Emperor: The Reign of Shadows

[Apollyon]

ok I started this to post the complete unabridged story for the mod that is being worked on by Desert Eagle and myself.

[Apollyon]

The Decline of Earth

In the opening centuries of the third millenium Earth's population continued to swell at a staggering rate.

By 2250 Earth held over 30 billion people. Every year roughly 3 million tonnes of nuclear waste was set adrift in space.

In 2314 most of Earth's forces banded together in an attempt to save their dying world. A colony dome was setup on Jupiter's

moon Io and the Global Commonwealth began shipping criminals there. In 2334 the JDA or Jovian Detention Administration was founded

and granted primary claim to all prisoners. Soon other colonies were setup on Callisto and Ganymede, as well as on Neptunes moon Triton.

The movement was largely popular despite the obviousness that this was just a valve to let off the pressure of overpopulation.

By the year 2400, the JDA held more sway than any government and more military power than any major nation.

It quickly became apparent, however that despite these colonies Earth was still vastly overpopulated and that Earth had breathed its last.

In 2420 a pod carrying nuclear waste crash landed in Bombay killing millions. The JDA thusly turned to planetary colonization.

However at this time offworld colonization was still extremely dangerous and few people wished to give up their relatively comfortable lives

to colonize an inhospitable planet. The JDA realised that they had the perfect candidates : the prisoners on their moon colonies.

In return for colonization the JDA offered the prisoners their freedom. Of course in reality the JDA had little intention of giving up their

most valuable asset. By using the prisoners the JDA setup governments on each terraformed planet which would raise the JDA to a position of almost absolute sovereignty.

The JDA rationed water throughout the newly colonized worlds and thus gained complete control of the galaxy...

The JDA declared itself the one government of the galaxy and was renamed The Imperium. None could defy them...

The Marked

In 2507 a ship of prisoners mutinied and gained control of the ship, leaving the crew on an uncharted planet. The dissidents then took refuge on a nearby planet,

Teron whose inhabitants had grown tired of The Imperium's water rationing. The Imperium quickly tracked the ship down and deployed hundreds of Imperial Guardians into the

city where the ship had landed. The prisoners were found and executed in a public courtyard. Teron's water ration was halved

The Imperium's Ruling Directorate feared that similar incidents would occur and so looked to more decisive means of controlling the prisoners.

At the time technology was being developed to alter DNA at a molecular level and this technology had already been used on the prisoners to increase their

resistance to offworld bacteria. The serum was altered so as to provide a natural clock in the subjects brain that caused all life functions to cease at 25

an for a black mark to form over the left eye. This treatment worked and the prisoners quickly came to believing them cursed and almost deserving to die.

The Dawn of War

In the late 26th century an extroardinary boy was born to marked parents by the name of Ilacas. By the age of 5 he could speak 7 languages. His parents worked as servants to Cardat, a

well known educator. His parents were nearing 25 and so made a pact with Cardat who was sympathetic to the marked. Cardat raised the boy as his own and had his left eye

replaced with a bionic one so as to avoid detection. If this technology had been found they both would have been put to death by The Imperium. By 19 Ilacas was the leading scholar in the field

of genetics. He never told anyone, however that his goal was to find the genetic keys that controlled the mark. At 23 he had discovered that the genetic enzymes responsible

were man made and had been introduced to the prisoners at some point. Fearing that his work would be destroyed by the Imperium he decided to go public. Within days Ilacas, Cardat and

every other person associated with them were dead. But this corageous act had made an impact and uprisings swelled throughout the galaxy. The revolt slowly became more organised and

within a decade had become a dedicated revolutionary army named the Freedom Guard. The vastness of The Imperium's domain worked to their advantage and they attacked without warning

days before The Imperium could respond. In this way they never had to meet the mighty Imperial war machine head on.

The Desiccator

In 2618 the Imperium looked to a way to end the war quickly and effectively. Thus was a new weapon created : The Desiccator. This weapon sheared hydrogen atoms from water

molecules. The compound then incorporated the free hydrogen atoms, thereby reproducing itself. One molecule of this compound could consume all of the water on an entire planet

in a matter of seconds.

Orzon Industrial Bio-Labs

Founded in 2502 by the infamous Arkan Orzon. Orzon was a very famous scientist at the time and, unlike other scientists, did not concentrate on one field of study.

