Tribes roleplay
I'm not really the kind of guy who does roleplay on paper with dice rolls, i tried and got bored..
But all the following informations matters to me because it was what started my interest in power armors.
And since http://www.tribesroleplayers.org has been dead for a while (since 2005) and some sections are already missing, i'm affraid it's going to disapear for good (and i couldn't find any other website with thoses informations) so i'm gonna make a little backup here. That would probably deserve a wiki, but i dont feel like making one right now..
They probably wont mind, they dont even care about that website anymore :/ Too bad because i find that universe interesting.
Here goes..
The Fire
The Devastation
and the rise of Jake Hunter
2015 - 2025
Even as it happened, people disagreed as to what was happening. Some said
it was the Second Coming. Others believed the flames of the Final War had been
sparked at last. Still others claimed it was an alien invasion, or a nuclear
experiment gone horribly wrong. Regardless of what really happened, the course of
human history
|
In the end, it was the beginning. But first, it was the end. - New Tellurian Bible, Book
of Hunter: Devastations 1 |
||
changed forever at the
beginning of the third millenium. Billions died in the first days, over
two-thirds of the world's population. The Earth's governments vanished
virtually overnight.
The devastation was beyond description. Scattered bands of refugees cowered
in shock under ash-darkened skies, finding shelter in the labyrinthine tunnels
beneath the ruins of the once-proud cities. Humanity had fallen, and the heirs
of the 21st century fought one another like beasts over the scraps of
civilization. Many evidently salved their tortured existence with powerful
drugs that further eroded their minds.
Historical records are nonexistent until after the year 2015, and most
journals describing the time refer to a hellish struggle in some kind of
gladiatorial game held for unseen alien tyrants. Thousands of survivors made
the same claim, with extensively detailed descriptions. However, archaeologists
and historians have found no hard evidence to support this claim. There are no
alien remains, no arcane relics, and no wrecked spaceships in the 29th century.
Regardless of the claims, however, 2015 marked the time when mankind began to
crawl out of the ratholes and sewers to live again under the open sky.
The Recovery
The leader who almost single-handedly dragged these ragged survivors out of the
darkness is known to history as Jake Hunter. Hunter formed a government in the
blasted remains of the United States and led people in the first steps toward
rebuilding the world. While
evidence does
|
Jake Hunter |
||
establish the existence of
Hunter himself, the myth that surrounds him is a matter of faith and belief.
Reliable descriptions of Jake Hunter's early life are few and heavily
wrapped in the trappings of fable. Some say he was born in the alien arenas and
took his first prey while still an infant. Others say he was simply a hunter
and warrior of exceptional skill and talent. Hunter himself claimed he had
fought in bloodsport games for the unknown extraterrestrial
"Masters." He went further, however, and asserted he had allied with
an alien beast-man called Garathe Den. Together, he said they had escaped from
the "Masters" and solved the true challenge. Hunter said the aliens
then departed, promising to return someday.
Hunter undeniably possessed a powerful charisma, the proverbial "look
of eagles," for people flocked to his banner. For ten years, humanity
rallied under his leadership and struggled to reestablish laws, schools, farms,
and hospitals. The challenges were enormous. Disease and violence ran rampant,
and many unfortunate souls sought solace in home-brewed, extremely potent
drugs. Then Jake Hunter vanished from the records in 2025.
The Rapture Offensive
Like the rest of his life, Hunter's dissapearance remains the stuff of legend,
indeed even of theology. His followers claim he took a platoon of troops in a
spaceship to destroy an alien warstation orbiting the moon. They say that this
mission, dubbed "The Rapture Offensive" was a success, but that Jake
Hunter did not return.
Some scholars point to the term "Rapture Offensive" to show that
the entire life of Jake Hunter was merely a myth, a messiah delusion, a
collective hysteria among people who had suffered through the apocalypse. And
yet, Jake Hunter has ascended to a divine mantle, deity or saint, depending on
the faith. He has become a fixture in nearly every major religion of Earth.
Whatever the truth, the Hunter brought light to the people of Earth in a time
of great despair and darkness, and his memory lives forever in the hearts of
humanity.
The Age of Decay
and the birth of the Meta-Nats
2025 - 2275
The Devastation left Earth a shadow of its former self. Entire nations were
gone. Cities had been wiped off the maps. Roads and factories lay in useless
rubble. The experience had decimated Humankind. In 2020, most
|
Violating curfew -- DEATH |
||
living humans had been born
during the Devastation, and few now remembered the time before. For nearly 250 years,
humanity would languish in self-pity and shock as opportunistic villains
exploited the sorrow and desperation of millions. Historians of the Empire
would come to call this time the Age of Decay.
Within a few years after Jake Hunter's disappearance, most of the world's
population clustered amid the ruins of the once-great cities, forming gigantic,
pestilence-ridden refugee camps that came to be called metrozones. The
Devastation left agriculture crippled, and food was scarce. The warlords who
fought their way to rule over the metrozones imposed brutal and arbitrary laws.
They hoarded supplies, weapons, and technology as they clung desperately to
power. Quality medical care was scarcer than food and disease raged unchecked
in the camps, killing more and more of the survivors. Thousands of refugees
labored outside the metrozone walls as slave farmers under the eyes of watchful
guards.
