Squadron Universe Lead-In (Draft One) - Jan 30, 2002
Ever since their formation out of the star-stuff
created at the very dawn of Time itself, the planetary bodies of our solar system
have known only conflict. Our own Earth, the third planet from the sun, is no
exception.
In those long-ago days, when the skies above
the Earth were filled with fire and acid rain, and speed-of-sound winds tore
apart anything that wasn‘t already flattened to the ground, the planet‘s surface
was still being pock-marked by the residue of the Big Bang. But it would not
be long before more than mere elements would ravage the still cooling mass.
Though only simple single-cell at first, early
life on Earth proved to be sturdy enough to withstand everything thrown against
it and, as the eons passed, mother nature rewarded that fortitude with evolution.
With all but the very core of the planet now
cooled to afford plant and animal development on a grand scale, a wide variety
of creatures filled the oceans and the skies of the Earth, and moved through
its endless plains and forests. And amongst them all, one thing was common --
a constant need for nourishment... a need which saw not only species turn against
species but individual turn against individual. And in those early skirmishes,
the strong would always prevail.
But over time, even that was to change and
develop, just as the world itself was changing and developing. Soon, the self-motivating
quest for life-giving sustenance took on a darker shadow of itself -- greed.
And of all the life-forms that now populated Earth, it was Man, with his steadily
evolving intelligence, that was to take this shadow to undreamed-of heights.
Now simple strength was not enough: now cunning and subterfuge held sway.
Empires came and went, building themselves
from the ashes and the rotting flesh of earlier conflicts. New excuses were
devised to cover the inbuilt need for aggression. Religion, colour and status;
dialect, belief and birthright... all played their part -- mankind masked his
naked urge to rule and destroy, destroy and rule with the gossamer-thin veil
of democracy and government. This carnage held sway for the two millennia that
followed the brutal slaying of a prophet nailed to a cross on a windswept hillside,
until, in the closing breaths of the second millennium and the birthing cries
of the third, the fragile nature of so-called civilisation broke down in a flurry
of heinous acts too horrific for change -- real fundamental change -- not to
take place.
Following the destruction of the World Trade
Center in New York City, the mass poisoning in China and the chemically induced
blight that left 17 million dead and rendered a major part of the Indian sub-continent
uninhabitable for generations, it was the turn of Commerce to see if sense could
be retrieved from the chaos. Only then would everything be well with the world.
Perhaps.
The move -- championed by Big Business -- to
a single currency for the European and, eventually, the Scandinavian countries
was so successful that an even more wide-reaching global means of exchange was
devised. The credit. And with ease of exchange came ease of communication...
and a lull, of sorts, fell upon the third planet.
With this new inter-racial harmony, vast corporate
conglomerates rose to prominence. Such was their power that it soon superseded
that of governments weakened with the removal of their individuality... indeed,
weakened to such a degree that they were soon the puppets of the various commercial
enterprises.
Now, a new cold war reigned. It was a war without
armourments and front lines; this war was fought in board rooms instead of trenches...
and the death blows were administered by stock and distributor manipulation
rather than with bullets and bombs.
From this corporate carnage, two powerful Corporations,
Nanotec and Cronos, emerged while the vanquished
remnants of the organisations who had fallen by the wayside have banded together
to form a many-limbed entity known as the Consortium, whose centre of operations
was moved across space to the Sigma Sector. But the battle for supremacy was
not over and, in the early stages of
the 22nd Century, Nanotec and Cronos entered battle with each other for the
ultimate control of the Earth and all who lived upon it. Before long, economic
sanctions deteriorated to the old ways and the Earth again knew bloodshed on
a global scale. And now, with the new technologies available, the conflict spread
into space itself.
In 2179, after 50 years of war, Nanotec defeated
Cronos but at a huge cost, with the world reduced to just 10% of it‘s 21st Century
population levels. The Earth was in ruins...
As the only source of order left, Nanotec effectively
became the last Government. Though its history was steeped in conflict, the
remnants of Nanotec took its new responsibilities seriously. By the end of the
first decade of the 23rd Century, much of the Earth’s surface had been reclaimed
and the repopulation of Earth had begun. Nanotec was a benign Government and
the Earth was becoming a paradise.
Thus began the Light Ages, a time of peace
and prosperity for all. Now Earth could look to the stars and seriously concentrate
on evaluating its place amongst them... while, across space from the safety
of the Sigma Sector, the Consortium watched developments with interest and jealousy
and, as order is returned to Earth, the Consortium begin a long term project
of infiltrating key positions within Nanotec with a highly secret fifth column
known as the Red Band whose ultimate aims are not
fully known even to the infiltrators themselves.
Foldgate technology -- discovered during the
great Corporation Wars but never fully implemented -- was used to create temporary
wormholes in space enabling the exploration of space to begin. Colonies and
outposts sprang up everywhere... on the dusty sands of Mars and the pock-marked
wastes of Earth‘s moon, in huge cities built into the towering cliffs of Mercury
and floating fortresses braving the eternal storms of Jupiter’s Great Red Spot.
