Hostile Territory - background and atmosphere
first release: 8th of august, 2003, version 1.00
this release: 4th of january, 2004, version 1.1
TODO:
<TODO: needed a name for the alien race>
<TODO: some kind of map of which systems are colonized>
<TODO: new era after dictatorship / fall of dictatorship? (how would
they know it`s 3903?)>
About this document:
This document provides an overview of the setting of the game, i.e. the
history and present of the game world.
Document history:
Version 1.1:
revised document
Version 1.00:
created document
Background:
The game plays in sci-fi atmosphere, in the year 3903.
Humanity now lives together with an alien race, there is one government
and only one language spoken on Earth and there are spacecraft
capable of interstellar travel, if only quite slowly.
A brief timeline, focusing on political events:
until about 3300: in fact nothing is known about these times.
about 3300-3603: in the 34th century, Earth came under the dictatorship
of an organisation today only known as the
Syndicate, which consisted of a government of a country (whose name
has
been forgotten), the three biggest corporations in the world and the
head of a curch. It is known that at this time, there was human life on
colonies in space, but the Syndicate, fearing they could not retain
control over territories which
lie months or years of travel away, did everything it could to
destroy these. Today it is impossible to tell to which degree they
succeeded in this, as the
Syndicate managed to destroy every single record about the colonies
- in fact they destroyed almost every piece of human culture in their
300-years frenzy. It is certain, however, that there were people living
on other planets in the solar system and in some of the neighbouring
stellar systems - noone of whom survived the rule of the Syndicate.
A new, common language for the whole planet was introduced.
This was a dark time where people had to wear uniforms and were not
allowed to read or write. Over time, the bulk of the work which
required higher qualification was done by ancient machines left over
from before the dictatorship. People were reduced to carry out
meaningless tasks. A large part of the population worked for the
Syndicate as secret police forces.
3603: alien space ships arrived in Earth`s orbit. Having superior
military technology---under the dictatorship, space technology
was not utilised and it slowly got forgotten---they quickly seized the
planet and overthrew the
reign of the Syndicate. The census held by the aliens after the
invasion is the oldest
record available about the number of people living on the planet. They
numbered 3 billions.
The aliens overthrew the dictatorship of the Syndicate and
instated their own. Unlike the Syndicate, however, they let people have
a life. Once again humanity began to grow and slowly, it became
practically equivalent with the aliens as more and more humans occupied
leading positions on Earth, some even on Mars, the new homeworld of the
aliens. The whole culture
of the human race was eradicated under the dictatorship of the
Syndicate, so they quickly took over the aliens`, also accelerating the
process of integration.
3803: on the 200th anniversary of the fall of the Syndicate, humanity
was symbolically given equal rights with the aliens. They were also
told the
truth, that the alien fleet which conquered the planet two hundred
years ago was
not an invading army, but only a band of outcasts. By this time, Earth
had a
stable government and several large corporations. This was also the
time where the governments of Earth and Mars allowed utilisation of
space technology again.
3853: the two governments of Earth and Mars united.
3893: a nearby manless probe was sent for closer examination of several
unknown objects detected in the Alpha Centauri solar
system. The objects turned out to be a large fleet of
spacecraft from an alien race. The probe stopped transmitting messages
after closing in on the fleet; probably destroyed. There are some
colonies in the solar system, but no significant military presence.
3903: today, humanity has colonies on several planets in the solar
system and in some neighbouring solar systems. Corporate ships are
scouring asteroid fields searching
after rare minerals. Practically, there is no distinction between
humans and aliens; the two races have a comparable wealth and an almost
identical culture.
Places to live:
The Solar System:
Earth: With it`s 25 billion inhabitants, Earth is badly overpopulated.
About 20% of the population is alien and 80% human. The
general earthling is not rich - better said, poor. This means he/she
(if single) has a room of about 10 square meters
(about 120 square feet), perhaps an own bathroom (which means a shower
in one edge of the room), rarely a
kitchen. In most regions of a city, water is not available all day
(typically only about 2 hours of 24). The most common family model
is being single, enjoying life. Almost all children are raised by the
local
authority - that is, either by the government or by the corporation.
In other aspects, life is quite similar on Earth as nowadays: there are
bars one
can go out to, sexually transmitted diseases one can get and
cafés
to sit in. Cinemas are a rare sight and the future is
lacking
theaters and museums completely.
Mars: With 15 billion inhabitants, and a baddriven terraforming, which
is too late to fix now, Mars is even worse
overpopulated as Earth.
The
differences: smaller rooms, less water, bigger STD-penetration.
