The Osirion Project - STORYLINE This file contains ideas for the universe background, the factions and the storyline. It _will_ contain spoilers. FACTIONS Borderworlds Colonial Militia Great Houses - House Lindblade - House Illia - Lance Council Capital Tsu-Khan Empire PLACES INDEPENDENT COLONIES (Colonial Militia) - Ghant system planet Ghant Alexandria outpost Battleship custodian planet Seymour Regula mining operation asteroid field - Brogha system planet Brogha Cantor observatory HOUSE LINDBLADE - Lindblade system planet Lindblade - Burtonian system planet Burton Trent outpost LANCE COUNCIL CAPITAL INDEPENDENT WORLDS - Lantanian system planet Lantania BORDERWORLDS - Carolian system planet Andros planet Corthio great war battle field remains - Karelian system no Planets Karelian nebula Colonial border station - Anarian system Anarian nebula Anara research station TSU-KHAN EMPIRE Kiana system Kiana Prime TIMELINE Exodus -5000 years Great War -300 years The Karelian Incident -50 years HISTORY "History is poetry by those who lie, those who are mistaken, and those who do not know" - Tsu-Khan proverb Reach for the Stars Since the beginning of time history of mankind had been written in blood and fire. While many modern historians state the Exodus as the the turning point in human civilization it certainly did not precipitate an era of peace. Wars for resources and territory would be commonplace for millenia to come. The Great War For the Tsu-Khan, the Great War was no different. Around 300 years ago, The Empire had depleted most of its natural resources and had launched an ambitious project to find a suitable new homeworld. At the time, most of the human population was ignorant about the precense of alien lifeforms in their galaxy. The scant pieces of evidence that did exist were kept secret by the political leaders. The Colonies were controlled by several Major Houses, each with their own agenda's and changing aliances. None of the House Lords had the motivation to order a thorough investigation into a mad man's testimony of outer world creatures. The war came without warning. In the Caroli system, on the edge of know space and outside the jurisidiction of the great houses, two new colonies had been founded. The settlers were finishing the construction of their hyperspace jump gate, to connect the system to alied borderworld systems. Unfortunatly, the Tsu-Khan Empire had located a suitable planet just a few parsec away. The Andros colony was the first to fall. It didn't take the Tsu-Khan battle group very long to destroy the defenceless setlement. By the time they arrived at the Corthio colony, the colony had scrambled any battleship it could find to fend the invasion. The Colonial fleet was no match for the superior Tsu-Khan ships. In a few hours, the battle was over, and the Corthio colony had been reduced to ashes. The story repeated itself across the Borderworlds. The independend world were usually inhabited by pacifist who had escaped the turmoil of the central worlds or had a mutual understanding with one or more of the great houses. The Tsu-khan did not care, and the majority of the Bordworlds was utterly obliterated. What remained was a few primitive settlements scattered across the smoldering remains of the Borderworld planets. The relations between the Borderworlds and the Major Houses were strained with conflicts of interest. The central planets didn't really care unless some economical or strategical advantage was involved. Slowly the Houses got drawn into the the war, and after almost a year of hostilities most of the House Lords found their armies involved in a full-scale war. A war, they realised, they couldn't win. With the Borderworlds out of the way, and the Tsu-Khan fleet at the border of every Major House, there wasn't much they could do to oppose the Empire. But in this darkest of hoursa secret meeting took place that turned the fate of history. On a small, neutral planets, near the centre of the Colonies, five small ships met in secret, each ship carrying one of the remaining House Lords. The Alliance This small planet used to be the stage for the House Council, by then a long forgotten tradition, where the Lords of the Major Houses used to work out their differences with dialog, or discuss current events. In the years before the Great War, this tradition had been neglected and oposing views were usually solved with a friendly border scrimish followed by a royal monetary compensation. These times were over. This war wasn't about money, power or territory. It was about survival and it was clear by now that none of the Major Houses possesed sufficient strength to fight the Empire on its own. A new alliance was formed and it was decided that it should not only include all the Major Houses, but also any independent system that was still capable of fighting. The Lord of the house Lindblade, who's territory had been on the front line since the beginning of the war, and considered as moderate amongst the House Lords, proposed to assemble a fleet in the Lindblade system to prevent the Empire from gaining a foothold in the Central Systems. Within days, the largest fleet in human history had united under one banner. Out of fear, out of desperation, but most of all, out of hope. A news reporter from the era described it as ".. an overwhelming sight of Armegeddon, but unlike some ancient scriptures, with a sense of pride and dignity ..." and ended his report