Falling apart this is...

No worries, all such initiatives are fun. If the consensus is that it is no longer fun, it will die a natural death.

Yoda, let's evaluate whether the themes vs locals are still workable. Can you tabulate the respective scores for the two teams?

In a moment, I am still thrilled over our new site!

http://www.angelfire.com/theforce/jedi_republic

Sorry just couldn't resist a free ad! LOL

TOP TEN EMPIRE SCORES ONLY:

Theme: 2481288.7
Local.:195462.8

Its quite do-able, but the Locals are a bit behind if we were to start it up right now.

Gerakken is not dead, so there will be more parts from me in the near future. It has just been one of those weekends so far. But now for some explanation.

The main chapters are my domain to establish an overall framework, but they are left very open ended for the reason of allowing and encouraging subplots. This does not make subplots inferior. Subplots may very well sway the whole story arc at sometime after a certain point. I am just not through setting up all the players and the most compelling events yet. I blame myself for this, for both not being fast enough of a writer for WotW and for allowing misunderstanding jeopardize the whole project. There is a point in my story where there will be theme vs. locality mayhem on a major scale, but I have not reached that point yet. So far, there has only been a limited proxy war between the locality ANZAC empire and now defunct theme based Freedom Force empire via the Yor starting in Part VIII.

My method has been a long term, open ended approach primarily for two reasons: one, to encourage more writers to jump on board and write subplots, and, two, my belief that the journey is sometimes more important than the destination. I could have very well made this a sort of "Chapter One, these are the humans of Sol and their colonies. Chapter Two, this is everyone else who is not, including Council aliens, minor races, break-off humans, and Newcomers. Chapter Three, they all fight, fight, fight." But I think that approach does a disservive to the Galciv empiring community. I have carefully tried to balance a couple of themes here in my efforts to highlight many of the various empires on the Metaverse and the rapid changes that can take place in some of those empires and to craft an overall storyline that fit the Galciv universe and timeline even with the various flavors of empires ranging from bland to utterly exotic. (Tell me where else can dastardly space pirates, magical races, and Star Wars all fit into one place, not too mention the other various empires with their flavors.)

There is also a second part to this project, and that is some kind of direct scoring competition between the locality and theme empires. I am not involved in that part, but it can be implemented at any time I would think by Ray, Master Yoda, and anyone else that gets involved in that part. I do not know the details there and how that will turn out. I am just the main chapter writer.

I was trying to do the best I could before with the main chapters, and I will try again. In the end, that is all I can offer. I am sorry if there was any disappointment or misunderstanding.

No apology necessary. It's your project - you do what you like with it. Since it's your project, it's your timetable too. I felt the instruction to "follow the rules or be moderated" - which were never actually discussed, although Ray obviously feels 'unwritten' ones existed - were heavy handed for a bunch of gamers just contributing for fun.

Thus, I am going to take Ray's advice and press on and enjoy my writing, elsewhere. Good luck to you. Cheers.

Part XI: Journey Through the Badlands.

South of Sol was a wild frontier. The initial surveys of the area in 2178 were limited, and the major factions of Sol all went in other directions where there were definitely habitable systems that could be exploited rather than taking any chances with fishing expeditions trying to find something worthwhile farther out. But a few brave explorers perservered and opened the way to a land that soon brimmed with small outposts of miners, smugglers, small time pirates, and petty warlords. This was the new New World, where any who disagreed with the status quo in the Sol system could come if they were brave enough to handle the dangerous journey and then live in a rough neighborhood.

The hearty pioneers ran into the Arceans soon enough. Luckily, the practical aliens saw the wild frontier as a very lucrative business opportunity and quickly established fairly good relations with the various outposts rather than attempting to use their superior might to conquer the new arrivals. Many Arcean starbases soon dotted the frontier. The settlers appreciated the markets, tourist attractions, and space dock facilities that lended a sense of real civilization that was otherwise seen as lacking in the frontier, while the Arceans valued the bases as long rage observation posts to house sections of their massive espionage division.

