Glorious Terra
14-07-2005, 16:33
~~~~~
Hodgkin’s Law of Parallel Planetary Development states that planets that share multiple similarities (i.e. size, environment, species, etc.) can likely evolve similar societies over the course of its existence. There is a legend, the truth of which is long lost to history, that once there was a great empire of humanity that ran across the galaxy like a mighty fist of planets and cold steel, welded together sometime in the past when the nations of Earth joined together and reached for the heavens with lustful anticipation at the treasures it would hold. Then, there was a period of darkness where this empire broke apart, fragmented like a loose chain, breaking its links for unexplained reasons. This legend explains how humanity spread across the stars in those dark days of the past, and how the current human space nations came into being. It is, of course, just a legend.
There is a planet almost one hundred light-years coreward from Earth that is of unique study by those who know of its existence. A nation similar to Earth in almost every way, right down to the nations that existed upon them. Its ancient religious legends speak of a great exodus whereby life was brought to the planet rather than born to it; a group of pioneers with god-like technology that wished to start afresh representing the nation they had been born from. There are also legends that these god-humans changed the planet to look precisely like their original home, the holy Terra itself. The stories end with the god-humans losing their powers of manipulation and starting afresh on their fertile new world.
As per Hodgkin’s Law, the history of this planet paralleled that of Earth for several centuries, from the ‘Middles Ages’ to the modern periods associated with the 20th Century. The planet moved rapidly past the early ages of civilisation, blessed with the hindsight and knowledge of history. It took approximately 200 years to move from Middles Ages technology to ‘Modern’ Tech.
The diversion in historical events occurred around the equivalent time of the 1930s, which witnessed, as Earth itself did, the rise of Fascism across several nations. Whilst on Earth the Fascist expansion was largely destroyed, the population of this new planet took to it much more eagerly than their Terran counterparts. The world was divided into two; with the Fascist power bloc of the East and the Centrist and Left-wing nations of the West creating an interesting comparison to the original Cold War of Earth. This precarious balance continued for a further 50 years, by which time the two power blocs had achieved Political and Economic unification, creating two large continental superpowers; the Democratic Union in the West and the Union of Fascist States in the East.
The war between these two ideologies was postponed for half a century, but it could not be avoided. What historians would later call the Unification War began when tensions over the control of Middle Eastern oil supplies by the UFS escalated to the point where the DU launched an invasion of the nations in question. The UFS responded with a counter-invasion of their own. This was the first war in which single-man laser weapons were used in active combat. The UFS pushed back the DU, having the advantage of defensive positions and terrain knowledge as well as land-based supply lines that the DU did not. The DU escalated the event by the use of theatre-based nuclear weapons in order to regain the balance of power. The UFS responded in turn, detonating several fission devices over the region. Exchanges ceased for a short period, each side’s troops having retreated to bunkers and safe areas due to the nuclear engagement.
It was a further three days before the full-scale strike began. The UFS launched a total of two thousand nuclear weapons against the West. The DU attempted to respond in kind, but long-placed sleeper agents manage to disable a large part of the retaliatory capability. A mere 100 missiles were able to launch against the UFS, causing major damage in many areas but not destroying the nation. The DU by comparison was obliterated, reduced to a rubble-filled wasteland where pockets of resistance maintained themselves from those who had survived in bomb shelters. The UFS left them there to die; the nation was not interested in a radioactive wasteland. Perhaps in the future…
The UFS then declared itself total leader of the world. The Union of Fascist States changed its name – The Empire of Glorious Terra. Then it began rebuilding.
Twenty Years Later…
~~~~~
The bottle flew through space, spinning end over end, propelled to several miles an hour by the launch tube that ejected it. The bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame glittered in the illuminating spotlights that followed it though the darkness, until it smashed in a brilliant spectacle of shattering ice against the hull of the ISS Conqueror.
Onboard the Observation Deck of Imperial Star Base 01, the gathered officers and civilians applauded politely as the age-old ceremony came to an end. Fleet Admiral Gardner of Terran Imperial Starfleet smiled to himself and sipped the glass of wine that sat on the table in front of him. He gathered himself a moment, picking up the notes for his speech before standing, patting his assistant on the shoulder and stepping up to the podium. Gardner cleared his throat and looked around the audience.
They were all high-ranking officers from each wing of the Armed Forces. The Terran Imperial Starfleet was well-represented, with several Commodores and a further two Admirals seated in full dress uniform, the insignia of the Terran Empire adorned on their red breast pockets in solid gold. Then there was the Field Marshall of the Terran Imperial Army, along with several Legion Marshals; each dressed in rich green with a chest of medals and Terran Empire badges. Most of them had seen action in the Unification War. Gardner felt a little jealous; the Starfleet had only existed for ten years since the end of the War, when space operations were resumed. Before then, space had been given to the Army, who had held a monopoly on Air, Land, Sea and Space. Gardner knew that it the Starfleet had been blocked several times by the Army.
He cleared his throat, looked down at his notes once more, and then begun. “Fellow Colleagues, Imperial Government officials, Ladies and Gentlemen.”
