Post by Catsmate on Aug 18, 2014 13:56:57 GMT
Musings on Mondas.
I've been thinking a bit about Mondas and, the origin of the Cybermen and related matters. The level of woolly-science in this bit of Who history has always irritated me so I wondered if it could be made somewhat more realistic.
What do we know about Mondas (in canon). Well not that much really.
1. It was a twin planet to Earth, same continents even. It developed human-like life of reasonable technological capability.
2. It left orbit around Sol and travelled extensive through space.
3. The inhabitants (at least some of them) survived the initial catastrophe and created a society capable of surviving.
4. The inhabitants started cybernetically augmenting themselves and eventually decided (either as a whole or by having it imposed by a ruling group) to modify even their brains.
5. While wandering the universe the Cybermen colonised other worlds (possibly including one in the outer solar system, Planet 14). Oddly these groups seemed to develop technologically far faster than Mondas.
6. Eventually Mondas returned to "drain Earth's energy" but disintegrated.
So how can these problems be fixed so as to extract the irritating splinter of Kit Pedler's dodgy science?
Well if Mondas is unnatural, make it so. Let it be a deliberate copy of Earth created by a powerful alien race for some unknowable reason. I'm going to go with the Osirans, powerful, mysterious and dead.
In Craig Hinton's EU novel GodEngine (wiki, RefGuide) he introduced a powerful piece of Osiran technology, the eponymous GodEngine, that was capable of moving a planet (and was the reason for the Dalek invasion of Earth).
If one drops the need for an absence of a planetary magnetic field and relocated the GodEngine to Mondas there's a justification for equipping a relatively primitive lot like the Cybermen with a Smith-esque dirigible planet.
So, thousands of years ago a group of humans on Mondas discover this device. Being humans they start to meddle with it, and send their planet heading off into space. I'm going to assume a slower-than-light speed, both to allow for the necessary time-scale and help account for the slow progress of technology on Mondas.
The initial effects of departing it's orbit will be catastrophic for Mondas. Depending on how smooth the process is there may be massive seismic disturbances, with corresponding loss of life.
As Mondas leaves Sol behind there'll be the problem of heat and light, or rather the lack of these. The average surface temperature would reach freezing point within a few
days, photosynthesis would halt and most plant life would die off rapidly and with it most animal life.
Within a week, the average global surface temperature
would drop to around -20°C; in a year, it would dip to –80°. The top layers
of the oceans would freeze over but that ice
would insulate the deep water below and prevent the oceans from freezing
solid for thousands of years.
As for the inhabitants, well any seismic effects may have killed off millions pretty quickly and the loss of food production and psychological impact of events will probably cause panic on a global scale. Depending on quickly governments, the military or other groups acted and realised the implications of events long term survivors might number as much a 0.5% of the populace.
To survive energy sources will be needed. Fossil fuels will be problematic so nuclear (fission or fusion), geothermal or perhaps some salvaged Osiran device. Also needed will be shelters insulated to retain heat and food sources such as hydroponics under artificial light.
Skip forward a few decades and there'll be groups huddled in (probably underground) shelters, self-sufficient by necessity with limited resources. Probably from hundred's of thousands to tens of millions depending on how bad things got. They've probably lost most of their advanced technology, except that necessary for survival, though gaps in the skills of survivors, lost manufacturing capacity and lack of access to necessary resources.
Perhaps this is when they started cybernetic augmentation? To preserve the skills they had and would need again. They have already have had a reasonable grasp of cybernetics.
As Mondas journeyed it seems to have colonised other planets (e.g. Telos), presumably by short ranged spacecraft on more or less one-way missions. There doesn't seem to have been much further contact between the factions of the Cyber-race so technology, society and goals developed independently.
Now we come to the events of The Tenth Planet. In 1986 (or 2000 if your prefer the novelisation dating) Mondas returns to the Sol system and begins to drain the energy of the Earth. The Cybermen attempt to invade Earth (did they know their planet was doomed?) but experience human resistance.
However the energy drain is too great and Mondas is destroyed, and along with it the Cybermen (who seem to have relied on broadcast energy). Assuming the energy drain was an effect of the GodEngine (recharging itself from another GodEngine buried under the Earth perhaps?) presumably the Cybermen couldn't control it and the device imploded, eliminating Mondas without leaving sextillions of tonnes of rubble to rain down on humanity.
This explains to a degree the different equipment, appearance, methods and technology of the different groups of Cybermen; they developed with a significant degree of isolation.
Scenario seeds and ideas.
1. Presumably there are "lost" Mondasian colonies from their journey. Perhaps humans opposed to the programme of cybernetics left also.
2. Telosian
and other factions developed at least limited FTL travel. Perhaps the events of The Invasion weren't the only effort to conquer Earth, with another group using different tactics.
3. Planet 14 is implied to be in the Sol system (though this is not clarified). For an ongoing UNIT-centric campaign it could be a trans-Neptunian planet colonised from Mondas or Telos (perhaps as an advance base for The Invasion) that's close enough for the Cybermen to periodically try and raid Earth, but too-far for human retaliation.