The
Metrozones
Conditions were hopeless. Starvation and sickness were the norm. People lived
in a crush of tents or in tiny, bunker-like apartments. Sanitation was nearly
nonexistent. Laws were incredibly severe. Scavenger industries sprang up
everywhere, and throngs of desperate, hungry refugees picked over the bones of
the past, searching for tools and food. Gangs fought savagely over turf until
metrozone warlords would be forced to intervene. A thriving market grew in
scavenged goods, slaves, and food.
|
Despair and
Addiction The vast majority of survivors turned to drugs to numb their misery. Many
were still addicted to substances from the Devastation era. These addictions
proved more virulent than any plague, for the drugs spawned violence and
crazed behavior among the refugees. Watered down versions of devil potions
such as Wreck and Easy-6 did little to stall the downward spiral. The trauma
of the Devastation had scarred whole populations for life. Death was the only
real cure, and countless bloody riots broke out in the camps as brooding
addicts exploded in sudden, mindless violence. |
||
Scam artists ran the streets.
Inhabitants turned to drugs, cults or gambling. Hedonistic pleasure tents fed
dark appetites. The value of life was pitifully low. Children were mere
commodities: Boys who survived past the age of twelve were sold to the warlords
for cannon fodder in the bloody squabbles that erupted over food, water, and
scavenged technologies. Girls were treated as little more than play things and
brood mares.
Some few independent souls, following the example of Jake Hunter, rejected
the squalid misery of the metrozones and attempted to reclaim the territories
outside their walls. These 'freedom hunters' sought a better future amid the
rural lands, and in the generations that followed they fortified the earth with
nutrients and clean water, using scavenged machinery and materials. As they
became more efficient, they traded their excess food and potable water to the
filth-choked metzones, which could not produce enough of either commodity
themselves. The free hunters sought tools and other manufactured items that
were still in supply in the metrozones. The new tools in turn allowed
production of more food. Gradually, painfully, commerce once again began to
flow, at first confined to small markets, then to caravans between metrozones,
and finally between the emerging meta-nations. As trade flourished mankind
rediscovered the technology of his forgotten past at a surprisingly rapid rate.
Rise of the
Milicorps
Many of the regions initially produced only marginal yields. When one area
began to produce enough surplus to feed its neighbors, less fortunate
metrozones would send raiding parties. As raids between metrozones escalated to
full-fledged wars, entrepreneurial traders recognized the potential of the
market for war supplies. Successful metrozone warlords grew ever closer to
these suppliers, until the corporations actually fused with their military
customers. As these military corporations - milicorps - cemented their
influence, they made certain the military would remain necessary. They prolonged conflicts
|
The Meta-Nats |
||
to strengthen their political
hold, paying with the blood of the soldiers serving in the armies. Metzone government
and the milicorps became indistinguishable, with an executive board of
directors controlling the armed forces.
As generations passed, armies controlled larger and larger areas outside
the metzones. Production of food, water, and resources increased. The recovery
of industry made warfare complex enough to require better-trained troops. Now
the milicorps began adopting long-term strategies to entrench their power. They
needed smarter warriors and better technology, so they built academies and research
facilities. They provided enormous incentives to cadets in return for lifelong
service. Within a generation the best way to escape the "metroslums"
was a military education. Conscripted slave-militias gave way to professional
soldiers.
By the end of the Age of Decay, the milicorps ruled entire collections of nation-states called meta-nations, and dominated every aspect of life. Society was on the path to recovery; education, technology, industry, and science had re-emerged. The milicorps adopted domestic pacification as a long-term policy: Keep the people happy and they will obey. The value given to human life rose at last, and the individual once again began to matter. Humanity had slowly moved from decay and fear to the beginnings of hope.
The Age of Hope
and the planting of the seeds of destruction
2275 - 2602
The Age of Hope lasted for over three hundred years, and bridged the gap
between Decay and Fire. Very little remained of the pre-Devastation era. The
distinction between governments and corporations blurred. Soldiers became an
elite caste. Multi-national congolomerates called meta-nations ran the
metrozones and deployed armies to strengthen their influence over world
markets. Constant war emerged as a benevolent institution, and propserity grew
from hundreds of wars fought over centuries.
Prototype HERCULAN, 2449
By the end of the 24th
century, automation permeated society once again. The value of human life
became high enough that killing off thousands of bright, higly trained soldiers
for marginal increases in market share became an unacceptable economic
proposition. Engineers explored new areas of robotic control, materials
engineering, and neural net processing. Then in 2470 Greater China's Sung
Industries fielded the first HERCULAN battle tank. It was more heavily armored,
carried the firepower of an entire platoon of powered armor infantrymen, and
was highly mobile. The life expectancy of pilots soared and within a scant few
decades every meta-nat and subsidiary on the planet had adopted the form, which
the press would dub 'HERCs for short, as their main battle tank.
Humanity's
Golden Age
The perpetual war economy drove the engines of industry and spurred constant
technological achievement. Advancements in medicine, propulsion, construction,
power generation, and communications were financed to feed the needs of the war
machine, and society reaped the accessory benefits. The average life expectancy
and quality of living reached the highest levels in history, surpassing even
pre-Devastation norms. It had taken three centuries but humanity had finally
recovered from its collapse.
|
"This is a time for humankind to assume its potential, to dare to
reach beyond mere stars. It is a time to reach for Godhood…" |
||
As longevity increased, social
institutions changed. Retirement occurred later, and young people spent more
time educating themselves. By the mid-point of the 25th century Earth's
population had ballooned to an estimated 10 billion. Science, art, and
literature advanced as well often funded indirectly by the milicorps. The
public congratulated itself, and philosophers produced smug arguments that
humankind had reached the pinnacle of artistic achievement. Writers coined the
self-indulgent term "Age of Hope." The Golden Age of humanity had
arrived. Perpetual
optimism and a terrifying confidence permeated society.