Trade flourished between the Arceans and the settlers, both legal and illicit. But the Arceans had things in hand. Small time pirate gangs were paid to raid other ships and let Arcean ships pass freely. Warlords who overstepped their bounds by launching any unapproved actions deemed negative to Arcean interests were neutralized, while smugglers and miners could get good prices for their wares at Arcean markets. Smugglers in particular were favored by the alien benefactors, especially smugglers who would dare run the extremely long and hazardous trips to Sol and back to Arcean space with special, classified cargo. The brave Sol smugglers received a custom Arcean ship upgrade using parts that significantly enhanced speed and scanners for avoiding patrols at a vastly reduced cost. The only other condition to this special offer was a simple set of rules: don't ask, don't tell, and don't get caught. The Arceans always seemed to know when the rules were broken and moved swiftly to arrange either the extraction or the destruction of the offenders. Afterall, when a tracking and recording system was hidden in the custom engine systems, it is easy to know when the situation has been compromised. The Sol smugglers, however, had no idea about the hidden spy gear.

Unusual readings had been detected from the Sol system. At first, it was thought to be some kind of fluke, strange particle readings and radiation spikes caused by an ion storm or some kind of stellar event, but the readings never appeared outside the Sol system and every modified smuggler ship detected them on every run through Sol. Over time, the destinations of the smugglers were rearranged to pick up their sensitive cargo in other places to try and narrow down the readings: low orbit Earth stations, various Moon colonies, Mars, and even the newer mining outposts in the asteroid belt. Soon the source was revealed: the site of the dismantled gate that previously malfunctioned and caused the Newcomers to be pulled in from another dimension.

Arcean scientists analyzed the data and concluded that the dimensional collapse was still continuing, but at a vastly reduced rate for now. Despite the reduced rate, more Newcomers could arrive at any time and land anywhere. Worse yet, there may be more than one other dimension collapsing into this one. There was no way to know for sure with the limited knowledge available and from the known Newcomer accounts. The Newcomers may have came from the same dimension, but were widely separated there and had no contact with each other before arriving here, or they could all have come from totally separate dimensions. The strange readings from the former gate were evidence of a weak spot where the dimensional barrier was particularly thin.

The Arcean espionage branch wasted no time in doing its duty for the sake of science and the budget. Double agents quickly sold the data to anyone who could buy it. The leaders of Sol graciously bought the data, but a few of them had already known about the strange properties of the former gate site. Secret research was already under way to stem the leak, and it was always good to have outside intelligence to varify one's own findings. Maybe the hole could be filled and the problem solved, or maybe the rate could be reduced even more. The doomsayers in the project theorized that the weak spot could be overloaded by either natural or unnatural events and could end up disgorging a huge flow extra-dimensional material right into the Sol system, forever altering the whole system, if not destroying Sol itself outright. For the good of the ancestral homeland of humanity, the hole had to be fixed.

Although the inhabitants of Sol and their misplaced settlers on the southern frontier were a source of endless fascination to the rational, profit-minded Arceans, another matter had to be resolved elsewhere. A matter far more personal to the Arceans.

Damn, good work guys I'm loving it. It took me almost a week to read through it, but I enjoyed it. Let me know, will the Terran Federation get their own subplot?

-Dark

P.S. Keep it up.
[Message Edited]

It depends on YOU, Dark !

Come in and join us. Get the Terrans to write the sub-plots for your Empire.

I would love to read about the shadowly deeds of the Dark Assassin.

I'm going start writing it, but it's up to Sarcasto if he wants to have it in.

I would love to tell you of my dark adventures in the Metaverse. LoL

-Dark

That's great, Dark!

The purpose of this adventure is to draw out more participation from our Empires.

Looking forward to contributions from the Terran Federation.

Hmm.. I'v been wanting to do one of these for a while, and since in WotW we are supposed to be "newcomers from a different place" I thought this would be the perfect place for it. This isn't a story (or a subplot, I've taken a leave of absence from that duty) its just an intro/background of my Emp. (NOTE, the Main Story segment PART XI, written by myself is to be ignored, and transplanted into this thought.)


A Brief History of the JEDI REPUBLIC; PART I

The Jedi Republic, an ancient civilization with ties back to the very beginnings of space-faring civilization, continues to flourish. Founded over 8000 GSY (Galactic Standard Years) ago, the Jedi Republic was originally known as the Republic. The Republic, as it were back in its prime, was an aristocratic governmental system that held tremendous power. Its influence stretched far and wide, and only those planets and star systems that fell in the Galactic Rim did not enjoy its benefits.
However, with power comes greed and corruption, and the Republic was doomed to failure if it could not resist the urge. Several times during its existance, the Republic was brought to its knees, nearing extinction. One such event began harmlessly enough, in the fields of Dantooine...

