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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:03:06 GMT -5
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:04:00 GMT -5
THE EXPANSION ERATheir earliest history can be traced back to the Pioneer Network, which was believed to have been founded at year 0 of the Orbital Standard Calendar. The Pioneer Network was an alliance of Looney bunkers on Set in the earliest recorded history of the planet. Its rise to power is generally known as the Expansion Era and saw the inclusion of the Space Loonies' most prevalent non-human species; the redworlders. At the time, the redworlders are believed to have been vagabonds that attempted to settle on Set as a last resort. The conditions surrounding their arrival, however, are unclear; some believe they were the last survivors of their species, others suggest they were castaways. Redworlder traditions give little indication in either direction. The redworlders were accepted into the Pioneer Network's protection with some measure of reluctance, in 60-100 OSC. Early on, conflicts of interest prevented the redworlders from successfully integrating into the Pioneer Network's bunkers, and the bulk of their species remained in orbit. Despite this, their species prospered substantially under the Loonies' supervision. It is believed that, at some point during the Expansion Era, the redworlder population may have even eclipsed that of the Loonies, and that one or more redworlders were part of the Pioneer Network's administrative council. The redworlders are generally believed to have carried the founding members of the Cult of Meat to Set. It is thought that one or more of the redworlders' initial population were members of a small, covertly-maintained religious movement. As time went on and the redworlders expanded, so, too, did the cult hidden among them. While their effects on the Pioneer Network were minimal, the cultists of the time caused significant internal rifts in the redworlders. The redworlders' politics were heavily affected by the cult and, in large part, revolved around the potential threat they posed. For the Cult of Meat, these times are known as the First Awakening of the New Oath. Near the end of the Expansion Era, in 100-200 OSC, the whiteworlders arrived at Set aboard the Worldship, a supermassive craft that was home to their entire species. Their species at the time is thought to have been similar to its modern incarnation; unintelligent, yet cooperative drones produced via direct cloning of their eggs. At the time, however, it is believed that they may have tended to a superior strain of their kind, known variously as either their matriarch or patriarch. Very little is known about this creature - or creatures - and it is generally accepted to have disappeared with the Worldship. Records of the time suggest the whiteworlders were invited to Set, possibly by the redworlders, but it is unclear if this was before or after their arrival. Following their integration into the Pioneer Network, the bulk of the redworlder population was allowed to relocate to the Worldship. By the time the Expansion Era ended, at least a quarter of their population lived aboard the Worldship. Most sources suggest that the redworlders themselves were invited aboard the Worldship by the whiteworlders' patriarch as recompense for the Worldship's arrival at Set, but there is currently no evidence to support this case. As time progressed, the whiteworlder drones were inserted into various Looney bunkers and redworlder ships as a general labor force consistent with their present-day role. Along with them were miniaturized versions of their original cloning stations, which were gradually replaced by Looney H-RAPs. Surviving examples of these cloning stations can still be found in ruins leftover from the Pioneer Network. Without their widespread dispersal, the wholly-sterile whiteworlders would have died out when the Worldship disappeared.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:04:19 GMT -5
THE FIRST JUMPThe Worldship and a great deal of redworlder spacecraft were lost in 250-300 OSC, when Set made its first recorded wormhole transit. The event was known simply as the First Jump and signaled the end of the Expansion Era. In addition, the First Jump was the first occurrence of a major geodisplacement event. This resulted in the disappearance of thousands of personnel and a significant amount of bunkers. Communication networks collapsed in an instant, cutting most bunkers off from eachother. At least half of the facilities that vanished are believed to have succumbed to internal stress during the blackout. The whiteworlders suffered the worst losses of the First Jump. No more than a tenth of their population survived the loss of the Worldship and numbers remained low for much time after. Further problems continued as redworlder cultists fled into the wilderness to establish hideaways and concealed settlements. Some redworlder ships deserted entirely and disappeared, either of their own accord or under cultist control. After the total losses were counted, it is thought that the redworlders had lost nearly half of their entire population on and around Set. For the Cult of Meat, the First Jump is better known as the Second Awakening of the Fervent Few. For the redworlders, it is instead known as the Final Exodus. The full split between the main bulk of the redworlders and the Cult's first settlers caused a tremendous spike in internal tension. Some suggested fleeing the planet entirely, while others remained loyal to the Pioneer Network. Those that fled went on to explore Set's new home system. It is believed that some may have been responsible for drawing the attention of the Zaschia, but it is unknown how many may have returned. When the Zaschia arrived at Set, somewhere between 300-320 OSC, they were fleeing their own homeworld's destruction. In the past, they had once held an empire spanning dozens of star systems. By the time of the First Jump, they were a massed fleet of perpetual refugees only scarcely held together by a handful of aging warships. For the Zaschia, the First Jump was salvation like no other; a garden world dropped right in their