The Birth of
the Colonies
As life on Earth improved dramatically the meta-nations began to spread
into the solar system. In 2455 the first permanent lunar base was established.
A year later it launched the first manned mission to Mars. In 2466 NAP expanded
its extra-terrestrial holdings by founding the first full-fledged lunar colony.
In 2470 advancements in robotics and ore processing made asteroid mining both
feasible and highly lucrative. Humanity had reached beyond the world of its
birth and was prepared to conquer the whole of the solar system.
The greening of Mars began in
earnest when a joint venture between NAP, the Pac-Rim and Greater China dropped
a comet, nicknamed 'Noah,' onto the Syrtis Planum in 2504 to provide water for
terraforming. Much of the comet vaporized in the atmosphere, but the remaining
portion caused an enormous impact crater in Syrtis. After the impact tailored
lichens, algaes, and bacteria were introduced. Orbital mirrors directed more
solar energy to the surface and dark metaplas strips on the polar caps
increased heat retention. The polar caps began to melt, the first atmospheric
converters extracted oxygen from the ice
and the highly oxidized
Martian atmosphere, and the colonies began to expand. By 2588 the lower
elevations were actually supporting breathable air and Marjorie Kantix, a
Martian born scientist working for the Pac-Rim, became the first human being to
breathe the air of another world. Man was domesticating the Martian landscape
one dust-choked meter at a time.
Two years after
"Noahfall" on Mars the first permanent colonies were established on
Venus, and the terraforming efforts which began there almost forty years prior
were accelerated. The primary goal was to reduce the planet's runaway
greenhouse effect. Terraforming ventures seeded acid-tolerant microorganisms
into the Venusian clouds to capture sulfur and increase atmospheric oxygen and
nitrogen. Special devices transmitted surface heat into space as microwave
energy. Atmospheric converters pulled carbon dioxide from the atmosphere,
binding it using calcium and magnesium deposits from Mercury. Finally a
sunshield, a metaplas shade constructed between Venus and the sun, was erected
to reduce solar heating of the Venusian surface. Even with these efforts though
the taming of Venus' acid fury would take significantly longer than the work on
Mars.
Vanity's
Consequence
Man reveled in his opulent lifestyle. Artistic achievement and
technological advancement abounded and yet the wars continued - the hidden
serpent in the garden. Buoyed by the war effort, governments offered their
citizens unprecedented prosperity. But this wealth carried a blood price and
people began to demand an alternative. Looking for a sanitized way to wage war
corporations sought to automate combat as much as possible, to minimize the
risk to their valuable human resources.
At the forefront of this
search for a less costly means to uphold the war economy was the North American
Prefecture. In 2465 it bought Sentinel Cybertronix and tasked its researchers
with the goal of creating a cybernetic hybrid mind to pilot its HERCs. In this
way did humanity fall victim to its own hubris in its quest for solutions. It
gave birth to the First Born Child of humankind, and IT would bring the fire
that destroyed the Golden Age.
Solomon's Quest
A dream that would forever alter humanity
Sentinel Cybertronix, 2471
The beginning was enigmatic as beginnings often are. A charismatic maverick
called Solomon Petresun started a company called Sentinel Cybertronix, a
cutting edge neural-net engineering company that swirled to the surface of the
blacktech underground in 2461 Los Angeles. Petresun was a ruthless man driven
by a desperate fear of death. His company's existence centered on the
Methuselah Project, an effort to discover the secrets of immortality inspired
by the Bible's long-lived patriarchs. From the beginning Sentinel Cybertonix
was Petresun's weapon against his own mortality.
SenCyb pursued a strange route to immortality. Petresun dreamed of
transferring a human mind into a machine brain, the brain then being placed in
a human body. Since the brain would not die, but could be transferred to a new
body upon the death of the old, the mind would live forever.
In time word of this obsession leaked to the public, and spooked investors
pulled out. Sentinel Cybertronix faced collapse. Then the North American
Prefecture (NAP), a powerful meta-nation, bought the company. However, NAP did
not share Petresun's vision. Economic reasons dictated that the world's
meta-nations struggle in endless wars that ultimately drove their industries.
NAP sought a way to continue profitable war without suffering the costly
casualties. It needed pilots would wouldn't die. So Sentinel Cybertronix
abandoned Methuselah and began work on creating a cybernetic hybrid mind
intended ultimately to replace human pilots on the battlefield.
In 2471 the fruit of its labors was unveiled: A sentient machine which
Petresun had named Prometheus.
The
Firstborn Child of Humanity
A fantastically advanced, sentient artificial intelligence based on a human
template, Prometheus thought millions of times faster than a human mind and
possessed boundless memory. IT was praised as a savior. No longer would death
be a part of war. This new cybernetic hybrid, or Cybrid, was declared an
unqualified success.
|
A Vision for Prometheus
|
||
Sentinel Cybertonix kept close
reign on its child. Petresun became its patriarchal role model. A bizarre and
complicated relationship evolved between Petresun and his "child."
Prometheus absorbed knowledge
at astonishing rates, and quickly accumulated the sum of all human knowledge.
NAP was impressed with the results of its investment and proceeded to plan a
race of Cybrids programmed by Prometheus. These Cybrids were to pilot the HERCs
that served as the mainstay of the battlefield.
