From the Ashes - The story of mankind

AdmiralMaximus

Join Date 01/2009

From the Ashes - The story of mankind

In 2175 the human race was in ecstasy. For over a century now, since 2054 to be exact, most human beings were living under some form of population control. the right to have a child was handed out to only select families. Some couples waited up to ten years for various governements to process their requests only to be denied after an eternity of painful and anxious wait. Our planet was only so big and with only so many ressources. We as a species had to develop mature and concrete steps to make sure our civilization, and our very existence would not be put in jeopardy! Though draconian these measures were vital and by 2097, the year the planet unified its most powerful governments into one overarching entity, deliberately breaking the Prime Natal Law resulted in capital punishment within 7 days of being convicted. All non-deliberate pregnancies were immediately aborted and the man subject to capital punishment. Overcrowded cities were not uncommon to have disease outbreaks, and sometimes the governemtn took far too long to respond and aid the civilians affected. Morale throughout our species was at an all-time low. Surely there have been episodes in the history of mankind where a certain people have been oppressed to the brink of losing all faith in life. Wars had ravaged our planet time and time again and yet we never seemed to quite learn our lesson, but at this point in our history things were different. The lethargy and decay in which the masses of our civilization had fallen into thanks to inadequate and ill-conceived gov't actions led to a progressive massive morale slump the likes of which history had never recorded. And while the people suffered, state media (for all media was state-owned) talked of summit meetings in which our great leaders pledged trillions of dollars to support the growing crisis...They were skilfull at throwing sand in our eyes while the real problems festered underneath.

But all of this was about to change. In 2170 a brilliant and enigmatic man by the name of Dr. William Allison descovered how to properly conduct cold fusion. This incredible discovery led to a vast array of public works and iniatives that quickly brought the standard of living up again. Energy was now affordable! Artists began recording music again, Intercontinental travel became available to everyone, the spark our civilization needed had finally come. The highest epitome of our pride and joy that every human had was revealed 5 years later in 2175 when the same Dr. Allison created what would become known as Hyperdrive.

Hyperdrive was a means of interstellar travel. For centuries humans had looked towards the stars and wondered, impotent to do anything else really. Over time we embarked on various projects to get us ever closer to the stars. During the period known as the cold war the Soviets had managed to build their very own space station in orbit of our planet. Mir was later brought down in the Pacific Ocean as a new space station began construction after the cold war ended. The ISS (International Space Station) served its purpose well into the 21st century eventually upgrading to a relay post between Earth and the moon research facility (known as Grey Rock). As humans continued to progress a small colony was established on Mars and by 2175 there were up to 3000 people living on Mars, most from the military.

When Dr. Allison died on december 5th 2212 a planet wide service was organized. Every country under the banner of the United Earth Federation had a day of mourning. People flocked to the streets to witness a funeral on the giant screens lining the large boulevards of the planet's great capital cities. Though humanity had lost it's greatest mind and scientific achiever since Einstein it would lose all that it had gained at far greater cost.

On decemeber 7th 2212 the independent governement of Russia declared that all people, not jsut those bearing the flag of the UEF, should have full access to cold fusion technology. Furthermore the Russian Ambasador to the UEF made a shocking statement when he accused certain elements in the UNA gov't (Union of North America government) of witholding certain aspects of the technology and not alowing other UEF states full control over the patent laws of the tech. UNA answered back saying such propositions were ludicrous and that the current UEF gov't could attest to that. The Russians countered by stating that all major power strutures within the UEF were held by UNA lobbyists and bureaucrats, and that an impartial jury could never be formed to put the matter ot a close. At the same time Russia secretly transported over 25 nuclear warheads and delivery systems to its closest economic allies in central America, namely Venezuala. When UNA spy satelites caugth the Russians red-handed they responded by saying that the nukes would only be withdrawn if the cold fusions patents were made available to a number of companies worldwide instead of the power-hungry UNA conglomerates. An emergency session of the UEF was immediately called but two days later negotiations were at a standstill. The UNA gov't met and decided that a unilateral plan of action was needed. Strike teams were assembled to go into venezuala and Ecuador to take out and nullify the warheads. They failed.

On decemeber 12th 2212 the first bomb went off (some say in Moscow, while others say in Washington) and all that we had worked for over the past 10 000 years as a species was gone. Flash after Flash of Brigth all-encompassing light shook our planet to its very foundations until, when nuclear winter settled in, we were but a shadow of our former selves.

________________________________

Alright so this is my first ever AAR.

I hope you guys like it, once i get the backsotry all settled up i'll give you some info about the game.

aars

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here is the next update, hope you enjoy, feel free to comment on it as any and all feedbakc is truly appreciated, even if its negative!

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Chapter Three: Alan Bradshaw

Sol system
Mars
Capital City of Marissa

The Man settled in for what was sure to be a dull experience. Whenever he dealt with any of the Combine corporations it usually was these days. The Combine corporations had come in existence in 2216. One of the deficiencies of the old system had been free capitalism. By allowing all companies full leisure the system became more corrupt, but more importantly much more centralized. By 2212 it was clear that within the next 50 years there would be very few companies actually left as the bigger ones kept swallowing up the smaller ones at an alarming rate and mergers were harldy ever surprising.

