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| Centauri Wars | |
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| Topic Started: Dec 4 2011, 09:10 AM (278 Views) | |
| Sedulius | Dec 4 2011, 09:10 AM Post #1 |
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Field Marshal
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Know then that it is the year 2991. Five centuries ago, it was discovered that the Earth as it was known had only a few decades before near certain destruction by a terrible event. Nations of the world worked together to construct a massive fleet of colony ships, and as ship after ship was completed, Earth's best and brightest, and most wealthy, headed for Alpha Centauri, the system closest to Sol. They found few suitable areas to colonize among the many moons of the giant planets of this binary star system, but these colonies were to become the saviors of the human race. As the colonies grew, thrived, and expanded, the predicted calamity occurred. The not wholly destroyed, all life on the surface of the Earth was burned to ash. Billions perished, and only those living in underground cities and shelters survived. Now the future of humanity rested on the shoulders of the colonies. The first colonies to be founded formed what eventually became the League of Free Nations, now a coalition of hundreds of independent moons and planets ruled over by the Procouncil of Twelve: generals vested with the power to do whatever is necessary to keep the League stable and prosperous. Their fleets of solar-sail ships numbers in the thousands, and their trade empire has no equal. Upon an ice moon orbiting the second planet of Alpha Centauri, another colony was founded that would become a new holy empire. A great cityscape has gradually overtaken much of the surface of what is now Centauri Prime, capital of the Centuari Republic. Ruled over by an Emperor and a Grand Assembly of thousands of citizens, the Centauri Republic is the greatest bastion of ancient tradition and civilization. The Imperial Law and the Holy Church keep alive a rich culture, and the Imperial Fleet of two hundred massive dreadnoughts ensures the Republic's safety from the League and others. On the outer reaches of Alpha Centauri, the final colonies banded together to form the Imperial Union. This empire was ruled by one man alone, the Huangdi, and with survival depending on expansion, it was not too long until the First Centauri War began. The Imperial Union struck a rich border world of the Centauri Republic first, killing millions and ruthlessly enslaving millions more. The onslaught of the Union caught the Republic off guard, and they were only able to turn the tide in seeking aid from the League. The war lasted a decade, in the end seeing the Imperial Union banished from Alpha Centauri, doomed to certain death. However, the Huangdi and his people found fortune in a system not far away, and it was here humanity made first contact with alien life. They found not only a planet lush and flowing with life, but also a developed spacefaring culture known as the Geln. But rather than greet this newly discovered race in peace, the Huangdi ordered an all-out conquest of the Geln race, claiming it was for the survival of the Empire. The Geln were taken by complete surprise, overrun before they could mount a successful counterattack. However, in time Union troops were bogged down by rebellion, and the arrival of another alien empire, that of the Nyrac, saw hostilities come to an end. A treaty was drafted, and the three races now banded together with three emperors co-ruling, bringing a whole new meaning to the Imperial Union. All this went unknown to the League and Republic, between whom lasted a century of peace and prosperity. An ancient and peaceful race known as the Robusians were contacted, and the human trade empires grew. However, in time, competition became fierce, and independent governments and corporations within the League began raiding Republic merchant convoys. The Centauri Emperor sent battle fleets to blockade the worlds responsible when the Procouncil proved unresponsive, which to many League worlds constituted an act of war. In time, the Procouncil was forced to take action against the Republic, and thus began the Second Centauri War. It was long and brutal, and in the end neither side was the victor. Worlds were lost and gained, but the empires proved to be each others equals, and when the military-industrial complex could bear no more fruit, the League sued for peace, peace the Republic was all too willing to accept. The Grand Depression followed. Poverty and famine became rampant throughout the Alpha Centauri system. After decades of rebuilding, it seemed prosperity would once again become the norm. Prosperous colonies were founded in other systems to trade with the Robusians, and on the borders of explored space, evidence of other races was being found. But it was at this time the Imperial Union, thought long dead, came for vengeance. Though known as the Third Centauri War among humans, this conflict was far larger than just