War of the Worlds

Part II: Enter the Humans.

The five races have been sending probes to planets around the galaxy for millenia. The probes were slow, and the data from them was now shared freely. Several lesser civilizations have been found over the centuries, and rudimentary long distance messages taking years each way have been exchanged, but the Council has never shared its advanced technology with any of them. The policy was to merely thowing these lesser civilizations small scraps in return for invaluable information about themselves. But one fateful day, data from an Arcaen probe revealed the discovery of a remote system called Sol. The probe had discovered something that would prove mind-blowing: the sentient natives of Sol, called Humans, looked exactly like Altarians. The Council met in an emergency session. The Altarians were accused of sending a generation ship on a decades long journey to Sol sometime in the distant past and thereby threatening the status quo by now having two star systems. The Altarians fervently denied this and freely disclosed all known historical records, as was Council policy, to prove that they had not tried to gain an edge over the other four races.

A decision is made to give these humans some technological assistance in exchange for the humans revealing their history and scientific secrets, including what they know about the human genetic code. It was, at first, the standard deal that was offered to any other lesser civilization, except for the emphasis on the human genome data. The human's first batch of data confirmed that the humans were not Altarians, but rather some kind of evolutionary fluke, thus settling the Council's fears. A rather unique thing about humanity was that they were still factionalized and were not a unified race. Humans still had national boundaries and no centralized world authority that held any real power.

It was a far different map from the Earth of the last century, the 21st century. A mighty nation rose in the place of the former USA, the Mid-West Confederation (MWC), Texas had annexed all of Mexico of Central America to become the New Texas Republic, The UK, the Russian Federation and almost all of Europe except Scandinavia was part of an economic juggernaut called the European Alliance, or the Euros. Finland became a major power in its own right, swallowing up Greenland, Iceland, Sweden, and Norway to become Finlandia. Canada had annexed Alaska and became a superpower in its own right and was the Canadian Federation. (Though, sadly, they would suffer a terrible tragedy later.) And in the land down under, a growing class of mutants were resisting legislation designed to register and track them. The mutant uprising was underway in Australia and New Zealand, with mutants demanding equal rights if not the autonomy of an entirely new state. The rest of the world were minor nations, mostly proxies and trading partners to the major powers, but some large corporations in these minor nations formed a powerful multinational corporate bloc called the Terran Federation.

But these humans proved to be an invaluable gold mine of scientific insight because of their diversity. Their technology may be significantly inferior, and their ability to test some of their more radical theorems dealing with space and time very limited, but the humans have provided new leads and injected fresh ideas into five societies that were highly advanced, but at dead-ends when it came to cultural and scientific growth. The Council sent more technological assistance to humanity.

The factions of Earth, once provided with technological aid, built even better scientific equipment and facilities that led to even more innovative ideas. Each exchange benefited both alien and human alike. The humans not only helped the aliens, but also began works to benefit all of humanity. Famine and most disease had been eliminated on Earth. A large planet soon became truly a global village where anyone could get to anywhere on Earth in only two hours. Earth's Moon was colonized, and Mars had a small research base. Major conflict ended, as humans wasted no time in making savagely destructive prototype strategic weapons by combining human ideas and alien advances. The humans found themselves in the same boat as the aliens: they had more than enough firepower to cause the extinction of humanity. But it not require thousands of thermo-nuclear weapons possessed by the superpowers of the 21st century. A small number of these new devices would do the job. 40 years of beneficial exchanges of thought with the aliens and fellow humans had brought humanity far. Before now, it was unthinkable for the five great alien races to let any lesser civilization into the Council, but no other lesser civilization was ever given this much aid and none have ever given back so much so freely in return. The members of the Council started to think one by one that the humans could prove even more beneficial if they were a part of the Council. They also had their own private thoughts on what good humanity was to each:

The Arcaens look upon humanity in a practical manner. We gave, they gave back. We asked questions, they gave answers. What humans do or don't do to each other is not any Arcaen's business. They would therefore make acceptable members in a partnership.

The Altarians saw humans as a fledgeling race that had already shown great advances over their primitive and very violent past. They not only look like Altarians, but these humans can be guided into thinking like Altarians as well. Humanity had, afterall, shown kindness and compassion to their fellow humans and aliens alike during the past decades of the exchange. There were seeds there to be nutured, and, eventually, another vote on the Council for whatever the Altarians proposed.

The Torians do not like to dwell on someone's distant past. Whatever crimes humanity has done to itself other over the ages matters little. What matters is the 40 years of sporadic contact that humans have had with the Council. And the Torians were pleased by the human spirit of charity and mutual cooperation that benefitted all. No one gets hurt, everyone seems happy, life goes on. Just what any Torian wants. Humanity has thus truly earned a place among the other five races on the Council.

The Yor value humans for a different reason. The Yor have never seen another race so adept with computers and robotics. These human scientists were throwing out ideas about mechanical life that even the Yor have not considered. True, it would be nice to capture a lot of these humans and force them to work with the machines so that the lower castes could be more content with their lot, but voluntary Terran assistance in building better mechanical units would be acceptable. Once on the Council, there would be a free exchange of ideas in rapid fashion rather than this very slow method of back and forth exchanges.

The Drengin think that a leopard never changes its spots. Humans have been incredibly brutal in their past. Almost brutal enough to make a sensitive Drengin cry, if there was such a thing. They are obviously just pleasing everyone because they do not feel in control of the situation yet. Once humans are on an equal footing in regards to technology with the other council members, they will show their real nature. It is up to the Drengin to make sure that human attitude toward the Drengin was compatible so that humanity would serve their rightful masters when the time came to dominate the rest of the Council. Of course, if that failed, the humans would have to be handled like all the rest. But this stalemate of centuries must be broken first.

In the year 2167, humanity has received an official invitation to join the Council and the plans to build a gate of their own.

Part III: Gateway To New Horizons.

