WELCOME TO U.G.C. New Houston
Intergalactic Stardate
August 2215

The UGC (United Galactic Colonies) New Houston is the first mobile command center of its kind, supporting a full barracks, engineering bay, hangar, medical, and much else. Decades of design and planning and years of constructing, the New Houston was finally completed and given its initial clearing for launch on May 5, 2214. Nearly six months later, the crew was assembled and on November 3, 2214, the UGC New Houston was launched and sent off into space from the Mars Colony Starbase at Dantrich.

The UGC-NH has a capacity load of 5000 operatives, ranging from marines to pilots to civilians, though the standard load is roughly 4000 operatives, half of that being civilians. Troops very on the NH, as they do throughout UGC Starbases around the galaxy, though it is comprised primarily of marines and their variants. (Hellraiser, Drops, Hussars, and Recon Bikers) Civilians work in the capacity of medical staff, technicians, engineers, and the general housekeeping workers to keep the ship and its crew fully functioning. Alpha Squadron makes up the last of the crew aboard the UGC-NH, and is comprised of the very best pilots in the entire galaxy.

As with the crew, the equipment and vehicles of the UGC-NH is also top of the line. While in some cases, it may not look like the best there is, it works well for the crew. With the severity of the mission given to the UGC-NH, whatever the crew wants they generally get. Alpha Squadron has a full compliment of the UGC-19C Vipers, the most versatile combat aircraft known to mankind and the first UGC aircraft with full cloaking capabilities.

Another addition to the UGC world is the Hussar, a state of the art tank. Comparable to the more commonly used sieging tanks for ground assault and breach, the Hussar has lighter armor which in turn makes it more mobile, faster, and more effective. Beyond that, the Hussar is equipped with an anti-gravity system that allows it to work in space itself. This comes into play most often during boardings of other ships, where the Hussars scanner are used to better relay movement and information to the UGC-NH bridge. The other use for this is to actually mount atop the UGC-NH during a time of attack to offer even more firepower to defend the ship.

This is not to say that the UGC-NH is not able to properly defend itself. Far from that. The hull is comprised of a new titanium alloy mixture which makes it capable of withstanding minor collisions with asteroids or smaller ships. Beyond that, it has twin fully rotating pulse quad-cannons at the front of the ship, one of top and one on the bottom, the same on the back of the ship. Also at the front of the ship, are twin torpedo bays, as well as other mounted weapons that unfold from the frame of the ship when under an Alert Status. During normal flight, those weapons are concealed within the hull of the ship.

The initial Mission of the UGC-NH is of great import to the rest of the UGC as a whole. Decades ago, artificial intelligent beings were created for the sole purpose of mining and colonizing the farther reaches of deep space, which the resources on Earth quickly running out. Colonization had already started on Mars and Venus. Things went mostly as planned, though some years ago, all contact with those AIs was lost. From that point on, UGC stepped up its efforts on production of the UGC-MCC1, or the New Houston as it is called now. The mission of the crew is to find and re-establish contact with those A-Is, as well as check on the success of the mining/colonization process. This is the prime objective.

As with most other space missions covering great distances, the secondary objective is to explore along the way. Much of the galaxy remains unexplored, leaving the New Houston soon to be charting unknown territory. Any civilizations discovered or engaged with are to be reported to UGC Headquarters based on Sigma V. As more of the galaxy is uncovered, it allows for the further expansion of UGC citizens and colonies.

At present, there are four total planets or stars colonized by the UGC. Mars and Venus were the only two planets in the known solar system to be colonized by mankind, after colonization on the moon. Beyond the planets Mars and Venus, there are other colonies based off of certain stars. The names of the colonized planets and stars are listed below:

Mars – After the moon, Mars was the first planet to be colonized by mankind. Initially thought to be impossible, scientists finally managed a way of starting the growth of vegetation to give off the much needed oxygen to survive. Though compared to other planets, Mars leaves a lot to be desired. There is one major city on Mars, Dantrich, and it holds the first UGC Starbase ever constructed. UGC-Dantrich has an Academy, Wings Academy at Hells Canyon, as well as one of two major launching platforms for UGC Aerospace.

Venus – Venus was the second planet to be colonized, from our known solar system, and is a far cry better looking than Mars. Colonization of Venus was found to be a bit easier than that on Mars. Two major cities are found on Venus (Vellnar and Estruban), as well as other smaller cities. UGC-Vellnar was the second Academy to be constructed.

Sigma – Sigma is known as the tropical paradise of the Colonies. As a result, the UGC base established there is aptly named, UGC-Paradise. It is the home of UGC Headquarters as well as a branch of the Academy and an Officer’s Academy. It’s environment makes it a popular vacation spot for all of the Colonies.

The Moon – While not widely populated, the Moon does house the largest manufacturer of machinery and military equipment. With no real resources, the terrans established a colony on the Moon that eventually covered the entire area. The fact that the Moon was barren, it made sense to use its entirety as a manufacturing colony.