A Brief History of the Human Race (Post Original Earth)

From the Library of Macbeth Pembrook, data chip 2653, Post Original Earth History of the Human Race

In the 26th century, the Earth could no longer sustain the Human race, its natural resources unable to support the population. Wide spread famine, depleted wildlife, and poisonous air threatened all life on the planet. Scientists scrambled to perfect a technology decades in the making. At last in the year 2524, humans threw themselves at the mercy of space, thousands of ships launched carrying not only citizens of earth, but whatever could be saved of their culture, literature, music, DNA sequences of earth's wildlife, medicine, and technology. These ships, called Arks, took up the mission to find a new home world. Despite efforts to construct as many Arks as possible, less than half of the human population made it to the stars. The rest were left to the mercy of the Earth.

The last human on Earth died 30 years after the departure of the Arks.

Humans spent several decades wandering. The first planet the Arks attempted to settle turned out to have an overly rich nitrogen atmosphere. Although humans tried to adapt their ships to erect barriers to fill with breathable air, the technology eventually fizzled out, forcing humans to abandon the first New Earth in favor of another world. Most history and data from this time has been lost, the arks only stayed a brief time, perhaps no more than a decade before traveling for another 20 years to finally find a suitable planet.

The landing fleet of twenty Arks set down on the planet, and began building New Earth 2's colonies. The rest of the Arks arrived over the next decade following the beacon of the first fleet. These ships arrived to find a colony plagued with technological difficulties. New Earth's atmosphere, while oxygen rich, also had severe seasonal electrical storms. These storms wiped the computers, humans nearly lost all the history and culture they tried to save. Some literature, art, and music was salvaged thanks to low tech collections several people held as personal possessions.

The colonists encounters with the local animal population were puzzling and frustrating. While several species seemed highly intelligent, none appeared able to communicate. Humans were able to keep up a steady food supply thanks to farming technology on board the arks, though the seasonal electrical storms drained stored supplies until the colonists were forced to attempt hunting the local wildlife. Its at this point they found the flesh of the local animals awful to taste and caused a sweating sickness if not cooked till charred. Over the next few decades scientists worked to grow clones from the strains of DNA they carried with them from Earth. Eventually they succeeded in cloning several breeds of live stock, and even pets such as dogs and cats.

These reintroduced species thrived, though some would periodically escape the colony compounds into the surrounding wilderness. The unforeseen consequence of these escapees was their successful breeding with local species. From these unions human scientists finally uncovered a bizarre characteristic of the planet. As the years went by, people caught more and more glimpses of these crossbred species, who fearlessly prowled around the colony borders. It seemed each season these creatures changed drastically. It wasn't until one night a young creature wandered directly into a suburban community scientists were able to capture it for examination. The creature had feline, canine, and even bovine and caprinae traits. Their discoveries were startling. The youngling was not just a result of crossbreeding, in just a few years time this creature seemed to have undergone the equivalent of eons of evolution. Scientists sought out more of these crossbred species discovering the same phenomenon. They named this unique trait Accelerated Evolution and the creatures themselves they dubbed Chimerian, based off the Grecian monster of old Earth mythology, a monstrous blending of species.

Uncertain what this discovery would lead to, the Scientists released their subjects back into the wild, tagged for study. As years passed, two things because obvious. First, every mating season produced more and more evolved Chimerian, and second, each generation gained intelligence. Soon, the observers were also observed. Still, the creatures seemed peaceable, so humans continued adapting to their New Home.

Six centuries passed before the consequences of this inter-species breeding emerged from the woods. During that year's electrical season, the Chimerian raided one of the colonies bordering the forests. In the confusion and panic, no one could comprehend what they saw. A few of the "raiders" were killed in the attack but by the end of the night, 11 women were missing from the town. Despite extensive search parties and scans of the area, no trace could be found. As scientists examined the bodies left behind, they were shocked by the degree of change the interbred species had undergone. They had become bipedal, possessed opposable thumbs, and had evolved vocal chords capable of complex sounds. Speculations as to why these creatures kidnapped human females were across the spectrum, most assumed the women were consumed as food, others thought these creatures perhaps kidnapped them for study.

Their purpose revealed itself within the next decade when another raid occurred on a different border town. The participants of this raid possessed human characteristics. This time 15 women were taken. No one could locate where these woman were taken, but their fate became the stuff of nightmares. Extensive work went into fortifying all border colonies against attacks, but with human DNA already introduced into their gene pool the species continued to change through accelerated evolution. Within another decade, organized attacks resumed, but this time the goal was technology. The raiding parties foiled defenses, disabling locks, scaling walls. They stole medical tools, photosynthesizers, weapons, even electronic literature.

