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Antiscamp -> RE: Human Revolution (2/18/2013 11:42:36 PM)
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HUMAN REVOLUTION -- BACKGROUND STORY
The Human Races
--THE HUMANS--
HISTORY
Old Sol was steeped in history, as it was the birthplace of Mankind. The Humans were known for their curiosity, being more individualistic in nature than other races. This also led them to explore space at an early date, but the individualism, in turn, led to great internal struggles and tribalism as opportunism and egoism was often in the centre of human development and held them back. In this, we also see the reasons why Mankind broke up in so many different, yet similar, but competing factions.
Although Mankind has had a few golden ages where their economic interests have been kept in phase with their development as a society, they have been known to be quick to fall back in their egoistic nature and let their business interests take over. Their businessnature has led to flourishing trade with the other empires though and massive winnings for human corporations. "They have an absurd idea that you need to pay to live on the planet where you were born", said one Eva observer. "And that's why we broke away".
POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP
Due to their racially individualistic nature, Humans prefer democratic or republican government styles, however, because of their interest in monetary issues, they often let their democratic freedoms fall prey to great corporate interests, and it is known that Human states, unchecked, often develop into corporate dictatorships with the democratic institutions just as an outward facade to justify their existence.
Humans have an interest in law and order - since it is good for business - but with their economic thinking, law and justice often lives in the danger of becoming the tools of the Human corporations and not as it was intended, a means of defending the individual against injustice. It has led to an absurd system where the big corporations and business sectors set the rules, the state and government enforce these rules and the individual citizens blindly follow, hypnotized by their entertainment and mega media.
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS
Humans are versatile. They gladly inhabit every type of planet and adapt quickly to their surroundings. They do prefer continental, balanced and temperate environments though, where their great cities, business centres and industries flourish. They are known for creating the most impressive megalopolises in the galaxy. Some of their cities have been known to reach hundreds of millions of inhabitants.
Poverty and wealth go hand-in-hand in Human society; one part of a human planet can be a huge shacktown while another, just kilometres away, may be a centre for immense luxury and beauty. Unlike other races, Humans seem to accept this with the justification that "it's every man's duty to go as far as his abilities can take him" and that all Humans have the opportunity to rise from abject poverty to extreme wealth. The Human population has a great need of entertainment and stimuli, often of primitive and basic nature; they enjoy luxury and have an unsatiable taste for gold.
Human society works mostly according to the family principle; genetic engineering, cloning and cybernetics are seen with distrust. Humans value diversity and individualism above other. Being employed within the business sectors of Human society is considered the optimal career for any Human. Military and scientific careers are also encouraged and a system where the best are rewarded richly has led to many great people appearing in these areas. Humans may seem gullible and rash, and other races often judge them prematurely, but when Humans put their minds to it, they can achieve truly great things.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Humans try to stay on the good side of every other empire. They have a few races they instinctively dislike; most often simply just because Humans deem them ugly or physically frightening. War is not good for business, the Humans think, but if they see resources they want and need or other opportunities, they will use their armed forces without hesitating to seize those. It is said about the humans that all wars in their history have been fought over the access to resources.
Human curiosity has led them to successfully explore the galaxy and make first contact with others and they take great pride in exploration and expansion. They successfully employ ambassadors and spies to influence other empires.
WARFARE
Humans justify all their wars with greater philosophies than just grabbing a few resources, and often turn their fighting into grand-scale crusades, making them fierce enemies. However, they easily tire of war as soon as the body bags start coming back home.
--THE MERCHS--
HISTORY
During the days when Sol was still ruled by tribal factions called nations, the planetwide wars were frequent between Humans and soon spread into space as Mankind took its first fledgling steps out into the solar system and the galaxy. As on all frontiers, pirates and mercenaries followed in the steps of peaceful settlers. The local tribal wars were ended by international and corporate treaties and laws, making many former soldiers unemployed but still unsuitable for life in peace and prosperity, and it was these old soldiers who took up arms and became pirates and private mercenaries. From these illegal elements grew an organization called The Merchs.
