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STORYLINE
This file contains ideas for the storyline.
It _will_ contain spoilers.
The concept of zones/sectors is still on the TODO list.
FACTIONS
Borderworlds:
Colonial Militia
Great Houses:
Lindblade
Lance Council Capital
Tsu-Khan Empire
PLACES
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Borderworlds / Independent Colonies:
Ghant system
planet Ghant
Alexandria outpost (Colonial Militia)
Battleship custodian
planet Seymour
Regula mining operation
asteroid field
Brogha system
planet Brogha
Caroli system
planet Andros
planet Corthio
--------------------------------------------------------------------
House Lindblade:
Lindblade system
planet Lindblade
Burton system
planet Burton
Trent outpost
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Lance Council capital:
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Neutral systems
Karelia system
Karelian nebula
Colonial border station
Caroli system
planet Andros
planet Corthio
great war battle field remains
--------------------------------------------------------------------
Tsu-Khan Empire:
Kiana system
Kiana Prime
HISTORY
The Great War
Over 300 years ago, the great war between the Colonies and the Tsu-Khan
empire almost wiped humanity out of existence. With respect to the cause,
it was a war like any other: land and resources. The empire had depleted
most of its natural resources and launched an ambitious project to find
a suitable location for a new homeworld. Exploration and conquest led
to the inevitable encounter with the Colonies.
Most of the human population was ignorant of the presence of alien lifeforms
in their galaxy. The scant pieces of evidence that did exist were well-kept
secrets by the political leaders of the time. The Colonies were controlled
by several great 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 ware come without warning. On the edge of know space, in the Caroli system,
two new colonies had been founded outside the jurisidiction of the great houses.
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 few suitable planets just a few parsec away.
The Andros colony was the first to fall. It didn't take long for the Tsu-Khan
battle group to destroy the defenceless setlement. By the time they arrived at the Corthio colony, the local alliance had scrambled any battleship it could find to fend the invasion. The Colonial fleet was no match for the overwhelming superiority of the Tsu-Khan battle group. In a few hours, the battle was over, and the Corthio colony was reduced to ashes.
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 planetairy bank on a small transort 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 the 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 Lantia. 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 te other end of the bar, "life can be full of surprises."
II.
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 station a regiment
in the Ghant system, effectuve immediatly. All fleet operations in the system will be under the
command of the battleship Custodian."
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