Alex Kenor was an adventurous young Jedi. Having been a Padawan for many years, Kenor was already quite skilled in the force. His time at the Jedi Training Enclave on Dantooine would soon come to an end and he would travel to Coruscant to serve the Jedi Council as a Knight. Often lectured to by his Master against such behavior, Kenor loved to explore the many caves and ancient monuments scattered about the landscape of Dantooine. On one such outing, Kenor stumbled upon an ancient door that he had not noticed before. Walking up to the large stone entrance, Kenor studied it extensively. The slab of dark grey rock was engraved with the intricate decals of a language long extinct. Kenor pressed his hand into the centerpiece of the structure, and to his surprise, it depressed under his hand. A slight rumbling sound was heard, and the door disappeared into the surrounding earth.

Stepping inside, Kenor found himself within a great cavernous expanse, a great hall of incredible proportions. Curiously continuing down the hall, Kenor was greeted by a small droid.

"Phraf Uah Phraf Uah" the droid proclaimed in an unintelligible ancient tongue.

"What I don't understand" Kenor replied to the three-legged droid that stood in-front of him.

The droid made a few beeping sounds and then tried again in a completely different language.

"Buab Fo Buab Fo" the droid said in the same manor as before.

"I'm sorry, I still don't understand you. What are you trying to say?" Kenor said with growing anxiousness.

"Basic Basic" the droid tried once again, finally analyzing Kenor's words enough to identify his language.

"Yes, I understand you. I speak Galactic Basic." Kenor replied to the droid, relieved to finally understand the droid.

"Welcome to back, you don't appear to be a builder." the droid said in its computerized tone.

"Builder? What are you talking about, the people who made this place?" Kenor inquired of the droid's odd welcome.

"Yes, the constructors of this monument. I have not been put to use in a long while."

"This is a monument? What is your purpose, how long have you been here?" Kenor had many questions to ask of this apparently ancient droid.

"I have been programmed to look over the great monument, should the builders return, I am programmed to greet them. Since I was activated, I have recorded approximately seven-thousand orbital rotations. This is the monument of the Great Builders, the leaders and rulers of the infinite Empire and masters of the Universe." the droid answered all Kenor's questions.

"Seven-thousand orbital rotations! Thats over fifty-thousand years!" Kenor spoke in disbelief.

"Your years do not compute, but yes I have recorded seven-thousand orbital rotations since my activation."

"Well, what are the Builders?"

"Er, the Great Builders are the leaders and rulers of the infinite Empire and masters of the Universe. This is a monument to their power." The droid repeated.

"Infinite Empire? That obviously doesn't exist anymore."

"The Great Builders, the leaders and rulers of the infinite Empire and masters of the Universe. I must remain and await their return. How may I serve you, slave?"

"Slave?!? I am no slave, I am a Jedi and I want to know what is in this place." Kenor said annoyed.

"You appear to be of the same race of those that the Builders used to build this place, I interacted with many of your kind during construction. All the slaves were executed after the completion of this monument. What you say must be true, you may not be a slave. However, I must still maintain my protocol, so how may I serve you?"

"I want to know what is in here."

"This is the monument to the Great Builders, it is a dedication to their infinite Empire and to the Star Forge. In here is the Star Map, and the great Hall.." Kenor interrupted the droid mid-speech and questioned of this Star Forge.

"ERR ERR, no entry in memory. I'm sorry, but I can't seem to find an answer to your inquiry. The Star Map is just past this hall, perhaps you can find what you seek inside. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No, thank you"

And with that Kenor walked past the ancient droid and continued down the hall. His steps echoed within the stone structure until he reached a door at the end of the hall. It was just like the one outside, and he placed his hand on the center feature. The door opened just as before and he stepped into the Star Map room.

Inside Kenor found a triangular black object. It appeared to be closed so Kenor searched for a way to activate it. In the center of the room there was a platform, right in front of the Star Map object. Kenor stepped on the platform and immediately the object went into motion. By splitting the sides into three triangular parts, the Star Map opened. After the sides had opened fully, a holographic image began to appear. The image grew clearer and finally displayed a 3D map of the entire galaxy.

PART TWO COMING SOON....

A Brief History of the JEDI REPUBLIC; PART II

With such a discovery, the baffled Jedi of that day set out on a hunt for information regarding this strange artifact, one that was hidden right under their noses..

But, more importantly, an intergalactic war was being fought at the time. Strangly enough, the leader of the opposing forces was a former Jedi. This particular Jedi had often fought in battles for the Republic, but after one such battle, he, and the entire fleet at his command, came back changed... This valient Jedi had fallen to the Dark Side.