After them bombs fell it was clear a new system needed to be put in place and this is where the idea of the Combine corporations was formed. Every single aspect of human life would be provided for by one of these four companies. It was believed that over time certain companies would become more profficient in certain aspects while their defficiencies would be supplemented by the profficiencies of the competing Combine corporaions. All of the ressources used by the Combine would be provided for by the Federation provisional government. Everything from fertilizer for crops in the greenhouses to fuel rods for machinery that could be salvaged from Earth was appropriated and then distributed perfectly equally among the four. Deals or meetings of ANY kind between companies of the Combine were strictly forbidden by rules that were ruthlessly enforced. This was to ensure competition in its purest form; the lack of cooperation.

The Venetian remider, as it later became known, made sure that rules would always be followed. Though the circumstances surrounding the event are not clear the results were crystal. A ship had been holding high orbit over the planet Venus without a proper liscence, the official report read that when a Federation corvette approached the vessel to inquire about its reason for not having legitimate guild codes, it was fired upon forcing it to take aggresive responsive measures. In reality The Alma, which happened to be flying the flag of Mitrosoft corporation at the time, was boarded by multiple Federation Corvettes and all onboard were killed. The ship was then put on autopilot and sent back to Mitrosoft headquarters in Marissa where the shocking discovery of Jonge Van Staan, Milo Durbishley, and Horatio Forth dead along with their aides was broadcast on every Federation channel by the horde of GNN journalists already present. Respectively the CEOs of Terran Manufacturing, Galactic Manufacturing, and the United Builders Corporation the Venetian Reminder had chilled the blood of many and the rules had been respected to a tee since.

The Man had had a heavy hand to play in all of that and presently he smiled and pretended to listen to the material presented. He, of course, already knew which new CO2 scrubber model he was going to go with and had only agreed to give the representative some of his time to show his confidence in his corporation's ability to mass produce new scrubbers for all of the Arcologies in Marissa. All combine members had submitted models in hopes of being chosen for this lucrative contract except one. Mitrosoft may have been the lucky ones today but there was a very specific reason Galactic Manufacturing had not submitted plans.

The reality was that no one at Galactic Manufacturing had time for project proposals. The full efforts and ressources of the corporation were in low orbit over the moon. The Harbin shipyards had been built in the late 22nd century and had for a purpose to build small to medium vessels capable of supporting a team of Gray Rock scientists and their data for a lenghty period of time as the said vessels explored the remainder of our solar system. Within the last year things had changed quite a bit, and something much larger was in the works. Initially a top secret project, the information had been allowed to leak to the media a couple of days ago as it had become increasingly difficult to cover up the construction of such a large ship, the largest ever bult by mankind.

Once GNN had finished their breaking news bulletin on the story an excited buzz could be felt in the air and indeed even in the emptiness of space. Comm traffic lit up the boards on ships as their captains found any reason to divert their route and take them that much closer to the moon and within view of the behemoth now known as the TFS Genesis. It's curved shape was a thing of beauty and the inside of the ship simply accentuated that feeling.

To effectively colonize a planet one needs, as a measure of insurance, much of the things that make life possible on the homeplanet. To this end a large greenhouse had been built with its own atmosphere and separate air filtering system. Within the greenhouse was an ecosystem containing as much vegetation and different life froms as possible. This amounted to a vast forest filled with chirping birds and buzzing mosquitoes. One might even get lost it was so vast.

Officially the Genesis still didn't have an official mission however. A fraction of the public, there will always be dissenters no matter how great an achievement, believed the project to be an incredible waste of money and ressources. Both of which would have been better spent improving life on Mars. The dissenters stated the futility of sending out a such a large and ressource consuming ship in the galaxy when there were no M-grade planets to colonize.

This, of course, wasn't exactly true. The Federation hadn't let it known yet that within the Ashlain system there was such a planet. The real reason the Genesis hadn't been given a mission was population issues. There simply weren't enough humans to send out in the ship and to keep on Mars to effectively keep the planet running.

Clapping could be heard and the man, being the proffesional that he was, made it seem like he hadn't missed a thing. As he got up to shake the representative's hand and congratulate him on a job well done his thoughts were already elsewhere. His next meeting was sure to be much more intriguing.

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sorry about the spelling errors. since i reformatted i dont have microsoft office lol. I will be checking much more clesely for them from now on, they get annoying after a while i find.

Sorry this took so long but i've been trying ot get a clear idea of the type of universe im creating here. I pledge to oyu my loyal readers that i shall not go on another monthly hiatus and leave you guys hanging like that again.

cheers

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It is by my book......

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Chapter Four: The Philosopher King

Sol System

Mars

Capital World of the Federation

Capital city of Marissa

Nolan nervously shifted position, no matter how he sat he simply could not shake the feeling of unease which treathened to overtake him. On a flat viewer mounted on the wall opposite and above him he could see the latest images from the Genesis as it entered its final stages of construction. According to GNN all that remained were the instalation of the sensor relays and then the mass computer software downloads that would make the Genesis the most advanced achievement since hyperdrive.

