209 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
209 lines
13 KiB
Plaintext
|
||
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO oOOOO OOOO. OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
|
||
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO" .OOOOOO OOOOOo OOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
|
||
OOOO oOOOOOOO OOOOOOO. OOOO oOOOO
|
||
OOOO .OOOO OOOO OOOOOOOOo OOOO OOOO"
|
||
OOOO oOOOO OOOO OOOO "OOOO. OOOO OOOOo .OOOO'
|
||
OOOO .OOOO" OOOO OOOO OOOOoOOOO "OOOO. oOOOO
|
||
OOOO oOOOOOOO..OOOO OOOO "OOOOOOO OOOOoOOOO"
|
||
OOOO .OOOO"""OOOOOOOO OOOO OOOOOO "OOOOOOO'
|
||
OOOO oOOOO ""OOOO OOOO "OOOO OOOOOO
|
||
|
||
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|
||
| |
|
||
| There Ain't No Justice |
|
||
| |
|
||
| #92 |
|
||
| |
|
||
|---------------------------------------------------------------------------|
|
||
|
||
Foundation of Empire
|
||
By Tal Meta
|
||
|
||
|
||
In 1953, a Drallim scoutcraft crashlanded in the New Mexico desert. Military
|
||
authorities recovered the wreckage and four bodies from the craft.
|
||
|
||
In 1956, the scientists studying the wreckage accidentally activated the
|
||
ship's distress beacon, bringing another scout to close proximity with the
|
||
secret installation where the first craft was being studied. This craft was
|
||
shot down. Four more bodies were recovered.
|
||
|
||
In 1957, the Drallim opened tentative contact with the United States. The
|
||
bodies of the 4 Drallim were returned to their people, in return for a
|
||
nonaggression agreement between the US and the Drallim. The two wrecked
|
||
scoutcraft were deemed to be complete losses, and the US was allowed to keep
|
||
them for further study.
|
||
|
||
In 1965, the Drallim returned to offer the US government a new treaty. The
|
||
Drallim were at war with another race, (the Saathik) and were losing. Because
|
||
the Drallm were not a warlike race, and Humanity understood war only too well
|
||
(in the opinions of both races, let it be known), in return for the use of
|
||
Human mercenaries, the Drallim would continue to supply Humanity with
|
||
advanced technology as well as setting aside several of the nearest habitable
|
||
worlds for Human colonization. Since the offer was valid only to the WHOLE of
|
||
Humanity, the secret was kept by the United Nations Security Council. Earth
|
||
agreed.
|
||
|
||
In the years between 1965 and 2008, Human mercenaries piloted Drallim built
|
||
starships, fought ground battles with Drallim built weaponry. The war which
|
||
the Drallim had been losing slowed, then eventually began to reverse itself,
|
||
as Human scientists among the UN Expeditionary Force studied and improved
|
||
upon the Drallim's weaponry. The Drallim, who for the most part were a race
|
||
of philosophers, were first pleased, and then slowly began to grow
|
||
apprehensive as their Human allies showed more and more adeptness in
|
||
improving the weapons the Drallim gave them.
|
||
|
||
Veterans of the Drallim-Saathik War were not allowed to return to Earth. By a
|
||
unanimous UN vote, they were given the right to be the first settlers of the
|
||
new Human colony worlds. (The secret of the Drallim could obviously not be
|
||
kept quiet if the millions of people who simply "went missing" every year
|
||
suddenly began returning home with fantastic stories of wars among the stars.
|
||
While the governments of the Earth were slowly acclimating their populations
|
||
to the idea that aliens might indeed exist, none felt that the world was
|
||
ready for THAT much of a revelation.)
|
||
|
||
Study of the Drallim technology at home was stalled by several factors. Local
|
||
wars, economic upheavals, and a simple stagnancy of ideas among the American
|
||
scientific community stifled breakthroughs. It was not until UN pressure
|
||
forced the United States to give up their monopoly of the Drallim ships that
|
||
true progress began to unfold again.