Years of bloodshed ensued between the Republic and the minions of Darkness. The Jedi Council of the time was very strong, and thousands of Jedi from around the galaxy had been trained. The Jedi/Sith war raged on with even more intensity, a war started not out of greed, but rather a disagreement on ideals.

The Sith of this day like those found now were mearly the followers of an ideal, a Sith was originally a species, not a follower of a religion. Sith were not always twisted and evil, but rather a very proud race, a race with tremendous power. The Sith held a huge Empire, stretching even further than the Republic would years later. The source of their power was from a machine called the Star Forge, a massive "factory" that ran off of the incredible energy created by Stars.
The machine itself was like a living being, it craved power, and went to any lengths necessary to gain its indulgance. The Star Forge corrupted its users, and eventually those Sith came to be what we now know them as. The race that was the Sith finally realized the source of the corruption, and they cast the Star Forge deep into space. But, in doing so they destroyed the only thing keeping their massive and rebellious Empire in check. The ensuing civil war destroyed the remaining Sith, only those who had been corrupted survived, and thus the Sith lived on, no longer the grand race of their predecssors, but rather twisted and evil peoples, corrupted by their own thirst for power.

PART THREE COMING SOON...

Part XII: The Gray Lord.

In a region of space far, far to the southwest of Sol, on the western edge of Arcean space, a major problem emerged. The Alexians at the time of the Council were a minor civilization ruled by a theocracy of various priestly orders representing the many gods of the Alexian pantheon. They were once a minor race condemned to live on one star system without hyperdrive technology, never having a gate and isolated from the rest of their former alien contacts except for extremely slow radio transmissions that took years to travel the vast expanses of space. This was the fate of many minor races. Even if opportunistic visitors sold or otherwise provided hyperdrive technology, most of these minor civilizations stayed very close to home, never blossoming into full-blown empires.

Great changes happened among the ruling Alexian priests shortly after the Council dissolved and the minor civilizations were left out of the colonization race due to them lacking access to hyperdrive technology. A faction of priests following a once low ranking war god in the pantheon called Gray Lord overthrew the established order. Gray Lord was put on top of the pantheon and his priests were not content with staying in one star system. Somehow, the Alexians not only colonized and controlled several nearby star systems in short order with ships comparable to the Arcean's own designs, but the Alexian leaders also had use of advanced military and communications technology that they should in no way have been able to produce for themselves.

United under a theocratic government of war priests and now unable to find any more prime planets to colonize, the once minor civilization of the Alexians sought to expand by other means. The priests formed the League of Independent Worlds, the I-League, and assimilated new worlds through both persuasion and conquest. In the end, the only independence left on these new member worlds was in name only. The Gray Lord's minions ran a tight empire that used a very effective religious police force to maintain control. The I-League was now the size of some of the major empires.

The I-League had been underestimated by the Arceans. The normally impressive Arcean espionage network had a difficult time penetrating the security of the religious police. The I-League quickly took an Arcean system called Hysae. Some of the very few survivors who fled Hysae brought back holographic crystals containing religious lore taken from an Alexian priest who died during the invasion. Unlike normal religious scripture with vague references to events that happened in the distant past or made obscure predictions of an uncertain future, this media contained exacting details: pictures of the human proportioned Gray Lord dressed in his drab gray armor and flanged helmet, video of Gray Lord's frigate from past trips to visit the faithful and deliver his will, the exact dates, times, and places in very recent history that he visited, and every recorded word he had uttered to his flock during his visits. Gray Lord was no normal god who may or may not exist. To the Arceans, Gray Lord was a living, breathing being of great power that needed to be dealt with somehow. But they could not deal with him at that time, for the holographic crystals recorded Gray Lord mentioning the land of the gods was called Apolyton, and that there were many gods who spread the way of Apolyton to many races in many places.

The stunned Arceans had learned that the legends were true. The dimensional lords of Apolyton did indeed exist. And, worse yet, one was setting up shop right next door. The Arceans had learned well from the loss of Hysae and went to great effort to modernize their military. They could hold their own against this threat for now, but it would be better if others knew of the threat so that they could also think of ways to defeat the Lords of Apolyton. The massive Arcean intelligence network got to work. As some agents were selling data about Gray Lord and what little was known about Apolyton to anyone who could afford it, other teams were engaged in deep space recon, hoping to catch Gray Lord's frigate as it came or went without being caught themselves. It did not take long to get a sighting.

