océans primitifs d'hydrocarbure de Titan. Mais jamais ils n’ont rencontré d’autres formes de vie. L'établissement d’un contact avec des civilisations extraterrestres amicales demeure l'un des plus grands objectifs de cette époque. Inconsciemment, la plupart des hommes espèrent que ces cultures non humaines leur seront semblables et que l’Humanité pourra apprendre beaucoup de ces êtres dans un échange pacifique d'informations. Toutefois, l'installation sur Triton a été jusqu'ici un échec en ce qui concerne la réception de signaux d’origine intelligente. Comme si ces cultures lointaines ne voulaient pas communiquer avec l'Humanité… Ce qui ne signifie pas que ces étrangers n’existent pas... ou qu’ils n’écoutent pas. Ni même qu’ils ne soient pas déjà là à nous observer…

On the Kuiper object Quaoar, a Solar Union team discovers a frozen alien life form. Roused from sleep by unknown mechanisms, the creature behaves in a hostile manner and attacks the space travellers. One crew member is killed during the attack, the rest escaped. At the last second, an emergency team is sent to save the lives of the astronauts. The shock of the encounter with an alien runs deep. Highly alarmed, people are watching the outskirts of the Solar System. Leading members of the Union Government and the Union Fleet fear that the so-called Globusters have taken up residence on various dwarf planets in the Kuiper belt. No one on Earth wants an escalation or even a military conflict with the aliens. Without knowing the plans and motivation of the intruders, a prognosis for the coming days and weeks is almost impossible. For the time being, the Union's space fleet and external bases are on the highest alert. Surprisingly, it is not the Globusters who cause renewed excitement but another visitor appears in the Solar System and astonishes the people. His name is Scorge.