Building a massive structure in the middle of space was obviously possible now, the scientists and engineers analyzed the plans and agreed that the gate project was a go. Every spare resource on and off of Earth was used in making the parts. Fleets of cargo ships first delivered parts for the building of Gate Station to house the construction workers first, and then serve as the powerplant and control center for the completed gate next door once it was finished. Gate Station was finished in only three months. Now came the task of building the gate itself. Ships were arriving every hour with precious supplies and parts for the dozens of workers building the gate at the peak of the frenzy. A year had now passed since the completion of Gate Station. The gate itself was nearly complete. The only parts left to bring and assemble belonged to the power transmission and stabalization gear that would run between the station and the gate to regulate the power flow.

Unbeknownst to all at the time, the primary subcontractor for the power relay parts, Electrical Supersystems, Inc., had engaged in a deliberate cover-up. They intentionally bid too low to get the contract and knew that the expensive isotopes that the plans called for would not meet their bid specifications. Their electrical engineers were ordered to come up with some alternative cheap parts that would still pass the design specs and hopefully would not be detected before the gate passed inspection and was cleared for regular use. Unfortunately, the design plans had specifically warned that the power flow must be minutely regulated. The known side effects of any but the most miniscule deviation from the specs could result in lack of activation, loss of cargo, a mistarget to the wrong gate, or even a catastrophic implosion much like a black hole. The deception worked. On the first day of 2169, after passing all pre-activation tests, the gate was activated. The test probe successfully went through to the Wardell system and sent back the go signal. The Terrans had earned their rightful place on the Council. None would immediately know how much damage this defective gate had caused until later.

Unfortunately, the many human factions made the aliens nervous and led to a secret distrust of humanity. One thing would be kept from the new member race: the probe data of all of the stars. Probe missions and the data from them would be stricken from the official records and relayed in secret sessions. If the stalemate of the Council was ever broken, then it is better to have many blind human opponents than many human opponents who can see. And human experience with interstellar probes was far, far too limited for everything but a very few light years away.

Nearly ten years of a six race Council followed. In what was apparently true to the spirit of the Council, humanity thought it knew all of the secrets of the other races and all the other races definitely knew of human scientific advancement shortly after it happened as the the major governments of Earth regularly sent research data in good faith to other five races.

It was the spring of 2177. A corporation on the lunar colony of Europa called Freedom To Innovate, Inc., had been studying the gate and its strange properties. The corporation has developed radical new theories of interstellar travel based upon the gate. Like good corporate citizens, they attached the plans for the so-called hyperdrive onto the Euro's data package to be sent to the whole of the Council. No one ever had any need to censor the data before. Afterall, the human factions where determined as a group to live up to their word, so no one dared to interfere with the flow of scientific thought. But this was the data that would break the Council.

Part IV: A Council No More.

There was a stunning silence throughout the six star systems. Some maverick human scientists and engineers had released information into the public domain that would give anyone who has it the power to break the stalemate that the Council depended on. And now everyone had it. Colonizing the stars became possible. The five original members of the Council all had their own designs on colonization, and already had the probe data to implement the migration. The humans, alas, could build the ships, but would have to play catch-up due to their limited knowledge of the planets around other star systems.

All of the Council members, human factions included, were designing colony ships around the new hyperdrive. It was estimated that by early 2178, there would be a near simultaneous launch of colony ships and the land grab would be on. But there was also development of an exploration ship, survey ships that could map out large swaths of space in near real time instead of a probe data package that would take years to return and scan only a narrow path that a straight line pass on the way to a star system. The survey ships would also have facilities to fully analyze space phenomena in the field, without the delay of sending samples back to the homeworld. And the survey ships would be built with a very flexible design to allow both ease of repair and the addition of any advanced technology that the great unknown of space provided.

In what would be the final meeting of the Council, the hyperdrive and what would be done with it was the sole topic of discussion.

The Arcaens, as usual, had their balanced approach. Divide space into zones around each homeworld and allow colonization only within that zone. No one could interfere in another's zone.

The Altarian attitude was whoever gets to a planet first has sole juristiction, and everyone else should respect that claim.

The Torians would be relaxed, as usual, and be happy to grab whatever they could get nearby, but nobody had to fight over it.

The Yor attitude was that races could grab what they want, but one had better be ready to defend it. No one is going to be giving away planets, afterall, and so the Yor were not going to be shorted. Anyone interfering with the Yor would become slaves to the machines.

The Drengin were, of course, delighted. They had always disliked this restrictive stalemate anyway. Only the though of the other members of the Council uniting to totally destroy life on the Drengin homeworld had kept them in check. Now there would be no unity, and soon taking out one planet would not be mass extinction, but acceptable losses. They were going to colonize where they pleased and take what they pleased. If anyone did not like it, then total warfare would ensue.

Humanity could not speak as one voice to the Council. The Terran representative simply had to say that each faction of humanity had its own ideas and goals for colonization, and that the Terrans as a group would not be bound by any restrictions that the other races did not also agree to.

The bad blood of the last meeting led to drastic action over the next few months. Everyone was no longer a partner. But neither were they all enemies yet. There was nothing left to talk about and fear or delight of future war weighed heavily upon the members. The Torians were the first to dismantle their gate. They had been invaded and enslaved before and did not wish to leave the door open again. The rest followed suit in a manner of days. Sol's gate was closed as well.

The major powers of Earth held a summit to decide some rules of conduct at the end of the year 2177. There were not only five former alien allies to consider, but who knows who else is out there in the void. And the human factions would be bumping into each other in a fight for space if some guidelines were not set.

The first agreement was that the Sol system was a human sanctuary. No humans would war against other humans in the home system. Violators would be eliminated by the remaining factions. There was unanimous agreement on this point and no one ever dared to violate it as of the writing of this chronicle.

Second, space would be carved up into sections. Each faction would be assigned sections by lottery and cannot enroach on the sectors of others. Rapid exporation and expansion was necessary to combat the advantages of the five great aliens. This never got unanimous accord and was violated regularly, but there never was the dire threat of multi-lateral sanctions, either.

Third, Earth factions shall not attack the future colonies of other Earth factions. Disagreements about illegal settlements would be arbitrated by the United Nations. (Historical note: The UN of the 22nd century was as equally ineffective and powerless as the UN of the century before. There was frequent colonial warfare both for independence from Earth and other with factions seeking to expand their space empires.)

Fourth, alien interference in human affairs was to be limited. It was up to the individual factions to decide what course of war or diplomacy to take with the aliens when they were met again, but a growing alien menace that could threaten Earth would be dealt with by any faction(s) with the means to do so.