A small Arcean agent team hiding in a hollowed out asteroid in the I-League controlled Tiberius system caught Gray Lord's frigate arriving and eventually departing two days later after finishing whatever business he had planetside. The second team assigned to infiltrate the planet and shadow Gray Lord was never heard from again. But, despite the loss, the first team's data was invaluable. Normal hyperdrive ships appear to elongate and be sucked out of normal space when they go into hyperspace and appear to be sucked back into normal space at the end of the trip. Gray Lord's frigate just appeared in one spot, much like a wavy mirage slowly forming and then turning real. On his way out, he brought his ship to standstill and went from solid to wavy and then was gone. The visual readings were fascinating enough, but strange particle readings and radiation spikes were detected on other sensors. This was by no means a normal hyperdrive, and none of the other I-League ships displayed these characteristics. In fact, the readings were a small scale, short-term reproduction of the readings from Sol's gate site.

The implications of this discovery were stunning. The Sol gate site was potentially a giant dimension drive. What if it could be harnessed and the humans of Sol started using it to somehow make controlled jumps? If the ships of the Apolyton Lords can cross dimensions, who is to say that a variant of the same technology cannot be used to make much simpler instant trips to the same dimension? No planet of any empire would be safe in such a scenario.

Part XIII: The Vast Human Conspiracy.

At MAREF (MArs REsearch Facility), prototype ship designs were developed and tested by UN research teams. The true masters of the base and indeed the UN itself were none other than the Illuminati, a secret society buried in myth and legend who had worn many disguises over the centuries by taking over and using other groups to further their mysterious agenda. It had been very troubling when the XS-2 was stolen and the ensuing investigation brought unwanted attention to the UN, and thus could have compromised the hidden masters, as the stolen vessel became the mothership of the mightiest fleet of pirates to ever roam space. The empires of Earth were very powerful now after expanding into space and were starting to see agencies such as the UN and the minor nations of Earth as irrelevant, even nuissances to be absorbed or destroyed. In order to restore faith in the UN and get the more powerful empires of Earth off their backs to maintain their disguise, the Illuminati would share some of its best kept research secrets.

The Rapid Deployment Drones were initially designed for the purpose of exploring a hidden rift located at the former gate site of the Sol system. The powers of Earth had long known that the site was basically merging at least two parallel dimensions into this one. Illuminati-backed research teams had known about the unique readings of the rift for a long time before the Arceans did. After extensive research of the readings, a new drive technology was developed for the sole purpose of riding the rift. The RDD project was going to send something back through to the other side(s). The Model One series did succeed in going through the rift with the new dual drive system that merged a hyperdrive with the rift-riding module, but never reported back. No one knew where the drones went or even if they arrived intact. Instead of shooting in the dark, the lead research team decided that some kind of guidance system using a known set of landmarks could at least get the drones to arrive somewhere predictable. The answer was in the stars.

Each star emits certain wavelengths of radiation that, combined with other types of readings, can be as unique as a fingerprint. The Model Two series were calibrated to home in on specific stars in this dimension. This would exploit the rift's tendency to pull objects from the other side. The drone would come back to this dimension at a predictable spot a few seconds after it was sent through. The size of the drone was vastly increased to the size of true starships in order to armor the critical systems and aid in equipment survivability. The results were very promising. Despite heavy damage and an error rate of up to 5 parsecs, the Model 2 RDDs could effectively teleport to anywhere in the galaxy that was previously scanned up close with scout or survey craft to get reliable star readings.

From a scientific point of view, this did little to address the goal of exploring the other dimensions. Later on, in theory, blind trips to the other side by later RDD models could get data on the stars of the other dimension(s) and maybe one day exploration craft could map the other side using those fixed points of reference as navigation beacons. But the military applications of the current research were stunning and readily apparent. If the guidance system could be made more precise and if the rough ride through the rift could be less damaging, one could develop an instant invasion fleet that could quickly strike anyone anywhere. The greatests limitations of this ability being that one would have to launch the fleet from Sol through the rift and pilot it home at the normal speed of a hyperdrive.

At a UN secret assembly, Earth's top leaders gathered. While the empires of Earth did have different agendas and were in conflict with each other most of the time as much as they were with any alien or Newcomer, the UN negotiators made a compelling case for a top secret alliance to further develop this instant invasion capability and assure the dominance of humanity.

