Home of people from every star
It's vast beyond your eyes
Visit a million worlds you could never believe
Countless amazing sights in store
The adventures to be had will be endless
Roger Rocket and the City of the Stars is a Science Fiction series made up by Magnus Force. Inspired by the creator's interest in Raygun Gothic and Space Opera settings, it is a largely episodic adventure-comedy with continuity-driven elements following themes of friendship, adventure, and self-discovery.
The series' premise is that Earth has been offered membership into a great and benevolent federation known as the Galactic Alliance of Systems and Planets (GASP). To make a good first impression, the United Nations launches the Young Earth Ambassadors and Representatives to GASP (YEAR-GASP) project, an intergalactic exchange program that will send teenage students across the globe to GASP's capital of Cosmic City, a highly advanced and unimaginably vast City Planet populated by trillions of aliens and robots. Only the most outstanding of today's learners and tomorrow's leaders are selected for this great endeavor. And yet through some bureaucratic error, one of the lucky chosen is the just-turned-13 Roger Rocket, an audacious and overenthusiastic All American Boy whom most believed would never amount to anything due to his constant Small Town Boredom and massive obsession with outer space adventure stories.
Naturally, Roger is ecstatic about this opportunity, seeing it as his chance to finally break free of his small-town shackles. While not even his fellow YEAR-GASP students take him seriously, Roger is determined to make a name for himself, preferably in the same way all his favorite intergalactic heroes did, which is to say through adventure. Luckily for Roger, seizing adventure comes easily to him, and furthermore, his guardians on Cosmic City are a pair of former space adventurers, the interspecies couple Gaitha and Zemir. Not only that, but Roger has found adventure-hungry kinship in the form of two best friends, a curious but cautious robot named Calculus and a fiercely principled alien named Voona. With his newfound friends, Roger finds all sorts of adventures across Cosmic City and the Known Universe, discovering not just its many wonders and dangers, but also the true way in which one is able to make a name for themselves
For the other Unpublished Works made up by Magnus Force, see Incredi-Girl and Meet the Nocturnes.
Roger Rocket
Roger is the main character, a 13-year-old mixed-race All American Boy who also happens to be YEAR-GASP's youngest participant. Hailing from the flyover Midwest town of Armstrong, Roger sought escape from his constant Small Town Boredom in his love for stories of galactic heroes. However, the trouble he often got into as a result meant almost nobody believed he had a future. Thus, Roger sees Cosmic City not only as a dream come true, but as his big chance to make a name for himself. Eager and fearless, Roger's thirst for adventure is endless, and almost nothing can shake his confidence or his optimism. But even though his audacity and enthusiasm get him into as much trouble in space as it did on Earth, Roger is far more than a Carpe Diem-biding Glory Seeker. Indeed, Roger’s desire to prove himself to the world means he is always willing to make new friends, do the right thing, and try anything that he's never tried before.
C3-X5 Calculus
Calculus (or "Cal") is one of Roger's two best friends, a short grey Tin-Can Robot resembling a rectangular trash can on four small wheels. Having never been off Cosmic City his whole life, Calculus possesses an insatiable curiosity and dreams of exploring the cosmos so he can learn everything he can about the universe's wonders. But due to his sheltered upbringing, Calculus is extremely cautious and never takes chances, always afraid of the possible risks in any situation. As a result, Calculus has become Crazy-Prepared, a Do-Anything Robot equipped with countless gadgets to help him out in a pinch or ensure the latest object of his endless fascination with the world around him can be analyzed safely. He also has a vast internal databank that stores all information he acquires. Calculus' worrywart nature also makes him very uncomfortable with social situations. To avoid making social blunders, he is always extremely formal and polite.
Voona Thinth
Voona is Roger's other best friend, a purple, human-like alien with smooth, hairless skin, Pointy Ears, and tentacles on her head. Native to the greenhouse world of Cholak, Voona is driven by her strong sense of justice and seeks to fight against the universe's evils, particularly bigotry, corruption, bullying, and abuse. Upfront in her beliefs, Voona is unafraid of getting physical when mad, possessing a Hair-Trigger Temper that gives her extremely little patience with wrongdoers. Her fierce dedication to her principles also gives her a talent for Brutal Honesty, and she is unafraid of calling out even her friends if they're in the wrong. But despite her harsh, blunt attitude, Voona is always true to her word and cares very deeply for her friends, having no tolerance for betrayal and lying. She is also very fond of animals and holds a deep respect for anybody who shares her sense of integrity, values, desire to do good deeds, and love of nature.