Under the flat viewer a lady sat behind a massively imposing desk. The secretary in fact looked quite ridiculous behind such an enourmous piece of furniture. He wondered what the price of the desk was. Everything in this grandiose arcology seemed to be over the top. No matter what the situation people never seemed to get angry at the fact that members of the government seemed to live a life with no day-to day worries. All that brainpower needed to be reserved for the effective running of the Terran Federation. He allowed himself an inner laugh thus easing his tension a bit. Behind the door on his left he could hear voices getting louder and he knew his turn would be up soon.

The door opened and a procession of men wearing expensive clothes led by a goverment paige exited the inner waiting room. As they passed by, the lady behind the desk looked up at Nolan

"You can move into the inner waiting room now Mr. Nolan"

Nolan got up and flashed the lady a smile but her expression remained stone cold. Feeling less sure of himself than he had at any point before he strode into the other room thorugh the door on the right. Once inside he was approached by two nasty looking agents with the yellow CDF patch on their left arm. The Civil Defense Force was infamous around Marissa. Officially their purpose was to ensure the safety of the public. It was not a secret that the CDF actively searched out crimelords and black market ring-leaders. They seemed to be effective for the most part, but there were stories of their unorthodox methods and it was best to keep clear of any CDF agent.

One of the agent grabbed Nolan by the arm "Sir if you could just hold still while my partner here does a weapons scan."

Nolan was getting tired of all these weapons scans. This was in fact the third since entering the provisional government arceology. The agent passed a device making a humming noise over the entirety of his body.

"Satisfied?" he asked in an almost smug tone. He knew he needed to be careful now more than ever but he hated the feeling that he was being processed like a number.

"Clean" said the agent

"Have a seat sir" said the other agent who, while still not letting go of Nolan's arm, directed him to a comfy looking chair in the center of the smaller inner waiting room.

In the room a soft and barely audible noise could be heard, the anthem of the Terran federation was playing but it was impossible to decipher if the noise came from outside the room or from within. Nolan strained his ears to listen
"From the ashes we rise, from the ashes we will strive..." it was hard to hear it all.

On a wall a flat viewer displayed some of the dogmas of the Federation "There is no road to peace, peace IS the road" flashed across the viewer as pictures of a prosperous arcology filled with smiling and happy individuals appeared and disappeared. On the opposite wall a large canvas hung with the words "Unity Through Peace". The artist had also painted men with easily distinguishable racial features smiling and looking towards the horizon together. One was dressed as a labourer, the other as a ships captain, and the third as a CDF agent. Nolan tried to keep a straight face, this is why I hate being groundside. He quikly shook his head to clear it and looked up in time to see a paige approaching him.

"He's ready for you sir."

Nolan got up, took a deep breath, and made his way towards the open door. As Nolan stepped in he had to stop half a second to take it all in. The entire room was carpeted with what Nolan knew were handmade from Earth. By the looks of them Nolan knew they were authentic Persian rugs. On the walls hung paintings that took his breath away, not only for their beauty but because these were real and not replicas. The two most impressive were works by Charles Auguste Steuben, the first being the famous "Battle of Waterloo" depicting a Napoleon surrounded by the ravages of war while the second "The capture of the confederate flag at the battle of Murfreesboro" depicts the contrast between victory and defeat and was painted by Alonzo Chappel. The sofas were a dark brown leather held by hand crafted wood. One side of the wall held a bookcase large enough to cover over half the side of the room. It was filled with books, and Nolan could just make out a couple from where he was standing. This man seemed to have an interest in dystopian novels Nolan remarked. Works like Zamyatin's "WE" and Orwell's "1984" were amongst the most interesting. Nolan was trully in awe of the magnificence of this room and all the old culture it preserved, and he immediately developped a new sense of who this man was; The Prime Magistrate of the Terran Federation, the honourable Alan Bradshaw.

"Please captain have a seat, I trust your journey here was pleasant enough"

The words snapped Nolan out of his trance and he presently took a seat on one of the couches while Bradshaw sat opposite him.

"I took this meeting not only out of respect for you and what you did during the great exodus, but because of how deeply I value every memeber of the merchant marine guild. Your ships and your relentless efforts drive the Federation towards continued success."

In truth Nolan hardly cared about the Guild. To him they were more of a nuissance, demanding a percentage of every delivery run for continued use of a valid permit. Without a permit it was illegal to travel in space, and travelling in space was all that ever mattered to him.

"Thank you sir, I will pass on your kind words to the guild, but if I may, I'd like to skip the pleasantries and discuss exactly why I'm here" Nolan was surprised at how direct he'd just been and hoped the Prime Magistrate wouldn't take it the wrong way. Bradshaw let out a sharp laugh

"Yes!, finally a man who likes to get down to business." Nolan noticed a shift in body language from Bradshaw, it's best to stay forward and to the point with this guy.

"My magistrate of trade says you've found a new type of alloy in free space, she also tells me your ship suffered critical hull damaged and had to be abandoned. Rescued by the Lionpride and captain Morrison you then made your way back to the starport in Marissa. Now either you allowed your precious discovery to perish with your ship since you brought no cargo aboard the Lionpride, something I find extremely hard to beleive, or you are here to explain to me why my satellites detected an unauthorized entry and subsequent impact on the surface of Phobos."

This hit Nolan like a ton of bricks, and it was easily distinguisheable on his face. How does he know!?!