with the question if they really had any chance against such a formidable enemy. It didn't take the Empire very long to be noted of the fact that humanity was about to make its last stand. It reacted promptly by sneding in the First Fleet, a group of elite Tsu-Khan Warriors that hadn't been allowed to take part in the operations so far. They were eager to fight and prepared as always to were dispatched to dismiss the Alliance fleet and end the human opposition once and for all. The Supreme Commander of the Tsu-Khan fleet would see to it himself. It is said, even the smallest person can change the course of the future, and in this case it was a lonely scientists in the Anara system. His work involved the meaning of life, the universe and related subjects, and ignoring the dangers of the war was his way of dealing with the situation. His latest experiment required him to pilot a small, almost unpowered vessel into the Anarian nebula, where he could conduct measurements of the small variations in the local hyperspace field. He was performing another scan of the sector when suddenly his instruments went off the scale. To his amazement he suddenly found himself on the edge on area where the First Fleet had decided to regroup and refuel before they sneaked into Alliance Territory. The small vessel, unpowered and only slightly larger then a life support pod, managed to elude the Tsu-Khan sensors through the high levels of radiant present in the nebula and send a warning message the Alliance Fleet. With the help of the detailed scientific information about the nebula, the Alliance managed to jump right on top of the unsuspecting Tsu-Khan fleet. Within minutes, the Emperial Flagship, primary target of the assault, had taken massive damage and was burning in the flames of explosive decompression. It was at the heart of the fleet when it exploded, and most of the heavy fighters and cruisers were hit by the shockwave and the massive rain of high-speed metallic debris following it. Some managed to retreat to Tsu-Khan space, most fell victim to the united firepower of the Alliance fleet. News of the victory spread like fire through the Colonies, and the battle became legendary even before the Alliance fleet had returned. The heroic tales of the fleet plowing through the Emperial forces like a knight with a spear, gave birth to the name "Battle of The Lance". Turning of the Tide Project Osirion The Karelian Incident STORY I. Chocolate milk A cup of steaming hot chocolate milk! There were times I would have laughed it the mere idea, but in these outskirts of the galaxy chocolate was a hard to find commodity. And fresh milk? You'd have to have almost criminal connections to find it. fortunatly I had, and I did. These were times for celebration. I had spend the loan I managed to get from the local planetary bank on a small transport ship and I had just finished my first day of marmitium transport from the Regula mining operation to Alexandria outpost. Not the glorious life I had gotten used to on the central planets, but at least a decent one with its small pleasures once in a while, like this cup of chocolate milk. The hundred credits I payed for it made sure it rivaled the best Keldorian brandy, without the flavour of slightly fermented rodent droppings and the associated legendary hangover. I almost felt like home and the small room I rented above the local bar started to feel like one. After I left the central planets, I ended up on Alexandria outpost where the local bartender was kind enough to offer me a job in his modest establishment. He probably did it more out of sympathy then anything else, but as it turned out, I'm great at doing the dishes and I always enjoyed our conversations. That is, until last week, when I met Brent. I never really got to know him very well but he must have remembered me from high school. I was sitting at the bar when he suddenly tapped my shoulder. My memories of him were vague. As he sat down, I ordered him a drink. We had some chit-chat, shared a few memories of distant times, but it didn't take hime very long to come to the point. Brent was the business type. "The rising star of the Regula mining operations, overseeing all shipments of marmitium in the Ghant system", to quote his words. His phrases like "A smart man could make a fortune" sounded rather hollow to me, but he did have a point. 500 runs to Regula to pay the loan for the ship. Another 1500 more to get myself a ship big enough to hold a small cabin with all the luxuries a simple life would need. Repetetive? Boring? Perfect! Add an autopilot and this life could be more relaxing then a luxury vacantion on Lantania. With this simple business but rock-solid plan laid out in front of me I managed to convince the manager of the local planetairy bank to provide me with the necessary funds for my operation which were quickly exchanged for Micron Corporation's latest Vector model. It's a small ship: the cockpit, a living compartment with a sleeping corner and a cargo hold just big enough to hold a few metric tons of whatever the owner had in mind. All it misses is a pair of blasters to shoot the mosquitos from the windshield. That would have added another 50 runs to the price. The first two runs went smooth. Nothing unexpected. Pick up supplies at Alexandria, fly all the way to the Regula mining operation station, exchange the supplies for a shipment of marmitium and head back. I had just hit the