Ataroa
16-11-2005, 23:00
As Emperor Verulius II died in his bed at the imperial palace, so did the sun over the gleaming towers of Ataroa City, crown jewel of the sprawling multi-planet empire the city had started hundreds of years ago. With him went an age that had seemed only a few years ago in the prime of its youth, the age of mad emperors and powerless subjects; a world that was incredible for those who lived at the top and harsh for those at the bottom, an aristocracy through and through.
Verulius had been one of the cruelest of them all, as anyone who had been to the ruins of Gateway City on Agheros could attest to. He had been on the throne a mere 8 years, and in that time the people of the empire were stripped of almost every freedom save the right to live (and many were denied even that.) In this draconian society, the elite lived in separate cities altogether, vast floating palaces above the clouds held up by antigravity boosters that sucked the power grids of cities almost dry.
But now the emperor was dead and, even better, unquestionably of his own hand. His young bride knew that she would meet a grizzly fate if she did not move quickly. Her daughter and trusted servant trailing behind her, she raced towards the palace spaceport. Row upon row of gleaming ships of various sizes sat there. Sliding her passkey into the door of an inconspicuous sky taxi (http://www.chasedesigns.com/bryce/airspace/airspacelarge/newflyershell.jpg), she lifted her frilly dress inside and grabbed her baby as the servant took the wheel.
The silver capsule shot out down the runway…50 meters…25 meters…5 meters…The taxi was now flying through the air, desperately trying to make it out of the city. But it was too late. Years afterward, eyewitnesses swore they saw the man in the driver’s seat slumped over the wheel. Others say they say a gun pop beforehand. Whatever the reason, the craft spiraled out of control, smashing into a transmission tower before plunging into the depths of the Moonsilver River. The Imperial family was now gone. In the old palace, hungry, scavenging mobs burst through the gates, surging against the imperial guards. In the old Senate, representatives took the news as if they had been expecting it, secretly smiled as if expecting it, and started working on forging a new, democratic empire out of the ashes of the old.
The news was soon sent out far and wide to nations throughout the Universe: Ataroa was free and willing to make new friends, enemies, trade and a name for itself.
Verulius had been one of the cruelest of them all, as anyone who had been to the ruins of Gateway City on Agheros could attest to. He had been on the throne a mere 8 years, and in that time the people of the empire were stripped of almost every freedom save the right to live (and many were denied even that.) In this draconian society, the elite lived in separate cities altogether, vast floating palaces above the clouds held up by antigravity boosters that sucked the power grids of cities almost dry.
But now the emperor was dead and, even better, unquestionably of his own hand. His young bride knew that she would meet a grizzly fate if she did not move quickly. Her daughter and trusted servant trailing behind her, she raced towards the palace spaceport. Row upon row of gleaming ships of various sizes sat there. Sliding her passkey into the door of an inconspicuous sky taxi (http://www.chasedesigns.com/bryce/airspace/airspacelarge/newflyershell.jpg), she lifted her frilly dress inside and grabbed her baby as the servant took the wheel.
The silver capsule shot out down the runway…50 meters…25 meters…5 meters…The taxi was now flying through the air, desperately trying to make it out of the city. But it was too late. Years afterward, eyewitnesses swore they saw the man in the driver’s seat slumped over the wheel. Others say they say a gun pop beforehand. Whatever the reason, the craft spiraled out of control, smashing into a transmission tower before plunging into the depths of the Moonsilver River. The Imperial family was now gone. In the old palace, hungry, scavenging mobs burst through the gates, surging against the imperial guards. In the old Senate, representatives took the news as if they had been expecting it, secretly smiled as if expecting it, and started working on forging a new, democratic empire out of the ashes of the old.
The news was soon sent out far and wide to nations throughout the Universe: Ataroa was free and willing to make new friends, enemies, trade and a name for itself.