"Now rest assured the contents of the space canister have been safely trasfered to Gray Rock for analysis, and preliminary findings are very interesting, but I apologize I seem to be going on a tangent, you were about to explain something to me... please go on."

Nolan decided to not beat around the bush and he quickly devised a new scheme in his head.

"You are obviously very well informed sir. Yes that canister did indeed come from the Persophone after my chief engineer strapped a rocket to it. Let's jsut say that the rocket calculations to make sure we had the right trajectory were strenuous."

"Indeed, an admirable job I must say"

"I was originally coming to ask for a new ship or at the very least a grant to help procure myself a new ship so that i may retrieve my prize but it seems you have already done that for me. The truth is we went through hell to get that Alloy and all it took was an unlucky meteor hit to ruin it all. I owe so much to my crew who worked tirelessly so that we may profit from it."

"So you beleive I should help you because you made the discovery"

"Not only that but as far as I'm concerned that sample rightfully belongs to me" Nolan immediately regretted that thinking that perhaps this time he had gone too far. Bradshaw's eyes darkened and he lowered his chin a tad but still kept his eyes fiercely locked with Nolan's

"Laws are in place for a reason, and the unauthorized re-entry into Phobo's thin atmosphere by your canister broke a very important federation law. There can be no exceptions, exceptions lead to lawlesness, tell me what makes your situation so special that you deserve to be exempt from the law?"

Knowing that he was already on thin ice Nolan still couldn't keep himself in check. His voice rose as he almost shouted "But we found it! we were already on-route back to Mars!"

"But you broke federation law" Bradshaw's voice was extremely calm and this only frustrated Nolan even more.

"It's funny how leaders speak of the importance of the law, and yet they're the first to make exceptions for themselves. Yet how would we know anything of it, you control the media and the flow of ressources, how can anyone contradict you or the Federation? In the time it took for life on Mars to resemble what we had on Earth you've managed to make yourself nothing short of a dictator."

Bradshaw sighed and slowly got up. Nolan was sure that he had made a huge blunder, and that very soon those two CDF agents would come into the office and whisk him away to a holding cell. Bradshaw walked over to the bookcase on the wall. He seemed to know exactly what he was looking for as he quikly picked out a book and headed back to his seat.

"Are you familiar with Plato?"

"Who?"

"hmmm I thought not, Education systems were appalingly inadequate back on Earth." Nolan didn't know whether to relax or keep ranting, he opted for the former but his pulse was still racing. "Plato was a Greek philosopher of the 4th century BC. His greatest work, entitled "The Republic", speaks of philosopher kings. To Plato, no society could properly function unless ruled by an elite class of philosopher kings, but the catch is that for these people to effectively govern they must not have an interest in doing so. Do you get what it is Im getting at? Our older societies prided themselves on democracy and the merits of universal suffrage, but it was nothing more than an illusion. Governements weren't for the people at all and least of all by the people. They were nothing more than elites within society just like the philosopher kings had to be, but they had no greater desire than to rule, to hold power and mold societies as they saw fit. They said democracy was the ultimate tool of equality but it bred the most intense type of corruption as governments used any tool necessary to further their aims and solidify their power base. The needs of the government were always put before the needs of the people. They argued that this was normal since the government represented the people."

"Didn't they?"

"Don't be a fool, Governments represented only themselves and the free capitalist corporations of their respective jurisdictions. You're right in calling me a dictator for there is no one powerful enough to contradict my orders. I have complete control of the army and of our most advanced technological developments, but have I not always acted for the best of mankind? Arcologies are sprouting around Marissa like wild flowers and not a single one of them are harmful to the planet, and by extension humans. Corporate fraud has been eliminated and crime has never been lower. I do not claim to be a philosopher king but I do have the power of history by my side. Another philosopher once said 'Those who do not remember their history are condemned to relive it' CONDEMNED Nolan... I remember and I will not soon forget for an easy buck, only through a comprehensive survey of our history can we move forward in a constructive manner."

Nolan stayed in his seat staring at Bradshaw.

Bradshaw looked straight into Nolan's eyes "You have done a great service to the Federation by delivering the canister to us, but rest assured that I will not pay you a special reward or give you a brand-new ship just like that becasue of it. On the other hand, you are the only person to ever challenge my position on how I run our Federation"

Our Federation remarked Nolan

"Furthermore, for a person in my position to govern effectively he needs naysayers instead of a bunch of yesmen. I hope I have helped you understand the philosophy by which i continue to try and run things." At this he tossed the book to Nolan who caught it after briefly fumbling with it. "Read it"

The door opened and the two CDF guards came in and stood there waiting.

The meeting was adjourned.

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Hope peeps are still reading this.

thanx for the support mADDYman

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Still reading, still reading... Good to see you're back writing!

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me also

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Me too Admiral-an interesting couple of posts, the 1st further setting up the backstory and the 2nd introducing us to Alan Bradley and his philosophies-good work!

Tell me though: what are these Archeologies? Is this something you are going to elaborate on?

All good stuff though-KUTGW!!

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By Alan Bradley Im sure you meant Alan bradSHAW lol, but that's what I get for coming up with a lacklustre replacement of a name.