|
||
|
||
In 2047, The UNSS Pathfinder, the "first" Human built Jumpship left the
|
||
vicinity of Sol and jumped to Alpha Centauri. There it was met by the
|
||
Drallim, who hailed them and offered full contact between their two peoples.
|
||
The two ships then returned to Sol, where the crew of the Pathfinder were
|
||
acclaimed as heroes.
|
||
|
||
In 2048, the TRUE story of the Drallim-Human Treaty was made known. There
|
||
were few riots. Most people had expected as much for decades, anyway. Drallim
|
||
starships that year also made contact with a race known as the Z'thar, who
|
||
introduced them to the Vorsk, and the Yezzrim. The Z'tharii homeworld,
|
||
situated near the center of the four expanding races, became a hub for
|
||
interstellar trade.
|
||
|
||
Over the next century, Humanity continued to expand, both in terms of
|
||
colonies and knowlege. Human innovation led to a stardrive half the mass of
|
||
the ones in use by the other races, and this, coupled with continued human
|
||
mastery of weapon systems made them the natural organizers of a unified
|
||
military force to protect the world of the burgeoning Confederation from the
|
||
Saathik.
|
||
|
||
All was not peacefull in the Confederation, however. While the Drallim, a
|
||
race of physically amorphous beings capable of limited changes in general
|
||
shape, had ceaded several worlds between themselves and the Z'thar to Humans,
|
||
three worlds settled jointly by Humans and Dralllim remained in Drallim
|
||
control, effectively cutting off direct trade between Earth's colonies and
|
||
any of the other races. Any Human ship wishing to trade on Z'tha had to pay
|
||
tarrifs at each of the stopovers. More; as the Drallim are a race whose
|
||
primary field of study had always been philosophy, peace left them with an
|
||
extended period of time to study their new neighbors. Many were alarmed to
|
||
discover that Humanity was a race of thousands, if not millions of
|
||
philosophies, while others rejoiced. Drallim Philosophers, studying Humanity,
|
||
sometimes went mad, others, embracing Human ideologies, went rogue.
|
||
|
||
The Vorsk, an insectile race comprised of several forms designed for
|
||
individual functions, the primarily visible ones are called "Mediators".
|
||
Their culture is based extensively around trade; each hive is in effect a
|
||
corporation, with markets and agreements stretching back centuries. The
|
||
sudden influx of two new trading partners created... opportunity, as well as
|
||
conflict. Drallim philosophies were easily adapted as tradegoods, as were
|
||
Human innovations in technology. Humans bought Vorsk bioengineering
|
||
techniques extensively, at first, but then began encroaching on Vorsk markets
|
||
with improved methods of doing things.
|
||
|
||
The Yezzrim, a race who physically had the most in common with Humanity (they
|
||
resembled a cross between a monkey and a flying squirrel), were perhaps the
|
||
most diversified race in the mix. Like humans, they excelled in many areas,
|
||
but they often tended to become obbsessive in their endevours, a racial trait
|
||
burned into their delicate biochemistry. Yezzrim scientists often died of
|
||
starvation, Yezzrim warriors ignored orders to retreat, so enraptured were
|
||
they with the tasks at hand. With the aid of Human computer technology,
|
||
(widely acknowleged as better than anything the other races had ever created)
|
||
and several breakthroughs in Human biotechnology, a Human scientist learned
|
||
that the Yezzrim "Monomania" had in fact been increasing slowly over the past
|
||
centuries, with a cause linked to bio-agents planted in Vorsk trade goods.
|
||
Tensions between Yezzrim and Vorsk increase, making for several violent
|
||
incidents. (Meanwhile, Human attempts at reversing the damage was in fact
|
||
making it worse, causing certain elements of the Yezzrim to become violently
|
||
monomaniacal.)