The war that followed in space between law enforcement and these Merchs ended in the Merchs being soundly defeated. The remnants of them were placed in penal colony far from Sol and on an inhospitable swampy planet simply called "Punishment". As the situation in the galaxy deteriorated and contact was finally lost with Sol, the old prison guards soon joined the prisoners and created an independent state (they even renamed their system into the better sounding "Refuge"). This was the beginning of a militaristic and dangerous dictatorship, for and by criminals.
they have developed a culture of honour. Honour is more important to the Merch than law and order. One Sol ambassador called the Merch culture "honour among thieves".
POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP
The Merch state is run by a despotic ruler appointed by a military council of admirals and generals. There is a strong hierarchy where the entire population is ranked according to military grades. Politics in Merch territory is quite straightforward: "Do as you're told or be shot", so there is absolutely no political debate in the Merch state, since opinions against the upper ranks is considered insubordination and punishable by dishonourable death.
There are no sports in Merch territory, other than the ones associated with hunting and killing. One strange phenomenon though has been that every area on their planets is considered responsible for one of the fleet's starships. This has made the Merchs compete in who has the best starship and whose ship destroys the most enemies. Almost like Humans betting on their home team in the annual Holoball. The merchs have gone to great lengths to broadcast live ship battles when they occur to their populace. This also means that the population takes responsibility for "their ship" and pay for parts of its maintenance, leading to the state having lower maintenance costs for its fleets.
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS
The Merchs do not inhabit planet surfaces. They build colonies below ground, well protected, like huge bunkers. On the surface, they train for war and raise all kinds of fierce beasts for hunting.
On their swampy marsh home planet, the Merchs have developed to become great hunters and they are trained in the art of war since they are born. At the age of fifteen, all Merch children are sent up to the surface and abandoned deep in the swamps left only a knife. There they're supposed to survive for three weeks before they're brought back. Those who survive the test among the fierce swamp beasts, and in the inhospitable climate, are considered worthy of becoming part of society. It is a kind of adulthood test where the strong survive and are worthy, while the week perish and are thus rooted out. This also means that population growth on Merch planets is low, because many perish already during the tests of a harsh childhood.
The military is the usual career choice for Merchs, and that is where the honour is. Being a space trader is also considered a good job, while they frown upon jobs like in the areas of medicine and research. There is a very small intellectual class in their empire; education is lacks, although they do maintain at least one great university (mostly dedicated to the history of war though).
FOREIGN RELATIONS
There are not many in the galaxy the Merchs get along with. They particularly despise their human brothers who once imprisoned them, but also the Eva. They have an admiration for civilizations like the Mortalen and Boskara though. The Merchs are aggressive and soon to go to war, however, if managed to get a treaty with, they will stay by their word since it's considered honourable to keep what you've promised. They are very dependable allies, but mighty and dangerous adversaries.
WARFARE
The Merchs tend to equip their ships with missiles and beam weapons. They field some of the best land troops in the galaxy. Fleeing from a battle is considered a deadly sin by the Merchs. Therefore, Merch troops and ships will sooner fight to the death than retreat. Merchs sometimes also make up independent pirate factions.
--THE CYBORGS--
HISTORY
It has been widely debated whether the cyborgs are to be placed in the humanoid race family or not. While it is true that most of the cyborgs nowadays have implants and body changes that make them more machine than human, many of them also choose not to add body enhancements more than the obligatory brain implants that they are supplied with at birth. Also, their physical brains are still organic and indeed just as human as the Merchs' or the Evas'. The cyborgs themselves consider their race the utmost evolutionary development of the human race and they see themselves as the true inheritors of human history and tradition. They are not androids without feelings or senses, but are also capable of one thing that separates them surely from machine: "human error".
The Cyborg history began in the early days of human space exploration when space travel demaned a strong physique. It became necessary for some to change organic body parts into more effective ones, and connect their minds to the computers of their ships. That is how the Nexus began. A computer system was developed back in those days that connected all these space travellers to a central database; this soon developed into an intelligently thinking AI, which actually tried to take control over the whole human race. When this takeover was discovered, the humans removed The Nexus, as well as all those connected to it to another system and let it set up an independent base there. There was never any bloodshed between the humans and the Cyborgs though, and it all went peacefully.
POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP
The Nexus rules the Cyborg with what is best seen as a Hive Mind, though it has been improved over time to provide a stable, peaceful and "good" form of government environment for the citizens of the civilization. There is nothing evil in the Nexus, as humans back at Sol often think, but nothing good either - only practicality, logic and functionality. All Cyborgs are connected to the Nexus since birth; all get their standard implant. Cyborgs disconnected from the Nexus, for one reason or other, are still able to operate independently though, since their organic brains are still very much intact and often even upgraded with intellectual capabilities.
The Nexus supplies the population with its demands and needs; it decides between war and peace and runs the every-day business of government. It appoints leaders for the fleets, armies and diplomatic and scientific institutions. It also provides for the entertainment needs of the citizens. There are no theatres, games or films in the usual manner in the Cyborg empire; they all have entertainment readily downloadable in their minds; there are also extensive databases with all sorts of details on human history and science which all Cyborgs have access to. This makes them appear super intelligent, because they can download information directly into their minds, and relate that in seconds. See it as a central computer to which all the citizens of the empire are connected.
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS
Not all Cyborgs choose to completely manipulate and change the biological bodies they were born with. There are large layers of Cyborg society that consider only the brain implant necessary and don't change anything else at all. Then there are others who go ahead and improve on just about anything, making them indeed more machine than man. Only the brain and spine are considered no-go areas and those are not changed or replaced under any circumstances.
The Cyborgs only use planet surfaces for mining, agriculture (yes, cyborgs need to eat) and other resource harvesting. They live on their space stations and in their shielded spaceports. One cyborg does not require a whole lot of living space; only a small pod where all the basic needs are provided.
Most of Cyborg society is geared towards intellectual pursuits and research.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Cyborgs intend to stay out of the affairs of others. They are isolationist and appear shy. They rarely make treaties with other empires and they are reluctant to go to war. War is decided upon by the Nexus and often just in extreme cases where the empire needs to defend itself from the aggressions of others. they have no biases towards other races; they consider such illogical, but rather continually create a policy towards others depending on how their interactions with these other races go. Sometimes they find it necessary to trade with others, but if they can stay out of any agreements, they will.
WARFARE
The Cyborgs are forced to equip their spaceships with weapons to defend themselves in a dangerous galaxy. They usually choose to put their efforts in torpedo weapons as well as properly shielding their ships.
--THE EVA--
HISTORY
The Eva began as an independent race engineered by human scientists. The Eva were engineered to be perfect females; created as beautiful and satisfying, they also quickly took on the abilities of being manipulative and scheming. The genetic engineering had also given them an intellect superior to that of their human creators, and while they slowly grasped the shortcomings of human society, they also started to make resistance against what were effectively their slave masters - the male humans.
After some time they formed their own organization and model society - what they called "The Matriarchy", a system ruled by a despotic Queen who was periodically elected amongst the best of The Eva. On their planets they also quickly turned the slavery forced upon them against their former masters, and in Eva society men were soon held as lower ranking and only kept for labour and entertainment for The Eva women. Eva children were produced by genetic engineering and cloning, leading to a population explosion as Eva laboratories produced large numbers of perfect females intended for the high positions in their society, as well as males genetically engineered to constitute the workforce. In The Matriarchy, it was believed that women were genetically destined and better suited to rule, while men were better suited for labour.
POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP
The Eva prefer the government style of Monarchy where the Queen is elected among the best candidates. The Queen also holds the highest spiritual office in the Matriarchy and also commands the armed forces. The Queen is chosen for life.
There is a strong feeling of patriotism in the Eva Empire and assimilated races are also included in this, in fact, assimilation on conquered or settled planets have gone well through Eva history and the Eva are very open and friendly to integrating new cultures into their Empire. Most often though, they start treating the female part of the integrated populations as leaders and think the males are secondary. There are many examples where such has not been the case though and where males of different races have risen to high offices within the Eva Empire.