Concerning Arcologies. I got the idea from playing Deus Ex 2. An Arcology (Not ArCEology) is basically a huge edifice housing thousands of people and which, ideally, are self-sustaining. Colonizing a relatively barren worl like Mars would require this type of structure. They would be able to hold their own livestock and have floors for growing food as well as their own air filtration systems.

If you've ever played simcity 2000 you can build some. They are indeed the way of the future.

Next post to go up on tuesday at the latest.

cheers

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this is fantabulous..keep it going..the chancellor is pleased.

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Hehe thanks Admiral-all is clear now (and have never played Simcity 2000 which might explain my ignorance)

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Chapter Five: Happy New Year

Standard January 1st 2226
Sol System
Mars
Capital city of Marissa

Mars' two moons illuminated the night sky casting eerie shadow patterns throughout the city. The city itself shook with the vibrations of celebration as mankind ushered into not only the new standard year but into a new age. At precisely 0300 standard hours the Harbin shipyards were set to release the scaffolds holding the mighty Genesis. This day would go down in history as the most important step mankind had taken regarding space exploration since Copernicus invented the telescope. A spaceship crammed with a million souls in cryostasis would undertake the journey to the Ashlain system. At hyperspeed this journey would take just over five weeks at which point the ship's AI would automatically awaken it's passengers. The colonists would then take orbit over Ashlain 1 and begin dropping colony pods over the planet. Mankind was going interstellar.

Three days earlier GNN had braodcast a special event which the Federation had prioritized over all flat viewer stations. No matter what station you chose the GNN special report was on. An old probe, voyager 7, had made it all the way to the Ashlain system by far exceeding it's lifespan and had reported back to a Gray Rock relay station. The data that had streamed in had at first completely stupefied the personel on duty. As the data kept coming in GNN journalists and cameramen had been called in the super secret facility to record this most important of events. Within minutes the whole solar system was watching the images of Ashlain 1 along with the raw data being compiled. M grade planet, Nitrogen and Hydrogen base atmosphere along with 20-25% Oxygen. The planet itself was classed at a level 11 on the Hausser scale. Shortly afterwards Bradshaw had made a speech annoucing that such an opportunity was clearly providence and that the Genesis would be dispatched with all due haste to colonize the planet. Those who didn't beleive in coincidences saw all of this as one large scheme, and that Ashlain 1 had been discovered long ago. The feelings of excitement and overjoyment at the prospect of man living now in two separate solar systems easily droned out this opinion however.

Furthermore, the Federation would be holding a lottery. All men and women over the age of eigthteen would be eligible to take part in the incredible journey to Ashlain 1. Cooperation was not necessary as their were two people ready to take the place of every one person who declined to go. Some even committed suicide when their names never came up such was the frenzy surrouding this colonization. The reason people had to be of age was simple. The federation thought it a waste of ressources to send children to colonize a planet. Considering the primary goal of education on the colony would be concerning primarly the colony world itself, the Federation reasoned that by the time schools had to be built the colonists would know enough about the planet to be able to formulate a sound education plan, but not before. To ensure this, Federation observers were sent along with the colonists.

Nolan stood on the crammed balcony of the appartment he was renting and listened to the city. He could practically feel the exhiliration emanating throughout the place, and yet there he stood alone on new year's. He remembered last new year's spent on board the Persephone. He and his crew had been charged with a run to a luxury liner skimming Saturn's rings. The liner was set to receive a dozen crates of the finest champagne in preparation for the party. Nolan had broken open one of the crates and taken six of the bottles replacing them with old pieces of piping lying around the cargo hold. He had put the crate back together again so precisely as to make it seem like nothign had ever happened. The liner captain had signed the release unsupecting and was thus powerless to do anything when he found that one of he crates was half empty. Nolan had made sure his comm system was shut off after leaving, and he and his crew had brougth in the new year in style.

Where were those days now he wondered. He had blocked all attempts at communication with his fellow crew members who had remained loyal to him. He felt like too much of a failure at the moment to face them and besides he refused to go to them without a proper solution, but he knew that time was running short and soon his whole crew would desert him unless he came up with an idea fast. Many had already managed to enlist in service aboard other merchant ships. Nolan didn't resent that fact, but he knew it would be difficult to find replacements with experience that wouldn't demand a ludicrous salary. Horton had left him a holomessage about a job he had found overseeing the instalation of new air filters in arcoogy 117, and of how incredibly bored he was after just two days work.

The clock on the wall said 2:30 am, time for the Prime Magistrate's speech...

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Nice post Admiral-loving this story more and more...

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Chapter Six: A New Age

The cheering could be heard throughout the entire city as the Prime Magistrate Alan Bradshaw stepped out on the balcony. Every telecommunication wave was commandeered by the Federation in preperation for the speech. From children playing in the burnt slums of Earth to ships orbiting around Jupiter every single human being would be able to listen in as mankind's new age began.

"Children of Earth" Bradshaw began.

"For countless centuries we have looked towards the night sky in fascination, in search of answers to limitless questions. Our drive for those answers has brought us to do a great many things, it has even brought us to the brink of destrcution before finally uniting us all in peace. But now more than ever we can look towards the stars with pride and a sense of accomplishment. We can look up and say that from this point on mankind will no longer be content with staring and wondering. From now on we go in search of not only answers to our many questions, we go in search of a better life for all. The colonization of Ashlain 1 is but the beginning. I envisage a day where mankind is spread throughout the galaxy and our way of peace can be shared by billions. We have spent thousands of years on one planet and look at all we have accomplished. Imagine the untapped potential of a dozen planets like Earth. Planets colonized in different systems requiring an interstellar trade economy like none ever conceived.