Alpha Centauri. The Nyrac and the Robusians were ancient enemies, and both used the humans as pawns in their game. This war was their excuse to have at each others throats, to gain the territory and technologies of the other, to attempt to settle an age old vendetta. Many worlds fell to the Imperial Union, considered reclamation by them. But the League resisted the onslaught with stalwart courage, and the Republic went on the onslaught with its dreadnought fleet. The dreadnoughts came to be known as an unstoppable force, devastating world after world of three emperors. With the assistance of the Robusians, the capital worlds of each emperor were located and held hostage by the grand fleets, and the Imperial Union was forced to sue for peace. This grand victory for the Republic made its Emperor arrogant and headstrong, and soon far flung expeditions into unknown space were launched, world after world bowing in awe of its fleets. However, rather than conquer, the Emperor sought only allies and trade partners, and in exchange for their loyalty, he promised them protection, protection they accepted quickly for reasons unknown. The reason became known soon enough. On the far flung desert world of Telnar, deep within the galaxy, a race of billions was found enslaved by arthropod masters. The Centauri Emperor ordered the slaves freed and their masters driven off-world. The Republic succeeded, but unknowingly, they had awoken a sleeping giant. Within a month of their victory securing Telnar, a massive ring shaped ship, seemingly organic, appeared in orbit of Telnar. Within seconds, thousands of alien dreadnoughts invaded the space above the planet. The Centauri fleet was demolished, and the Telnarian people were nearly wiped out for their rebellion. The Verrick Empire had awoken. System after system fell to them. Their armies spread over worlds like a plague, and their fleets seemed to have no end. Where a hundred ships seemed to be an invasion, they were merely a vanguard. All empires suffered at the hands of the Verrick, whom had enslaved dozens of races over millenia. But soon it came to light the true reason for their fearsome attacks. The brunt of Verrick attacks were being directed at the Nyrac rather than the Republic, and the Robusians revealed that a thousand years ago, the Nyrac had launched a devastating attack upon the Verrick homeworld, and while the Verrick repulsed the Nyrac, who retreated where they could not be found, the Verrick had never forgotten. Over the last several centuries, the Verrick had been growing in strength, and were now a threat to all civilization in the galaxy. The "free" races now had to unite against this most formidable of foes. Now, the Verrick blockade Centauri Prime, squeezing it of life, but unable to conquer a world of trillions. The Republic fleets gather with allies at other worlds for a counter-attack against an enemy which before it seemed there was no victory. But not all hope is lost. Just before the blockade, a new Imperial fleet was constructed with cutting edge technology. Ten massive superdreadnoughts were launched in a Holy Crusade against the Verrick at Telnar. It seemed to many a pointless effort, but they succeeded against all odds! The Verrick fleet in the system was wiped out, and the Telnarians made free once more! What is more, the large ring ship, a Verrick mothership, was captured, giving vital intelligence to the Republic war effort! But now, with the blockade of Centauri Prime in progress, a pivotal decision faces the Centauri Emperor. Does recall the Crusading Fleet in an attempt to break the blockade, or does he order them to continue their crusade against the Verrick Empire, which has stretched itself thin over thousands of systems? Only time will tell what happens in this, the Fourth Centauri War. |
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| Sedulius | Dec 5 2011, 07:47 AM Post #2 |
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Field Marshal
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THE FACTIONS The League of Free Nations Oldest and largest of the human empires, the League of Free Nations is focused on trade, made up of several independent republics, principalities, kingdoms, and corporations. All nations answer to the Procouncil of Twelve, generals from the most powerful nations in the League. However, nations do not necessarily always follow the will of the Procouncil, and they are not necessarily always punished for their defiance. Petty wars are common place within the League, and only when a nations actions threaten the security or prosperity of the entire League does the Procouncil bring its full retribution down upon them. The League homeworld is Neue Erde, the most lush of the moons in the Alpha Centauri system, dominated by German culture. The League is mostly Protestant, however large populations of Catholics exist, as well as atheists. Buddhists, Hindus, and Muslims constitute the greater minority religions. The Centauri Republic The Centauri Republic is quite oddly named, for it is neither a republic nor the dominant power