As the frequency of the raids increased, humans were startled by the Chimerian's intelligence and cunning. They continually broke through defenses, until abruptly the raids stopped. A few decades passed without a single glimpse of the Chimerian.

Sixty years after introducing human DNA into their gene pool, the Chimerian emerged from the forest not as a raiding party but as an army. Their surprise attack resulted in a high death toll. The Chimerian army was armed with modified human weapons, their soldiers naturally stronger and faster than humans. Their forces attacked without respite. They soon overwhelmed several border colonies, sending human colonists fleeing for the inner cities.

Humans first attempted to communicate, hoping to stop further bloodshed. The Chimerian proved they comprehended humanity's standard language, but their response was chilling, relaying the human race belonged to them. Humans rallied an army of their own, but centuries without true combat proved disastrous. The human army was massacred. As the Chimerian army continued their siege, working their way further and further towards the center colonies, humans realized their were rapidly being displaced as the dominant species on the planet. Faced with the possibilities of enslavement or eradication, the colonists leaders made the crucial decision to abandon New Earth 2. Within a year of this decision, pressured by the mounting death toll and advancing Chimerian, Humans launched newly remodeled arks, taking as many members of the population as they could carry. Even so thousands were left behind to the mercy of the Chimerian.

Ten thousand Arks made it to space carrying 30 million humans in total, staying together in loose clumps. Finding a new home took much longer this time, humans spending nearly two hundred years wandering the stars. The Arks began to encounter other alien races. Three of these species would have a great impact on the future of the human race, the Barlok, the Nisseri, and the Fey.

While stopping to observe the death of star an Ark, dubbed Darwin, encountered the Fey. Their accounts of this meeting sounded like myths of old. The Darwin's crew thought the ship was a small moon in orbit around the star, until the ship began moving toward them. It dwarfed the Ark, with the appearance of a water covered moon.

They found their communications system hijacked, as what sounded like pan pipes filled their ship. It took them ten minutes to realize the pipe music was speech. The ship's language officers scrambled to translate talking amongst themselves, unaware the alien ship listened back. The crew jumped when their communication system boomed through the ship "Humans?"

The Fey had been to Earth before.

Through an ambassadorial meeting between the two races, humans learned the Fey had visited earth eons ago, studying the development of the human race during the middle ages, leaving their imprint in Earth's mythology. That fateful day, the Fey revealed they were delighted humans had finally joined them among the stars, for they had admired human tenacity and imagination. The Fey told the crew of the Darwin they would keep on eye on humanity's progress. The captain of the Darwin, Kaito Malik was given a beacon by the Fey, should the need for their aid ever arise.

The second race humans encountered were the militaristic Barlok. Unlike the Fey, the Barlok looked down on humans, considering them dangerous. Humanity had destroyed one planets and completely altered the ecosystem of another and were looking to infect a third? The Barlok were considered a noble race, charged by several allied planets to be the peacekeepers of their region of space, a job they took deadly serious. The Barlok were quick to turn the fleet of Ark ships away from entering their region of space, providing an armed escort to the very border and a warning they too would be watching humanity's progress, promising they would return if humanity proved to be as big a threat as they feared.

The third race Humanity encountered were the Nisseri. The Nisseri were a trader/scavenger race. The trio of Nisseri ships who encountered a fleet of arks promised peaceable transactions. Over several years the Nisseri and Humans traded with each other many times. During these interactions humans gained a great deal of new technology. They acquired bio-mechanical implants that automatically translated thousands of alien languages, new types of medical tools that instantly healed burns and broken bones, and improved food replication machines. Their greatest acquisition were large machines that could filter a planets poisonous atmosphere to make it livable to a species specifications. With this miraculous technology, humans believed they could finally bring their long journey to an end.

For this reason, it could be said the Nisseri were indirectly responsible for the destruction of New Earth 3.

Armed with the Nisserian technology, the Ark fleet settled on a new planet, quickly working in bio suits to set up these air filtration machines on a decent sized world four planets in from a class two yellow star. The world's atmosphere was nitrogen rich but low on oxygen, the same problem they hit on the first New Earth. The scientists of the fleet vehemently rejected the Nisserian technology, trying to convince their captains that any technology which sought to change a planet's very makeup would have catastrophic consequences. But the majority of the crew were tired of roaming the stars. Despite all their warnings, the scientists were hushed, told if they believed the technology was so damaging then they should be working on counter measures. The machines did a rapid transformation of the atmosphere, within a month the fleet set out beacons calling the rest of the arks home to New Earth 3.