hungry fleet's lap. They arrived with shock to find Set already inhabited - and it was only a call for help that kept them from fleeing once again. The redworlders were the first to establish contact with the Zaschia - against explicit orders given by the remainder of the Pioneer Network's command staff. First contact revolved heavily around language exchange and establishing communications compatibility. To this day, it is unknown how the redworlders were able to request assistance from the Zaschia prior to decrypting their language. Despite this, a working translation basis was established only a month later. Several months later, with little progress in recovering their lost facilities, the Pioneer Network reluctantly accepted the Zaschia's aid. In exchange for their assistance, the Zaschia were granted rights to settle on Set and exploit its resources. Very little Zaschian settlement actually occurred, however. It was swiftly discovered that Set's biosphere was wholly incompatible with Zaschia biochemistry. Zaschian atmosphere requirements and gravity tolerance further prevented them from maintaining permanent settlements on the planet. In the end, Set became little more than the home port for the Zaschian fleet, and their species remained wholly spaceborne. Despite this, the Zaschia upheld the terms of their agreement. With a fleet of at least two thousand ships at their disposal, Zaschian reconnaissance was fundamental in the recovery of the lost Looney bunkers on Set. Further still, the First Jump brought scores of previously-unknown Looney facilities to surface - figuratively and literally. Many made curious attempts to reach out to the Pioneer Network. In response, the Zaschia were sent to investigate, often alongside redworlders or whiteworlders to reaffirm their cooperation with the network. Unfortunately, none of these bunkers knew of the Zaschia, the redworlders, or the whiteworlders. They assumed in each encounter that their facility was under attack by an organized, off-world aggressor masquerading as a Looney bunker network. Some search teams were ambushed at their landing zone and wiped out entirely. Some were shot down by forewarned bunkers. Years of attempts to reassure the newly-discovered facilities made minimal returns and suffered constant setbacks. Throughout the efforts, Zaschian patience was continually tested. The search did not go without objections. Surviving records suggest that the Zaschia petitioned several times to begin bombardment campaigns against hostile bunkers. The Pioneer Network refused with tentative support from the redworlders. The redworlders, on the other hand, repeatedly asked for bombardment campaigns against suspected cultists enclaves. Despite unanimous agreement on the potential threat they posed, the Pioneer Network once again refused to allow it, for reasons that remain unknown to this day.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:04:44 GMT -5
THE COLLECTION ERAThe conclusion of Zaschian involvement in Looney recovery and reconstruction efforts marked the beginning of the Collection Era in 350-400 OSC. The Zaschia remained in orbit, while the redworlders made attempts to settle planetside. With the support of the revitalized Pioneer Network, both were largely successful. In the years to come, the Zaschia consolidated their fleet by reclaiming older, smaller ships for resources. Others were repurposed into automated cargo vessels that eventually became the early garbage hauler network. Some time after, estimated at 360-450 OSC, the orscruft arrived in the system. At the time, the orscruft were a loose collection of scavengers living off the debris trail the Zaschia left behind them. Their arrival at Set was, in a way, both intentional and by accident. Following little more than engine trails and ejected waste, the orscruft thought Set was another abandoned mining outpost. Much as the Zaschia were stunned to find Set inhabited, so, too, were the orscruft - and all the more terrified to find the Zaschia waiting for them. Past encounters between the two species were often no better than that of squabbling vultures, and the Zaschia were by far the larger scavenger. By the time the orscruft arrived, however, the Zaschia were no longer subsisting from temporary mining endeavours. With the assistance of the Loonies, they had finally achieved a status quo of tentative plenty. Rather than swatting the orscruft aside, the Zaschia cautiously welcomed them. Once again, however, the Pioneer Network was not content with the addition of yet another alien species to the once-human-dominated daily affairs of Set. Lingering animosity from the aftermath of the First Jump bubbled into quiet dissent over the years that followed. As more unaffiliated Looney bunkers came to light, the old ways of xenophobia and insularity earned more and more ground. Roughly three centuries and several jumps passed with little action on the Pioneer Network's part. Instead, it was a golden age for both Set and the Loonies. Each jump brought its own wave of travellers to Set, curious and desperate alike. The boglanders, unionites, sorassan, and a great many others happened upon the planet as it wandered through space. Some were trapped by jumps that separated them from the system, while others remained as willing members of the alliance on - and over - Set. In this time, the MASTER network was established, the garbage hauler network was completed, and cities dotted the planet. Set was home to billions and verged closer and closer towards statehood.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:05:30 GMT -5
THE BLACKWORLDERS
At the close of the Collection Era, in 770-830 OSC, the blackworlders arrived. Unlike others, who arrived via wandering ships and stray space stations, the blackworlders simply appeared on and over Set en masse. Initial encounters were hostile - and wholly one-sided - as they made half-hearted, ill-advised attempts to establish contact. In the end, the only losses were ammunition; the blackworlders were energy beings that defied nature. They were invulnerable to conventional weapons and made no attempts to defend themselves. Whether Set was ready for them or not, they were there to stay.