4. Planet 14 might be too far for human spacecraft in the UNIT era but a Plucky Group of Heroes might be able to capture a more advanced spaceship (from the Cybermen or others) and lead a retaliatory mission. If UNIT established friendly relations with aliens they might be in a position to request aid for a mission to Planet 14.
If you prefer a more gritty feel it's a human built, nuclear powered rocket (with inadequate shielding to save mass) on a one-way trip to nuke the Cybermen, with the crew in experimental and unreliable stasis capsules (to save on supplies). Survival is optional.
5. Genesis of the Cybermen. By accident or design the party land on Mondas in the days leading up to it's departure. Dare they interfere? If they try will the Time Lords (or Reapers) intervene? Do they know enough to successfully meddle? And why did they arrive then and there, did someone direct their landing?
Comments? Queries? Am I becoming too obsessive about the minutiae of Who canon?
"Then we drifted away from you to the very edge of space. Now we have returned."
I've been thinking a bit about Mondas and, the origin of the Cybermen and related matters. The level of woolly-science in this bit of Who history has always irritated me so I wondered if it could be made somewhat more realistic.
- Is it coincidence that Monday and Mondas differ in only one letter? Hmm...
What do we know about Mondas (in canon). Well not that much really.
1. It was a twin planet to Earth, same continents even. It developed human-like life of reasonable technological capability.
- This is profoundly unnatural, planets don't have identical twins without deliberate intervention.
2. It left orbit around Sol and travelled extensive through space.
- Again this is basically impossible without deliberate action; firstly planets don't wander off from their primary (the orbital kinetic energy of the Earth is ~2.65E33 Joules); secondly at any reasonably probable speed interstellar travel would take millennia; thirdly there's the problem of the planet surviving this.
3. The inhabitants (at least some of them) survived the initial catastrophe and created a society capable of surviving.
- This is borderline plausible; if the Earth started wandering it'd be possible for groups to survive. Depending on technology and initial society Mondas might have a better chance, e.g. one prepared for global nuclear war would have a better starting point
4. The inhabitants started cybernetically augmenting themselves and eventually decided (either as a whole or by having it imposed by a ruling group) to modify even their brains.
- Borderline plausible, limited resources would suggest limited reproduction and a need to keep skilled people alive
5. While wandering the universe the Cybermen colonised other worlds (possibly including one in the outer solar system, Planet 14). Oddly these groups seemed to develop technologically far faster than Mondas.
6. Eventually Mondas returned to "drain Earth's energy" but disintegrated.
- I don't want to start another 'Endor holocaust' but this would lead to the obliteration of the Earth from meteorite impacts, given the proximity of Mondas and the attraction of the Earth's gravity for the residue.
- There's also the likely catastrophic effects of a terrestrial planet anywhere nearby; alterations in the orbit of the Earth and moon et cetera.
So how can these problems be fixed so as to extract the irritating splinter of Kit Pedler's dodgy science?
Well if Mondas is unnatural, make it so. Let it be a deliberate copy of Earth created by a powerful alien race for some unknowable reason. I'm going to go with the Osirans, powerful, mysterious and dead.
- Alternatively it could be a stray from another universe or the far future.
In Craig Hinton's EU novel GodEngine (wiki, RefGuide) he introduced a powerful piece of Osiran technology, the eponymous GodEngine, that was capable of moving a planet (and was the reason for the Dalek invasion of Earth).
If one drops the need for an absence of a planetary magnetic field and relocated the GodEngine to Mondas there's a justification for equipping a relatively primitive lot like the Cybermen with a Smith-esque dirigible planet.
- And you can have one on Earth also, with all the associated fun possibilities.
So, thousands of years ago a group of humans on Mondas discover this device. Being humans they start to meddle with it, and send their planet heading off into space. I'm going to assume a slower-than-light speed, both to allow for the necessary time-scale and help account for the slow progress of technology on Mondas.
- The departure would have to have taken place at least 3,500 years ago to avoid early human astronomers noticing the plant.
- Time dilation helps; at 99 psol time will flow at about one-seventh the rate compared to the 'outside' universe.
- Given that Earth in 1986 failed to notice the approach of Mondas (which would be warmer than the background) it's reasonable to give it a relatively high speed.
The initial effects of departing it's orbit will be catastrophic for Mondas. Depending on how smooth the process is there may be massive seismic disturbances, with corresponding loss of life.
- And there are vast amounts of energy and momentum involved; if even one billionth of the KE 'leaks' though to Mondas that'd be equivalent to around 630 million megatonnes.
As Mondas leaves Sol behind there'll be the problem of heat and light, or rather the lack of these. The average surface temperature would reach freezing point within a few
days, photosynthesis would halt and most plant life would die off rapidly and with it most animal life.