Instead Orzon concentrated on anything that proved troublesome to other scientists. Because of this Orzon quickly earned a reputation as a "quack" doctor and was shunned by most

of the proffessional community. However, backed by the considerable wealth his family had already earned in dealing with the former JDA, Orzon was able to build the base of the

company that would prove to be a thorn in The Imperium's side for its entire time in existence. The Bio-Labs specialised at first in manipulating DNA to make serums to resist

disease and other maladies. It quickly became apparent to Orzon ,however , that there was very little profit to be made in such a bussiness and instead he followed the direction of

his advisor and personal friend, Jak Harakato. Under this advice the company shifted production from the benefiting aid of antibiotics to the weapons industry. Of course the serums

they had previously developed were still in use but this time as tools to enhance the effectiveness of the troops. By the year 2533 Orzon was the richest man in the Empire and Bio-Labs

was the most influential company. Many people observe now that Jak Harakato had more influence on the company's development than Orzon himself had.

Defiance

The Imperium grew wary of the company's growing power and demanded that they pay extra for their water rations. Orzon refused and the Imperium cut their ration by 20 percent.

In retaliation to this hostile gesture the company began selling weapons to the Freedom Guard at a loss to their own profits. The Imperial Directorate was furious and ordered

an all out assault on the company's homeworld of Salustra. The company put up a valiant defence but in the end were crushed by the mighty Imperial army. Unbeknownst to the Imperium

however, Arkan had predicted the assault and had prepared well. Hours earlier He and his best scientist and generals had escaped taking with him all of his life's work.

The Return

60 years passed and a distress call was intercepted by the Imperial Command. The ship had been destroyed by a craft that refused to open a channel. The Imperial ship had opened fire thinking

it had an advantage of size and thus strength. The ship had fired volley after volley of plasma shells at the enigmatic ship but to no avail. Eventually the mysterious ship had turned elegantly

and disposed of the Imperial Scout in a single volley. The ship continued its approach of Imperial space and was sighted by many Imperial Outposts. The Directorate ordered his men not to

approach and he waited as the strange ship continued its journey to the centre of known space. Once it arrived it opened a communications channel and hailed the Primary Imperial Command Post.

An automated voice sounded over the speakers:

 "Orzon Industrial Bio-Labs thanks you for your time. Please make a purchase."

In the following months many such unmanned ships arrived in Imperial space. The Imperium did nothing to stop them as they appeared as little threat. They did not sell water and thus

had no challenge to the monopoly of The Imperium. In time manned craft started to appear. These craft would sell weapons much as before and vanish off into unknown space. The

Directorate did not understand how Orzon could have survived but welcomed any weaponry support as the war continued. News got to the directorate that the company had been selling similar

weapons to the Freedom Guard and thus ordered that any invasion of Imperial Space by Orzon craft was to be prohibited. Despite this the ships seemed to shrug off the attacks of

the faster Imperial ships and to escape to quickly for the heavier craft to do anything to stop them. The directorate quickly came to the conclusion that this prohibition was having

little effect other than to give the Freedom Guard a advantage in the purchase of weapons.

For Centureis man has viewed the universe as a series of puzzles. Within the molecule we found the atom. And within that the proton.

And the Quark. And the xion. And deeper we delved finding another puzzle with every one solved. Never finding the answe we sought,

but never questioning our method of searching. We have organised and compartmentalised our knowledge until it no longer serves us.

Instead we serve it. We study physics and math and philosophy and religion and never realise that they are all the same. The monk and

the physicist are searching for the same understanding. They simply use different tools. In every breath of the wind, In the graceful elipse

of a planets orbit, in the precise genetic abacus of DNA, in the awesome power of a supernova, in all these things I hear the voice of God.

To truly advance human wisdom, we must learn to see the whole of things. This Foundation will strive to do just that. I am within reach of

a discovery that will open the very soul of matter to my control. Together we will bring a new age to mankind. Together we will transform the

universe and reveal the face of God.

-Alpheus Togra, at the dedication of the Togran Foundation, 2382

The Tograns

The Togran foundation was founded in 2382 by molecular physycist Alpheus Togra, son of Petrak Togra, the third and last chancellor of the Global

Commonwealth. Petrak's assassination in 2356 led to the Rubicon Rebellions and ultimately the demise of the Commonwealth.

Alpheus, only 9 at the time of his father's death, studied under his mother, Gisela Togra, who won the Nobel Prize for physics in 2349 for her

neutrino generator. By his early twenties, Togra had surpassed his mother in reputation. His foundation. which he founded at the age of 35, was

dedicated to the development of a new paradigm of human understanding of the physical universe. Togra believed that matter could be easily and

permanently altered at the molecular level and steadfastly maintained that the tools and understanding needed could be gained within his life time.

His research focused on element 115, discovered in the outer reaches of the galaxy. Element 115 was the only stable member of the group of very heavy

elements. In addition the "strong" force in element 115 was exceptionally powerful and similar enough to gravity to be tapped and used in space craft gravity

drives. No scientist had yet been able to unravel the mysteries of the enigmatic element 115. Togra claimed that element 115 showed that understanding in the nature

of the physical world was flawed. Togra quickly became a spiritual as well as scientific leader.