The blackworlders were cryptic, mystic, and had no identity. Their "bodies" were formless masses of unexplainable lightlessness that moved without regard for obstacles or intervening space. There were no individuals, nor collective for them. In most cases, they only vaguely acknowledged their own existence. In a similar way, they refused any names or labels given to them. The title "Blackworlder" was never accepted and never used by the creatures themselves. They were emptiness given voice and nothing more.
When the blackworlders arrived, they did so with a comprehensive understanding of each of the languages on Set. They knew of each individual species and the histories that led each to the planet. All were given names - with varying acceptance - by the blackworlders. The redworlders were identified as the Exiles, the whiteworlders as the Stewards, the Zaschia as the Martyrs, and the orscruft as the Returned. Others received similar names that most grew to see as prophetic, and some of those who had lost their own names embraced the blackworlders' titles as their own.
Only a single species on Set was never named or detailed; humanity. In addition, the blackworlders refused to acknowledge the presence of humans. There was never a single recorded interaction between a human and a blackworlder entity. There was never an explanation given for mankind's exclusion. Likewise, tensions between the blackworlders and human Loonies continually escalated following the blackworlders' arrival. They appeared where and when they pleased, often without invitation, and ignored humans outright. Their otherwise-benign presence was seen by the Pioneer Network's leadership as a security risk - and by most humans as an insult.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:05:41 GMT -5
THE SPLINTER WARS
The blackworlders' arrival was closely followed by another of Set's wormhole transits, in 780-850 OSC. When the planet arrived in its newest home system, it was placed opposite to the capital of a spacefaring species; the Third Invaders. Unlike others before them, they were not fleeing refugees, nor curious travellers. They had no interest in settling Set. Instead, they took the planet's arrival as an invasion of their territory and mobilized for war. As reinforcements swarmed the system and readied to invade Set, attempts were made to establish contact and reach a diplomatic solution. The Third Invaders refused to answer. Attempts to decipher their language were hopeless without mutual cooperation.
As it became clear that war was inevitable, the Pioneer Network rallied together as many of Set's inhabitants as possible. Chief among them were the Zaschia, orscruft, and redworlders, who formed the bulk of Set's naval strength. Loonies on the ground were formed into armies-in-waiting, ready to rally together from multiple bunkers in order to fend off landings. Meanwhile, the Cult of Meat, hidden in plain sight across Set, was ready to seize the opportunity. It was the first time in recorded history that Set saw genuine war brought to its doorstep. The conflicts that followed earned their name as the Splinter Wars - and ended with the beginning of the Dissolution Era.
The Splinter Wars were the single most catastrophic series of events Set was to see. When the Third Invaders pushed on Set's orbit, it was with a force of roughly ten thousand warships. Set's combined defense fleet numbered at an estimated ten thousand converted civilian ships and four thousand combat vessels. Millions died in orbit alone and countless more were killed by indiscriminate bombing campaigns made by the Third Invaders. Spacecraft wrecks from the battle for the planet's orbit still linger across Set, particularly in the northern and southeastern ice wastes.
Despite their superior fleet, the Third Invaders landed few troops. Their assault was total war in its most extreme. Wide swaths of land across Set remain scorched, uninhabitable deserts as a result of the Third Invaders bombardment campaign. Further, the Cult of Meat inadvertently served as a ground arm of the invasion force as it rampaged across rural areas. It claimed its campaign of terror and final emergence as the Third Awakening of the Zealous Many. Massed suicides, massed defections, and massed monster stampedes harried Loonies and other defenders across the planet. At least a billion in total were killed by the combined efforts of the Cult and the Third Invaders during the Splinter Wars.