Once the aliens and Newcomers were subjugated, then the powers of Earth could find a way to divide the galaxy up amongst themselves. Until that time, a low level of internal conflict would still continue to keep everyone, including all but the highest officials of the empires in question, from even thinking something besides business as usual was afoot. It would be up to the leaders of the Earth empires involved in the conspiracy to control anything other than minor incidents and the occasional colony changing hands. Even without the instant invasion capability, this hidden agreement would give the children of Sol an advantage because there still would be unrestricted warfare with the Newcomers and aliens and only limited conflict with each other.

The leaders quickly saw the advantages of the agreement and accepted. This seemed to be one of those rare times the UN was able to offer something more than idealism. This plan could achieve human dominance and had already provided a solid foundation of results to build upon with the RDD project. Now the UN, and thus the Illuminati, had secured a future.

By the time the Arceans were selling data on Gray Lord and Apolyton, MAREF had developed the Model 3 RDD. This model incorporated new shielding technology and a refined guidance system that could get within one million kilometers of the target with almost no damage at all. Once incorporated into specially modified warships and transports, this could truly deliver an instant fleet to the target, for even a million kilometer mistarget could be crossed in minutes. Unless the defenders were already in-system and waiting, there would be no way to stop it. All that would be required now is enough funds and time to finalize the designs. Then there would be nowhere in the known galaxy that the aliens and Newcomers would be safe.

Part XIV: The Red Menace.

It had been a long war so far for the Jedi Republic. Progress was being made against the mighty Drengin empire, but not as much as the Jedi Council would have preferred. A swath had been cut through Drengin space, reaching the Altarian border and leaving a small part of the Drengin empire isolated. The Altarian cultural campaign, The Great Adoption, seemed to be ineffective against the Jedi, but the Jedi were facing similar difficulties trying to impress Altarians with Jedi culture. The Jedi had two immediate objectives in mind. They sought to enlarge the swath by taking everything in the cut-off fragment of the Drengin empire while holding steady against the Drengin on all other fronts, but another objective took greater priority.

Far, far away in a distant sector of space lies the new hope of the Jedi: trade and an eventual full alliance with the Fellowship. Initial contact was quickly established when Fellowship agents infiltrated Altarian space and ran into the Jedi bulge through Drengin territory. Unfortunately, trade routes through Altarian space to the Fellowship would prove difficult. Altarian space was tightly regulated and regularly patrolled. Suspicious ships, bases, and settlements were commonly destroyed on sight. Trading companies were required to follow strict licensing and customs protocol, and Altarian trade taxes were quite heavy. Unless the routes were sanctioned by the Altarian authorities, the hazards and losses of smuggling or paying exceedingly high tariffs and duties would make the routes unprofitable.

Luckily, there was an officially sanctioned organization fully licensed by the Altarian government to run low cost trade both to and through Altarian space. The Trade Federation was a conglomerate of merchant clans who would gladly set up profitable routes with both the Altarians and the Fellowship on the Jedi's behalf. Of course, besides monetary compensation, the Jedi Senate would also have to grant some political considerations to the Trade Federation, but the Jedi readily accepted the terms in order to gain several potentially lucrative trade routes.

Drengin were also presenting problems in other places. Their brutal foreign policy of extortion or war gave them an immense early advantage. The Torian and Altarian empires were paying large tributes to prevent Drengin aggression. While the Torians seem content to pay for the moment, their empire was still recovering from the war with the humans, the Altarians were beginning to build large fleets in secret.

When expanding through colonization was no longer feasable, adopted planets added to the might of their empire. They had no need to war with anyone else before, because the Drengin were the only enemies the Altarians wanted to crush. Paying the tribute had been a continuing insult, but a necessary one, a waiting game that was part of a plan: in the near future, so the Altarians thought, Drengin influence would irritate other empires, including the factions of Sol, and the Altarians would use their large fleets and their peaceful image to impress other empires and gain allies against the Drengin. The Drengin empire would be assaulted on several fronts and be torn to pieces. Then the overall situation could be reassessed as to who were now the biggest threats to the Altarian agenda.

Drengin tribute collectors had also been visiting the Yor. But the Yor had gained respect in the eyes of the Drengin. Crushing Freedom Force and then collecting tribute from ANZAC seemed like a class act to the Drengin, so the Yor were now no longer paying tribute. The Yor were establishing normal relations and trade with the Drengin. There was still a problem with Gamma Squad, but they did not seem to be making any significant gains against the Yor. The logical machines calculated that it was better to be in the favor of the Drengin than to be in their path, and the two races had an overall disdain to other races, seeing others as potential slaves to fuel their empires.