within Alpha Centauri, though it is arguably the dominant human power in the galaxy. Though it was initially founded as a true republic, with a chancellor and senators in its early days, this was quickly replaced when one man gained the confidence of the people and overthrew the senate. He was anointed Emperor by the Church, and accepted throughout the Republic as the sole ruler. However, the new Emperor did something quite unexpected. He ordered the construction of a Grand Assembly on the homeworld, then nicknamed Novaya Rossiya, now named Centauri Prime. The Grand Assembly allowed ordinary citizens, chosen by a system of stratified random sampling for each session, to take part in the government of the Centauri Republic. While the Emperors still technically hold absolute power to this day, it has been their willingness to bow to the will of the people that has kept them in power. Centauri Prime has in time gone from ice moon to city world, and though much of the surface is still covered by ice, much of it is now covered by lush grass and forests due to climate change allowed by the construction of the great cities. The culture of the Centauri Republic is dominantly Russian. However, Imperial programs have gradually infused this culture with elements of ancient Greece and Rome, gaining the Republic legitimacy as a successor of the Old Empires. The Orthodox Church dominates the empire's culture; however, Muslim dominated worlds have had to be tolerated as their annexation has proven to be strategically necessary. The Imperial Union Initially a human empire dominated by Old Earth oriental culture, the Imperial Union is now a triple empire, a unification of human, Geln, and Nyrac races. The most dominant empire is that of the ancient Nyrac, a reptilian race that grows larger with age, whose emperor fought in wars with the Verrick and Robusians a thousand years in the past, and now is so massive he can barely move from his giant throne on Nryass. The Nyrac view their emperor as the latest god in a long line of gods, and that through him all the God Emperors live even now. They believe all who serve the Empire faithfully are reborn forever, and those who betray the Empire suffer permanent death. The Geln are the weakest, a vicious bear-like people nearly conquered by the original humans of the Imperial Union, and if their infrastructure was not dominantly subterranean, they would not have lasted long enough to the Nyrac Empire to stop the madness the humans had unleashed upon them. While they have not forgotten the humans' crimes against them, they know that they must wait to strike, as the ever watchful eye of the Nyrac Emperor is upon them. Their emperor, or empress, is less a supreme ruler and more a supreme warlord, replaced often as no Geln can refuse the rite of single combat by law, thus the "strongest" warrior always leads. The tribes of Geln more or less govern themselves, but at the call of their Emperor, they will unite to go on a warpath against their enemies. The Geln pantheon varies from tribe to tribe, but is typical of religions humans would call "pagan" in the English trade language. The Imperial ruler of the humans, the Huangdi, keeps absolute rule over his subjects from his palace on Tiantan. Humanity in the Imperial Union is dominated by Chinese language and culture, and as they have spread rapidly to the planets of their alien neighbors, it is rare to not see Mandarin Chinese characters in a Union city. Their population is now more numerous than that of the other human empire and that of the Geln and Nyrac. Buddhism is almost completely dominant, with Judaic religions being harshly suppressed. The Robusians The beautiful silver skinned, four armed Robusians are enigmatic. They have no known system of government, no known corporations, and no known religion as far as humans can comprehend. Even the Robusians themselves have no inkling as to how long their race has existed. And yet, the Robusians have not expanded beyond their homeworld of Robuss save for outposts and mining colonies. What is quite obvious, however, is that the Robusians are more technologically advanced than any known species. Their fleets well organized and effective, though against the Nyrac they have had as many defeats as they have victories, though not one Nyrac vessel has ever made it past Robuss's orbital defenses, nor have any vessels with malicious intent. Recently, however, Robusian fortunes have changed for the worse. In an attempt to assist humanity against the newly awakened Verrick threat, the majority of the great Robusian fleet was destroyed by overwhelming Verrick forces in the catastrophic Battle of Arkos Prime. After supplying the Centauri Republic with technology vital to the new Centauri Superdreadnoughts, the Robusians withdrew all of their forces back to Robuss. Only the occasional Robusian straggler has been seen outside of Robusian territory since. The Verrick Empire The borders of the Verrick Empire seemingly do not exist beyond their borders with the known empires. Unexplored systems are now almost always assumed to be