 | In Response To: Jason Jones Interview Tidbits + Burning Questions (Ernie)
: The nar had coal powered starships? Yet another fact of info about the
: mysterious race cryptically in Marathon.... ;-)
Actually, this is on the Story Page already, as part of one of Rob McLees' educational lectures:
There is only one group of Nar that have come to the realization that they are, in fact, immortal (or at least extremely long lived). These are the scientific crews on the ships 'devourer of worlds on a leash' and 'immense lusterless comet hiding in shadows' (manufactured from the sum total of the natural resouces of the planet 'lifeless air-soaked rock' and its moon, respectively). These ships and their crews embarked on the 'Grand Endeavor' just over 2 billion years ago from the system neighboring the Nar system. The 'Grand Endeavor' was an undertaking of the greatest importance to the Nar -- to measure the diameter of the universe to the nearest whole inch. This was to be achieved by tethering the smaller of the two craft to the larger with a sturdy chain and once they reached one edge of the universe, the smaller craft would then travel to the other side. The larger of the two craft would house several mining craft and a massive manufacturing plant dedicated to the creation of the chain.
(a note about Nar spacecraft: describing a Nar spacecraft as mind-numbingly huge would be a monumental understatement. Their smallest craft, a two-man scout, is roughly four times the size of the Hindenburg, while their largest craft, the world ships, are exactly what it sounds like; spacecraft the size of planets constructed out of the sum total of a planet's natural resources. They are powered by hyper-efficient coal burning engines that are capable of propeling the massive crafts at nearly one-tenth the speed of light. About half of a Nar ship's hull is given over to a giant coal-hopper situated on top of a small warp generator that transports the fuel directly into the coal-burning engine, as the warp generator can only transport things within the confines of the ship's gravity well.)
--SiliconDream
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