The Eva do not allow major economic coprorations to form. This, because of an experiment in their history when they were near to being enslaved by their own corporations and it all ended in a bloody revolution. Eva women are industrious businessladies though and maintain small to mid sized businesses which trade with the other empires and keep the economy going.
There have been examples of Eva colonies that have chosen other forms of government, but Monarchy is preferred.
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS
The Eva are an intelligent, scientific race but they are also vain. They preferably inhabit continental planets, where they like to live on beautiful little estates in meticulously designed rural terrain environments. Their planets often end up looking like paradise and works of art, because they enjoy beauty and cleanliness. They also erect great city centres for administration; where most Evas work within the high offices such as in military and government. The shopping in these city centres is of course well-catered for.
They have a fondness of certain luxury goods. From the rare Bifurian Silk they produce magnificent clothes and fashion, which gives their society a large development boost. Gold to produce jewelry from makes them very happy, and Vodkol heightens their reproduction rate. There's a saying in the galaxy: "There's nothing as feisty as an Eva on Vodkol". In conjunction with the fact that The Eva genetically produce perfect working males, they have developed excellent mining equipment and work methods.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
Diplomatically The Eva are unreliable allies; they have committment issues. They are suspicious and slightly aggressive towards their neighbours, and when it comes to fighting, they're rather cautious. They like to strike when they're completely ready and where it hurts. The Eva don't like the male dominated humanoid states at all; especially humans and Kiadians. They do get along with the Securans and Sluken though, because those societies remind them of their own. The Evas really like the Atuuk. Just because they're so fuzzy and cute.
WARFARE
The Eva tend to go for phasers and torpedo weapons when equipping their ships for combat. They make excellent ground soldiers, because there is a strong gun-glorification culture in the Eva society. Only females are allowed to enter their Valkyrie Regiments; this has historical reasons from the days when the Eva overturned their slavemasters and had to learn how to defend themselves. Melee combat is glorified and most Evas are trained in this way, however, leadership of the armed ground forces has been lacks and they produce fewer great generals than other cultures.
--THE GRUN--
HISTORY
The way the Human economy often worked, often led to a greedy struggle for resources and the mass production that drained planets where Humans were settled. Oftentimes this led to the creation of environmental political factions who tried to persuade governments and corporations to ease the enormous pressure on the planetary eco systems. When peaceful protests did not work, these political factions often turned militant or extreme. In the end, they gathered under one banner and founded "The Grun". The main purpose of the organization was for environmentalists to settle, and indeed care for, their own planets. They collected large parts of the fringe elements of Human society.
The Grun soon proved to be an effective government. They established their own utopian settlements and colonized peacefully in a loose union, confederate kind of way, although they remained under one central organization. Freedom of speech was considered the only holy thing within their political life. Economics, spiritual life and government were held separate in a rigorously controlled way to avoid doing the same mistakes they considered their Human brothers had been doing. Soon, they also saw the need for proper defense forces since pirate attacks and other empires were pressing on their borders, and so the Grun State was born.
POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP
The Grun are led by the Central Organization, a parliament elected in free elections. The Central Organization also has ministers of government who are also elected among the best of Grun society. The Central Organization has no control over the single colonies of the Grun empire though. Each colony makes its own internal decisions and rule themselves autonomously, while the Central Organization's task is to conduct the foreign policy, united front outwards, overall economy and military affairs.
Ownership of land is prohibited in all Grun territory, one of the few laws that is active on all planets of the confederation. Economic activities are frowned upon, and a large part of the Grun colonies have no currency system at all and function with other economic systems. This has led to economic experimentation and theorizing which has sometimes failed miserably and on other occasions been successes.
There are several greater religious sects active within Grun territory because spiritual freedom is also law. Some of these sects have been causing trouble, not only for the Grun organization, but also for others.