under the control of the Verrick as a strategic precaution, as human efforts to colonize new systems have always been met with failure within the last century due to the presence the Verrick horde. The Verrick are known to have enslaved over a dozen races, and it is speculated that they have exterminated far more. The populations of all the alien worlds protected by the Centauri Republic, save for Telnar, were utterly exterminated, their surfaces now covered in strip mines and factories processing the dead, Verrick and otherwise, into food for the numberless Verrick legions. Human worlds, however, have all without exception been spared such fates, their populations instead being enslaved. Shocking reports from the frontlines have even revealed the presence of humans among the Slave Legions! Of Verrick culture little is known. Until recently, it had been thought the Verrick were a hivemind with behavior similar to insects. However, nothing could be further from the truth. The Verrick race is in fact three distinct races. The majority make up the workers and the legions and are perhaps only slightly better than slaves themselves. It was discovered on a Verrick infested world that this race mates almost constantly when not on campaign or working. While all three races resemble arachnids, this race is characterized by its folding wings and shell, making them more akin to beetles. They are on average 1.5 meters in length and a meter in height. Each of their ten limbs have something akin to fingers at the ends, but their eight compound eyes make them poor shots, with unarmored Verrick preferring melee. However, when armored, while they cannot fly, they are walking platforms of death. The smaller Verrick that have been seen on the battlefield as snipers are now theorized to be pets equivalent to hounds. They are unwinged and have an eye configuration akin to a jumping spider. They typically have a meter leg spread and are a quarter of a meter in height. It has been confirmed that their own venom is used in the poison projectiles fired from their weapons. The least seen race is that which has been identified as the Verrick generals, and are theorized to be the equivalent of Verrick nobility. Their head have large crests and sharp teeth, and they have been known to speak languages outside of Verrick tongues. They have eight lidded, crimson glowing eyes, and eight sprawling legs, on average three meters in length and tipped with razor sharp ends. Their bodies typically measure two meters in length, with two arms extending another meter, ten fingered hands upon the ends of each. However, the largest Verrick sighted was reported have legs five meters in length, with a head crest spanning a meter. Boasting lavish, bright colored ceremonial armor, this is believed to be the Verrick Emperor. The Verrick homeworld, Verikka, was only recently located in the files of a captured mothership. It was shown to be a paradise beyond any other world yet discovered in both Verrick and Republic records. The Telnar Triumvirate The recently liberated Telnarian race has formed the Telnar Triumvirate, uniting the race under the three most powerful kingdoms that had continued underground despite Verrick occupation of Telnar. The Triumvirate has sworn undying brotherhood to the Centauri Republic, having twice freed them from the yoke of Verrick oppression, and have quickly constructed a crude but massive fleet to assist in the Crusade against the Verrick Empire. Telnarians themselves are hard to describe. They seem like a cross between a wolverine and a potato bug, typically traveling by rolling in a third of a meter ball, but unfurling to reveal vicious teeth, two piercing eyes, and four limbs with claws, standing a meter tall. They typically ambush enemies by hiding in the sands, popping out to the surface when they feel the vibrations of their enemies above them. They are religiously fanatic, worshiping their long lost ancestors known only as the Masters, prophesied to someday return. The Drakk Kingdoms The Drakk race never developed viable explosives needed for firearms and internal combustion engines. However, their research into magnetism, electricity, metallurgy, and steam power rivals that of other spacefaring races. While they have only just started making forays outside of their home system, their combined fleet numbers in the hundreds, with a Drakk dreadnought able to rival at least a League frigate. However, controversy has arisen as the Huangdi of the Imperial Union has sought to subjugate the race with the approval of the Geln and the Nyrac. The League of Free Nations fights a proxy war against the Imperial Union at Drakk, supplying the kingdoms with weapons and spacefighters. This is sadly corrupting the once simple almost medieval culture of the Drakk. The Drakk themselves are best described as winged lizards averaging only a meter in length from tail to head, though with a wingspan of two meters. They have a prehensile tail and opposable thumbs with three fingers at the end of each of their four legs. Edited by Sedulius, Dec 7 2011, 02:47 AM.
