Fraco’s Odyssey.
In the year 2126 humanity reached a pivotal point in its history.
Though things had taken a turn over a century before hand this is where The Franco’s journey began, and where humanity flung its final hopes to the stars…
Starscape 2.0Star Fields 2.0Planetary 1.9.3
“Though the planet seemed habitable from orbit. The surface had been ravaged and ruined by disease, war, and centuries of industrial abuse… There was little left to be had”
“The irradiated ‘super’ cell ripped through the atmosphere scorching the surface a little more with each pass, making this planet truly inhospitable. Dare we venture to the surface?…”
“Fuelled by year of nuclear war and the ultimate catastrophic demise of the reactors around this globe. The radiation streams whip and tare around the planet endlessly…”
“The decision was made, this planet was too far gone. The crew turned their starship around and set course for a new target in the next system… Would they have more luck?”
Loops Solar 1.3.3
“After a decade of travel in stasis the crew awoke in the next system only to find new challenges to over come… How exactly do you navigate such a turbulent place?”
“Weeks in to their journey across this new system, with supplies running low, the crew learn that there are several stars seemingly fighting for a place here.. Though scans are still showing a habitable world within the mass of super heated gas, ionised particles, and interlocking magnetic fields.. The search continues”
“Closing in to the far cooler and calmer edge of this buzzer system, our crew in dire need of resupply begin to lose faith… Until!! ‘BEEPBEEPBEEP’ the sensors go wild…”
Precious Metal Worlds - Gold
“When the crew finally came in to fine sensor range of their target planet, it was far from what they were expecting. This planet was cold, inactive, and without an atmosphere..
Was this truly their target planet? Were their sensors malfunctioning, obstructed by the massive forces at play in this star system? Was this the place?”
“Initial scans say this planet is composed predominantly of gold, and platinum… This can not be.. the crew decide to launch a lander drone to take surface samples to confirm their findings..”
“Results confirmed. This planet is almost entirely covered in gold and platinum. The core similar to the Earth’s, comprising of ferrous metals nickel and iron, even cobalt in places. But ultimately alien and dead, no sign of surface activity at all.
….’BEEPBEEPBEEPBEEP’ What had the sensors picked up now?!?”
PMW - Salvation
“ The crew rushed to the crows nest to watch as the moon of this planet slowly came in to view.
There it was, their salvation. This was the habitable planet that had been picked up on their sensors all those years ago. The relief could be heard echoing thought the ship. Finally their opportunity to resupply”
“Now just a few hours away our crew prepare landing gear and resupply vessels ready for their journey to the surface.
From what they can tell this moon was once populated, for how long and by whom they can’t yet tell. But the cities are in ruins and have been reclaimed by the native plant-life. Lets hope that if any of the inhabitants that once lived their are still alive, that are friendly..’
PMW - Distant Stars
“Now fully stocked with some decidedly questionable BUT more importantly edible fruits, veg and even some meats from the moons surface. Our crew are on their final shuttle run up to their ship in orbit. They couldn’t be happier to have some fresh water, food and clean lime for their air scrubbers.
After completing their research, sampling, and all important repair to their rapidly ageing starship they will once again set course for their next destination, wherever that may be…”
Franco’s Odyssey, is a story Chris started writing after the creation of many of the images you see here, and within the other fractal art galleries you can find elsewhere on the site.
Initially snippets written to accompany some of the images, the ideas started flowing, and so Chris began to bridge between the images and start to build worlds.
This is an ongoing project for Chris and has yet to reach a point where he would be happy to create a publication. However he has decided to share this selection of images and story snippets here in his portfolio and on his social channels.
FTL - Launch
“It is a big day for our crew today as our ship is finally fully repaired and with some incredible new tech to play with.. All thanks to their new allies, The Ermandiay.
Who would have thought our first contact with another sentient race would be quite so fruitful.. Maybe this was all too good to be true?..”
“Blazing or even, ripping through the local part system the crew of the Franco pushed their new engines to their limits.
Who knew humanity would ever achieve faster than light travel - This was some kind of warp engine. One they had yet to understand, replying on an alien AI to navigate and control the systems. Not all of the crew was happy…”
Burtrisium - Reactor
“The main containment structure for this reactor though more than two stories tall is fairly innocuous.. A sphere, suspended between and few rigid lines or cable. Nothing fancy or high-tech looking.. That is until it is activated! And then it lights up like nothing anyone has seen before!”
The Captains Log - Excerpt.
“Burtrisium is the only known or discovered compound with a cellular crystal structure.
Through our research and slow decoding of the holo-drive, we have found that the Ermandiay synthesised this compound, and not just a small amount either, they literally made planets of the stuff.
It is apparent that making small quantities was just not possible or at least not viable due to the gargantuan quantities needed to for the reaction.”
FTL - Exit
“With all of the fun there is for the crew of the Franco to have with their fantastic new FTL drive, the mission must continue.
As they drop out of FTL near the planet they met the Ermandiay at, the crew gather in the crows nest to take in the spectacular light show produced by their exit of the warp bubble produced by the FTL drive”
Burtrisium - Reaction
“When in the reactor Burtrisium behaves very strangely.
Activated burtrisium pulls itself apart until there is literally nothing left - no waste at all! It quite literally pulls this immense energy from nowhere… The science and engineering teams are yet to find explanations to all of the ins and outs of the reaction, and are still in the very beginning stages of decoding the holo-drive that holds all of this information.
As far as we can tell at this point the complex crystalline-cellular structure holds the key to its unique energy production properties”
“As Burtrisium slowly depletes a void is left behind - The reactor is literally taking every last part of it!
When it is all but fine this is the point that the next atom is released in to the chamber to start the process all over again”
Anomaly - Composite
“As our crew travel further and further away from their home, their experience evolves.
They encounter all manner of weird and wonderful things. Some of which can not be explained by the current model of physics which itself is not what it used to be!
The most recent anomalous object the crew of the Franco came across, was what appears to be a miniature star. The properties of this object made little sense to the science teams.
Scan showed that this object seemed to have a reversed gravitational field, pushing everything away.
This object had no discernible temperature( 2.7 Kelvin). It emitted no magnetic field but did emit E-rays, UV radiation, radio waves, and infrared. Curious…
After losing one probe to this object, the crew decided to remain at a distance and to move on. The consensus onboard was that this was not a ‘naturally’ occurring object and should be avoided..”
Navigation - Animated
“Navigation at the best of time is a difficult and complex task.
Over the centuries that the Franco has travelled the task of navigation has become something entirely different - And near impossible at times
… Over these years we have encountered numerous different species and races that all navigate in different ways and using different landmarks, anchor points, and units of measurement.
The only constant so far has been the speed at which light travels at. This we all agree on it seems…
…With the help of these other races and our own artificial intelligence bases navigation systems aboard the Franco we have devised our own unique system. Allowing for the three standard dimensions and the forth, Time. Our maps are not only 3D but interactive allowing for the movement and even time dilation where needed.
Attached to this entry is a short recording of one such map, minus the markers and anchor point references. Only relevant if anyone other my kids get to read these logs…”
- Lead Navigations Officer, Sacha McNevin. ED 186 Y 3436.
Chris’s progress with this story is steady, not fast paced by any means.
If you would be interested in reading more or seeing a published release please show your interest by signing up to hear about future additions and by using the contact form to send a message.