By 2387, foundation members numbered nearly 1000.

In 2391, Togra confided to a few of his closest colleagues that he had cracked element 115's secret. He was certain, however that the JDA was about to sieze

his work and decided to abandon his home planet and move the foundation to an off-world colony. Togra had expected the JDA to resist this endeavour Togra's

paranoia proved valid. An attack force of JDA ships ambushed the convoy, Engaging the warship escort while cutting off Togra's ship and attempting to board it.

Togra was armed and ready for the attack. He killed two JDA agents and placed a small explosive device on the boarding vessel. Togra's ship was damaged in the

explosion but he managed to escape the skirmish. The JDA ships, having realised what had happened, disengaged in an attempt to follow Togra, but no sign of him or

his ship could be found. The Tograns received a garbled transmission from Togra. His ship was damaged beyond repair. His navigation systems were not functioning and

he had barely managed to ditch the ship on an unknown planet.

The Tograns continued to their original destination and flourished on their new homeworld. The Togran people continued to search for Togra for many years but no trace

was ever found of him. Eventually Togra grew to mythic status amongst the Togran people.

The war between the Imperium and the Freedom Guard raged across the galaxy, destroying everything in its path. Eventually the war spread to the remote regions of

the Togran home worlds. Although superior technologically, the Tograns had no experience in warfare and their society was crushed in the onslaught.

Iridonis

As your planet and all that you know is destroyed you escape in a solitary scout vessel. Adrift in space you encounter a probe sent by Togra himself. The probe

brings you a message from Togra and the ability to transport you back in time. Centuries earlier the planet that Togra had crash landed on and made home had been

consumed by the imperial desiccator weapon. The probe contains coordinates of a planet which according to th message will give a deadly advantage to whichever side

can control it. The planet is Iridonis, a desert planet with no free flowing water on the entire planet. However, a unique herb grows on Iridonis that can be used

in conjunction with element 115, to turn almost any element or material into oxygen and hydrogen atoms. These atoms can then be compounded to become water. Thus

whoever controls the planet can shrug off any threats of water rationing by The Imperium. On arriving you setup base and wait. You know that it won't be long until

all hell breaks loose...

Hope u like it ;D

[Frodo]

that's a good idea, so the Reign of Shadows thread doesn't take 10 minutes to scroll through. ;D

[Desert_Eagle25]

Amazing. I love it. perfect for the story.

[Apollyon]

thank god thats done! ;)

now i just have to find a nice home for my poor decrepit arms

=)

[jacobdouds]

boyhowdy yous have a large story for this mod.

Edric, competition, get writing.

[Desert_Eagle25]

*burns whut u have accomplished so far*MUAHAHAHAHA !!!!!!!!*realizes that it was OUR story i burnt**sob*

[Frodo]

Excellent Detail in your story Appolyon. I am deeply impressed.

[Apollyon]

thank im just gald ppl like it

the mod is going all accorsing to plan and I should have the imperium and the freedom guard sides finished soon.

still got subhouses and the bio-labs to do =)

[Desert_Eagle25]

i already did bio-labs, all u gotta do is put weps on em, and change their textures. I'll do the sub-houses

[Apollyon]

Well I ended up playing this the other day.

I played it about 7 times with all sides etc and it came to my attention... that it was really really fun! :D

Thus I plan to revamp it, new XBFs, new textures and other little bits and properly release it.

Joy! :)

[Inoculator9]

Ah, that's grand!

[Apollyon]

Update:

All units have been worked out. Below are the current subhouse ones.

Pyrotekniks -

Flame trooper

Flame tank

Flame Guard APC

Guild of Freighters -

Invisible Freighter

Bio-tech Freighter

Advanced Freighter

Special Forces -

Imperial Infiltrator

Freedom Guard Commando

Orzon Defiler

Togra -

Stealth Generator Marksman

Stealth Generator Rail-trooper

Stealth leech

Racial Tech -

Imperial Battle-Priest

Freedom Guard Mobile Battle Station

Orzon Shrieker

Superweapons are:

Freedom Guard Smuggler's Base

Imperial Dessicator Weapon

Orzon Shatterer

[Inoculator9]

Sounds like barrels of laughs! Though the Special Forces part strikes me as a bit unusual.

[Apollyon]

Why's that?

[Inoculator9]

Imperial, Freedom Guard, and Orzom all as the designation. Should be one single one if you ask me. But I'll assume cultural diversity is one of the Special Force's practices :D

[Apollyon]

No, you see each subhouse gives 1 unit to each house but the unit depends on the main house, just like I did in ITDG.

[Inoculator9]

Oh, right, sorry, I forgot :P