The second month of 2178 came and had proven the predictions about when the land grab would begin right. Every race and human faction launched colony ships and surveyors within days of each other.

Part V: New Places, New Faces.

Meanwhile, an independent research outpost on Mars under United Nations control revealed the plans for a powerful new space construction platform: the constructor. Unlike current in system methods of base construction, the constructor had a hyperdrive and was a truly gigantic freighter that carried an immense load of materials and a crew of hundreds to build gigantic structures in space and man them upon completion. Each constructor was designed to be self-sufficient, eventually sacrificing itself to become parts for the space station. Also at the research station was a freshly completed survey ship designed to be a test bed for making the current design even more modular and upgradable, the XS-2. A pilot with a shady record attached to the security detail steals this ship and eventually becomes the most feared space pirate of all. But, for now, history has little interest in this renegade Pilot.

Human and alien alike were in a frenzied land grab throughout the remainder of 2178. The aliens had the advantage, using their vast collection of probe data that was not shared with humanity. The human factions, even though not united, had fearsome industrial capability. The shipyards of all the major factions were turning out colony ships and newly designed scout vessels in large amounts.

The ships of humanity started ranging far and wide in all directions, and new colonies sprouted up quickly. While the Earth factions were busy playing blind man's bluff in their still small realms in the galactic sandbox, the original five aliens members of the former Council now knew something was amiss. Alien colony ships ran into inhabited worlds that the probe data of years before had shown to be unoccupied. And these worlds were not always inhabited by the other former Council members, known lesser civilizations or humans. Worse yet, new stars lit the sky. The old star charts were no longer accurate. The Newcomers had arrived.

The first incudent occurs when a Yor colony ship goes to an "unpopulated" system called Gamma Hydra. The intelligent machines are busy making their first pass around a promising planet to find optimal landing sights when they are intercepted by a large warship. The Yor are in shock. Warships this large had been built before, but none with a hyperdrive. And, worse yet, video communications from the vessel reveal it is crewed by either Altarians or humans! Some tense negotiation follow. The interceptors do not know what either a human or Altarian is, they claim. All they know is that this is their planet now ever since their armed battle station got ripped away from its deep space recon point and plunged into orbit around a strange, new world. The Yor realize that there is a huge fortress of a space station slowly coming around the planet to back up the warship and manage to run for their lives. Later, these human look-alikes would be called Gamma Squad. The warship is what the Gammas call a Ranger. The Yor and Gamma Squad would have many skirmishes later.

Another incident occurs in a newly discovered star system, now called the Tolkien system, when a Torian survey ship sends an away team down to a planet via shuttle to investigate some anomolous readings. The team discovers several new races, two of the more notable ones are called Elves and Hobbits. But there also appears to be humans among them. Tensions are high, but one of the apparent humans explains that he is not familiar with this planet Earth that the Torians keep talking about. One day, he explains, the stars in the sky just changed. The Torians, being an advanced race with incredible scientific equipment aboard their survey ship, quickly determine that this is not a human or an Altarian. But another look-alike variant. It seems that the Tolkien system is a transplant from another dimension! The human gate must have been faulty. Even though it is obviously dismantled now, its activation has caused a merging of at least two dimensions, a totally unforseen side effect! The other former Council members quickly learn this from communications intercepts, and now all know that things have been forever changed.

The residents of Middle Earth (as the Torians are told is the name of this land) display a unique ability to harness energy to do feats that defy explanation. This is called magic by the locals. Unknown to the Torians, the ruling council of this land, the Fellowship of the Ring, has a scrying device called a palantir, and what they learn through this device would be invaluable to the Fellowship. For the Fellowship also has small scale planet-based magical gates that can transport small groups to other places. The palantir will be used to scry locations in this strange new space to see if it is valid, and then talented magi will teleport to the new planet with materials to build a new gate, so that those with less affinity toward magic can travel, and the Fellowship can then exert influence over the new planet. Thus, the Fellowship of the Ring will become a mighty empire one day.

There was a third incident. The Drengin had already met some fledgeling Arcaen and Altarian colonies. They had also already met some of the so-called lesser civilzations in person for the first time. Resources were being extorted from all of them and life was good for the very militant Drengin, whose attitude was "pay us or we attack, just as we promised we would do if the stalemate was ever broken." That was until they sent a scout to check out one of these new stars. It turns out that the Coruscant system housed an advanced, starfaring culture that was very confused in its new surroundings. Once a part of a vast empire, they were ripped away from their home dimension, one lone system in the sea of the unknown.

Master Yoda, from a heretofore unknown race of small, green beings, comments, "Violent, they are. Strong is the Dark Side in them," as the intruders are scanned. The Drengin make their usual pitch: pay us or be conquered. Little did the Drengin know that the Jedi were mystical warriors who used the power of a strange energy known as the Force to do their bidding. The scout was captured and the crew studied. In little time at all, the Drengin records on the scout were revealing star charts and Drengin colonies that the space-faring Jedi could use. An army of the Jedi Republic would colonize nearby systems and cleanse the dark stain of the Drengin from the surrounding star systems. And, worse yet, there were more human-like beings among the residents of Coruscant.

Part VI: The Aliens Strike Back.

2179 was proving to be a very interesting year so far. The espionage networks of all the major races were abuzz with news of incidents with the Newcomers and the various disputes over colonies. There were now wars between the various alien members of the former Council both with each other and with newcomers over colonies. It had been by mostly luck that no human factions had yet started to war with any aliens and the disputes over colonies between humans had been minimal. This all changed very quickly.

The Canadian Federation had become the Canadian Star Federation (CSF) after grabbing a pair of colonies. The fledgeling empire felt like it was losing to the other human factions and good colony space was at a premium. The zone of control system had already been basically abandoned, and a few felt it would be necessary to take other colonies by force, although they were human ones. The CSF had been building transports just for this purpose. And, to project the will and might of the empire, the great battle ship CSF Niobe had been built in secret. It was fitted with a cutting edge prototype hyperdrive to make it the fastest ship known, but had never seen space trials in interstellar space yet. Just as CSF command was agonizing over which human colonies to attack and when, scouts had found a nice nearby star system and the CSF was in a position ahead of the other humans to get there first. The Canadians see a Torian colony ship take the Lugosi system right from under them. Now it was a simple choice: do not attack fellow humans at all. Take the Torian colony at Lugosi using the invasion transports and the new Niobe. Lugosi was virtually undefended, but the Niobe was overdue. The invasion fleet had to act fast before effective defenses could be mounted, so the invasion was on.