He looked up momentarily to the room again. Someone coughed. Gardner continued.
“It is a tribute to the men and women of the Empire that so soon after the Unification War, we have managed to take such strides in advancement when it comes to space travel.”
Gardner smiled a little, glancing up at Field Marshall Donald Hague. “I must admit that a considerable degree of this advancement I must credit to the Army.” Gardner reached for a glass of wine and sipped it. The smooth taste cooled his throat, and he continued. Behind his head, an overhead display showed the room a schematic of the Conqueror (http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/2807/conqueror1jo.png)
“Before the War, space operations by the UFS were primitive, and involved little more than small, several-crew vessels used for research and surveillance. The War changed all that. The Army capitalised on the increases for their Research & Development branches, and began seriously developing large spacecraft for the purpose of bombing enemy targets. And when the enemy” – the name of the DU was banned in the Empire – “began developing fighters to retaliate, so did the Empire. Now, thanks to them, the Imperial Starfleet has access to advanced engine, weapon and vessel designs. It is thanks to them that the Starfleet can take this step into space.”
A ripple of applause. Gardner saw Hague smile, and the Fleet Admiral relaxed a little; it didn’t do any harm to try and get the opposition on your side, even for a short time.
“The Conqueror represents this nation,” Gardner continued. “It represents our strength, our resolve, our will to accomplish the impossible. And this ship will represent our nation to any other life forms that are encountered during its journeys. It is the foremost piece of technology in our nation, crewed by some of the best soldiers in our nation.”
Gardner took a drink again. He then paused for dramatic effect, looking at each person present.
“This vessel is our future. With it and others, we shall seek out new life, new civilisations and allies. We shall expand our Empire throughout the stars. We shall boldly go where no Imperial Terran has gone before.”
Gardner stood straight from the podium, brought the clenched fist of his right hand to his left breast and then swung his arm straight out. “Long Live the Empire!”
The room echoed this movement with their own identical gestures. A chorus rung out across the room from everyone present. They were united.
“Long Live the Empire!”
(OOC: This is just an introduction for my nation – I’ll be posting the launching of the Conqueror later. Basically, the Conqueror and her crew are going to be my ‘Enterprise’, being as I intend to model my nation along Star Trek technological lines. They’re going to be my Character RP people, if you will, against the larger scale RP of an entire nation. If anyone would like to organise an RP with me whereby the Conqueror comes into contact with them, please feel free to telegram me.)
(If you want to post as a vessel observing the launch from a distance or something along those lines, then I do not mind that. However, this is specifically closed to interaction because I want to get this introduction done without being overwhelmed. I hope you enjoy. :))
Hodgkin’s Law of Parallel Planetary Development states that planets that share multiple similarities (i.e. size, environment, species, etc.) can likely evolve similar societies over the course of its existence. There is a legend, the truth of which is long lost to history, that once there was a great empire of humanity that ran across the galaxy like a mighty fist of planets and cold steel, welded together sometime in the past when the nations of Earth joined together and reached for the heavens with lustful anticipation at the treasures it would hold. Then, there was a period of darkness where this empire broke apart, fragmented like a loose chain, breaking its links for unexplained reasons. This legend explains how humanity spread across the stars in those dark days of the past, and how the current human space nations came into being. It is, of course, just a legend.
There is a planet almost one hundred light-years coreward from Earth that is of unique study by those who know of its existence. A nation similar to Earth in almost every way, right down to the nations that existed upon them. Its ancient religious legends speak of a great exodus whereby life was brought to the planet rather than born to it; a group of pioneers with god-like technology that wished to start afresh representing the nation they had been born from. There are also legends that these god-humans changed the planet to look precisely like their original home, the holy Terra itself. The stories end with the god-humans losing their powers of manipulation and starting afresh on their fertile new world.
As per Hodgkin’s Law, the history of this planet paralleled that of Earth for several centuries, from the ‘Middles Ages’ to the modern periods associated with the 20th Century. The planet moved rapidly past the early ages of civilisation, blessed with the hindsight and knowledge of history. It took approximately 200 years to move from Middles Ages technology to ‘Modern’ Tech.
The diversion in historical events occurred around the equivalent time of the 1930s, which witnessed, as Earth itself did, the rise of Fascism across several nations. Whilst on Earth the Fascist expansion was largely destroyed, the population of this new planet took to it much more eagerly than their Terran counterparts. The world was divided into two; with the Fascist power bloc of the East and the Centrist and Left-wing nations of the West creating an interesting comparison to the original Cold War of Earth. This precarious balance continued for a further 50 years, by which time the two power blocs had achieved Political and Economic unification, creating two large continental superpowers; the Democratic Union in the West and the Union of Fascist States in the East.
The war between these two ideologies was postponed for half a century, but it could not be avoided. What historians would later call the Unification War began when tensions over the control of Middle Eastern oil supplies by the UFS escalated to the point where the DU launched an invasion of the nations in question. The UFS responded with a counter-invasion of their own. This was the first war in which single-man laser weapons were used in active combat. The UFS pushed back the DU, having the advantage of defensive positions and terrain knowledge as well as land-based supply lines that the DU did not. The DU escalated the event by the use of theatre-based nuclear weapons in order to regain the balance of power. The UFS responded in turn, detonating several fission devices over the region. Exchanges ceased for a short period, each side’s troops having retreated to bunkers and safe areas due to the nuclear engagement.