No human empires yet had the honor of being neighbors with the Drengin. The huge advantage the Council aliens had with their hidden star charts gave all five an immense initial lead over the children of Sol, while the Newcomers had to learn everything from scratch in their strange, new home. All the Council aliens except the Yor had giant empires that currently exceeded the scope of any human or Newcomer empire. But a corridor to human space was opened because of other events: The Torian empire was forced to retreat from one front under the combined weight of human warfare and Drengin tribute, and the Yor's growth was stunted over dealing with the technologically superior Gamma Squad and seeing to the elimination of Freedom Force, leaving them as the smallest of the Council alien empires. The Altarians never expanded in the direction of the human empires. Their colonization drive had limited funds due to paying Drengin tribute and they colonized in other directions, hoping the humans would fall prey to the Great Adoption.

The corridor between Torian, Altarian, and Yor space was filled soon enough. The MWC, seeing what looked like an easy expansion route, founded a colony in a system they named Destiny and found the Drengin nearby. Destiny turned out to be an ironic name, since it was now time for the Drengin to start affecting human destiny once again.

Terran Historical Archives 1-1: History of the Terran Federation

In the beginning there was man and it was good. Man believed he was alone, but that was far from the truth. There was a new beginning, a new era. Man, it seems, finally discovered that he was not the center of the universe.

When contact was first established between man and alien, there was a single man, a man who owned a business and a had a beautiful vision. He envisioned mankind as the destined rulers of the galaxy, a manifest destiny of sorts. He was a great leader, a powerful man with money and the will to use it, his name has become legendary in human history, and he was Sarcasto. His small business grew from making farming equipment to a large corporation making starcraft. His corporation grew from its humble roots into the largest such manufacturer on Earth.

When humans joined the galaxy in the council few saw the distrust brewing, Sarcasto saw the schism growing and used his influence to persuade other large corporations to formed a powerful multinational corporate bloc called the Terran Federation. The Terran Federation was powerful, so much so that it was called a faction in it’s own right, one of the Children of Sol.

When the council fell it was the Terran Federation with its massive starcraft production capabilities who first made it to the stars. The first step was to establish a research and production colony on Mars, one from which all other space ventures could easily be accomplished. For years small Terran Federation probes were sent out undetected by humanity’s many factions, giving the Federation a slight advantage. Thus Federation colony ships immediately targeted the best star systems, and the Federation was first out of the gate. The Federation amassed a large fleet consisting of scouts, colony ships, frigates and battle cruisers and set out to united the galaxy under the rightful human heirs.

It wasn’t long before the Federation met the Yor Collective. The Yor took a shining to the large corporation whose many armies primarily consisted of machines, direct communication was in progress and the two formed a healthy equilibrium with trade and territorial agreements.

The Federation became too much to bear for Sarcasto, so he searched far and wide to find the perfect people to fill a Council of Advisors. Sarcasto found his council. First, the great fleet commander Zentir, fill the Chief Military Advisor seat. Second, the evil but effective Dark Assassin took his place as Chief Affairs Advisor. Thirdly, the genius scientist Nico56 took his seat as Chief Scientific Advisor. Fourthly, the mysterious Mikhal filled the Chief Economic Advisor. Together the Council governed the Federation to become the foremost faction of Sol.

Galactic Expansion was limited for the Federation because of the Yor and other neighbors, so the Federation turned to the other factions. Sarcasto believed that humanity was destined to rule. He believed it so blindly that he was willing to share his knowledge in order to help the others succeed, a belief that would cost Sarcasto dearly.

i'm to new to know a detailed history of the ANZACs. was blue around from inception? maybe the POSSe 'n Fellowship can help? mmm, dunno.

:notsure:

War of the Worlds is all about writing stories about your faction. So give it a go, Steve. Write up a history for the ANZACs and your subsequent growth, expansion, wars or anything that suits your fancy.

Most of the "histories" are not entirely based on actual happenings on the Metaverse.

~SDC~

Time it was for the return of this forum... yes.

Now, perhaps, our creation live once again it will.

i'm in the process of making a web page for the anzacs... on it it will include ..

Who are the ANZACS
History of the ANZACS ..
( including links to Ture Historical Archives)
Fiction to bring it up to the year 2200+
Where and how the ANZACS fit into the Metaverse
Links to other empires pages
links to Galciv forum
etc... etc... etc...

etc... etc.. etc...