The CSF now had the system and a de facto war with the Torians. Within a month of the invasion, rumors of a ghost ship emerged. An eerie, white fog that can be seen, but not scanned engulfs the victim. Then a very battered and aged white ship bearing a red maple leaf passes in the fog. No sensors work, no communications, no bearings. That is the story that most survivors tell. The rest are victims, whose wrecked ships exit the fog with a crew that died a horrible death. Legend has it that the new hyperdrive malfunctioned, aging the ship and the crew past death itself. They are now the undead, seeking out the flesh of the living. In the years to come, many would try to use overwhelming firepower to destroy the Canadian Ghost Ship, but it disappears, only to reappear somewhere else. The ship never attacks fellow Canadians, whether they be Earthlings or Colonials. But when Canada needs it most dearly, the Ghost Ship will sail.

News of an invasion spread quickly among the human factions. The Torians were to exact their revenge on all human colonies nearby, whether they are Canadian or not. The European Alliance hastily built a Colonial Defense Force, an armada to keep the Torians and any opportunistic humans away from the Euro's vital trade colonies. But before an effective defense could be arranged between the CSF and the Euros, colonies fell to the Torians. The MWC was also feeling the Torian wrath, losing ground themselves. MWC Strategic Missile Command unleashed fearsome salvoes of destructive power from their silos on Earth. A fleet of missile cruisers was dispatched to further repel the Torian onslaught.

In this atmosphere of human-alien strife, the pilot who became pirate had been roaming space and the stolen XS-2 was growing large from exploring the mysteries of space. Pontius Bruin Pilot (PBP) needed a real crew. The good for nothing sailors on board could run the ship, but raiders they were not. PBP had been notching his cutlass on Torian blood before this little war, his philosophy was that all the aliens were bad for humanity. The only way to ensure survival was to stay on top of the aliens. Being weaker than they meant being at an alien's mercy. Use them, abuse them, crush them anyway you can, before the aliens crush you. That was his philosophy. The XS-2 was renamed the Doom, and the human-Torian war zone would prove to be valuable breeding grounds to pick up human raiders. Fellow humans could either join him or pay him tribute to "protect" them against the aliens. The pirates of GROSS quickly grew into a force to be reckoned with.

Part VII: Eternal Strife.

Human, alien, and Newcomer alike were engaged in many wars. The Torian menace was being beat back in only a matter of months, but falling Torian colonies only lead to more strife between humans to fill up the vacuum. A new cycle of violence had begun. With great powers like the MWC, the Euros, the CSF, and GROSS converged in such a small space, the major factions of humanity began fighting each other. The ANZAC empire resorted to guerilla warfare to grab territory of other factions in a campaign of terror and mayhem. To further cause trouble, the Fellowship had been infiltrating the area covertly, using their positive relations with the Torians as cover to move in the agents of the Fellowship through Torian space. The Torians themselves eventually plead for peace. What started as an eye for an eye because of a Canadian sneak attack would leave the Torians deaf, dumb, and blind. They resumed being the relaxed, easy-going aliens they used to be once the bad blood wore off, but the Fellowship was already in place amongst valuable sectors of human space.

Spying through a hidden dimensional portal, the Apolytons watched the destruction with delight. Many humans have found their way through various means to Apolyton Station over the years, a hidden self-sufficient base located in a pocket dimension. They are like hidden masters, interdimensional warriors who revel in both political and military strategy. The base has a dimensional nexus that can travel to many parallel dimensions, and the Apolytons individually have favorite dimensions they like to visit. Vast conflict between so many sides in this dimension drew a fair share of warlords who liked to fan the flames even more. Who knows how much strife could have been avoided if the Apolytons ignored our dimension. But, more chilling, who knows how much more strife would come if more Apolytons focused their attentions here.

But a new power was stirring. The mutant crisis in Australia had reached its zenith. A civil war could have started very soon, but three bold mutants discovered an underground cave somewhere in Australia. (Legend has it that it is in a cave under the cellar of a bar in Sydney, but that is probably just a ruse to throw people off.) In this cave was a strange circle. There were consoles on the wall. The three mutants struggled with the controls, trying to figure out the device. Soon, it payed off. The ring sprang to life as a gate of light. The three mutants boldly stepped into the ring, being either too drunk or too depressed about their lack of rights to care. They would appear on the planet Lepton. The people there had a prophecy that said the gate would once again come to life after the creators they called Precursors left, and beings of power would come through to reshape reality. Thus Freedom Force was born, bold heroes who would change the universe. They went back to Earth frequently to visit and to recruit more repressed mutants. Eventually, Freedom Force would become a mighty empire, protecting many planets.

So ends this very abridged history. The archives are notoriously difficult to pursue, being since that every side has there own version of history. It is time for others who can find hidden archives to help fill in the blanks, for those who seek knowledge to add to the compendium, no matter which race or faction they are from.

Ah, good, very good! Have to wait too long I did not... Request I have, [email protected] me asap with the final version for posting on the Site.. Thank you.

pretty good story. i like how the one part ended with a star wars reference then segues into "aliens strike back".

What can I say, Gerakken?

A first-rate job in such a short time and based on mostly incoherent discussions that we had in the middle of the night (it was day for me).

Let the Wars begin!

What war is being fought? Who is going all out against whom? Where does Gerakkan draw the line - that we all cross? Are all the themes allied?

Imperial Subplot I: The Jedi Republic

PART I: The First Meeting

After being contacted by the Drengin survey team, the Jedi Council held an emergency meeting.

"Hmm.. Proof this is, in a new place we are." Jedi Master Yoda said to begin the discussion.

"Yes, the Republic has much disorder ahead. The Council must be upheld" were Master Windu's thoughts.

