Primer: Society Phoenixus
"Ours is a society born of hardship and sacrifice. Certainly, we cannot be considered a good civilization. Perhaps, some would even call us evil. Nevertheless, we have endured." - Razius Henry Huang
Prepared by a. Michael Hayden, Head Historian at the Society of Phoenixian History
Our history dates back to the infancy of the Terran Alliance, back before the Hyper Drive brought on the new era. Some years after the Arceans gave humanity the star gate plans, a number of corporate interests began to develop a plan for mass colonization. Quietly, they began to copy the star gate, at last developing a small prototype aimed at the planet Horizon. The plan was, of course, to build a series of these small star gates, and to use Horizon as a gateway colony to settle the planets beyond. "To travel beyond the Horizon," I believe the slogan was.
It was little known at the time, and I surmise that even now the Terran Alliance is loathe to admit it, but... they sent 100,000 of us on the initial run. We were sent ahead, privately, gathered from many different places, in secret, so that nobody would notice our absence. We were to be the first wave of colonists on the planet Horizon, sent in to install and develop the planet's infrastructure in preparation for the second wave once the corporations received governmental approval for the projects.
That second wave never came. Unfortunately, shortly before the second fleet's transit, the star gates exploded, leaving us isolated from Earth for the next 100 years. It was unfortunate, you see, because there had been a passing astronomical storm that was emitting radiation all over Horizon's system. That second fleet had been carrying the antibodies and stimulants necessary to immunize us to the radiation's effects until it finally passed two years later. Without it, we Phoenixians would all have died within the next seven months.
We don't know what happened to the fleet, or why no rescue attempt was ever made - perhaps the corporations were forced to shutdown and declare bankruptcy after the prototype failed. But, it was apparent after five months that no help was coming and that the situation had become desperate. (We have never forgiven the Terrans for this.) People had long begun to succumb to the radiation, and we didn't have many options left.
So we turned to the one option left for us, long regarded as taboo throughout the Terran Alliance - genetic manipulation. Our scientists had managed to duplicate the anti-radiation treatment insofar as developing a mutating agent that would pervasively alter our bodies to become immune to the radiation. It was an impressive feat for only five months of research, but it was a prototype, like the star gate, and untested.
However, we were desperate. Of course, you know the saying about desperate times. In what came to be known as Project Phoenix - and now you know where our name comes from - a group of lead scientists and governors secretly embedded the prototype into the water supply. The result was either disastrous, or it was miraculous. I suppose it depends on your perspective. Thirty percent of us rejected the agent outright, and died immediately. Another twenty percent couldn't take the strain of the agent's effects, and died sometime after. By the time the storm had passed, only half of us had survived. But the important thing is, we survived.
Yet, the survivors were angry. Why weren't they told? They shouted. What gave them the right to play God? Others shouted. It was understandable. One out of every two of us had died. Fathers lost sons, mothers lost daughters, and husbands lost wives. They demanded justice. The highest surviving members of Project Phoenix, among them an engineer by the name of Jason Razius, were arrested and taken to trial for crimes against humanity. They were condemned for genetic engineering - mostly by the colony's proletariat. He and the rest were found guilty, and sentenced to death.
This did not sit well with a faction of the surviving colonists, among them a great number of the colony's elite. Many of them saw Razius and the others as the saviors of Horizon, and petitioned for Razius's release. Foremost amongst these was a soldier who went by the name of Tiger. When the courts refused, Tiger led a small group of volunteers into the prisons and freed Razius and the others.
And from that, we plunged into the Great Phoenixian War. Things looked very grim for Razius and Tiger. They were greatly outnumbered, nearly three-to-one. But Tiger had taken with him a great deal of the colony's intellectual elite, who by this time had refined and perfected their genetic manipulation techniques. They began using the techniques on themselves. They became, faster, smarter, stronger, than their unmodified counterparts. Eventually, Razius and Tiger won out. They reclaimed the city of Beyond, renaming it Phoenixus, and installed a new government and social structure, with Razius's and Tiger's faction at the top.
Over time, Jason Razius became a man known for his wisdom and foresight, as twenty years later our genetic selection techniques (see aside) helped us to prevail in a war against one of Horizon's hostile indigenous species (none of them exist today.) Shortly after Razius died, Tiger adopted his name and became the defacto ruler of Society Phoenixus. He became the second Razius, and subsequently all leaders have taken Razius as a title.
And so it went, and here we are now. And it is finally time for us for us to "travel beyond the Horizon".
ASIDE --- On Phoenixus's Social Structure
It is important to note that both Razius and Tiger knew of the dangers of genetic stagnation, and believed that ultimately, nature would determine who was best fit to survive. The use of genetic manipulators was heavily restricted to only medical conditions and military usage, and non-defect cosmetic or gender modifications were banned outright. Each new generation of children would first be screened for health defects, and genetically treated at birth, so as to make us Phoenixians immune to any sort of diseases that developed between each generation.
Razius then created a new caste system to promote the genetic system. Razius and Tiger's faction became the first Alphas. These people became the ruling class. They were given access to facilities not available to others, and correspondingly were given greater duties. He created another tier, Betas. These people were the Alphas' first children, and correspondingly were given greater access and responsibilities than the others. The rest of the colonists were now Gammas and the handicapped or deficient became Deltas. Structures were set in place so that each class would be able to earn a higher status through merit.
Tiger and Razius also believed in helping evolution along, albeit not superseding it. The bloodlines of Alphas would be combined and mated to artificially create children as a means to enhance population growth and its recovery. These children would become Betas upon birth, to be adopted or raised by the state, and would otherwise be treated the same as anyone else.
Razius also stressed the importance of family and survivorship. There were few enough colonists left as it was. Abortions and contraceptives - for the time being - were banned. Adoptions, instead, became the method of choice. Razius promoted marriage as a way of ensuring survival. Thus, he decreed that a child legitimately born between two Alphas or a Beta and an Alpha was born a Beta. No child was ever born an Alpha, because Alpha status was to be earned, not given.
With this decree, a bastard child was born a Gamma, and had to earn his way into Beta hood before he could continue onto Alpha hood. This only technically affected the Alpha class, since Beta and Gamma children were also born as Gammas; but the stigma against bastardy soon also passed onto the other classes. Deltas, while cared for, were not allowed to reproduce without having their defects treated.
Raising your social status can be earned in many ways. The most basic is achievement. Passing minimum grades of physical and mental abilities can enter you as far as the Beta caste in certain cases. For merchants, creating a great public work in your lifetime (a great achievement considering that Phoenixus does not have inheritances) is worthy of Alpha status. For many, the military is also a viable option. Earning your way into the Command can grant you Alpha status. Good political acumen and achieving high office does as well. Immigrants enter society as Gammas, and, should they be non-human and reach alpha status, will have their genes spliced for human capatibility, or, failing that, will have certain favorable aspects of their design copied and merged with a human alpha's genes.
