Histories of the Dark Tides.
Planets are flourishing, and civilizations building. Everyone is happy, and for the most part, the many different species live without many violent interactions.

That's what most governments would want you to believe. Earth made first contact with living beings in space around 2500. No one knows the exact date. It was at the same time that most of the planets in the sun's radius had been at least partially colonized, and a few were even had large cities on them. The Empire had a strong rule over all of these planets, as before any expansion was necessary, discipline must be found.

It was found by two events. The first was the failure of the Arc. In the mid to late 21st century, the countries of North America began to create a gigantic city ship, known as the Arc. It was nearly 25 miles* long, and 12 miles** in width. The ship took off successfully in 2130. A good portion of the world's population had boarded the Arc, and everything was going well until the Arc hit the atmosphere.

It was at this time that, for the most part, all the engines on the ship failed. No one realized this until the ship began to drift back down. No one onboard realized it. The only time that people realized that the ship was gone was when a great blinding light filled the air for thousands of miles in the northern hemisphere, severely damaging and radiating* most of the countries in the Americas, and even a bit in Europe.

The world falls into anarchy after the Arc. The collapse of North America cuts down on trade massively in Europe, and another great depression falls. Russia reforms the USSR again, absorbing many of the countries that had gained independence. China-and most of Asia-see Russia as a threat, even though both counties have communist governments. The war between them is started accidentally-no one knows who really did it, although a nuclear bomb is set off in Russia, not that far from Moscow. Although Moscow isn't affected, Russia reacts violently.

Most of the world falls into a dark age, with organized governments rare and in-between. Nuclear war has broken out in Asia, and North America is a hazardous wasteland from the crash. Europe has fallen into a feudal type of era, the civil wars in Africa grow worse and more expanding as more weapons are built, and the Middle-East gets sucked into the Russo-Asian war.

The Earth is a dark, dark place...


Topic: Histories of the Enlightenment and the Age of Expansion.

The world is in turmoil. Many areas are without modern technology, diseases run rampant, and war is everywhere. Peace no longer exists on the planet. Governments rise and fall with the ebb of the tide, and most of humanity has forgotten about the Arc which caused it all, and worry only about how to kill their fellow man.

However, there is a single government which fails to fall under the waves of depression and death that fill the world. The government fights as well. The man who lead the movement had a name, but that name has been forgotten over time. However, he is what created the first banding. It started in Italy. The unknown person that led this government expanded, and defeated every foe that fought it, be that foe a physical manifestation of darkness or greed, or a psychological manifestation of that darkness and evil moon that hung over the entire earth. It was as if Rome had been reborn-soon enough, both Italy and Greece were under a single government.

It didn't take long for expansion to occur. Soon enough it started both northward and southward. Any resistance in Europe and Africa was just that of a civil war, or bandits, and those foes fell quickly to that growing super power. Most chose to join rather then be killed. Soon, the whole of Europe and Africa had been conquered.

Russia was besieged on two sides. On one by the Asian forces, and on the other by the forces of that new Empire. They chose to cede to the New Empire, and that super power expanded even more. All of Asia joined as well very shortly after, knowing that a war with the Empire would cost countless lives, and would not change any outcome of fate.

In only the span of a decade, most of the world had been united under a single banner.

Sub-Section: The Assassination.

However, that doesn't mean that everyone was happy. Some greedy figures profited from the chaos that reigned over the earth, being able to gain wealth and power by using fear amongst those who had less power then them. During the year 2045, that figure which reunited the world under a single banner falls to a poisoned blade. No one knows the assassin, but his purpose was obvious-more chaos. His purpose failed as well. The fallen Emperor is seen as a martyr, and instead of collapsing, the Empire grows even stronger, and causes another bout of expansion.

Instead of looking to the storm-raged wasteland in the Americas, the Empire looks skyward.

Sub-Section: The Expansion

Colonies were formed, planets were explored, and the Space Age had begun. Space travel became an easy thing with the development of new engines, and new planets were found. Soon enough, the human race began to thrive once more. The first alien contact is made, and the contact is good for both sides of the exchange, with technologies being traded. All in all, everything is going well for the humans. Any hostile aliens found become annexed into the Empire, and the Expansion continues.

Of course, with this expansion, comes great power. And with great power, comes greater corruption.

Sub-Section: The Lapse.

For a second time, the Emperor is assassinated. This is something that does not happen commonly-in fact, this is the second time it ever has happened and succeeded. During the night-time on Earth, a dissenting general sends his men into the Imperial Palace. Most of the night-guard are slaughtered, and when day comes to at least Earth, the Empire is without an Emperor. Word doesn't take long to spread, and almost immediately, civil war breaks out. There is more then two factions-there are half a dozen of them, each wanting to rule the Empire, and each intending to do it with military force.

The war rages on for decades, with no momentary quiet before the storm, and no way of telling how it will end. However, there is a single soldier of the Empire, of those who were ready to wait for another Emperor to be elected, whom gains remarkable press. He survives a unlikely situation as a prisoner, killing dozens of men by himself. He took command from officers who seemed unworthy of it, and soon enough he rose though the ranks, commanding his own force. Soon he is in command of his own fleet, and that is when the war changed. Suddenly, there were less factions. Nearly half of them are re-annexed into the Empire, all of the crucial battles overseen directly by Admiral Derrik Bautista. In a span of a decade, the Empire is strong once again-there are still many planets that remain out of the Empire's hold, for reasons of both civilization, and of location. However, the Empire continues to attempt to annex these planets.