"It is said that the most important part of undertaking any enterprise is the beginning. Together let us make such a beginning that all who look upon us will be speechless with awe. To all those who still refuse to be a part of our great enterprise that is the Terran federation i say unto you shame! you shall not bathe in our glory and accomplishements while we sweat, bleed, and toil for the improvement of life everywhere.

"The Genesis is indeed but the beggining. I have ordered for a new starport to be built right here in the heart of our Federation. More ships like it will be built and every man and woman shall have a part to play. We shall have full employment as these projects will require thousands of labourers. I have also approved the construction of the mining base on A-8764. The ressources of that yet untouched rock and many like it will provide us with the minerals required to build such grandiose spacecrafts. Let no one look at us now and say that we did not give our all to make sure mankind succeeds. These next few years shall be very demanding and full or hardwork, but if there ever was a species akin to these things it is the human race. You all honour me by your very presence and your dedication to our Federation. May our road continue to be smooth even if we drive uphill."

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Chapter Seven: The Hand of God

Nolan was rudely awakened by his holo-transceiver. The loud chirping noise made him sit up automatically and without thinking twice about it, but he regretted it at once as a heavy metal drummer began pounding away at his head. Martian whiskey did not agree with him. He began cursing when the holo-transceiver kept insisting with the loud noise. Nolan checked the time, 4:21 am.

who the hell?

Nolan checked the output; unknown sender

christ who the hell thinks it's a good idea to call at this time?

He pushed the cancel button and returned to his bed. His head touched down comfortably on the pillow and the pounding was almost gone when the holo-transceiver began chirping again.

Bloody Hell!!! $%$% this!!!

He pushed the cancel button again, making sure whoever was pranking him wouldn't be able to leave a message. The output still read unknown sender. This time he got up and took a shot of ibuprophen to help with the headache. When he returned to his bed he saw that his holo-transceiver's message light was blinking orange...holo-message waiting.

weird...

He decided to find out who was giving him such a hard time. He pushed the button and waited. The message appeared in mid-air in front of his face and began to float.

Incoming priority message...

The light turned to green meaning the link was now live.

Oh what the hell is this!! it's four fucking thirty in the goddamn morning and I'm hungover as shit!

He was about to kill the link when Bradshaw's face appeared.

"Well hello there Mr. Nolan, I trust you've had a most pleasant evening bringing in the new year." There was no smugness in his tone but the way he said with a half grin made Nolan lose all notion of etiquette. He still held a grudge from the useless meeting he had had with the Prime Magistrate.

"What do you want from me?"

"Well actually I come to offer you the opportunity of a lifetime but you seem tired and distracted perhaps I should contact someone else" Nolan could see him reaching down for the kill switch as he said this. He wasn't sure what exactly was going on but just the thought, that glimmer of hope, that he might be able to get back topside made him yell "NO!"

Bradshaw smiled and continued "Have you been doing your reading?"

Nolan had indeed read through most of the book to his surprise even. "I've read the whole thing, but about.."Bradshaw cut him off

"Then you are by now familiar with Plato's concept that a person must continue within his line of work throughout his whole life in order to be as productive as possible. Neglecting to do so simply stagnates productivity across the board. I see in you a very capable mind able to command starships. You have already proven your proffiency aboard the Persephone now I ask of you the same thing."

Nolan wasn't quite sure he had understood correctly. "You're asking me to take command of a ship? what kind of ship?"

"It would be a simple light freighter much like the persephone, the guild has approved construction of a new fleet of such ships to service the new trade routes which will inevitably sprout up across the galaxy within the next few years. Your first order of business would be to service the line between Mars and Ashlain 1. The ship's crew is being selected as we speak and.." This time it was Nolan's turn to cut him off

"With all due respect to the selection process I will only accept this offer on the condition that I select my officers. Plato said it himself we must chose the most able bodies suited for specific tasks. My old crew was more than able and many of my tactics were devised by them. We work as a unit and together there can be no crew combination that you or the guild can come up with that would surpass our ability to properly command that freigther."

Bradshaw smiled and replied "Done, any man who succesfully argues using the great philosopher can have waht he wants for he deserves it. I'll take care of the guild and make sure to get you all proper credentials. You will be taking command of the FCS Bering Strait. Her hardware AI is being installed this week. You should be ready to begin operations by next week."

Nolan felt as if he had been touched by the hand of God itself. Surely this was a dream, he had actually fallen asleep after the first holo-call. "Oh and Nolan" He snapped back to attention

"The researchers on Gray Rock have done more testing on the specimen you brought us. It seems there is a ton more where it came from. I can't begin to tell you how grateful we are for your discovery." Nolan had completely forgotten about that, it was water under the bridge and he no longer cared. He was going to command a brand new spaceship courtesy of the Federation. He was about to return where he belonged. Back in space.

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Excellent adds, two in two days... keep them coming!