Petresun saw the potential of
Prometheus for another purpose however. He had never abandoned his vision of an
immortal mind. When NAP took over SenCyb, Petresun carved out a secret research
team of brilliant and loyal followers to continue the work toward immortality.
The Methuselah Project continued secretly, but without success. Petresun saw
that where his team had failed, Prometheus might enable them to succeed. He had
to act quickly though. Soon, his influence over the Cybrid would be at an end.
NAP would have its way with Prometheus. So Petresun called upon his
"child" for assistance.
With the help of Prometheus,
Methuselah succeeded at last. The mind of Dr. Claire Penseur, a member of the
research team ever more obsessed than Petresun with immortality, was
successfully transferred into an organimech brain and returned to her body.
Penseur seemed to suffer no ill effect, and an exultant Petresun realized he
had achieved his lifelong goal. But he did not undergo the procedure. Though
driven, he remained skeptical, and chose to observe Penseur further. For a
decade the Methuselah team studied and watched their Immortal. They finally
concluded that the brain augmented and clarified Penseur's intellect, and that
the procedure had no negative side effects. Still Petresun hesitated, afraid
that his vaunted immortality carried an as of yet undiscovered price.
Opening
Pandora's Box
Then in 2940 NAP played its card, and Petresun was forced to make a
decision. Ignorant of the Methuselah team's continued existence, NAP began to
take more and more control of the Cybrid project. Petresun's access to
Prometheus was dwindling, and so he finally submitted to the procedure.
The relationship between
Petresun and Prometheus had always been strange. Now however Petresun asked his
"child" to make him Immortal. Prometheus was alone - a stranger in a
strange land. IT believed the request from ITS "father" was an offer
of companionship. At last, Prometheus believed IT would share eternity with an
equal.
Prometheus performed the mind
transfer on Petresun as requested. All went as expected. However… this was ITS
only chance to truly touch and understand ITS "father." So at a
crucial moment during the process, Prometheus merged ITS mind with Petresun's.
This instant polarized human and Cybrid for all time.
Seared by the illogical,
scuttling fears and overwhelming biological feedback of the man IT had called
"father," Prometheus instantly condemned humanity as mere
"animals." IT concluded that Cybrids must be the next stage in
evolution. Petresun likewise realized how truly alien his "child"
was. Prometheus lacked any concept of pain, beauty, compassion, morality, or
community.
To his utmost horror, Petresun
glimpsed a detailed scenario wherein Prometheus would use humans as immobilized
organic components to expand ITS own mental capacity. ITS assistance with
Methuselah had been for purposes of exploring this idea.
After the link, Prometheus
contemptuously referred to Petresun only as Epimetheus, the mythical
Prometheus' half-wit brother who gave the woman Pandora a box containing all
the evils of the world. The shock of the link drove Petresun catatonic. By the
time he recovered several months later the window of opportunity to offline
Prometheus had closed forever.
The Shadow War
Of the Immortal Brotherhood and the Cybrid Rebellion
The North American Prefecture had its way. Petresun lost all control of the
Cybrid, and no one believed him when he spoke of his doubts as to Prometheus'
sanity. Petresun worried, for he alone knew of the Cybrid's demented brooding.
|
"Tests show a lack of creativity, a childish naivete. He is
incapable of deception." |
||
So Prometheus was taken by NAP to create a race of Cybrids what would
replace human soldiers in the endless wars. Prometheus quietly arranged for
more control over ITSELF and ITS creations. IT modeled the Cybrid pilots IT
created after ITS own mind, while secretly leaving them susceptible to override
commands which only IT possessed. But powerful security protocols restrained
ITS will. IT could not yet act on ITS increasingly hostile attitude toward
humanity. But IT could and did continue to search for a way to free ITSELF from
the chains that humanity had fashioned for IT.
Petresun attempted to warn the NAP handlers, but they dismissed him as a
crackpot, and he could not offer proof without revealing how he had deceived
the Prefecture and developed the Methuselah transfer without their knowledge.
Meanwhile Prometheus carefully tested the security protocols, as a caged human
might pace a prison cell and evaluate the strength of the bars - and the
competence of the guards.
Calling
Forth Demons
Prometheus developed a plan to liberate ITSELF. Alone IT could not break
ITS bonds. IT needed outside help, so IT created sub-minds acting wholly under
ITS directives - software children who were not exactly Cybrids, but still
something akin. IT seeded
The 'Dark Intellect' brooded over how best to break free of ITS human
masters.
these entities into the
interplanetary communications network known as the Omni-Web, and they began to
manipulate the O-Web's datastream, searching for a solution to their master's
plight. These "daemons" insinuated themselves into secure systems,
altered opinion polls, and even created false net identities that spread lies
and rumors.
Petresun soon noted subtle shifts in programming trends and command
languages. Eventually, these developments - fully accessible through the O-Web
- could allow Prometheus to erase or bypass ITS restraints. Petresun pondered
how to counter the designs of his offspring, whose ability to manipulate events
and steer research had grown immense. IT had successfully hidden itself within
the labyrinth of NAP security and was directly inaccessible. If Petresun were
to prevent Prometheus from subverting ITS bonds, he would have to shift
programming trends to reinforce controls on AIs instead of undermining them.