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| Sedulius | Dec 16 2011, 07:13 PM Post #3 |
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Field Marshal
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Rough Draft, WIP, Chapter I ----- Emperor Alexsey Konstantinovich Komnin stood on his balcony looking out upon the great cityscape of Centauri Prime. Buildings all throughout burned. Massive planetary weapons fired into the sky, hoping to strike vessels of the enemy fleet. The enemy were not bombarding now, but the blockade had been going on for months now. Attack after relentless attack had failed against Centauri Prime's defenses, but the planet was weakening ever so slowly. There was no shortage of water, but the granaries were dwindling. Food supplies would likely last only another month, and the billions of citizens would begin to starve. A single tear ran down the Emperor's cheek. He knew that this very well could be the end of an empire centuries old. The cruel Verrick race orbiting above in its massive armada wanted only one thing, to completely subjugate the entire Human race. They would not negotiate, no matter how generous the terms. They were dead set on seeing all of Humanity their slaves. Most hope was lost. What attempts had been made to break the blockade had failed miserably. Most of what was left of the Centauri fleet limped into League space, seeking assistance. The League of Free Nations was amassing a fleet, but their efforts seemed half-hearted. They knew that if they only waited a while longer, one of their oldest competitors would be out of the way. The Royal Houses and corporations of the League were greedy, thinking not of all of Humanity but of their own profits. The Procouncil of Twelve was doing all it could to rally the forces of the League, but most nations were glad to see the Centauri Republic in flames. "So it has come to this," the Emperor said to himself, grimly. And yet he knew in the back of his mind that he could save his precious capital. He knew he could end all of this suffering with one order. But it was an order that could quite possibly lose the war. The Victory fleet had crushed the Verrick fleets in the Telnar system, far on the edges of Republic space. The Centauri Superdreadnoughts showed themselves to be seemingly invincible. Not one was lost. They had also captured a Verrick mothership, gaining invaluable intelligence that could very well win the war. They now knew the entirety of the Verrick Empire, and its fleets. It was vast, thousands of times larger than the Centauri empire, with an army and fleet to match. However, this meant that the Verrick fleets were spread dangerously thin. The Victory fleet could strike deep into Verrick territory, rendering world after world of the Verrick war machine useless. After seeing to what the Verrick had done to the borderworlds of the Centauri empire, most Humans no longer qualms about committing genocide against the "bugs". But it was a difficult decision, and losing Centauri Prime was possibly too high of a price to pay. It was the lifeblood of the Centauri Republic, and the greatest bastion of ancient culture. But without sacrifice, all of Humanity, perhaps the entire galaxy, might be enslaved by the Verrick horde. "Come to bed, dear." Emperor Aleksey looked over his shoulder to his beautiful wife Irina. He was twenty years her senior, but it was a loving relationship. She had proven to be a strong companion with whom to rule the Republic. The Church had been very angry with him for marrying a third time, but they did not understand, being stuck in the old ways. The death of his last wife in childbirth had left him grief stricken, and Irina had been there for him. He could not simply keep her as mistress, for the one he loved deserved more. It had also been politically advantageous, for Irina was of the family Diogen, one of the most powerful families in the Republic. He continued to stand, looking out into the cityscape, doing everything he could to hold back the tears. He knew what had to be done. When his wife touched him upon the shoulder, he turned to embrace her and kiss her passionately, before lifting her up and taking her to the bedchamber. He would try to find solace in his wife, for he knew not where else to find peace. He knew he would soon be more despised by the people than any emperor before him. |
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11:47 AM Jul 13