impulse drive with the third load in my cargo hold when I noticed something out of place. A blip. And a big one too. No civilian vessel had an EM radar signature that powerful. I peered through the windows and as planet Ghant grew bigger on me I could clearly distinguish a second bright spot next to the familiar one Alexandria had become to me. I quickly requested the computer for an identification and it didn't take it very long to come up with an answer. Battleship Custodian. Colonial Militia registration number CM-2542. It must have jumped in when I was docked at Regula. Curious. While the Ghant system was officialy under the jurisdiction of the Independent Colonies, nobody had any real business here. Sure marmitium was a great industrial fertilizer, but my guess was that the military's interests would lie elsewhere. For now, I just decided to ignore the matter. I had just made a fresh start in live and I was determined not to let it get ruined by unfortunate circumstances. It was hard to ignore the massive battleship looming over the station, but I docked and went straight to the bar. The bartender looked at me as I walked in and pointed me to my regular place at the bar. "I'll be right back", he said, and disappeared into the kitchen compartment. As on most quiet evenings, the regular customers were kind enough to leave my seat unocupied and it didn't take the familar surroundings long to ease my exited mind into a more relaxes state. "Here you are, one cup of steaming hot chocolate milk. I'm not sure how or where you got it, but I am sure it is the real deal. No one would get it into his mind to synthesize anything without having an actual market for it." As usual, my bartender was right, and that was exactly why I liked this stuff, even if it costed a small fortune. "But then again", he continued and turned has eyes towards the large space window at the other end of the bar, "life can be full of surprises." II. Surprises It was hard for him to hide his unsettledness. "I just had a talk with the station supervisor and the commander of that battleship floating out there". "The Custodian", I replied. "I had the ship computer run an ID on it". "You'd better take care of that fancy new ship of yours", he said. "They were here to inform me that the Colonial Militia has decided to assign a detachment to the Ghant system, effective immediatly. All fleet operations in the system will be under the command of the battleship Custodian. They als dropped some kind of communication sattelite in the center of the system. God knows what these guys are up to." The military is always involved in business the common man would rather not know about, but I had to admit, it just didn't sound right. A battleship in the Ghant system was curious, but a more permanent presence didn't make any sense at all. I picked up the small metal spoon lying next to my cup and stirred my hot milk. "I wouldn't worry to much. They've probably discovered some interesting radiation in the neighbourhood and now they want to turn it into a weapon. You know these kind of people, of it goes kabooom, they immediatly like it. "Besides", I continued, "the system has been quiet for months. I haven't seen a pirate in ages". The tone in my voice couldn't hide my longing for more dangerous and exiting times, but those days were over. I had choosen a new path, and I was not about to ruin my plans because of a few curious events. I emptied my cup and wished the bartender good night. I couldn't sleep that evening. I didn't know what troubled me more: the prospect of my new life, the memories of the old one, or the strange events of today. When a man is troubled, he has to start walking and with the silence of the night as a blanket, I got out of bed and went out on a stroll. Nights are strange in space. Without sun to rise and set, the sky looks always the same and only the clock dictates when it is time to sleep. 2 am standard colonial time. It still felt like night: most of the establishments on the station were closed and the sound of busy peoples voices was replaced by the quiet hum of the electrical installations. I wandered aimless through the empty corridors until I reached one of the large space windows on the upper level. It was almost like the vaste, empty space behind it was reaching out, trying to stir something in the back of my mind. I wasn't sure why but I could not shed the feeling that something was about to unfold. I turned around to head back to bed when suddenly a faint tremor went through the station. It was hardly noticable and most people would probably ignore it, but I knew exactly what it was. When a ship drops from hyperspace into normal space, it will send a small shockwave into the surrounding area. This is not a shockwave of something traveling through space, but rather a disturbance of the fabric of space itself, with a distinct rythmn an experienced pilot could easily recognize. I could have ignored it too and go back to sleep, but the intoxicating effet of the mystery dragged me back to the window. A ship had arrived, and it had to be close. Hyperspace-tremors do not travel very far and it would take one hell of a pilot to jump this close to a planetary body. The slightest miscalulation would have spread out his atoms over the face of planet Ghant. The bright moving spot between the stars had proven he was either good, or very lucky. From what I could tell it was on its way to Alexandria.