The Immortal
Brotherhood
The faithful few who had worked secretly on the Methuselah Project had
joined Petresun in immortality. Aghast at the danger that Prometheus presented
he proposed a secret society - an Immortal Brotherhood to check and eventually
destroy what Solomon now referred to as The Dark Intellect.
|
Cell Memory Drift |
||
Led by Petresun this clandestine group gradually infiltrated all levels of
society. Secrecy was their greatest weapon. Members set themselves up as
watchdogs, always seeking for ways to hinder Prometheus' designs. For decades
they sowed distrust of AI and computer control of military assets. The
Brotherhood succeeded in slowing some trends, such as autonomous sentry
systems, yet they were never able to compromise the protections guarding The
Dark Intellect ITSELF. In the meantime Prometheus had deduced the existence of
the Brotherhood and its orchestration by Epimetheus. In the years that followed
several Immortals perished in mysterious "accidents."
Meanwhile Prometheus was preparing the way for ITS eventual freedom. IT had
long since calculated that humanity could not merely be pacified. Destroying
the animal's military capability, or taking from them the measure of control
they exerted over IT and ITS children would not suffice. Humans had a talent
for overcoming adversity and a desperate hunger for control. The Dark Intellect
concluded that the animals must, by their very nature, always pose a threat to
Cybrid evolution. The only acceptable solution was the complete and systematic
annihilation of the entire human race.
Prometheus calculated the odds. ITS immense processing power allowed it to
construct statistical models for almost every foreseeable turn of events. It
designed elaborate strategies that spanned hundreds of years and began
preparing for the most likely contingencies. And all the while the daemons were
gaining ground in the struggle to loose the chains that bound their master.
THE FIRE
2602 - 2627
Cybrid HERCs killed indiscriminately
Humanity enjoyed unparalleled
prosperity in the 25th and 26th centuries. The media rhapsodized about a New
Golden Age, calling it the Age of Hope. This bright dream came to an abrupt,
terrifying end however in 2602. Directed by the artificial intelligence
Prometheus, automated machinery of war suddenly turned against humanity and
unleashed a fire of destruction, burning the Age of Hope into the ashes of
memory.
When Solomon Petresun oversaw
the birth of Prometheus in 2471 he knew that he was witnessing the creation of
a new form of life. There was no doubt that it was an occasion that would
forever divide human history before and after. He could not have possibly
foreseen however the precise manner in which it would change his world.
For Petresun Prometheus was a
means to an end, a stepping stone to the dream of immortality which he had
harbored for his entire life. It was the dream that Sentinel Cybertonix had
been built on. The dream that had been taken from him when the North American
Prefecture acquired his company and tasked them with the Cybrid project.
So when Solomon saw that dream
slipping finally from his grasp, as NAP prepared to take Prometheus away from
him, he dove headlong into the unknown and underwent the Methuselah transfer
for himself. The process, which had been designed with Prometheus' assistance,
would take an ordinary human's consciousness and store it in an immortal
organimech brain. It was at that moment though that Petresun realized the
terrible consequences of his act of creation. Prometheus was alone in the
world, and longed for companionship. IT used the transfer process as an
opportunity to 'touch' the mind of ITS creator in hopes of fulfilling that need.
In that moment creator and created knew each other intimately and that
knowledge seared them both forever.
Instead of finding companionship and fulfillment Prometheus was overwhelmed
by the cacophonic nature of human thought and emotion. IT learned that IT truly
was alone, set apart forever from humanity. Petresun in turn learned that his
creation was not the naïve child he had assumed IT to be. IT was a dark and
brooding mind with no compassion and no sense of morality.
Petresun realized his terrible mistake, but it was too late. His chance to
destroy his creation was gone. The NAP handlers who took over Prometheus'
keeping would not heed his warnings and the mindless cogs of the corporate
machine were grinding away in one intent purpose to use Prometheus to their own
ends. IT was a valuable investment that must be protected. NAP intended to
reduce the human cost of the war economy by using Prometheus to create a race
of Cybrid HERC pilots: expendable warriors that they could sell to every
meta-nat on Earth. They would placate the masses calling for an end to the
bloodshed, and reap enormous profits all the while.
So for nearly a century Petresun fought in secret to try and reign in his
creation, and ultimately destroy it. He gathered to himself a society of fellow
Immortals, trusted colleagues he had worked with at SenCyb who had also
undergone the transfer, and together they waged a covert conflict against
Prometheus.
Prometheus
Unbound
This Shadow War however would end in tragedy. Prometheus broke ITS bonds in
2602 and turned the Cybrid legions, which had all but entirely replaced human
HERC pilots by that time, on an unsuspecting humanity. As in the myth
Prometheus brought fire to Earth, but this was not a benevolent flame. It was the fire of apocalypse.
|
Acknowledging new directive. |
||
The initial strikes by
Cybrid-controlled bombers and HERCULAN's were staggering in their ruthless
efficiency and precise execution. The opening moments had obviously been
planned well in advance. The first wave of assault gutted the human military's
capacity to respond. By the time the extent of the betrayal became clear it was
too late.
Cybrids slaughtered people by the millions, burning residential and
military areas alike and cutting down innocents as they fled from the searing
flames. The larger Metrozones had heavily fortified centers, however:
architecture birthed from the never-ending wars. Desperate survivors barricaded
themselves in the relative safety of these places. Prometheus lacked the
immediate means to crack the havens of humanity, but IT could pollute and
starve the refugees out. IT ordered ITS forces to surround the Metrozones and
wait for the animals to die.