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Chapter Eight: Not Alone

Outskirts of the Ashlain system

17/02/2227 Earth Standard Time

Aboard TFS Genesis

Helios AI commanding

Icarus;..............................System Alert
Daedalus;.........................Destination A Reached
Icarus;............................Fire Up Fusion Core
Daedalus;........................Ignition Countdown Commencing
Icarus;.............................5...4...3...2...1...
Daedalus;...Ignition ON
Icarus;.............................Check Structural Diagnostic
Daedalus;........................Diagnostics Complete All Systems Green
Icarus;.............................Proceed to Controlled Burn
Daedalus;........................Increasing Speed To 113 000 000.kp/h
Icarus;.............................Powering Up Lifesupport System
Daedalus;........................Systems ON
Icarus;..............................Ship Sustainable For Human Life In 7.5 hours
Daedalus;.........................Running Sensor Sweep
Icarus;..............................Unidentified Alloy Detected
Deadalus;.........................Target Acquired
Icarus;..............................Running Sensor Ping
Dadelus;...........................Analyzing Data
Icarus;...............................System Alert Detected/Fusion Signature
Dadelus;............................System Alert Detected/Target Lost
Icarus;...............................Launch Planetary Sensor Pods

7.5 hours later
Low Orbit Over Ashlain 1.

What followed was trully an amazing thing in the story of mankind. For the first time in its history it was experiencing something. Something never felt by anyone prior to this exact moment. A man was awakening from cryosleep. The singular honour of this moment was given to Klaus Muckler. Klaus had been Bradshaw's first mate aboard his Sol fleet squadron flagship Emden. Word had it that when this project was given the green light Klaus had begged Bradshaw for the chance to pilot the Genesis. They also say Bradshaw wept after accepting, he had hoped to perhaps be the one, but the demands of the office of the Prime Magistrate had him now.

As Klaus stepped out of his cryo-unit, the first in a long line of such devices, he could hardly stand. The soothing voice in the unit had told him to have strong legs but for some reason he felt like his legs belonged to a child's. He stumbled forward to where his clothes and a fresh towel were hanging. Fifteens minutes later he was fully dressed, shaved, and his legs felt much stronger. He was startled by a loud voice.

"Sleep well Klaus? Please remain in place as we awaken the remainder of the ship."All at once the massive line of cryo-units of his level began to hiss as luiquid was drained inside them and men and women opened their eyes for the first time in five and a half weeks. The first unit on his left had the name Dr. Juan Lebedev. The look on his face when he looked into Muckler's eyes was one of surprise and anger.

"What's wrong?"

"It seems the Prime Magistrate has played a cruel joke on me." He then stepped out of his cryo-unit and walked right to his clothes managing to get dressed and shaved in no time. This exact routine was getting repeated thousands of time acrosse many levels of the great ship. All in no time. This time it was Muckler's turn to feel a sense of deep surprise.

"How are you walking and standing like that already?"

"What!? what kind of a stupid question is that?" Muckler registered what had just happened and his facial expression betrayed him.

"Why are you smiling?"

"Well doctor it seems our Prime Magistrate has seen fit to play a joke on me as well." He then turned and began walking almost like a drunk "Im going to the bridge, send me the whole bridge crew as soon as they're ready."

The next half hour was was one of controlled frenzy. Hundreds of thousands of human beings coming and going on the ship. All fulfilling tasks given to them weeks ago, executing the plan to perfection. The Science teams immediatly went to work on page loads of data from the planet's surface and atmosphere as well as from the system and all its celestial bodies. It wasn't long before Lebedev and some of his staff charged to Muckler's ready room with a most important discovery. Muckler was reading through his personal memos required upon waking up and had just learned who the loud voice was when the triple chime could be heard signalling someone at his door. He closed his console and opened the door.

"LIFE!!!!!" screamed an ecstatic Lebedev. "Sir life on Ashlain!"

"Relax Juan, has Helios confirmed this?"

"Sir Life I tell you! yes Helios has confirmed. Both cores!!"

The beings found were an extremely young species. Not unlike humanoids in shape their present society placed at about a five thousand BCE timeframe compared to Earth's civilizations. They had just learned the secret to crops and sedentary life soon after inventing the wheel. They were beginning to use fertilizer as well signalling a learning curve in their ability to adpat to their environment. Considering how primitive they were it would be imposible to coexist efficiently with them. Furthermore they occupied some of the best lands on the planet itself. In order for the colonists to avoid interfering with this species they would have to settle near the poles, something counterproduticve to the entire mission. The debate raged on and on, and though Muckler listened to all the arguments some of the scientists threw at him he never changed his mind. The primitives were to be relocated to allow full and efficient colonization of the planet. No GNN employee on board would be allowed to cover this, failure to do so would result in death in an airlock.

Once the discussion had ended Lebedev dismissed his staff and stood alone before Muckler. "There is also one more thing, I've been going over Helios' logs and I came across two system errors classified as mission dangerous."

"I'm sorry doctor but you'll have to excuse me, I've only spent a half hour with the program I'm not as familiar with it as its creator."

"Basically Helios registered an unidentified alloy linked to a fusion signature. There's no way it comes from this system. It caught it a second time just a couple of hours ago. I'm not sure why but maybe being all alone in deep space gives me the creeps, especially if we're not alone."

They both knew many people who would have laughed at such a statement, but there was no joking at this point.

