Moonshadow
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« on: April 11, 2010, 18:49:47 PM » |
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Prologue:
The 21st Century was supposed to herald the dawn of a new age. The wars, famines and suffering of the last two millennia were to become a distant, fading memory, as scientific advances brought global peace and prosperity. Toward the end of the 20th century, a now forgotten US president even went as far as to officially proclaim the arrival of a new world order, in whih right, not wrong, would govern international relations.
Unfortunately, this bright future was not to be. First came a meltdown of the international stock and currency exchanges. Then the major international conglomerates were dissolved in a vain attempt to stop the fiscal haemorrhage. By 2012 the world enconomy had collasped. Poverty and hunger caused soial and political tensions to flare. As the crisis wore on, few were bold or naive enough to predict anything positive for the future. Mostrealised that the planet was on the verge of global conflict.
During this time, the odd american organisation, NASA, were taken over by a new company called the Lunar Corporation. The LC, as it was known, saw a business opportunity in all this chaos, and began building a city in orbit. When it was completed, those who could afford it flocked to the newly opened Orbital City I.
In 2048, the anticipated global conflict broke out with a level of violence that shook the planet to its core . All major centralised goverments were destroyed in the maelstrom. Europe and Eastern Asia bore the brunt of the devastation, as the entire urban centres, from Madrid to Moscow and from Seoul to Singapore were literally wiped off the map. The 20th-century dream for a better world ended in death and destruction. The population of Orbital City I, shocked by the horrors they were witnessing, emigrated to a newly constructed Lunar base to better protect themselves. The colony then severed all connections with earth and began to prosper as a separarte, selr-contained community.
The human race has always been known for its resiliency. Within a dozen years, the Earth's inhabitants had begun to restore their old nationalities - with a few twists. Twelve states of the former United states joined together to form a new country, called the United Civilised States. The UCS citizens had essentially given up thier old roles as producers and leaders. Nearly all work was being performed by robots which were controlled by expert computer systems. Not surprisingly, the human inhabitants of the UCS had become lazy and decadent.
In the European and Asia territories, which suffered so terridly in the war, a new empire was created under the iron fist of the khans. Its pround name was meant to conjure up an ossociation with a glorious former age - The Eurasian Dynasty. With access to the military bases, weapons and technology of the former Soviet Union, the Khans were able to build up a formidable military state. Decadence is unheard og in the ED. The citizens are drilled from an early age to serve the state and be ready if so ordered. The regime is quick to eliminate any individualists and pleasure-seekers, not to mention those who are merely lazy or incompetent.
As the only two organised powers, both the ED and the UCS were able to extend their borders very quickly, and soon possessed all remaing inhabitable areas. but two powerful empires can rarely live in harmony. Soon the ED army invaded the UCS territories. Thus began another horrendous war. During eight years of continuous conflict, the retreating ED army, desperate after suffering a series of battlefeild defeats, attempted to turn the tide with nuclear weapons. A barrage was lunched against UCS positions near the North pole. The explosions unleashed were so violent that the Earth's orbital motion was effected. This was first noticed in 2150 by UCS scientists and the almost forgotten colonists on the moon. Soon, the infomation also reached ED headquaters. The scientists' calculations became cause for serious alarm. The distance between the Earth and the Sun wouls shrink by nearly 17% over the next few years. The implications became clear, even to the thick-headed ED commanders - the Earth and the moon are headed for a terrible cosmic disater.
The only hope for salvation is to escape the doomed planet. But building an evacuation fleet of such size requires immense natural resorces and these are to be found only in a few selected regions. This means only one thing - Whichever side emerges victorious in the battle for these territories wil escape Armageddon. The next war will truly be the last our eart will ever see...
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