Droggs
Droggs is Voona's pet Treescuttler, a green, cat-sized creature from Cholak resembling a six-legged lizard with a parrot-like beak, compound eyes, and a row of feathers on his back. Gifted to Voona by her parents when she was very little, Droggs is unfailingly loyal to his owner and loves to play with her. Voona in turn adores Droggs and showers him with a level of affection she rarely shows others, even despite the fact most find Droggs to be incredibly repulsive.
Gaitha Miyoonith
Gaitha is one of Roger's two foster caretakers, a pink alien resembling a bipedal anteater with small horns on her forehead and long hair at the back of her head, like a Klingon. Originally from the desert planet of Elan'nhimm, Gaitha is a former galactic adventurer who captained the ship Nebula Queen (or "Nebbie") and commanded a crew of space heroes called The Queen's Hand. Nowadays though, she lives the quiet life of an archives clerk for Cosmic City's vast Galactic Museum. Classy, elegant, and sophisticated, Gaitha maintains a proper and respectful but good-humored attitude at all times. She also enjoys the finer things in life, being deeply enamored with and very knowledgeable on art, culture, and history. However, she still retains from her adventuring days her authoritative leadership, martial arts skills, and incredible aim with a ray gun. She is Happily Married to Zemir, although the two have no children of their own.
Zemir Esilion
Zemir is Roger's other foster caretaker and Gaitha's husband, an immensely fat, brown-skinned humanoid alien with four arms and four eyes. Also originally from the desert planet of Elan'nhimm, Zemir was a member of The Queen's Hand under Gaitha and Nebbie's engineer. These days however, he works as a mechanic on Cosmic City. Mellow and easygoing, Zemir always keeps his cool, never letting the heat of a bad situation get to him. His relaxed nature also makes him a notorious slob, and his repair shop is a clutter-filled nightmare (he insists he works better with messes). Fortunately, Zemir's slovenly nature is easy to overlook on account of his supreme Mr. Fixit skills and his extensive knowledge of science, technology, and engineering. He and Gaitha have been High-School Sweethearts since their days on Elan'nhimm and were a Battle Couple during their adventuring days; they are still very Happily Married today.
The Queen's Hand
Pranter Wartuya
Pranter is a former member of The Queen's Hand, a blue-skinned alien with red compound eyes, small insectoid antennae, and a trunk. Originally from the rainy, sodden world of Taruba, Pranter was the lovable scoundrel of the group, a reformed criminal whose numerous shady ties with the criminal underworld belied his sense of honor, loyalty, and charisma. These days, he runs a Greasy Spoon for galactic travelers called Spaceman's Stop. He was very fit and athletic during his adventuring days, but has grown a pot-belly since then — although he still thinks of himself as a stud and is always a gentleman with the ladies.
Harthogarus Tholl
Tholl is another old member of The Queen's Hand, a hulking, white-furred alien resembling a dinosaur with huge tusks and four eyes. Hailing from the icy high-gravity planet of Dulgar, Tholl was the strongest of The Queen's Hand, a stoic warrior from a tribe of mighty hunters exiled long ago for a dishonor he refuses to speak of (although he rarely talks much anyways). Today however, he works as a personal trainer. His true passion though lies in the great outdoors, and he is happiest in the wilderness of an uninhabited world, pitting himself against the deadliest beasts and most extreme natural phenomenon of the Known Universe.
Kerbal Qualor
Kerbal is also an ex-member of The Queen's Hand, an amphibious, orange alien with a squid-like beak, tentacles, large Ear Fins, and one eye on an anglerfish-like lure. Native to the depths of the ocean planet Daquarri 8, Kerbal was the team's oddball, a neurotic and panicky Cloud Cuckoolander with numerous weird natural abilities that once helped him survive the dangers of his deep-sea home. His true most valued quality however was his incredible selflessness. He never thought twice about risking his life for his crewmates or sacrificing his needs and desires for others' happiness. He currently runs a pawn shop.
Styleen Felfew
Styleen is the final member of The Queen's Hand, a small, yellow-skinned alien resembling an ant with No Mouth, big black eyes, and large antennae. Hailing from the sunny, semi-arid world of Thurisia, Styleen, like all Thurisian life, possesses Psychic Powers, being entirely telepathic and able to read the thoughts and emotions of other beings. Lacking a gender in the human sense, they are gentle and compassionate, believing that all beings deserve happiness and peace. However, they have No Sense of Personal Space and often state others' secrets out loud. They now volunteer at a shelter for the less fortunate.