"Does this mean war?" Obi-Wan asked of the council.

"Dark the future will be, that much is clear, but still uncertain. Always in motion the future is." Yoda replied grimly

"We must be prepared, whatever the outcome. I feel it is time to ask the senate to prepare for war." Plo Koon proclamed, his words made even more disparing due to his oxygen mask's speaker.

After the meeting concluded, one thing was certain, a new period of strife had been entered. If the rest of the races in this new place that the people of the Republic found themselves were as evil as the Drengin, an as of yet unmatched war of Dark vs Light was soon to come...

PART II: The Senate Statment

In the noisy senate chamber, Yoda stood, on a levetating platform in the center of the room.

NOK NOK NOK
The senate gradually quieted.

"Decided the Jedi Council has, that a new place we find ourselves in. Contact with a new race we already have, and Evil they seem to be. Unexpected this is, and unfortunate. Unfortunate that we must act. For our own protection, an army we must create. Alone, protect us no longer the Jedi can. Unless other races contact we do, fear the worst we must. Shrouded the future is, see it the Jedi cannot. The Dark Side clouds everything. Plead with you I do, to make the correct choice. A Dark time we have entered. For your time I thank you."

Stepping off the platform and walking out of the chamber to the pounding of the Senators, Master Yoda proceeds back to the Jedi Council. Younglings he has to train..

PART III: Start of the Clone Wars

After months of preparation, a Grand Army of the Republic has been completed. With their acompaning Combat Transports they march professionally on display. Frowning Master Yoda watches from his chambers as the procession goes by. After the display the thousands of troopers board their transports. Firing their massive Ion Particle engines, the transports lift-off into outer space...

Not long after all the transports reach orbital status, the order is given for their first confrontation. A signal from the Drengin Empire has proclamed that the Drengin's are going to send a strike force to conquer the Coruscont system. The Senate has ordered the transports to make a pre-emptive strike on one of the nearby Drengin systems, the first battle of the Clone Wars has begun..

PART IV: A New Hope
In the Jedi Council Obi-Wan and Master Windu discuss the battle that occured the day before.

"Well, at least we were vitorious, we will be safe for a little longer. Those troopers showed their abilities in that battle. This is good news."

Yoda has been listening from his seat. He interupts their conversation at this.

"Victory??? Victory you say? Master Obi, no victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Begun the Clone Wars have."

After this Qui-Gong enters the room.

"Master Yoda, I have just recieved word that another Empire has been discovered in this new system." He explains excitedly.

"Already expecting this news I have been, felt it last night I did. In this galaxy, exist good does."

"Yes, well the new people call themselves the.." Yoda interupts Qui-Gong midsentence.
"Federation of the Ring."

"Um, yes Master Yoda that is correct. They are led by a one R.." Again Yoda finishes the sentence for Qui-Gong

"Ray, Ray the Wonderer"

"I'm sorry Master Yoda, I know your senses with the force are strong, but how could you kno..."

"Spoken with him I have.. Strong with the force they are. Communicate throught the force with him I did, explaned some he has. Good his people are, but like here Evil exists on his home. Going to meet with him I am. Hopefully, good news I will bring with my return." And with that Yoda left the room bound for his Jedi Starfighter.


To Be Continued......
[Message Edited]

The plot has been left open-ended deliberately to solicit the greatest creativity from our writers, Gengsta.

I believe The Newcomers and the Humans have not met. This leaves us with a lot of flexbility.

Maybe some Rules of Engagement are appropriate.

As for story writing, may I propose the following?

If you would like to continue your own plot with a follow-up story, put in the words "To be Continued" at the end of your post else anyone should be allowed to continue your story from there.

Oh yes do continue these, Gerrakken wonderful storytelling. Makes me want to take back calling you a Bothan Spy on our thread....naaaahhh Keep up the great work guys...look forward to reading more from everybody.

Ok here it comes, my latest installment in the SW JR Triligy...


Imperial Subplot II: The Jedi Republic Meets The Fellowship

PART I: Tolkien

Dropping out of hyperspace, Yoda disengages the hyperdrive unit off of his Jedi Starfighter and proceeds towards the Tolkien system.

"Hm! Ugly this planet is... Live on the surface one could not..."

Beginning the landing process, Yoda is contacted by someone on the planet....

"Master Yoda, welcome to Tolkien, please make your way into the nearby hole."

Being mindful of his thoughts Master Yoda was able to track where the voice was coming from. There he found a large gaping hole, with light emiting out of it. Taking a last look at the baren waste-land around him, Yoda decides to descend further into the planet.

PART II: Middle Earth

After dropping some way towards the planet core, in Yoda's Jedi Starfighter some strange readings begin to appear.

"Hmm.. Strange this is. Land there is down here, and light."

Not a moment before Yoda emerged from the cavernous hole, the unknown voice returned.

"Good! You made it I see. Such strange craft your operate... In the Village I am, next to the Shire."

Yoda, not knowing where either of the two locations are, decides simply to follow the Force trail of the voice.

Surveying the land-scape, filled with lush forests, Yoda notices an immense volcano in the distance...

"Hmm.. Strong is the Dark Side here. Pain, Suffering can I feel has happened. Like many voices cried out in terror, and silenced forever they were..."

Yoda finally finds a suitable landing locations and brings down his Starfighter.
Stepping off, Yoda sees two pointy ears in the distance behind some bushes.

Yoda reached into his coat and placed his hand on his lightsaber.
"Out with you. Now, out out."

Stepping out of the bushes stood a little being not much larger than Yoda himself. It looked similar to Humans, but had pointy ears and a rather small stature.

"Greetings friend, I'm glad you could make it!"

Yoda relaxed and could feel good in this being.

"Welcome to my home, Yoda, welcome to Middle Earth!"

To Be Continued by a member of the Fellowship...
[Message Edited]

The Legend of the Precursors Subplot
THIS LEGEND IS SIMPLY THAT A LEGEND, NO ONE CAN CONFIRM ITS TRUTH AND IT MIGHT HAVE NO BASIS IN META-REALITY.