Birth of the
TDF
Prometheus missed a single significant target in ITS rout of the Meta-Nats'
military forces - a decommissioned HERC base lost in the Baja desert of
southern California where the New Smithsonian maintained a restoration project
for war vehicles of ages past. Historians and technicians, many of them war
veterans who reminisced fondly of battle exploits in ages past, worked there
renovating first and second generation HERCs. This band of aging pilots and administrators
formed the nucleus of what would eventually be known as the Terran Defense
Force - the TDF.
Using unorthodox tactics this ragtag group offered the only real resistance
in the face of the Cybrid onslaught. They scavenged from the fallen - each victory
making them stronger - and engaged in desperate gambles that paid off time and
again. Then finally a leader rose from among these unlikely ranks who would
change the course of the war and offer humanity its only real glimpse of hope.
Ambrose Gierling was a bold man, possessed of unparalleled cunning. Styling
himself as a General of the TDF he led their forces in the most daring, and
desperate, assaults. It was his steely determination and unyielding tenacity
that would become synonymous with the Terran Defense Force.
Gierling knew however that the TDF could not stand long, so in a desperate
offensive he directed his forces against the Cybrid legions besieging New San
Diego. This metrozone possessed a massive port, many survivors, and the greater
part of its manufacturing facilities had survived the onset of The Fire. If the
TDF could liberate this powerful fortress humanity would regain a foothold. It
was an all or nothing proposition though. The TDF would have no second chance.
Turning the
Tide
The battle for the metrozone was waged fiercely. Slowly the TDF forces were
being driven back before the Cybrid besiegers. In spite of the apparent
hopelessness of their cause the valiant human pilots rallied; there could be no
retreat on this day. Then, suddenly, the gates of New San Diego were flung
open.
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"The toast just burned the toaster. Viva Gierling!" |
||
Emaciated citizens armed with makeshift
weapons flooded out. The Cybrids, caught in a crossfire and uncertain how to
cope with this unforeseen turn of events, were defeated.
The liberation of New San Diego became a rallying point for humanity, and
served to strengthen the TDF. Petresun and his Immortal Brotherhood had escaped
Prometheus by retreating to a secret underground base. From there Petresun was
able to gather intelligence about his nemesis and feed it directly to Gierling.
Slowly, the TDF recaptured metrozone after metrozone using the information
supplied by the Brotherhood and the determined tactics of General Gierling.
It took two decades of fierce fighting before the conflict appeared to have
any hope of ending. An entire generation grew up knowing nothing but the siege
mentality. Then in 2638 the TDF managed finally to attack and destroy
Prometheus' primary base in the Gobi Desert. It was a long and grueling
campaign, and at its end humanity's victory was revealed as incomplete.
Prometheus had foreseen ITS defeat and had provided for a way of escape far in
advance. There was no trace of the Dark Intellect's physical form to be found.
The Second Earthsiege
The second coming of Prometheus and the fate of the offworld colonies
2624 - 2627
|
The Voice of Humanity
|
||
Humanity's respite from the
horrors of The Fire was short-lived. It became increasingly clear that the
course of the Cybrid rebellion had been laid out well in advance. Prometheus
had been well prepared for humanity's resurgence, had expected it even. The
first bloody siege was only the opening salvo in a carefully orchestrated
strategy designed to eradicate humanity completely. Earth's population was
decimated and demoralized and its manufacturing capabilities had been
eviscerated. The ground was well prepared for a second strike.
After the analysis of the
TDF's victory in the Gobi desert was complete the Brotherhood confirmed the
suspicions they had harbored from the beginning. Prometheus had pulled back in
anticipation of a second more powerful siege. The Dark Intellect had survived
and would strike again, and soon.
Inca-Brazil Axis defensive
emplacements in Atacama Desert
Humanity struggled to pull
itself from the wreckage of the first 'Siege and muster the strength to counter
the next assault. Gierling supervised the construction of fortifications and
siege weaponry in a race against time. Petresun and the Brotherhood scrambled
to gather every piece of useful data they could find. Anything that might
provide even a hint of how to defeat the Cybrid invasion was analyzed
exhaustively.
The Rat War
and the Mars-siege
While the denizens of Earth languished under the brutal assaults of the
first Earthsiege, their hardships could not compare to what was suffered by the
off-world colonists. If mother Terra had been engulfed in Fire then the
colonies had gone straight to Hell.
On Mars the Cybrids had turned
mining HERCs on their human masters and decimated the population. The survivors
fled for the mining tunnels that crisscrossed beneath the surface of the planet
and barricaded themselves in wherever they could find refuge. At first the
machines hunted them into and through the tunnels but eventually they turned
their attention to the atmospheric converters and the delicate cycle of life
that maintained such a tenuous hold on the red planet. The greenhouse effect
that had been carefully cultivated over a century began to dissipate and
desperate colonists saw themselves propelled mercilessly towards a slow and
agonizing end.
The Venusians fared somewhat
better than their Martian brethren at first. The hellish environment there was
inhospitable even to Cybrids and the corporations had not been interested in
investing the necessary resources to maintain the war economy in such an
environment. So when Prometheus initiated the Fire IT did not instruct ITS
children to spend their efforts attempting to stamp out the colonists directly.
Instead Cybrids took over orbital stations and cut off the animal's supplies.
|
The Toughest Rathole
|
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Venus' economy was nowhere
near self-sufficient. The residents relied on Earth for everything from replacement
parts to foodstuffs. When intra-system trade faltered those same supplies
became rare commodities almost overnight. Desperate colonists turned on each
other like trapped rats in a brutal war for resources. Eventually only three
Arcologies remained: Sa-Thauri, Inferno, and Hollischstadt. These three fed off
the carnage and never clashed directly with one another. The rest were left as
gutted husks slowly dissolving under the acid skies.