Villains
Glorgo the Globulous
Glorgo was the Archenemy of The Queen's Hand, a spherical, green Living Gasbag with twelve eyes and twelve tentacles encircling his gelatinous body. Originating from the gas giant of Jorvon 6, Glorgo was the Known Universe's most wanted criminal mastermind, foiled time and time again by The Queen's Hand. He was presumed dead for years after his criminal empire fell, but he has suddenly reemerged, intent on exacting revenge and rebuilding his power. Tranquil Fury personified, Glorgo is calm and patient, but just underneath lies an unimaginable sense of sadism and a near-complete lack of moral restraint.
Karak Trokto
Karak is Glorgo's faithful aide, a short, reptilian alien resembling a green gecko with frog-like eyes, a chameleon-like tail, and a crocodilian snout. Native to the jungle-and-volcano-covered Death World of Codranis, Karak escaped The Queen's Hand when Glorgo was believed to have died. He was also the one who discovered Glorgo alive and well after years of searching. Karak shares Glorgo's cruelty and ruthlessness, but not his subtlety, being violent and foul-tempered with everyone. Although not even Glorgo's thugs like him, Glorgo himself is very fond of Karak, and the two share a deep friendship that goes back many years.
Relatives
The Rocket Family
Roger's family consists of his parents Reggie and Rita Rocket, his 19-year-old brother Russell Rocket, and his 16-year-old sister Rachel Rocket. Reggie and Rita are an interracial couple and the owners of a small diner that serves classically American cuisine. They are proud patriots who live by the ideals America dreams of aspiring to and are the only people who have ever had faith in their son's potential. Russell and Rachel are more aloof in comparison, viewing their eager and daring baby brother as a simple twerp. But whereas Rachel is a Go-Getter Girl, Russell is a lazy college dropout who still lives with his parents.
Modem and Trigonometric
Modem and Trigonometric (or "Trig") are Calculus' "parents" and neighbors to Gaitha and Zemir (they live on the same apartment floor). Modem is tall, thin, and silver, with one eye, a single wheeled leg, and pincer-like hands, while Trigonometric is small, round, and pink, with camera-like head and eight arms around her hovering, orb-like body. The two of them work as inventors, developing gadgets and technologies for business to sell on the market. They are emotionally distant and highly routine, giving little time to their "son" and focusing solely on their work. They are basically why Calculus is so fearful yet so inquisitive.
Tardell and Eldith Thinth
Tardell and Eldith Thinth are Voona's parents, with Eldith closely resembling her daughter and Tardell being entirely bald (as is standard for males of Voona's species). They are zoologists and conservationists who also happen to be old friends of Gaitha and Zemir (who long ago helped them end a massive poaching operation being run on Cholak by Glorgo). They have sent Voona to live with Gaitha and Zemir on Cosmic City while they work to protect wildlife. As the ones who gifted Voona with Droggs long ago, Tardell and Eldith are also responsible for instilling in Voona her dedication to righteousness and soft spot for animals.
Others (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)
Cosmic City
- Cosmic City is the so-called Capital of the Universe, the political hub of the Galactic Alliance of Systems and Planets. It is where the member worlds of GASP send their ambassadors to discuss intergalactic politics, with hundreds of representatives gathering at the GASP Parliament, Cosmic City's largest building.
- Cosmic City is both a planet and a city. It is the sole world of the otherwise desolate Zed system, its surface entirely covered by a sprawling, highly advanced metropolis populated by aliens and robots of all shapes and sizes from across the Known Universe. Cosmic City's population is estimated to be over 12 trillion!
- Cosmic City is believed to be the most populous planet in the Known Universe. The majority of its population however is not native-born; most of Cosmic City's aliens hail from elsewhere in the Known Universe. On the other hand, the majority of Cosmic City's smaller robot populace is GASP-manufactured.
- Due to its important location, Cosmic City experiences enormous amounts of interstellar traffic. It is estimated that over a million spaceships come and go from the planet every single day. Not surprisingly, Cosmic City hosts numerous spaceports of every size that take travelers all across the Known Universe.
- However, Cosmic City was not always the bustling world it is today. When it was originally discovered, it was an empty, isolated world similar to Earth's moon in the heart of GASP Space. It was actually because of its desolate nature that GASP chose it as their capital world, deeming its location secure and neutral.