It was a further three days before the full-scale strike began. The UFS launched a total of two thousand nuclear weapons against the West. The DU attempted to respond in kind, but long-placed sleeper agents manage to disable a large part of the retaliatory capability. A mere 100 missiles were able to launch against the UFS, causing major damage in many areas but not destroying the nation. The DU by comparison was obliterated, reduced to a rubble-filled wasteland where pockets of resistance maintained themselves from those who had survived in bomb shelters. The UFS left them there to die; the nation was not interested in a radioactive wasteland. Perhaps in the future…
The UFS then declared itself total leader of the world. The Union of Fascist States changed its name – The Empire of Glorious Terra. Then it began rebuilding.
Twenty Years Later…
~~~~~
The bottle flew through space, spinning end over end, propelled to several miles an hour by the launch tube that ejected it. The bottle of Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin La Grande Dame glittered in the illuminating spotlights that followed it though the darkness, until it smashed in a brilliant spectacle of shattering ice against the hull of the ISS Conqueror.
Onboard the Observation Deck of Imperial Star Base 01, the gathered officers and civilians applauded politely as the age-old ceremony came to an end. Fleet Admiral Gardner of Terran Imperial Starfleet smiled to himself and sipped the glass of wine that sat on the table in front of him. He gathered himself a moment, picking up the notes for his speech before standing, patting his assistant on the shoulder and stepping up to the podium. Gardner cleared his throat and looked around the audience.
They were all high-ranking officers from each wing of the Armed Forces. The Terran Imperial Starfleet was well-represented, with several Commodores and a further two Admirals seated in full dress uniform, the insignia of the Terran Empire adorned on their red breast pockets in solid gold. Then there was the Field Marshall of the Terran Imperial Army, along with several Legion Marshals; each dressed in rich green with a chest of medals and Terran Empire badges. Most of them had seen action in the Unification War. Gardner felt a little jealous; the Starfleet had only existed for ten years since the end of the War, when space operations were resumed. Before then, space had been given to the Army, who had held a monopoly on Air, Land, Sea and Space. Gardner knew that it the Starfleet had been blocked several times by the Army.
He cleared his throat, looked down at his notes once more, and then begun. “Fellow Colleagues, Imperial Government officials, Ladies and Gentlemen.”
He looked up momentarily to the room again. Someone coughed. Gardner continued.
“It is a tribute to the men and women of the Empire that so soon after the Unification War, we have managed to take such strides in advancement when it comes to space travel.”
Gardner smiled a little, glancing up at Field Marshall Donald Hague. “I must admit that a considerable degree of this advancement I must credit to the Army.” Gardner reached for a glass of wine and sipped it. The smooth taste cooled his throat, and he continued. Behind his head, an overhead display showed the room a schematic of the Conqueror (http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/2807/conqueror1jo.png)
“Before the War, space operations by the UFS were primitive, and involved little more than small, several-crew vessels used for research and surveillance. The War changed all that. The Army capitalised on the increases for their Research & Development branches, and began seriously developing large spacecraft for the purpose of bombing enemy targets. And when the enemy” – the name of the DU was banned in the Empire – “began developing fighters to retaliate, so did the Empire. Now, thanks to them, the Imperial Starfleet has access to advanced engine, weapon and vessel designs. It is thanks to them that the Starfleet can take this step into space.”
A ripple of applause. Gardner saw Hague smile, and the Fleet Admiral relaxed a little; it didn’t do any harm to try and get the opposition on your side, even for a short time.
“The Conqueror represents this nation,” Gardner continued. “It represents our strength, our resolve, our will to accomplish the impossible. And this ship will represent our nation to any other life forms that are encountered during its journeys. It is the foremost piece of technology in our nation, crewed by some of the best soldiers in our nation.”
Gardner took a drink again. He then paused for dramatic effect, looking at each person present.
“This vessel is our future. With it and others, we shall seek out new life, new civilisations and allies. We shall expand our Empire throughout the stars. We shall boldly go where no Imperial Terran has gone before.”
Gardner stood straight from the podium, brought the clenched fist of his right hand to his left breast and then swung his arm straight out. “Long Live the Empire!”
The room echoed this movement with their own identical gestures. A chorus rung out across the room from everyone present. They were united.
“Long Live the Empire!”
(OOC: This is just an introduction for my nation – I’ll be posting the launching of the Conqueror later. Basically, the Conqueror and her crew are going to be my ‘Enterprise’, being as I intend to model my nation along Star Trek technological lines. They’re going to be my Character RP people, if you will, against the larger scale RP of an entire nation. If anyone would like to organise an RP with me whereby the Conqueror comes into contact with them, please feel free to telegram me.)
(If you want to post as a vessel observing the launch from a distance or something along those lines, then I do not mind that. However, this is specifically closed to interaction because I want to get this introduction done without being overwhelmed. I hope you enjoy. :))