Part XV: Prelude To War

There was once a time where the only thing the children of Sol really knew about the Drengin was they were great for using in scary stories. In the Council years, contact with the Drengin homeworld had always been through diplomatic and scientific channels. While the Council's past historical records on Drengin catalogued a violent history of conquest, oppression, and slavery, the progressive, peaceful era of the Council had left the past in the past. No Council members spoke ill of another. But the era of the Council was now also in the past.

Human empires had no hard, first-hand information on the Drengin. The reports floating around various espionage agencies suggested that the Torians and Altarians were paying the Drengin for the sake of peace and that the Yor had slowly moved up in from being another tribute victim to being a favored Drengin trade partner. The Arcean Intelligence Agency's Galactic Military Protocol and Preparedness Guide listed the Drengin fleet as not only the most powerful, but one of the most technologically advanced in the galaxy. While most empires had started producing an ever increasing number of frigates to eventually replace their battle cruiser heavy fleets, the frigate fleets of the Drengin were starting to see true battleships come to the fore. The Drengin were rich with extorted credits and had an advanced military research program, but their research in other fields was lacking and Drengin infrastructure could not support large scale projects. This fortunate fact meant these large warships took a lot of time to produce. The slow ship building, relative complacency from tributes, and dealing with the Jedi problem were probably the reasons the Drengin had not already went on a rampage of conquest and destruction across most of the galaxy. This all threatened to change when Destiny, a new MWC colony on the edge of Drengin space, opened the door for direct contact with the most feared military power in the known galaxy.

As soon as the MWC realized there were Drengin around, they acted quickly. The Drengin were informed that the MWC had no intent to intrude into Drengin territory and that both sides should assume a neutral stance and keep an open mind about the future. Sadly, Drengin do not understand such diplomatic pleasantries. Their reply was the standard "Pay us or die." MWC diplomats had a tricky situation to deal with. War with the Drengin might be unavoidable in the future, but it would be very costly at present. Memories of the Torian War were fresh in the mind of the MWC. The CSF may have started that war, but the MWC was real helpful in taking some key Torian assets for themselves. While it was never anywhere near an alliance, as the humans were also fighting each other over Torian scraps, several Earth empires had in the past waged a simultaneous war pushing along several small fronts to erode a larger alien foe unable to fight them all at once. A large section of the Torian empire was pecked away piece by piece, eventually resulting in a peace settlement. The Drengin were reminded of that fact and that they could make themselves the next victim of a human free-for-all if push came to shove. The Drengin backed off for the moment. Tensions were still high however, as more Drengin ships started to patrol the border. There would be a form of neutrality for now, a diplomatic stalemate that both sides knew would soon erode even further if nothing changed.

While the MWC could have paid the Drengin off, that would seriously compromise them in light of the other empires of Earth. And, more importantly, the highest leaders of the MWC, part of the secret UN conspiracy, knew that the financial drain would jeopardize their part in the RDD project. It was better to make plans for an inevitable war with the Drengin, but going against the military superpower alone would be suicidal. If there was a time to build some sort of coalition, it was now. Diplomats of the MWC had already painted a picture of a multi-front human war scenario with the Drengin anyhow. It would be tragic if the Drengin called that bluff and there was no massive human free-for-all against the Drengin. The MWC representatives conducted high level meetings with both the CSF and the European Alliance. All three empires were competitors with each other on the surface, occasionally having border skirmishes and a rare colony changing hands. All three empires also had partaken in the Torian War earlier along with the pirates of GROSS. The pirates would not be relevant to this summit. They were far off on the borders of Altarian and Yor space and were seen as outcast criminals, de facto enemies of the three empires in question.

The MWC plan involved getting the CSF and Euros into position to be a credible threat to the Drengin. Right now, the other two empires had no direct route to the Drengin that did not involve going through at least one other empire's territory. Relying on Destiny alone to be the tip of the spear for a three empire assault into Drengin space was too risky. Too many resources would have to be spent holding onto the narrow Destiny chokepoint and if a vast Drengin armada could catch the three fleets together, they might be able to win the war in one battle. It would be better if all three empires could border the Drengin. The easiest way to accomplish this was to once again wage war against the Torians and take even more space from them.

But this war would have to be waged quickly. The Drengin were not going to sit still for too long. The Second Torian War would need a new level of cooperation and tactics.