i have penned an introductory story. The kind you would normally get in the manual. I guess the last bit of it and/or a stripped down version of it could be used for the intro.
....
There came a time in the galaxy when the Human race proliferated. It spread itself amongst the stars in Empirical glory, reaching beyond the imaginations of it's humble Earth-bound beginnings.
Only in their own arrogance, could they have once thought themselves alone in this universe. With their power and might, the pioneers of the Human space-race were able to greet the other inhabitants of the universe with technological treasures and scientific wonder.
And just as easily they were able to snatch them away.
With the United Systems of Earth and its colonies now at the forefront of the galaxy, they abused their control over the populous, relishing in the success of their kin and bringing alien races to their knees. As was inevitable, there was outrage and unrest, and the wars soon began.
But the Aliens were not so weak as to surrender blindly, for they had many strengths of their own, strengths considered to be the stuff of Human legend. They formed coalitions with break-away humans, assembling inter-species armies the likes of which had never been seen, uniting for a common cause and soon the galaxy found itself in turmoil. Decade-long battles were fought over small remote worlds, whilst others were reduced to dust within the blink of an eye. Countless lives lost and resources squandered
Within time however, both sides lost spirit from the fighting and the war came to an impasse - planets in deadlock, bidding their time, hoping to salvage some strength that one day they might fight on.
...
Above the remote world of Ubik, a United Systems satellite rests in orbit. A research station for pioneering weapons-tech was reaching the end of it's run - it's mechanised militants sent to the planet had been a failure, and with another fleeting glance, as he had done every day for the 2 months, since the rest of the team were called to other task, Jools sat up his post to take a look at the signals relaying back.
Minimal response from all units.
He pondered to himself why he bothered at all. He'd have skipped coming to work today if it wasn't where he lived. Surely no one in the Defense Sector would be checking on this line of development anymore anyway? Most of the investment was going into organic weapons-tech now. Someone must have told them they could grow an army cheaper than they could build one. Certainly breeding one might be more enjoyable.
But this was his duty, and he was damned if he was gonna suffer the punishments for falling out of line just because he didn't want to crawl out of bed.
This day was different though, for mere moments later a stronger signal was received. This alone was something of a shock to Jools, and only as he began to wipe the coffee stains from the screen did the obvious become apparent. This signal was not from the cyborg units on the surface. This was coming from outside. Right outside.
...
General Midi was the sort of man Jools wasn't happy to have invading what had been his home for nearly 3 years. They may have been on the same side, but within an hour his troops had completely rewired his computer systems, upgraded the teleport transport systems, and most importantly they'd unplugged his cafetiere. More to his disbelief was the fact that the troops had completely refilled the station with supplies, and somewhat alarmingly, themselves. Jools pondered the cleanliness of some of the habitation units, before remembering that these were hardened Marines, unlikely to be upset by a bit of vent-dust.
At least, he hoped not.
He'd naturally assumed that was it - time to pack his bags and leave the Novation Space Station once and for-all. Afterall, his hand-over was done and there was nothing left for him here now except a handful of memories of ill-spent time. Nothing so mudane. It seemed the General had other ideas, and that he was to be left in charge of the monitoring station. He was told how his new role would be to monitor the life-signals of the units as they were sent down to the planet's surface, and when necessary, send down the replacements. It sounded to Jools a lot like his old job.
There was something new and exciting about all this activity though, and it was more than just his passing interest in a few of the female staff now on-board. The General seemed to take genuine pleasure in talking about his latest "weapon in the war on the Alien menace." A system to allow teams of apparently skilled operators one-to-one control over each Marine, to help guide them through their mission.
But yet the mission itself seemed simple enough. They were to investigate exactly what had gone wrong with the cyborg units, assess the numbers of the local population who had survived, and if required, suppress their numbers. There was a key-point installation which the General was adamant would contain all the information they would need. The team only needed to await the arrival of the teleport relay on the planet's surface, and at the flick of a switch, the first troop would be there.
Jools flicked the switch nervously.
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Topic: Project: Serious Aliens (general discussion) (Read 26242 times)