The alien spaceship: The alien spaceship, measuring about 50000 square
kilometers, was a tight place for the 200 million outcasts (partly
because noone wanted to sleep next to the warp engine which
was set to self-destruct
after arrival to the solar system). After conquering Earth and seizing
the terraformed, but not inhabitated Mars, the aliens spread quickly
out
of the ship. For a time, the alien government used the ship as
headquarters,
but in a few decades, the Ship Corporation was inaugurated, its purpose
being the utilization of the ship, and the
rooms were sold out. The ship very quickly became _the_ popular place
for
the rich, with ranches of more square kilometers and herds of horses
roaming the landscape.
Today, the
Ship Corporation is the fifth largest company in the solar system and
is recognized as the pioneer in research - a large fraction of the
technology
the ship was built with has not been granted to the outcasts and
maintenance of the more than 300 years old ship is getting
harder and
harder.
Other:
There are quite a few other space stations around Earth and Mars,
governmental, corporate and private alike. Many of
them are colonies and/or research bases, some are hotels,
factories or hospitals and newly, also military stations are to
be found. There are also numerous spacecraft for transport, mining and
research. Space traffic is crowded in orbit of the two planets and in
between them. There are some colonies, space stations and spacecraft on
various other planets and asteroids in the solar system, too.
Other solar systems:
Other solar systems are not extensively colonized by mankind. As an
expedition to another system is very costly and also dangerous,
corporations and the government tried to avoid these before they knew
of the possible new threat and the parties of the private sector
usually
do not have the financial means for it (altough there are examples of a
few
private expeditions and colonies to another systems). Both governmental
and corporate expeditions were only launched when looking for something
not to
be found in the solar system - raw materials or pure resarch is rarely
an
issue. Common goals are searching after ancient human colonies (no
significant remnants were found to date), recovering lost technology or
culture and to try out very hazardous new technology. Usually there are
only a few spacecraft in a foreign system (sometimes just one). There
are some "popular" systems, where activity is greater. In these cases,
the government and/or some corporations maintain a space station in the
system. There are
also some colonies in other space systems, mostly in the form of large
space
stations. After encountering the new and possibly hostile alien race
though, interstellar missions are more frequent.
The Aliens:
The aliens live in clans which resemble nations in the 20th century. At
their homeworld, they had many clans, but it was only one of them which
was outcast. They had a more advanced technology than humanity when
arriving on earth, but
today both races use and develop it together. The aliens were capable
of travelling very fast, but the outcasts were not allowed to
carry this technology with them (they could not bring along any
scientists who knew it or any material about it and the warp engine
self-destructed upon arrival in the solar system; in general, the
overall technology level they
were
granted was many thousands of years earlier than their present
technology). The outcasts set up their new homeworld on Mars, with
their ship
orbiting the planet. As Mars was already terraformed in ancient times
by
humans, the aliens could spread out off the ship easily. Physically
the aliens look very much like
elves known from fantasy worlds. Their life expectancy is near
to that of humans, about 150 years for an alien in well-being (that is,
capable of paying for medical assistance). A poor alien, however, does
not usually reach its 80`s.
Government:
Because of the dictatorship in the past and the influence of the
alien culture, the goverment of the two planets somewhat resembles
European democracies in the 20th century. They respect human rights,
freedom, the right to trade, etc. But as the situation
on the Earth and Mars is not anywhere near optimal (overpopulation,
pollution, etc.),
the government is not very strong and corporations are largely
independent. Corruption is not a rare issue, either. The only thing the
government is not letting to spoil is its very existence: corporations
never try to
battle each other, nor the government openly (well, almost
never). That would bring immediate execution of their leaders
with it.
As we move further
from Earth and Mars, the society resembles rather a military hierarchy
than a democracy, not lastly because in these places a large portion of
the
population are soldiers. Some exceptions to this
rule are the few non-corporate and non-governmental colonies in the
solar
system (and very few in other systems) who mostly have a very small
population (ranging from lonely colonies to those with a few hundred
people) and usually live as
big families.
Corporations:
Corporations are also quite similar to todays` companies, except that
they have much more autonomous. They can have military
equipment and personnel, but strictly on their own land . This can be
as big as Great Britain, with guarded borders in all cases. When
you enter the territory of a corporation you effectively enter a new
country, both in Earth, as in Mars.
There is somewhat less poverty in the territory of corporations, but
the situation is not dramatically better. In spite, some people prefer
to
move to corporate territory for their old days, if they can afford it.
Corporations pay
taxes to the goverment, and their inhabitants either pay to them or are
their employees. Aside from that, they are much like independent
states with army, police, hospitals, etc. Corporations have their own
laws, which are stricter than ordinary government laws, but they cannot
openly maintain a
dictatorship (like preventing someone to leave the territory of the
corporation, etc.) or wage wars against each other. One
corporation (the largest at the time) tried this in 3827. The Earth
Army intervened immediately. After three weeks of resistance, the
corporation capitulated and was broke up and its leaders "killed while
resisting liberating forces" (typical case of the somewhat fat
manager in its fifties battling three of the 2 meters-tall,
full-cybered spec-ops soldiers). Military actions against other
corporations or (which happens rarely) against the government is always
done by
non-corporate mercenaries or undercover agents.