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Brilliant Admiral-I am liking the multiple story arcs and how you are weaving aspects of the game in (like the primitives-nice touch mr)

KUTGW

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Most excellent admiral..a joy to read as always.

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Chapter Nine: Political Nuances

22/11/2227

High Orbit over Ashlain III

FCS Bering Strait

Captain Nolan commanding

Nolan was alone on the bridge. He still hadn't gotten used to the new ship completely yet even if it had been over six months since he had taken command. Within six months so much had changed however. Bradshaw had been very serious when he advocated that a new age was upon mankind. The Terran Federation had able to build more Genesis class colony ships than even expected after a series of new discoveries had been made. A state-of-the-art scout ship had been built shortly after the release of the Genesis at the Harbin shipyards. The TFS Hermes had scouted over a dozen systems all with M grade life-sustainable planets.

Colony ships had been dispatched appropriately and thus began the age of human space expansion. The secret that mankind was no longer alone in the galaxy was kept with militant force. Only a handful of scientists and military personel knew the truth, and even though a small team had been detached to Ashlain 1 to study the primitives the scientific community (those that were in the know at least) lamented at a lost chance to truly interact with another species.

The military was adamant however. One could not foolishly believe that these primitives would be the one and only life form mankind would encounter while journeying the stars. Steps were taken and a program called Echelon was created. This system was in essence a massive information gathering and surveillance network. With sattelites posted in every system visited by man and a comprehensive relay grid established to support them, Marissa would be notified near-instantaneously if something was found. The data logs from Helios were uploaded into the Echelon system to narrow down what to look for exactly.

Costing billions of credits and demanding an overhaul of all pre-expansion ships Echelon caused more than a low grumble within the population of the Federation. The overall feeling that this was nothing more than an expensive and fancy new toy for the researchers on Gray Rock, of which very little was known to the public, simply added to an already tense political situation. The colonies had become more and more demanding in terms of powersharing within the Federation. They stressed that the word Federation meant a cooperation between a center and its peripharies. Bradshaw flatly refused to divest power to the colonies stating that to do so in such a time would simply hinder and slow the incredibly fast-pace expansion.

Furthermore, the expansion had brougth with it an economic boom never before recorded in mankind's history. Suppliers across the colonies were swamped with requests for materials to build new ships while planetside every single man and woman got their hands dirty building majestic colonies that mirrored mankind's splendour back on Earth. Bradshaw feared that any power-sharing scheme would increase bureaucracy thus putting an end to the boom. He had strong backing from the Combine Corporations who were all making handy profits in these times as well as from the powerful Merchant Marine Guild who were issueing a record number of permits for space flight. Bradshaw quickly found himself in the position of so many leaders before him. Backed by strong support groups but lacking popularity among the general population.

This was not a crisis per se since many people did indeed still support the Prime Magistrate. The exploits of late had instilled a sense of pride not felt within a people since the surge of nationalism in the early 20th century. This time however the pride was unified behind a single icon and a single political unit. The colonial leaders who were elected prior to planetfall to fascilitate colony building still had an easy time rousing feelings of discontents amongst the colonists. Bradshaw's background being the military, the most undemocratic institution conceived by man, was used as an example time and time again to show a power hungry colonel who refused to spread democracy as a galactic tool.

For the first time the political nuances of running a political unit escaped his grasp, and he hired several political advisors. To have the most complete picture possible he found one from every old UEF government and non-UEF government he could find. Their first recommendations were quite simple. They told Bradshaw to select colonial leaders prior to launching the colony ships and remove the election aspect, thus making sure that the leader chosen would be supportive and loyal to Bradshaw and the Federation before the colony. Though bradshaw conceded that this would work he refused to do so saying that it went agasint his principles. He did not want to retain absolute power within a singular political body on Marissa but he simply did not wish to divest power just yet. His unrelenting fear of bureaucracy held him so, and he also believed that the colonies were PART of the Federation as well and not simply signatories to its political masters on Marissa.

His advisors next suggested that he divulge the information about the primitives on Ashlain 1. This would almost certainly bring back everyone aboard as fear of the greater unknown would grip the colonies, being that they were the fringe of the Federation. Bradshaw again refused stating that though fear was the most powerful of unifying forces within a societal structure he would not use it to retain popular support for a couple of extra months. He demanded that they give him ideas about how to stop the colonial magistrates from unifying against the central government without hindering the freedom of its citizens. Such a move might even escalate to a low-level intensity conflict and risk destroying all mankind had accomplished in the stars.

Nolan himself hadn't been able to pick a side. He understood the need for the colonial voices to be heard but also saw the advantages to a strong central government in these times. He was lost in thought when his communications stations chirped a priority flash signal. He quickly scooted over to read the message. It came from an unmaned Echelon sattelite all the way on the other side of the system. This message would change life within the Federation and shape the story of mankind for all time.

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Alright things are gonna start getting real real real soon. lol I hope you guys read that the way i meant to have it read. Anyways just for fun koodos to however catches on to the by-now glaring and obvious references that i have made in the past couple of posts.

cheers

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good read

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Agreed though am not quite sure what references you're referring to Admiral?

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Well I'm not about to tell ya!

I'll just have to keep them coming until someone catches on lol.

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