Without argument or any further dissent, Admiral Derrik Bautista becomes Emperor.

Sub-Section: The Reconstruction and the races new to the Empire.

During the period of time known as The Reconstruction, the new Emperor set about to fixing his broken Empire. Soon enough everything begins to get better-the Reconstruction is a twenty year long period, although nothing of importance happens until near the end of it. No one sees it as any importance-all that happens is that trade is reestablished within the Empire, and the economy begins to flourish once more.

At the end of the Reconstruction, a few more alien races are introduced. Instead of bringing trade and economy, they bring war. The first attacks made are weak, and repelled by the Empire, and no true war has broken out yet. However, it is clear enough that the Empire and those new races are not allies for the most part, and light incursions do happen from time to time against the warring factions.

Those new races are all different then the Empire. One of them is the Tangethens-a race of insect-like creatures, falling into many strains. Some look like the insects you may even find on Earth, some are humanoid, and some look more grotesque and different then most nightmares. Although a few of them have moved into the Empire's territories from their old government, that old government still remains strong in its hold on their planets. When at peace they can be peaceful and productive-the few that have turned to the Empire prove that. However, at war, they are a single entity-their warriors fight hard and ruthlessly, and their weapons shatter armor and melt though ceremite with little effort.

Another is the Deraktiums. The race is humanoid in nature, but they are different all the same. The entire race look like a cross between humans and dragons-there are strains of them that do not have wings, some without tails, but they are all the part of the same faction. Very few of them have strayed into Empire borders. They are seen as nothing more then slaves, although their technology rivals that of the Empire, and their fighting prowess on even of the Empire's elite. Indeed, most of them have a very strong sense of honor which would put the bravest human warrior to shame.

The third of the races to find itself near the hold of the Empire is the Drix. The reason for the shortness of the name is that there is no pronounceable version of their name translated into common. This is a race of oddly humanoid creatures, with some features missing-they are blue of skin, with short tails ending in, what is most of the time, a mace. Their ankle joints are reversed into a canine approach of the legs, and every one of them has two horns sprouting from below the hairline. Of course, they have no hair. Nor do they have ears, a mouth or a nose. Their fingers are long and include a fourth joint, and their eyes are sunken deep, glowing with the eye color. Their technologies are far advanced, and they have no cause to fight the Empire. They are, in fact, the only of the three races who try to make friendly contact before war is made. Their numbers are fewer then the other races as well, however.

There are many strains of humanoid that roam the Empire, however they are only strains made through evolution to cope with any new or harsh environments. One of such are the Orkains-the people from this planet are generally tan of skin, dark of hair and green of eye. However, though time their skin has become more resistant to heat, in order to survive their desert-strewn planet.

Sub-Sective Topic: Current Situation on Orkain.

The planet of Orkain is a desert one, despite it's lighting, and is located on the fringes of Empire territory. Most of the terrain is either rocky mountains or sandy deserts, and with three moons, day light lasts only a few standard hours**** a day. The government, which remains independent, has just changed, and there are many people who are not happy with it. Guerilla fighting has broken out all over the planet, although it is not known if it is a single organization that is fighting back, or many. It is, in truth, more of a civil war with many purposes being fought for.

With this fighting, many have decided to not take a side. Mercenary groups have been formed, however, amongst all Mercenaries known in the Empire, one of the most reknown are the Golden Dragons.

Sub-Section: The Golden Dragons.

The Golden Dragons are a mercenary group that travel from planet to planet, hiring themselves out for most services of war or otherwise. The group is large, and is mainly split into multiple cells. The reason is so that they can cover more ground-the group themselves are large enough so that they do inhabit a good portion of a single planet within the Empire, and it is possibly the only exception to the rule of the Empire that remains in their territory. They are all well armed, well armored, and well trained soldiers, with only a few alien species and the soldier Elite of the Empire rivaling their training and their arms. Those who hire the group either do so for one-shot missions, or are very rich. The armor and arms of the Golden Dragons are 2nd generation battle armor-it can stand an amount of fire from machine guns, enhances the wearer's combat preformance, and takes care of the body of the soldier. Their guns are automatic firing and use two types of ammunition-armor piercing and exlposive. All soldiers are required to carry both types of ammunation around with them at all times, in addition to any other weapon they may employ, such as grenades or hand-to-hand weaponry.

They are not a foe to be taken lightly.

Sub-Sective Section: The Golden Dragons on Orkain.

For mercenaries, the Golden Dragons have a very high morals. They are required to fulfill a job unless betrayed, and if they are attacked for any reason that they find pointless or unjust, they will retaliate hard and without mercy. Very recently, the mercenaries have been called by the government to fight against the rebels on Orkain, in a series of small escort and ambush missions. No one knows what is going to truly happen, however...



*=40.225 kilometers.
**=19.308 kilometers.
***=Not meant to be as in a radiator, I mean nuclear style.
****=24 hour time, so it's sunlight for four hours and twilight for twenty hours