The invasion ended when Set made another jump years into the siege, somewhere between 790-860 OSC. In the process, countless Zaschia, orscruft, and redworlder ships were lost as the planet left them behind. For the Zaschia and orscruft, it was the single most devastating blow to their species. The jump ended with their official recognition as extinct on Set - and likely elsewhere. The redworlders pulled away with significant, but manageable losses. Problems continued to mount as the redworlders and their few allies left in orbit swiftly found themselves in an unanticipated refugee crisis.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:06:43 GMT -5
THE BIG SPLIT
When Set entered the wormhole, it was the death knell for the Pioneer Network and the beginning of the Big Split, in 800-870 OSC. Looney bunkers split off in waves as casualties mounted. More and more saw themselves as defenders of an alien hegemony and refused to participate. Many took it upon themselves to push back against the aliens they blamed for bringing outside attention to Set and their homes. In a united showing of disunity, the Loonies evicted most non-humans from their facilities, often at gunpoint. Some even went so far as to lay siege to the same towns and cities they had once helped build.
Handfuls of sympathetic Loonies went along with the aliens to assist their evacuation. Some bunkers were deserted overnight as neighbors threatened reprisal for harboring non-humans. Herds of refugees rebounded off of cultist mobs, swarms of monsters, and hostile bunkers in desperate departures across the planet. Many Looney-crewed ships already held sizeable non-human populations, which obliged them to assist. Bitterly, the aliens of Set withdrew in a mass exodus to orbit - one that, in the end, proved permanent.
In short order, the Cult of Meat followed after with what few ships it could seize. Some crews were already cultists and others still achieved successful mutinies against their officers. It was their first major foray into space travel, directed solely on the goal of keeping as many ships grounded as possible. A second battle for orbit unfolded as cultist ships rallied together into raiding parties and small fleets. Their prey were predominantly civilian ships, trying desperately to stay together in the chaos still consuming the planet.
Among them, however, were the remainder of Set's defense fleet. Looney combat vessels, redworlder warships, and even a scant few Zaschia and orscruft remnants came together to form the first few Space Looney fleets. Spread across orbit, yet bound to the same task, they mobilized into an ad-hoc defense of the ships departing the planet. It was a full reversal of fortunes for the aliens of the planet; the Cult's ships were hunted down and wiped out without mercy. It was the first string of victories the Space Loonies saw, delivered on the merits of vengeance and frustration.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:07:36 GMT -5
THE DISSOLUTION ERA
As the Splinter Wars continued to rage below, the Space Loonies in orbit maintained a fragile peace. The time of relative calm, however, was one of bitter revelation. Set's population had been devastated and dozens of species had been wiped out entirely. Many had suffered grievous casualties and were on the verge of falling to extinction. More still had taken such severe losses that they no longer had the capacity to recover, and were damned to a slow, steady decline as death rates outweighed birth rates. Among those lost in entirety were the enigmatic blackworlders, whose ultimate fate remains unknown to this day.
Orbital infrastructure was devastated by the Splinter Wars. Across Set's skies, debris, wrecks, and abandoned derelicts choked the limited space between the planet itself and the point of no return. The garbage hauler network had been crippled by strikes to its administrative centers and was left a hollow shadow of its former self. Defense platforms, command centers, commerce stations, and habitation platforms were all in various states of damage, abandonment, and orbital decay. Only the MASTER network remained intact, and it was quickly taken as the budding Space Loonies' earliest means of communication.
The Dissolution Era, beginning in 950 OSC, saw the rise of the Space Loonies as a modestly-organized faction. Their rise was followed soon after by a "fall" as they willfully broke up into separate, independent fleets to better cover orbit. Tentative attempts to repair the garbage hauler network were largely met with failure. Efforts to heal the wounds caused by the Big Split were one-sided; the Loonies on the ground offered only begrudging acknowledgement of the Space Loonies. While a delicate peace was established, the two halves of the Pioneer Network remained separate.
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Post by Insano-Man on Sept 19, 2018 2:07:54 GMT -5
PRESENT DAY
Today, the Space Loonies are, in essence, a mirror of their former partners on Set's surface. While more open to cooperation and less sedentary than their relatives, they maintain staunch independence and self-sufficiency. The few who did not integrate into the Space Loonies are now regarded with mixed claims of desertion, cowardice, opportunism, and incompetence. A central goal for the Space Loonies remains elusive; while dedicated to keeping Set safe from external threats, few are present - and it is doubtful the Space Loonies will ever be able to muster a force like that of the Pioneer Network.
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