POPULATION AND SETTLEMENTS
The Grun tend to live in smaller settlements spread out over large areas. They generally prefer to keep their planets rural, and major cities are kept at a minimum. The only greater cities reaching inhabitant levels over ten million are found in their home system, and those are the great centres of administration and government. They keep their planets tidy; resource management is strict as to not suck the planets they live on dry.
They have no general cultural similarities between colonies or even settlements on the single planets. The Grun encourage diversity and their people creating unique settlements and communities. This also means that there is a substantial movement of people between colonies. Exclusion of other races is not even heard of in Grun society, and all other races are naturally assimilated and settled as they move in.
The Grun legalize all sorts of drugs which has led to problems in some cases. Knowledge and learning is considered more important than economics and military, leading to many Gruns seeking scientific careers instead. The Grun have produced som great scientists through the years. They generally settle continental, temperate planets but Grun settlements can flourish in other environments as well.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Grun go into contact with other empires, races and peoples with an open mind. They are excellent diplomats and do try to get along with everybody. They only feel suspicious against purely fascist governments as well as pirate factions and rogue states. They encourage tourism, to let other peoples come and see how they live and learn more about them. "Tourism is a diplomatic tool", as one Grun official said.
WARFARE
While reluctant to go to war, the Grun are able to defend their settlements if need be. They generally tend to equip their warships defensively with proper shields and countermeasures. Offensive warfare in all forms is considered out of the question. They are reluctant and not very hardy fighters, but when defending their own places in the universe, they can turn into fierce beasts.
--THE FASCE--
HISTORY
The Fasce developed out of fascist governments in human history. Due to great problems with such political beliefs, humans in general felt disgust for them and they went out into space to create their own ideal society as they saw it. What they created was pretty much a feudal police state with rigorous control of its citizens and a hatred for all other races in the galaxy than humans. They based their society on Human superiority and enforced enslavement on other races. These policies early on led to clashes with other human states as well.
From the beginning, there was a substantial opposition in Fasce territory, which also led to the big brother society they have in place today. The Fasce started implanting a chip on every child to keep control. The government grew immense, centralised and bueraucratic beyond any reason. Scientific progress was slowed because of this, but military growth was at a high.
POLITICS AND LEADERSHIP
The Fasce base their entire civilization on what they consider being the law of Human evolution; the strong survive and the weak perish. This has lead to intense competition within their economic and political life. They have an admiration for strong leaders who take what they want.
Their preferred government style is a feudal dictatorship with a powerful dictator at the very top surrounded by an entourage of a selected few. All their businesses are run in similar manner.
POPULATIONS AND SETTLEMENTS
The Fasce build great cities and industrial complexes. Often, their planets are completely unsettled outside the cities. It is easier to control the population if they are concentrated. The mega cities are racked with class differences between rich and poor; in general, the higher up you live in a Fasce city, the higher you are in society. The rich live at the top of the great skyscrapers, while the really poor and useless live in the underground bunkers. It is very hard for someone who comes from the underground to climb that very physical ladder of society, leading to all sorts of social problems within Fasce society.
All Fasce children are implanted with a chip which keeps track of them and even registers their physical feelings and well-being. Fasce cities are also filled with surveillance cameras to keep the population in check. Open political demonstrations and forming of movements are forbidden. Patriotism is strong and encouraged.
FOREIGN RELATIONS
The Fasce have a hatred against all other races other than those of the Human race family. They are prejudgemental beyond logic. They even have ideologies and scientific research in place to prove their theories about Human superiority. This has led them to become isolated even from their Human brothers. They go into first contact with other races with suspicion and fear; and during their contacts with other civilizations, they only tend to conspire to bring about the others' downfall.
WARFARE
Warfare is idealized in Fasce society. There is a worship of war heroes and great achievements in war. Young men and women are raised with the tales of war and are pumped full with war glorofication through Fasce entertainment. The Fasce equip their fleets offensively and are very glad to go to war. When the war heroes return they are celebrated for days in great "Triumphs", paraded through the streets and medals and decorations are bestowed; and the heroic fallen are remembered like gods. There is an admiration for the military uniform and all military symbolism.
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