Technology:
Before the rise of the Syndicate: The technology was at a much higher
level before the long dictatorship. Virtually no record remained from
that age, but it is known that the terraforming of Mars
was one of the advances of human technology. However, by the fall of
the Syndicate, the technology level was roughly on the same level as in
the
1950`s with the exception of some robot-relics, who yielded
virtually all of the important work. Unfortunately, these robots were
mostly
destroyed by the aliens while taking over the planet.
in 3903:
Cybernetics:
Cybernetic technology is strictly limited to the armed forces of the
government. Cybernetics can make you stronger, faster and more
resistant to physical or mental damage by two to three
magnitudes. That means, a group of ten-twenty corporate soldiers would
be no match
for one governmental. One exception to this rule is the case of a
corporation sending a spaceship to an interstellar mission: altough not
allowed, the commander of the spaceship is usually equipped with
cybernetics - the best technology the corporation can afford, typically
ranging from the level of a "normal" government-soldier to a
state-of-the-art cyborg - where only some parts of the brain are human
and the rest is made of super-resistant organic material. It is
impossible to
tell that these people are not normal humans until they engage in
battle. As their existence is highly
illegal and a corporation would face the danger of serious
punishments upon the
reveal of such a cyborg, these soldiers are usually not allowed to
travel back
to earth after the mission is over. As they are a highly valuable
investment, though, usually worth more than the entire spaceship of the
mission, they are not
left on the planet after the others leave, but travel on with
small,
unsigned spaceship to their next destination. These soldiers are
breeded without friends or family and to
be loyal to the corporation,
which they admire as some kind of higher being, they
almost all happily obey this fate even if it means never seeing Earth
again.
Interstellar travel:
Interstellar travel is possible only quite slowly, with about half of
lightspeed. The crew gets hibernated before launch and is waked upon
arrival. This kind of space travel is possible for
about 200 years, altough it wasn`t officially permitted until 3803 by
the
two governments. As it is very costly to send a spacecraft
to foreign solar systems, mostly goverments and rich corporations
launch these missions with very few examples of private interstellar
space travel.
Interstellar travel - corporate:
Sending out a crew is a very risky long-term investment with no chance
to rescue any part of it if something goes bad. Even if the mission
ends as expected, a long time has to pass before the corporation
realizes the gain from it. Of the publicly available records of space
travel, the longest journey took 80 years to cover a
distance of about 40 light years. It is understandable, that
investments like that - spacecraft and crew - are extremely well
protected. Soldiers are sent with the
crew, in a ratio of about 1:1. The crew members themselves are usually
brilliant researchers who are chosen from a great number of
volunteers. Before qualifying for space travel, the crew members are
often tested whether they are loyal to the corporation. It is not
unheard
of for a rival corporation to send a sabouteur on board of
a spacecraft as a crew member.
Interstellar travel - government:
Most governmental missions are similar to the corporate ones with
spaceships and crew of roughly the same size. A typical governmental
mission since the discovery of the new possible threat is the
establishment of military presence in another solar system. This is
accomplished in two steps:
first a battleship is sent to the system and if it is considered
secured, a military
colony is established. Battleships are usually ships of medium size
with a small crew and extensive weaponry.
Interstellar travel - private:
Private interstellar travel is very rare. Almost exclusively, these are
colonists willing to live in a different social structure than that
found on Earh and Mars. These ships range in size from very small
(carrying just one or a few persons) to large (with some hundred
persons). Upon
reaching the
destination, usually a colony on a planet is established or the colony
ship is transformed into a space
station.
Hibernation:
As scientists often sleep tens of years before they engage in their
research at the site,
often parts of the crew (with an appropriate number of soldiers) is
waked up a few months to years before reaching the destination. The
researchers use this time to catch up with the new knowledge they
received from the solar system via radio transmissions (which is not
state of the art of course, because it
is still not possible to communicate faster than light speed).
miscellaneous:
The Earth Army:
The Earth Army is the only official armed force of the two races. Its
headquarter is
on a large spacescraft orbiting Earth. The army itself is medium-sized,
but it is growing since the new alien threat rapidly. It mainly
consists of cybernetical soldiers and combat spacecraft, but also has
satellites, and some armored vehicles. Recently, the emphasis is
set on developing long-range combat spacecraft.
Magnetic storms:
Little is known about magnetic storms. Their appearance seems to follow
some patterns but it is not yet known whether they are a natural
phenomenon or artificially created. They
appear in deep space, usually shift vessels in space and
sometimes the spacecraft entering the storm disappear entirely - some
suspect
they are shifted in time, some speculate they are transported to
another dimension, while some say they are just destroyed.