Thindor IV was a cool world whose harsh, dry landscape whose low humidity was well suited to the mechanical Yor Collective. This world was at the heart of their empire and CypherPax knew that he must be careful for the Yor would not treat even well if he was caught violating a sacred site. The sky was gradually turning from red to purple as the sun set. CypherPax knew he must hurry or he would not have enough light to make the descent into the Valley of the Precursor.

CypherPax had arrived in the universe called the Metaverse years before when his ship had stumbled across a wormhole during a hyperspace jump. CypherPax had come to the Metaverse from a universe over 24,000 years in the future. In his reality, humans and settled over 20 million planets out of over 30 million habitable planets and they knew of millions more since only 1 in 12,000 stars held an habitable planet suitable for terraforming. In his universe, humans were the lone sentient species and he found aliens vaguely disturbing. If it were not for the galactic lens on his ship, Cypher would have believed himself in another galaxy.

CypherPax was a Psychohistorian. He and his associates could predict trends in human behavior by mathematically modeling the behavior of billions upon billions of people. His skills were largely useless in this new universe as there were not yet enough people and furthermore his discipline could not yet account for non-human behavior. His knowledge of history was worthless as well, because pre-history to him began well after the advent of hyperspace and interstellar colonization.

The sensor on his hover bike beeped in indication that the he was approaching the target coordinates, the so-called Vault of the Precursors. CypherPax wondered about the purpose of his mission as Psychohistory told him that the actions of any one person are meaningless in the context of humanity. However, the nature of this universe was beginning to make him doubt the validity of Psychohistory. After a lengthy search for a way home, CypherPax had been mentally contacted by a Pre-cursor with the name of Frogboy. The Precursor had only communicated the coordinates and the time and his identity. The date had been five years in the future and CypherPax had spent most of that time going from world to world assembling clues…

CypherPax was disturbed from his thoughts by the noise of approaching atmospheric craft. Certainly, they had detected his rental space ship and CypherPax would need to find another way off the planet. As he urged the hover bike down the mountain side and past several Yorian Monument Markers. He spent too much time dodging outcropping of rock to survey the site on the way down. He momentarily kicked the hover bike to a stop to survey the site. A valley contained a magnificent temple complex of huge metallic pyramids. At one end of the complex have a temple with massive columns and the only visible means of entrance. CypherPax headed toward it.

The hover bike hissed as it landed roughly on the rocky soil in 400 meters in front of the temple. All his electronics on the bike were dead. He realized that he was safe from the Yor for the time being as the viewed the Vault of the Precursors as sacred and had their superstitions of the place. He realized that perhaps there superstitions were founded as whatever caused the failure would likely be fatal to the Yor. For the first time, Cypher Pax doubted himself. His personal deflector shield had also stopped functioning and he was no longer invulernable to Yorian weaponry. How was he going to get out of here? He knew the Yor would soon be after him if they weren’t already.

CypherPax inched his way into an antechamber of the Temple of the Moon that clearly hadn’t been disturbed in thousands of years. Runes and etchings covered every inch of the metallic surface. After a few moments, the appointed time arrived and the image of a remarkably human Precursor stood before him. To his surprise, the projected image of the creature could communicate mentally as well. In the 7 years Cypher Pax had been in this universe, he had never needed to communicate in this fashion.

The Precursor confirmed that they were the creators or the metaverse and that they observed it but did not interfere directly. The Precursor communicated that he should be know to humankind as T-man and that human overlords could petition him with Metaverse problems. He didn’t promise a response. T-Man pulled a small silver metallic cube out of the floor and handled it to CypherPax. CypherPax was told that this box represented the salvation of humanity. The Precursor indicated that humans are destined to rule the galaxy as their successors, but that humans couldn’t know this or they would fight each other for supremacy instead. CypherPax nodded, once of the maxims of Psychohistory is that humans will always be in conflict and divide into factions.

CypherPax didn’t get a chance to ask any questions. The room went dark and then he found himself in a dimly lit room. The mysterious silver box moved of it’s own accord into what he quickly realized was a server bank of a server room. CypherPax stumbled out of the server room to find himself in the United Nations building on Earth. He would learn that the box extended the computers of the United Nations with a kind of sentience would eventually be the Metaverse Rankings, the Galactic Map, and most importantly the United Nations Forums.

Over the next couple of days, CypherPax realized why he had been picked by the Precursors to deliver the box. He was able to mentally adjust the minds of members of the United Nations to make them believe that the silver box was a device they created. So CypherPax was the willing to be a Pre-cursor pawn, at least in this instance. Earth fascinated him, as it was only a creation myth to his civilization, like the Garden of Eden was to the people of this time.

CypherPax realized that the Metaverse Rankings were a means to keep human factions from focusing outward instead of destroying each other. The Forums let overlords from the various factions communicate in a neutral manner. Rivalries would exist, but hopefully familiarity and open communication would prevent, or at least minimize, outright interracial wars. The Precursors, in their wisdom, established the Metaverse so that Overlords never competed head-to-head, but always competed on colonizing and conquering alien civilizations. The intent of human dominance was evident because military conquests were rewarded well ahead of other types of victory. An overlord was assigned a small chunk of the galaxy not occupied by other humans. The difficulty level on the space reflected relative position in the galaxy in regard to the overlord’s power base. A Cakewalk represented defense of core faction worlds. By facing a Normal challenge, an overlord was taking on a frontier assignment. The aliens were still a logistical disadvantage, but there was a lot to be said for claiming space that could be easily re-supplied and colonized. A challenging or tough assignment represented no-man’s land. An overlord who beat a maso assignment was actually taking core systems away from an alien race; very few overlords were up to this. The Metaverse Rankings rewarded consistent conquest and expansion of human dominion over the universe, more than difficulty of the assignment. This ensured that the focus was on the growth of influence of the human race. All factions revered the overlords who could handle the higher difficulty level assignments as heroes. These overlords frequently grumbled about the Metaverse scoring, but it was in the nature of any great general to be competitive. The Precursors system would prove effective because factions largely stopped fighting one another and focused on the conquest of the galaxy. Also, encouraging everyone to participate in the exploration and colonization effort trumped the formation of a small elite.