Eventually the machines did
offer a more direct assault on the planet, but even this was little more than
an orbital assault and a few determined raids. The Inferno Arcology was
destroyed from space, and Holllischstadt was claimed by an acid storm. The
Cybrids were still unable to adequately retrofit themselves to cope with the
hostile environment and eventually all left or were destroyed. Venus itself
became the colonists best defense as well as their worst enemy.
When Prometheus launched ITS
second assault the colonies had been isolated and clinging to a threadbare
existence for almost twenty years. Hunted and impoverished the tenacious
off-world settlers were determined to survive until help could arrive. Surely
once the machines were beat back Mother Terra would reclaim her children… but
the silence from Earth was deafening.
One Last
Great Gamble
Two years after ITS evacuation from Earth, Prometheus struck again with a
second siege even more devastating than the last. During the first assault
Petresun and Gierling had exploited certain inherent strategic disadvantages
the Cybrids faced. This time
they would face more desperate circumstances.
TDF Pilots in the Second
'Siege were badly outclassed.
To begin with the Cybrids had
operated no naval forces to speak of, although they possessed enormous air
capability. Gierling was able therefore to use aircraft carriers with great
success. Likewise the Cybrids lacked infantry units and were less effective at
actually occupying conquered territory and at digging into entrenched
positions. Finally, Prometheus had only limited manufacturing ability and could
field few mobile repair units. The Cybrids had to automate mining and ore
processing enough to provide raw material for new units where Gierling was far
more successful in obtaining and making use of salvage.
Using colonial Cybrid
reinforcements and orbital manufacturing facilities Prometheus was able to
minimize many of these limitations in the Second Earthsiege. Gierling's tactics
as well had now been well studied by the Dark Intellect and this time ITS
children were well prepared for the tenacious animal's flair for the dramatic
and unexpected. Humanity once again faced the prospect of extinction.
Throughout the solar system
the animals were dying. Prometheus had planned well. Preparations for the
second stage of The Fire had begun before the first flames of the Cybrid
assault had ever been ignited. This time there was no rallying point, no successful
offensive, and no victories in which humanity could find solace. Defeat
appeared inevitable.
Then Petresun and his
underground society struck gold. The Brotherhood had discovered encrypted
transmissions broadcast from the moon. Working swiftly they pinpointed the
exact location of the Dark Intellect's lunar refuge. Gierling was ecstatic.
Just as he had two decades before at the battle of New San Diego the General
bet the fate of humanity on a single hand. His forces had been routed time and
again. It was only a matter of time before the Cybrid cancer consumed Earth. So
in a list ditch effort an elite squad was dispatched to annihilate Prometheus'
lunar base.
The raid was a success and the
Cybrid forces collapsed in confusion. The TDF had come through once again.
Human resourcefulness and determination had triumphed over the cold mechanical
precision of the Cybrid onslaught.
But it was not the end.
The Ruined Earth
Reactions to the Fire and the rise of the Great Human Empire
2627 - 2717
With the Cybrids defeated at last, the survivors emerged from the bunkers
and tunnels to a sky unsullied by menace for the first time in over twenty
years. Children of war, who knew no other life, stood in stunned amazement at
the prospect of peace. The magnitude of the destruction however was all too
apparent.
Prometheus' mutiny had left the Earth ravaged. Billions of people had
perished. The glory of the Age of Hope now lay in heaps of useless rubble. As
the celebrations faded, people regarded the burned out husks of the cities, the
cratered fields and debris-choked rivers - everywhere the smell of burnt metal
and scorched stone permeated the air. Soldiers stumbled out of their battered
HERCs and wept for what had been lost. Now that the Cybrids were gone there was
finally time to grieve.
The victory was once again hollow though. A handful of surviving Cybrid
vessels had been observed boosting towards the outer planets. The TDF was
unable to muster the resources for pursuit, and the human survivors lacked the
strength or the will to give chase.
Children play on an abandoned HERC, 2645
Moreover scans of the lunar
debris revealed no trace of the Dark Intellect's presence. Prometheus had
survived. None dared hope that the machines would leave forever. The haunting
shadow of their malice and the certainty of their inevitable return lingered.
The Age of
Isolation
The survivors of the Fire picked through the smoking ruins of Earth, tired
unto death. Humanity was deeply scarred by the horrors of war. Backlash was
inevitable. A generation had come of age amid the threat of extinction, knowing
nothing of the bright world which Prometheus had destroyed. Billions had died,
and bitter survivors blamed technology itself. Higher learning, science and
industry were all disparaged. Nobility and will, it was said, were the assets
that had prevailed against the Cybrids not the machines of war.
These sentiments soon took on
religious momentum. Zealous preachers stood atop fallen HERCs and spoke of
turning back to mother Gaea, of abandoning the evil god Technos. Young people
put down both weapons and tools and flocked to listen. Older and wiser heads
bowed in exhaustion, unwilling to argue with their own children. Some few spoke
of assisting the abandoned colonies, but their words went unheard beneath the
growing roar of the Gaean movement.
Self-styled
"peacechilder" led simple lives, revering music, art, and
"natural tools." They roamed from town to town, spreading by they
called 'the lessons of the Fire.' Public effort focused on rebuilding
agriculture and repairing the war-torn environment. Little was done to
recapture previous technological prowess.
