Thousand Mile Valley - Highlight Panel Humanity’s spread across the galaxy would not have been possible without the discovery of ancient, space-borne machines of great power and unknown origin. These devices came to be known as Forerunner Artifacts. Harnessing the technology of the Forerunner Artifacts, humanity built immense terraforming devices, trans-galactic gates, and arkships with one objective: colonization of the galaxy. The arkships, or Teardrops, were an essential component of humanity’s conquest of the galaxy. Housing millions of people, each massive rotating ring brought humanity to a newly-terraformed world, ready-made to host human civilization. Each Teardrop also carried one augmented human manager/engineer/pilot. These individuals were named Caretakers. Tasked with shepherding humanity between worlds, Caretakers ensured that each Teardrop reached its destination intact and fully functional. Then, after each Teardrop’s precious cargo was safely deposited on its destination planet, the arkship would be parked in permanent geosynchronous orbit and its Caretaker would continue to maintain the ring, watching over the budding civilization on the world below. A solitary and lonely existence, the life of a nearly-immortal Caretaker was one of singular purpose: serve humanity. So it was with Caretaker 172. Having fulfilled her mission centuries ago, Caretaker 172 dutifully maintains her Teardrop, spending each planet revolution, or roll, maintaining her arkship’s operating systems. Every roll brings new fixes to make, problems to solve, and numerous opportunities to gaze at the world below. Forbidden to leave her Teardrop, Caretaker 172 can only dream of the human civilization that is thriving on the planet beneath her. But, with the arrival of an unexpected visitor, Caretaker 172’s quiet, peaceful, and orderly existence will be thrown into complete chaos. Get ready! Here comes Thousand Mile Valley! #Steampunk #ScienceFiction 
#TheAirshipAndalusia #ThousandMileValley
 #Caretaker172 #Teardrop Story and art by Aaron Hanson (c) 2022