Maf: A Brief History of the "Original Colonists" — Part One

Type: Historical Account (Part 1 of a series) Author: Perry Jones Published: Jul 12, 2022 Source: Medium Status: Canon (published) — the foundational Ark Royal origin story

Summary

The full account of the Ark Royal's launch from Earth: 187,000 selected passengers (70% by worldwide lottery, 30% deliberately chosen specialists) boarding 15 shuttle ships around the globe amid rising Cold-War-style tensions between Western democracies and a Russia/China-led bloc, widely feared to be heading toward a nuclear World War Three. Vee of the LMT Corporation built the project over 10+ years. As launch approached, uncontrolled crowds, riots, and a fatal stampede struck the Philadelphia shuttle site near Moscow; Vee ordered an early launch to save lives. Russia's leadership, skeptical of the project from the outset, ordered the fleet destroyed once airborne — resulting in the destruction of the Philadelphia (20,000 killed) and a near-miss strike on the Ark Royal itself, which survived undamaged and escaped Earth orbit, beginning its multi-thousand-year journey to Maf.

Entities Introduced

Ships: Ark Royal, Philadelphia (destroyed), 13 other unnamed shuttles
Characters: Vee (LMT founder/leader), Captain Patrick McHenery (Ark Royal), unnamed Russian leader
Organizations: LMT Corporation, U.S. Space Force (Earth), British interceptor forces (unnamed organization)

Worldbuilding Significance

Directly connects LMT Corporation (Earth) to the Ark Royal's construction — the corporation's founding act, distinct from Maf's later, separately-founded LMT
Introduces Vee as a major founder figure — later confirmed to have remained on Earth and to be a different person from Perold Jones/Jonas
✅ The historical, real-Earth "Great Lottery" used to select colonists is confirmed to bear no connection to the in-game Helvatica Luminary "Great Lottery" nickname, despite the shared name
Confirms passenger/shuttle math exactly matches the previously established 300,000-refugee capacity (15 shuttles × 20,000 each)
⚠️ Naming note: this article's Earth-based "World War Three" (feared, not yet fully underway at launch) is a different conflict from the already-documented World War 3 (Norihing) (1976–1987, fought entirely on Maf). Flagged as either a coincidental reuse of the name (possible deliberate cultural echo by the Original Colonists' descendants) or worth clarifying — not treated as a contradiction, since they are explicitly different conflicts on different planets, but the shared name is worth tracking.

Open Questions

Awaiting "Part Two" and beyond for the remainder of the Original Colonists' journey and eventual arrival/founding on Maf
Precise real-world date of launch not given
Confirm or rule out the historical "Great Lottery" ↔ Helvatica Luminary naming connection