- Cosmic City was transformed into the vibrant metropolis it is today through a highly advanced terraforming project. Its atmosphere and climate are artificially engineered and were designed to be compatible with most species. As a result, the sky is indigo-violet, and the stars are visible even through the city lights.
- Cosmic City is similar to Earth in size, but its rotation and orbit are reverse of Earth's. As a result, the standardized GASP measurements of time (based on Cosmic City's lengths of time) are similar to those of Earth, give or take a day/hour/minute. Very much unlike Earth however, Cosmic City has eight moons!
- The eight moons of Cosmic City (all the same size as Earth's Moon) are not named, but they host a variety of locales that cannot fit into Cosmic City. Moon 1 is a landfill, Moon 2 is a military base, Moon 3 is an amusement park, Moon 4 is a penitentiary, Moon 5 is a cemetery, and Moons 6, 7, and 8 are agricultural.
- Cosmic City is dominated by urban jungle. Billions of flying vehicles called speeders and an extensive public transportation network zoom over the heads of pedestrians and between skyscrapers. Parks break up the landscape here and there, with the largest being the Cosmic City Zoological Park and Aquarium.
- Cosmic City also has extensive systems for managing waste, water, and electricity. Underneath the bustling streets are entire treatment and power plants. They in turn are controlled by Cosmic City's government, a vast and complex bureaucracy of city administrators known as the Cosmic City Civil Service.
GASP and the Known Universe
- GASP is the most powerful political entity in the Known Universe, a democratic interstellar federation that guides itself on the values of peace, progress, equity, and justice. It seeks to explore the universe, preserve its treasures, encourage cooperation between all societies, and let all beings live as they wish.
- GASP has hundreds of thousands of members, and every year, it extends invitations to all the new planets it discovers. However, none are mandated to join or stay in GASP. Due to its Alien Non-Interference Clause, GASP normally only makes these offers to worlds that already have advanced spacefaring societies.
- The head of GASP is known as the President. The President is elected by the populations of GASP's member worlds for a single 10-year term and can be from any GASP member world. The President is based in Cosmic City and oversees Parliament meetings, making decisions based on GASP's strict charter.
- GASP boasts the largest starship fleet in the Known Universe, the Grand Galactic Fleet (GGF). The GGF primarily focuses on exploration, but also performs rescue missions and hunts galactic criminals. It has also been called upon for self-defense in the rare event GASP is attacked by a hostile galactic power.
- In its dedication to cooperation and progress, GASP encourages the exchange of technology and ideas between member worlds. One GASP technology that arose this way is Hyperwarp Travel, the amalgamation of many worlds' Faster-Than-Light Travel technology (though it has spread to non-GASP worlds too).
- GASP's technological exchanges has also given it the most advanced robotics in the Known Universe. GASP-manufactured robots are sapient beings built by the MegaCorp GASP Robotics, which under GASP law, is run entirely by robots and forbidden from building robots as anything except as citizens of GASP.
- GASP is ancient beyond measure, potentially as old as the human species by some estimates. As a result, its origins have been lost to history. A few surviving records however suggest that GASP was founded by a wise and benevolent race of Sufficiently Advanced Aliens that have now vanished from the cosmos.
- GASP has weathered through many crises in its long history, with the most important being The Great Robot Debate and The Great Galactic War. The former was a legal controversy on the status of GASP's first sapient robots, while the latter was a massive conflict with a brutal and immortal Galactic Conqueror.
- The most recent crisis was actually the discovery of Earth on the other side of a vast, empty stretch of space. In the so-called Earth Scandal, it turned out several major GASP members already knew of Earth and had interfered with it on an unprecedented scale, forcing GASP to extend an offer to the planet.
- The greater setting GASP exists within is called the Known Universe, which is the name GASP uses to refer to all areas of the cosmos it has explored. Only about 30% of the Known Universe is under GASP, and by the estimates of GASP scientists, the Known Universe comprises only 5% of the entire cosmos.
Tropes of the series:
- Alien Non-Interference Clause: GASP has this rule for planets that are too "primitive" to join the organization or have no interest in joining it. However, this doesn't forbid these worlds from interacting with each other, resulting in many aliens from planets without space travel ending up in GASP worlds in some other way.
- Aliens Speaking English: The official language of GASP is Galactic Standard, a universal language designed to be easy for most species to learn and speak (to the point where it got picked up by the rest of the Known Universe). By sheer coincidence, it is exactly the same as English.