But perhaps the foremost amongst these was
the colony set up on a small moon of Jupiter that had effectively hidden itself
in the shadow of Titan. Discovered in 2246 by Professor Edward Armstrong Homer,
the moon was named, appropriately, Odyssey and as the 24th Century dawned, it
was settled with the cream of Earth scientists and technicians whose work was
ultimately to expand the knowledge of humanity.
For centuries, the civilization of Earth and
its many outposts spiralled to unparalleled heights. A new thrust served to
link all men everywhere, whether on the home planet itself or stationed amidst
the stars. The nature of this thrust was simple: to find alien life.
But while great and expansive minds investigated
mankind’s place in the cosmos, smaller minds were turning narrow. At the beginning
of the 25th Century, the first signs of renewed conflict began. Raiders began
attacking colony traffic in ever increasing numbers. Nanotec became concerned.
Its Navy was ceremonial but with the increasing level of raider activity, Nanotec
began construction of an operational and completely functional force. However,
these things took time. Nanotec created interstellar taskforces, comprising
volunteers pilots drawn from all of the Earth’s many outposts. These pilots
formed themselves into squadrons according to their homeworlds and at last Earth
had a force with which to fight back the raider menace.
But these squadrons only slowed down the raider
activity. The one exception was the Odyssian Squadron, known as The Masters
Squadron. Developing highly advanced ships, the colony also had pilots without
peer. This combination slowly turned the tide against the raiders. And though,
by 2450, the formation of an intergalactic Earth Navy had made considerable
progress, it was the Odyssians who kept an order of sorts amongst the spaceways.
Then, in 2454, the Odyssey colony was mysteriously destroyed. Rumours were
rife as to the identity of the culprits: some had it that a renegade wing of
the fledgling Earth Navy, embittered by the Odyssian successes, was to blame,
while others believed that criminal factions within Nanotec itself -- factions
which were controlling the raider hordes -- had sought to remove the single
greatest obstacle to their piracy. Still others believed that it was the disenfranchised
elements of the vanquished organisations defeated in the corporate wars or possibly
even the Odyssians themselves who, either by accident or design, had self-destructed.
But, though investigations continued into the late 2460s, the truth remained
elusive.
A new century dawned and with it, new generations.
Human memory being fickle, the deeds and the reputation of the Odyssians soon
dwindled, their achievements and their vast knowledge garnering almost mythic
status. Nanotec suffered greatly with the absence of the Odyssians and, while
the Navy managed to keep raider activity down to some extent, it was a losing
battle. In 2521, with Earth losing colonies at an alarming rate, the tide was
about to turn.
Meanwhile, the search for alien life -- set
back by the loss of Odyssian technology and expertise -- continued. But though
some microscopic insects and bacteria were discovered, and occasional single-cell
water-based life and neo-vegetation was found, no other civilizations had been
encountered and humanity adopted the unwavering conviction that it was entirely
alone.
Humanity had been wrong about other things too.
Press Release - Dec 2, 2001
In the late 21st Century, money was a religion on a global
scale. The competition for profit escalated into conflict
and Governments that finally attempted to curb the power of
the Corporations were drawn into the inevitable war. When
the fighting stopped, only 35% of the World’s population had
survived. The shattered remnants of Nanotec, the last corporation,
took on the task of rebuilding the Earth. Within a Century,
most of the World’s surface had been reclaimed. Nanotec, despite
its dark past, excelled in its new role as a World Government
and the people of Earth flourished.
A last vestige of the Corporation Wars was the discovery
of hyperspace. Now the Earth was at peace, this technology
advanced rapidly and colonies began to spring up all over
the Alpha Sector.
Concern over the possible existence of alien races soon proved
unfounded. Though plant and even animal life was discovered,
it became clear that Earth was alone in its civilization and
over the next two hundred years colonization had spread across
another two sectors.
When colonization moved into the Delta Sector, the first
signs of conflict began. Raiders began attacking commercial
shipping and even though losses were not heavy, these actions
concerned the Tec greatly. Earth’s Navy was small and largely
ineffectual. The military began to expand though the speed
of construction was outweighed by the rise in raider attacks.
A temporary solution was found by recruiting pilots and hardware
from the system colonies who banded together in Squadrons
under the reborn Earth Navy. Though this met with some success,
the raiders still continued to increase in number, moving
into other colonized sectors. The Earth Navy, though increasing
its strength, was still insufficient to mount an effective
presence in all the sectors.
Odyssey, a remote colony world in the Alpha Sector, was home
to the Earth Navy’s most elite and advanced military resources.
With a fleet of its own, Odyssey was devoted to research.
When Odyssey was destroyed, seemingly by the Earth Navy, the
Odyssians renounced all ties with Earth and disappeared. Without
the Odyssians, it took 20 years for the Earth Navy to gain
ground with the raiders.
In 2461, exploration of the Kappa and Omega Sectors was
abruptly halted. On an edict from the Earth Navy, colonization
was forbidden in both Sectors on the premise that further
colonies would over extend the military resources of the Tec.
The story begins……
Squadron centres on the Master’s Squadron, the most elite
pilots of the Odyssian Navy based on the Odyssian Flagship,
the Scorpiad.
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