The Precursors had tried to put a mental block on CypherPax, but they were not used to trained minds such as his. His natural instinct as a Psychohistorian would have been to fade and observe events without participated. However, the Precursors made the rules in this universe and there interest was only in Overlords. He had discovered that the Precursors were secretly behind a holding company on Stardock and that all Overlords had to pay a fee to Stardock to be certified for command. Though it seemed illogical, his intuition told him that the continued presence of the Precursors at least partially depended on this registration. This caused CypherPax to shudder. Did these mean that this Metaverse would crumble if the Overlord system fell apart? CypherPax decided it was best to avoid this metaphysical question in the future.

The key to getting to this universe clearly depended on discovering more about the Precursors. Since they had showed interest the Overlords, he decided that he must become an Overlord to continue his quest. His mentalist skills made it easier for him to quickly rise though the ranks of a planetary militia and be promoted from Planetary General to Overlord Ensign.

Growing up in a world devoid of aliens, aliens made him uncomfortable. Furthermore, he found that Psychohistory had limited uses when aliens could be removed from the equations. He made a decision to take a commission in the GROSS Empire. This would be a perfect cover. He needed to blend in, or his skills would be useless. Since GROSS had another benefit as it was composed of ordinary men, he did not need to worry about discovery by the strange wizards, Jedi, and superheroes that populated this twisted universe. As long as he did not exercise his mentalist problems, there was little chance anyone would penetrate his mind shield accidentally.

CypherPax intuition told him that he was not a special case. Others must have knowledge of the Precursors. He would just have to find them. There was a cult devoted to CariElf. The Fellowship made his out to be a sort of high priestess. He was sure she was also a Precursor in disguise. However, with her following it would be impossible to approach her. He was certain that no Precursor would contact him again….

TO BE CONTINUED…

Completed, I have, The War of the Worlds website!!! Neat it is... On it you will find all that you read here in a nice web layout. Visit it you must at http://www.geocities.com/gc_war_of_the_worlds/

Moderator for the WotW site I am, and tell you writers this I must. If you wish for your story to be included in the WotW site, and it is appropriate for the story line (ie. stays in the plot lines for WotW, not Inner-Empire storys) please post it here or [email protected] me with your story and Empire.

Thank you

CariElf, a strange mystical planet in the universe. many empires have tried to capture:

* Sgt * Captain the strange planet they call CariElf is on the horizon!

* captain * Ready turbo phasers! set! mass drivers!( sweat dripping down from his forehead. DAZED AND CONFUSED by LED ZEPPLIN playing in the background. )

* captain * FIRE!

( Massive amounts of unbridled energy flashes over the planet! but not so much as a leaf is damaged. )

* Sgt * captain! there is a MAN sitting on a ROCK in SPACE!

* captain * That man may be some type of sentinel for that planet!? Fire on him!

( The smoke clears and the man slowly lifts his head up! )

* MM77 * Greetings Captain Crew, you have a long hard battle ahead of you. rest your crew on our planet.(He smiles)

* captain * What type the witchcraft is this who ARE YOU!

* MM77 * I am president of CariElf. (As he speaks they appear on CariElf)

* captain * DEMON how did you do that! I demand..............( Slowly the captain loses track of reality and find some himself in a euphoric mood.) What's happening I feel GREAT!

* MM77 * That's because you're near our goddess VISCOUNTESS CariElf. come to the gathering room some call it the CariElf fan club.

( the captain sees members of many warring empires laughing and drinking have been a great time and feels compelled to join IN! )

* MM77 * The CariElf fan club is a place on CariElf where people from all empires come together let their hair down and have a good time and give praise to our VISCOUNTESS. All are welcome. The CariElf fan club has been very innovative and is said to be the seed that's started the ongoing stories in the forums. Members have left the CariElf fan Club to spread out new stories and tales of wonderful adventures, As you will! But they all come back from time to time to pay their respects. And recharged for new stories and concepts! And just to bonds with their G.C. family! we are all just one FAMILY.

( MM77 Rambles on to say the CariElf fan club is always there when you needed it. You may not always see it because of its mystical powers, BUT it will always be there, PLANET CariElf. And with that the captain appeared in space on his ship with his crew with no trace of CariElf.)

[Message Edited]
[Message Edited]

Someone's mom must be cleaning up after her son.

KitWarrior, shessssh don't squeal.......lol..he..he..

LOL

Here is a parallel story to my latest subplot...

Imperial Subplot II, Parallel Story: The Evil Within

PART I: Aftermath
Because Master Yoda had left Coruscant in search of Ray the Wanderer, Senior Counciler Master Windu took over in place of Yoda.

Walking into the council chamber, a protocal droid brought important news to the Senior Counciler.

"Master Windu..."
Opening his eyes, interupted from his meditation, Master Windu stole an irritated glance at the droid in front of him.

A large freighter passed the Jedi Temple by the Council Chamber's large panoramic windows as the droid began to speak.

"Excuse me Master Windu, but we have made contact with another alien race." the droid described tentativly.

"I must report to the intel department immediately."
Master Windu rose and walked past the droid and headed off towards the Intelligence Devision.

MEANWHILE ON THE PLANET GEONEESIA

Master Jinn and his apprentice Knight Kenobi were on assignment on the former Drengin controlled planet of Geoneesia. The battle that had ensued days prior had left its scars. In an overwhelming first victory for the Republic forces, the entire Drengin devision on the planet had been wiped out. From the point of the first shot that was fired, a Republic blockade of the planet prevented the escape of any Drengin ships. The Evil Drengins were mercilessly cleansed from the planet.

"Master, look at this!" Obi-Wan called to his master.

"What is it Obi?"
Qui-Gong walked over to where Obi-Wan was holding a small circular disk.

"Its some sort of..." As Obi-Wan was speaking, he activated some sort of hologram.

Both Jedi gasped at the sight of the hologram. The disk displayed the plans for some sort of space station.

"We should get this back to Coruscant immediatly for analyzation."

PART II: You Learn Something Everyday

"Welcome Master Windu, we have made contact with an alien race that calls themselves the Altarians. They have a striking resemblance to the Humans here on Coruscant."

"Hmm, this is interesting. Perhaps its not so strange here after all." Windu replyed, looking at the holomonitor in front of the Intelligence officer.

"We have been able to decipher their language and have learned quite a bit in talking with them. They seem friendly enough."