- Androids Are People, Too: GASP-manufactured robots are all sapient and considered a species under GASP law, being primarily found on Cosmic City. There are non-sentient robots in the setting too however, although GASP-manufactured robots find them creepy in the same way a human might find a non-sapient human-like creature uncanny.
- Bizarre Alien Biology: Appears often, occasionally with comedic intent.
- Bounty Hunter: Wouldn't be a sci-fi adventure series without some of these guys. GASP law forbids bounty hunting, but that doesn't stop some from taking it up anyway, usually in the service of galactic crime syndicates.
- City of Adventure: Cosmic City. When you're dealing with a planet-sprawling metropolis populated by trillions of aliens and robots from across the Known Universe, it's bound to be this.
- City Planet: Cosmic City itself. A lot of the problems that come with such a planet are explained by the fact that it is in fact artificially terraformed.
- Cool Starship: The setting is full of these, ranging from tiny one-man saucers to enormous city-ships.
- The Empire: A major part of the setting's backstory is GASP's decades-long war against one, which essentially served as the evil opposite of GASP. GASP was ultimately victorious, but the sheer horribleness of the conflict makes it also one of the darkest chapters of GASP history (including the only time in GASP history Cosmic City itself was directly attacked).
- Faster-Than-Light Travel: The setting's version is called Hyperwarp Travel, which takes the spaceship though a temporary personalized wormhole that acts as a shortcut. For instance, Hyperwarp Travel would allow one to go from Earth to Pluto in half an hour, or from one end of the Milky Way to another in less than a month.
- The Federation: GASP, being inspired heavily by Star Trek's Federation. It has existed for over 300 thousand years and is still going strong.
- Humanoid Aliens: Much like in Star Wars, most (but not all) of the aliens have this appearance. In fact, all of the main alien characters have a humanoid body shape.
- Insignificant Little Blue Planet: Earth was this for GASP until it was admitted into the organization, being seen as a primitive world in an isolated region of the universe. However, it has become the subject of much discussion after it became the first world below GASP's technology level requirements to be invited into the organization as a result of GASP learning several of its member worlds already had secret knowledge of it and had secretly violated GASP law by interfering with it through abductions, infiltrations, and various other activities (that became the basis of many alien encounters on Earth).
- Interspecies Romance: A little bit here and there. However, interspecies couples are physically incapable of having children naturally.
- Loads and Loads of Races: There are individuals of countless alien species inhabiting Cosmic City, so naturally, this is present.
- MegaCorp: As per many sci-fi works, a few exist in the Known Universe. The most significant one is GASP Robotics, which manufactures Cosmic City's robot populace.
- Planet of Hats: As a sci-fi series with an expansive setting, this trope pops up often, sometimes for comedic purposes.
- Raygun Gothic: The series has elements of this.
- Robo Family: Robot families are a thing in the setting, since many are fully sapient beings here. When two robots marry each other, they can order a child to be constructed for them by GASP Robotics.
- Robot Names: The robots in this setting all have a series of letters and/or numbers as their "personal name", as well as a name they use in public. Their public name is usually a word related to math, machinery, electronics, or something appropriate to their character.
- Rubber-Forehead Aliens: A number of aliens have this appearance, although they're not as common as the less human ones.
- Sci-Fi Kitchen Sink: Due to the sheer vastness of the Known Universe and the countless opportunities for adventures it has to offer, there are elements of this under the general Space Opera and Raygun Gothic style of the series.
- Single-Biome Planet: A lot of such places are visited in the series, with Cosmic City itself also being example (albeit justified by advanced terraforming).
- Space Opera: The series has elements of this as part of its Star Wars-inspired sci-fi setting.
- Space Pirate: They exist in the setting and are treated a lot like sea pirates.
- Starfish Aliens: There are plenty of aliens on Cosmic City with these kinds of appearances.
- Technology Uplift: GASP does this with any new planet that enters the organization by sharing the science and technology it has developed and acquired prior with the new planet in exchange for sharing their science and technology with the rest of GASP.
- Tin-Can Robot: Many (but not all) of the setting's robots have this appearance.
- Transplanted Humans: A minority exist scattered across the Known Universe, the descendants of alien abductees.
In the Capital of the Universe
Extraterrestrials of every shape
Distant planets are in my reach
But that's just what my life's here like in the City of the Stars