- Large trees, however, could
survive for decades, thanks to their slow metabolism and substantial carbohydrate stores - Without the base of the food chain most
animals would die off quickly, though scavengers picking over the dead
remains could last until the cold killed them.
Within a week, the average global surface temperature
would drop to around -20°C; in a year, it would dip to –80°. The top layers
of the oceans would freeze over but that ice
would insulate the deep water below and prevent the oceans from freezing
solid for thousands of years.
- All of this assumes the GodEngine doesn't alter the flow of heat of course.
As for the inhabitants, well any seismic effects may have killed off millions pretty quickly and the loss of food production and psychological impact of events will probably cause panic on a global scale. Depending on quickly governments, the military or other groups acted and realised the implications of events long term survivors might number as much a 0.5% of the populace.
- If you're interested in a Genesis of the Cybermen type scenario you'll need to decide a few things.
- Who activated the GodEngine? A government or military group, archaeologists, random passers-by?
- How much do those in power know about events? When do they realise that the end of civilisation is at hand? What do they do?
To survive energy sources will be needed. Fossil fuels will be problematic so nuclear (fission or fusion), geothermal or perhaps some salvaged Osiran device. Also needed will be shelters insulated to retain heat and food sources such as hydroponics under artificial light.
- A good civil defense programme would be adaptable to an extent but generally isn't intended for centuries long survival.
Skip forward a few decades and there'll be groups huddled in (probably underground) shelters, self-sufficient by necessity with limited resources. Probably from hundred's of thousands to tens of millions depending on how bad things got. They've probably lost most of their advanced technology, except that necessary for survival, though gaps in the skills of survivors, lost manufacturing capacity and lack of access to necessary resources.
- For example the manufacturing of many drugs requires large-scale specialised facilities that are difficult to move rapidly. Electronics relies on rare elements and a complex network of extraction, refining and fabrication plants.
Perhaps this is when they started cybernetic augmentation? To preserve the skills they had and would need again. They have already have had a reasonable grasp of cybernetics.
- Perhaps they had a cultural or religious inclination against organ transplantation ("Stick a dead heart into me? Yuck".) and developed cybernetics instead.
- Presumably reproduction continued, though probably slowly. The Cybermen don't seem to have embraced human cloning as a source of organic donors.
As Mondas journeyed it seems to have colonised other planets (e.g. Telos), presumably by short ranged spacecraft on more or less one-way missions. There doesn't seem to have been much further contact between the factions of the Cyber-race so technology, society and goals developed independently.
- Probably several of these colonisation attempts failed, were destroyed, or changed into something different, possible settings for adventures.
- How much did they know about Earth? Was their return voluntary or did the GodEngine take them back for some reason?
Now we come to the events of The Tenth Planet. In 1986 (or 2000 if your prefer the novelisation dating) Mondas returns to the Sol system and begins to drain the energy of the Earth. The Cybermen attempt to invade Earth (did they know their planet was doomed?) but experience human resistance.
However the energy drain is too great and Mondas is destroyed, and along with it the Cybermen (who seem to have relied on broadcast energy). Assuming the energy drain was an effect of the GodEngine (recharging itself from another GodEngine buried under the Earth perhaps?) presumably the Cybermen couldn't control it and the device imploded, eliminating Mondas without leaving sextillions of tonnes of rubble to rain down on humanity.
- As for the planet-busting Z-bomb I'd make it a primitive matter conversion warhead, reverse engineered from alien technology.
This explains to a degree the different equipment, appearance, methods and technology of the different groups of Cybermen; they developed with a significant degree of isolation.
Scenario seeds and ideas.
1. Presumably there are "lost" Mondasian colonies from their journey. Perhaps humans opposed to the programme of cybernetics left also.
2. Telosian
and other factions developed at least limited FTL travel. Perhaps the events of The Invasion weren't the only effort to conquer Earth, with another group using different tactics.
3. Planet 14 is implied to be in the Sol system (though this is not clarified). For an ongoing UNIT-centric campaign it could be a trans-Neptunian planet colonised from Mondas or Telos (perhaps as an advance base for The Invasion) that's close enough for the Cybermen to periodically try and raid Earth, but too-far for human retaliation.
4. Planet 14 might be too far for human spacecraft in the UNIT era but a Plucky Group of Heroes might be able to capture a more advanced spaceship (from the Cybermen or others) and lead a retaliatory mission. If UNIT established friendly relations with aliens they might be in a position to request aid for a mission to Planet 14.
If you prefer a more gritty feel it's a human built, nuclear powered rocket (with inadequate shielding to save mass) on a one-way trip to nuke the Cybermen, with the crew in experimental and unreliable stasis capsules (to save on supplies). Survival is optional.
5. Genesis of the Cybermen. By accident or design the party land on Mondas in the days leading up to it's departure. Dare they interfere? If they try will the Time Lords (or Reapers) intervene? Do they know enough to successfully meddle? And why did they arrive then and there, did someone direct their landing?
Comments? Queries? Am I becoming too obsessive about the minutiae of Who canon?