"We shall see."

Another Intel officer walked up to Master Windu.
"Sir, allow me to fill you in on what we have learned.
So far, the Altarian representative we have communicated with has told us that there are six major governments in the galaxy that are in a struggle for power. Aparantly, there is a government that is headed by humans..."

"Humans??? How could that be so?"

"We aren't sure of that yet sir, but it is possible that we are in an alternate reality. Or we could have been transported back in time to the early days of Humanitie's days in space, we just don't know yet sir. But, from what we have learned from the Altarians, the major races are the Humans, Drengins who we already met, Yor, Arceans, Torians, and themselves the Altarians. The governments seem to be feuding over territory all around and a great intergalactic war has broken out."

"Well this does clear much of the fog. I only wish Master Yoda was here now..."

Bursting into the Intelligence Department came Jinn and Kenobi, demanding that the disk be analyized immediatly.

"Yes sir, we will get someone on it right away."

"Hello, Master Windu, what brings you here?" Jinn questioned of Windu.

"Ah, Kenobi, Jinn, come here. I have just learned something very interesting..."

PART III: That's No Moon...

Master Windu had updated Jinn and Kenobi by the time the analyzation of the disk was complete.

"Master Jinn, we have completed analyzing your disk."

The small group of Jedi turned, listening intently to the officer's report.

"It seems the disk that you brought contained the plans for some sort of massive battlestation. The plans within the disk are very extensive and our initial estimates have indicated that a completed station, by these designs, would have enough firepower to destroy a star."

"Hmm, so Master Yoda was correct, the Drengin are evil."

"Theres more Master Windu, further analyization of the plans has indicated that these "Terrorstars" as the plans state them to be called, would be extremely difficult if not impossible to destroy. Therefor, the only way we see to protect ourselves from them is to make a pre-emptive stike on the uncompleted station."

"This is bad news, bad news indeed. But something tells me that we will be ok..."

And with that the Jedi left the Intelligence building and went to meditate on the events of the day further.

To Be Continued...

[Message Edited]

Repost this I thought I would, the WotW website is here, http://www.geocities.com/gc_war_of_the_worlds/

War of the Worlds

The Freedom Force heroes gathered outside a small military complex on Iversonia. The Rainbow Serpent has obtained intelligence that a crystal of great power was being kept here under guard, although the exact nature of this crystal was unknown. Cautiously, they made their way inside.

Wombat looked at Bakka: "Bakka - give us a scan of the base."
Bakka's super bat sonar went into action. "Well, there's a crowd of Drengin guards just around the corner, and a couple of Yor servants in the hall just past them. There's also an area beyond that's kind of hard to scan...not sure...if that crystal's anywhere - that's where it'll be."

Wombat glanced around the corner, taking in the four fearsome guards...he stepped around the corner, pointed at the guards, and a low crooning voice erupted:
In the jungle
The mighty jungle
The lion sleeps tonight....

The Drengin fell forward, snoring gently.

The group made their way past the sleeping guards and came face to face with the Yor. Suddenly, Hurley cartwheeled towards them, and bouncing off the wall, his flippers moved like lightning at the nearest Yor - Pow! Thwack! Splat! The towering Yor crumpled.

Hurley smoothed a feather back into place. "I like my Yor shaken, not stirred", said the penguin coolly.

During the commotion, Drop Bear used his sharp claws to climb up the wall and across the ceiling, right above the other Yor. The others smiled...they knew what was coming. Drop Bear gave a small burp, the Yor looked up, and....

"Ewwww..." said Bakka.

The group raced to the far end of the small complex. Surprisingly, the main doors were unguarded. Entering the last door at the end of the corridor, ajm peered into the darkness and exclaimed: My God....it's full of beer!"

Drop Bear wrinkled his nose and peered in. "Hmm...it's Budweiser....none of the good stuff...not that these uncultured heathens understands the mellow beauty of a fine red...but wait - someone dropped a napkin here - this reads: Courtesy of the Frozen Icicle, best cantina on Palain Seven."

Wombat examined the napkin. "Looks like we picked the wrong week to give up amphetamines. Leave the beer - although I still can't work out why the Drengin and Yor are allied here, or how they got a hold of this weak American beer. To the Avatar - and to Palain Seven!"

TO BE CONTINUED

The War of the Worlds
The Freedom Force Avatar bored a hole in the ether heading for Palain Seven. A sensor alert flashed on the main console, and Hurley looked up from his favourite DVD, Kung Pow: Way of the Penguin. "Hey guys - ship on our screens - unknown configuration."

Drop Bear moved across to the comm station. "Hailing unidentified vessel at mark 2.47 - identify yourself"

A crackling static, followed by several strange clicks, and then:

"This is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise."

The heroes looked at each other."Nahh...no way!" said Bakka.

"I repeat: this is Captain James T. Kirk of the USS Enterprise. Our five year mission to explore new..."
"Yes, yes, we know" interrupted Slitherin. "But what on earth are you doing here?"

"Our ship was catapulted into a wormhole while fighting the Borg. We tried to reconfigure the main deflector dish by hooking it up in parallel with Spock's ears, but blew ourselves up. We time travelled back five minutes to correct our mistake and were nearly on the verge of destruction when Uhura handed out these neat cookies and everything seemed all right after that."

ajm glanced around the command deck and rolled his eyes."Okaaaay....right then....what do you plan to do now?"

"Spock here, strange thing, Jim...fascinating...."
"What's fascinating, Spock?"
"Your ass, Jim...I've always admired it..."
"Spock, you inhuman monster, I thought it was Bones you fancied...and I always felt I looked better in blue..."

Drop Bear flicked off the comm switch. "Hurley - full blast for Palain Seven - now!"

"What was that all about?" asked ajm
"Life, mate - but not as we know it." replied Drop Bear, sighing.

Palain Seven lived up to its publicity as a frozen iceball in space. Settlements were few, and the Frozen Icicle was relatively easy to find. The heroes discussed their approach. "We need a distraction while I search the cantina." muttered Wombat. He glanced over at the Rainbow Serpent's glittering coils. "You look the part for a disco - we'll go down together; you keep 'em busy while I sniff around."

TO BE CONTINUED