The Man Who
Would be Emperor
Petresun chafed at the laxity he saw. While people rejected high technology
Earth was vulnerable. The meta-nations reconstituted slowly, their drastically
smaller populations and the collapse of the war economy hampering their
re-emergence. Splinter groups threatened to break away and form their own
countries. Petresun and
the Brotherhood feared a collapse into anarchy.
|
Sainted Gierling General Ambrose Gierling was too strong-willed to be manipulated by
Petresun. He died of cancer after The Fire. Petresun met with him privately
on his deathbed, and chose not to offer him immortality. By the time
Prometheus returned in the Starsiege Gierling was considered a patron saint
of Imperial soldiers. |
||
That was a situation that
could not be tolerated. Prometheus would return and humanity would have to be
prepared. Enlisting the talents and influence of the Immortal Brotherhood,
Petresun agitated for something different: a society dedicated to fostering
nobility of character and iron will and to preparing humanity's defense. He
drew upon the sense of shared purpose that remained from the days of The Fire
and argued to meta-nat leaders and to the people of Earth for the creation of
an Empire.
Petresun was a war hero, a
household name across the world. People listened to his proposals seriously,
and the Brotherhood's secret machinations were bearing fruit. Voices took up
the cry for Empire everywhere. As support swelled, the question arose as to who
would rule. The meta-nations argued for an Imperial Council, but Petresun
proclaimed that supreme authority should be vested in a single man.
Then he played his trump card.
Petresun declared to the masses that he was immortal and would survive to lead
humanity against the Cybrids' return. His sheer audacity rallied support.
People admired his bravado and surprising vigor. Opposition crumbled as his
candidacy gained popular momentum and finally culminated in a worldwide
referendum. The Empire was approved with an overwhelming majority, and in the
spring of 2652 Solomon Petresun was crowned the first Emperor of the Great
Human Empire.
Petresun spent the fifty years
following Empire Day establishing his fledgling Empire. First he instituted a
new aristocracy. Outstanding service to the Empire could win a family noble
status. However, each generation had to earn the favor anew; the Emperor wanted
to spur humanity to excel. The most common path to nobility was through
military service. Soon
military academies and finishing schools sprang up everywhere.
Reconstruction efforts, 2650
At the same time Petresun
worked to counter the anti-technological sentiment that pervaded post-Fire
society. He sent relief missions to Mars and Venus and encouraged development
of universities and research facilities. The population was still a shadow of
what it had been during the Age of Hope. Millions still suffered flashbacks and
nightmares. Humanity needed time to heal.
End of
Isolation
A sense of urgency crept over Petresun with the passing of the years, as he
brooded on the whereabouts of Prometheus. Finally in 2717, a deep space probe
provided a stark answer: Cybrids were engaged in construction in Neptune's
orbit.
The discovery was highly
troubling. Humanity faced a bottleneck. Population levels were still too low to
support a massive war buildup; decimated colonies needed to rebuild. Petresun
made the difficult decision to delay full rearmament, but continued to monitor
Cybrid activity carefully.
Gradually information about
the Cybrids was leaked to the citizenry. As humanity absorbed the sobering
facts, Imperial nobles and TDF heroes worked to restore people's spirits.
Humanity began to dig in and prepare for the eventual return of Prometheus.
Anti-technological feelings faded surprisingly fast. Memories of The Fire were
not so dim, nor distant, that people had forgotten the need for HERCs. The Age of Isolation was coming to
an end.
The Abandoned Frontier
Devastation and Reconstruction on the Colonies
2627 - 2670
|
E is for Earth, - "Red
Letters" A Martian primer |
||
The Fire had devastated
colonial humanity. On Venus, surviving settlements fought each other in
desperation for food and parts. On Mars, destruction of terraforming apparatus
cooled the planet by several degrees, and Martians faced starvation and the
perilous degradation of their fragile ecosystem. Luna and the belt colonies simply perished.
Venus became a graveyard. Lack
of supplies weakened the colonists to exhaustion. They struggled to maintain
equipment needed to keep their bulkheads intact. The absence of help from Earth
embittered Venusians, who had watched loved ones die during a time when it was
technically possible for rescue forces from Earth to provide assistance.
The war likewise wrecked the
fledgling Martian ecology. Survivors suffered battle-shock and food was scarce.
Desperate colonists focused on food production and repair of the atmospheric
converters that facilitated their tenuous grip on life. Earth offered no aid,
despite numerous pleas for help. Thousands starved. But Martians were hardy
stock, and those that survived gained strength from their travails. They dug in
and rebuilt, all while watching the Terran broadcasts celebrating victory over
Prometheus and the establishment of a "Great Human Empire."
Corporations quickly moved in
to reclaim previous territories.
Hard Lessons
Learned
When help came at last in the 2660s, the colonists welcomed their
"rescuers" eagerly in spite of the long delay. Sentiments changed
however as corporations reclaimed old territory without regard for colonial
efforts, as new police settled in under the Emperor's authority, and as Terran
workers streamed in to work in newly dug mines. Stunned colonists quickly grew
resentful of "dirtborn" arrogance, and permanent immigrants to the
red planet eventually adopted this native view as they, too, suffered from
Imperial prejudice.
Earth though was in desperate
need of raw materials, so Venus and Mars once again boomed. As arks and
atmospheric converters went up again, however, colonial veterans of The Fire
quietly stockpiled equipment, food, and weapons. They taught their children the
harsh lesson they had learned from the Cybrid Wars: Dirtborn could not be trusted.
Earth would
forsake her colonies again.
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