|
||
|
||
While at home, the synthesis of Human computer technology and Vorsk
|
||
biotechnology has resulted in a melding of man and machine. On some of the
|
||
Human worlds, these developments, coupled with Drallim philosophical
|
||
principles, have resulted in Humans and other bioforms designed from the gene
|
||
up for one purpose: cheap biological labor. Earth's governments, united at
|
||
last, are now faced with the fracturing of the colonies into individual world
|
||
and system states. In an effort to present a united front to their neighbors,
|
||
an independant Militia is formed to police the space surrounding Human
|
||
worlds. The Militia goes on to found its own, independant chain of colony and
|
||
outpost worlds, hidden not only from the collective Human member states but
|
||
their alien allies as well. Human shipwrights are double dealing as well,
|
||
selling the Confederacy allies "Cruisers" that are so lightly armored and
|
||
underarmed that the lightest of Militia's Corvettes could destroy them in
|
||
minutes.
|
||
|
||
In 2203, just as the Human Coalition's ships were silently gathering in an
|
||
uninhabited star system a single jump away from one of the contested Three
|
||
Worlds, the Saathik struck at the heart of the Confederation, Z'thar. Only
|
||
now the Saathik starships were of a radical new design. Previously, the
|
||
Saathik used ships of a design similar in principle to those of every other
|
||
known starfaring race... ships requiring a huge, supercooled hyperdrive
|
||
engine, that moved by jumps of at most 30 light years at a time between
|
||
recharges. These new Saathik starships appeared to use a completely new
|
||
principle, freeing them from the need to re-enter the physical universe a
|
||
discreet distance away from any gravity source. It also allowed them to
|
||
strike anywhere, without tripping the standard Jump-Signiture sensors every
|
||
inhabited solar system kept watch over. Their new starships were also larger,
|
||
more heavily armed, and carried defensive energy screens, a technology
|
||
unknown in the Confederacy.
|
||
|
||
The Second Saathik War lasted four years. While the Saathik had a
|
||
technological edge, they had chosen precisely the wrong moment for their
|
||
invasion. While their first tentative probes along the edges of the
|
||
Confederacy had brought them in contact with Confederate Navy ships, those
|
||
battles had all been with the ships supplied to the Confederacy by the Human
|
||
Coalition. With the bulk of the Human Militia's TRUE strength scattered in a
|
||
narrow arc merely two jumps away from their initial point of invasion, their
|
||
technological superiority was rapidly crushed by ships easily their equal in
|
||
armor, and in most cases outmatching them completely in firepower. While
|
||
their defensive screens easily turned away missiles and naval autocannon,
|
||
they only partially deflected lasers and actually ATTRACTED the Human
|
||
Militia's new particle cannons.
|
||
|
||
Eventually, the Saathik retreated to wherever they'd come from, leaving the
|
||
Human Coalition to explain why they'd had that kind of strength so close to
|
||
the Drallim Expanse. A new balance of power and position was struck in the
|
||
Confederacy....
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
|
||
<20> <20><> <20> <20> <20><> <20>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20> <20> <20> <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><> <20><> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>ݲ<EFBFBD><DDB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۱<EFBFBD><DBB1><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20> <20> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> Phoenix Modernz Systems: 908/830-TANJ <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> The Syndicate: 908/506-6892 <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> VapourWare BBS: 61/3-429-8510 <20><><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> Yellow Submarine: 404/552-5336 <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD>۱<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> Urban Discipline / VaS World HQ : 313/464-1470 ۲<><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD>۱<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> RipCo ][: 312/528-5020 ۲<><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20> TANJ Mailing Address <20> <20> <20> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> PO Box 174 <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> Seaside Hts, NJ <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> 08751 <20> <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><DBB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۲<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20><> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>; <20><> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>ݲ<EFBFBD><DDB2><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>۱<EFBFBD><DBB1><EFBFBD>
|
||
<EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD> <20> <20> <20> tanj@pms.metronj.org <20> <20> <20> <20><><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD><EFBFBD>
|
||
|