Kaito Malik and the crew of the Darwin were one of the last Arks to arrive, nearly a year after New Earth 3 was settled. The Darwin's lead science officer Alyssa Davers noticed something terribly wrong with their new home. Davers asked Captain Malik to remain in orbit an extra week so Davers could accumulate data of changes to the planet's environment. When the Darwin set down Davers had compiled an unsettling report. The Nisserian technology had sent the entire planet's ecosystem into meltdown, the local flora was in rapid decay, setting off a chain reaction among the planet's animal populace. Davers's reports were summarily dismissed, a team had already been dispatched to introduce species of plant life that could survive the planet's new oxygen rich atmosphere. The council of leaders viewed the deconstruction of the planet's ecosystem as a boon after the disaster of New Earth 2. However Davers, and many scientists like her, knew New Earth 3 was already a doomed planet. Convincing Captain Malik of this, Davers proposed the Darwin take to the stars once again to find another planet as soon as possible. New Earth 3's ruling council dismissed Davers's as a fear monger, attempting to turn public opinion against her. New Earth 3 was still getting its land legs, it did not need rumor and uncertainty to delay development.

Kaito Malik sided with his science officer, telling the council he would take the crew of the Darwin into space alone if he had to. Not even a year after setting down on a new planet, the Darwin set off once more, determined to find a new world.

Within the course of a decade, New Earth 3 began a downward spiral. Natural disasters occurred more frequently, horrendous storms, drought, and uncontrollable wild fires that raged though dead plant matter. But it was sickness that blindsided humanity. It crept up on them, a highly infectious virus like none they had ever seen before, mutated by the Nisserian technology and without local animal life to feed on. It swept through the human population as virulent and deadly as the bubonic plague of old, killing nearly a million people in its first wave as doctors scrambled to find a cure, or for a way to slow it down. The virus ravaged the body burning away all body fat, then eating away muscle and finally internal organs. Death was drawn out and painful.

Amidst the disaster, Malik's subspace message finally reached New Earth 3 at the peak of the sickness. The Darwin had found another habitable planet, one suited to humans without drastically changing the atmosphere. Desperate, settlers began loading ships, sending colonists out in droves. These humans made a grave mistake in not properly scanning all passengers for the virus. More than one Ark made it to space only to have its crew wiped out by sickness, left to drift through the stars.

The Barlok were also monitoring the situation on New Earth 3. Realizing ships were leaving the planet carrying such a virulent disease, the Barlok saw it as their duty to exterminate the threat. The Barlok arrived at New Earth 3 as the seventh wave of Ark ships were departing the planet. The ships were gunned to the ground, killing most aboard. The Barlok proceeded to raze the planet, blasting the surface without cease.

There is no record of any survivors, no one has gone back to New Earth 3 since.

The Barlok threat to humanity was not finished, they had intercepted the Darwin's coordinates to New Earth 4.

The surviving arks who reached New Earth 4 brought devastating news of the fate of New Earth 3. Between the sickness and the Barlok attack, the population of New Earth 4 came to barely 750,000 humans. Staggered by the loss of life, humanity realized they had become an endangered species. They were not given time to mourn their loss. Just months into establishing colonies, scans of space revealed an alarming development. A fleet of Barlok ships were closing in on New Earth 4. Humans scrambled to get the Arks space ready once again, realizing their new home was no longer safe. But with little time to gather resources and repair the ships, the majority of the Arks were no longer space worthy. Only a few, including the Darwin were able to upkeep repairs.

Desperate, Capt. Malik did the only thing he could think of to save his race. He activated the Fey beacon, then loaded up the travel worthy vessels with as many people as they could hold. Malik planted the Darwin between the Barlok fleet and the evacuation party, determined to provide a distraction for as long as he could, knowing his ship was horribly outnumbered and outgunned. To his amazement, the Barlok fleet halted their advancement.

A massive Fey ship had arrived. Minutes after their arrival, the Barlok broke off, ending their genocide campaign. It was the last humans would see of them for hundreds of years. This marked the beginning of an alliance between the Fey and Human races. Impressed by human tenacity and the individual bravery members of the race exhibited, the Fey took humanity under their wing.

Feeling New Earth 4 was still vulnerable to attack, humans abandoned the planet. The Fey led them to another habitable planet, New Earth 5, and stayed to help humans establish colonies. They shared their knowledge of other races, of technology, and science, catapulting the human race several centuries forward. Even after the human race began to stabilize and thrive on their new home, the Fey chose to stay, helping to create laws, universities, and influencing human culture with their own. Humans and fey began to interbreed, having families despite the difference in lifespan. Even with the many medical and technological advances the Fey gave to humanity, the human life span did not last beyond a few hundred years at best.

Amidst this boom of progression, unrest festered beneath the surface. After several centuries together, a sizeable group of humans arose wishing to break away from Fey influence, believing though the Fey appeared altruistic, they now seemed to have a firm hand on human progression, controlling humanity in their own passive aggressive way. This unrest continued to grow, splintering in sects with varying degrees of extremism. Some believed the Fey were a true threat, as more ruling positions fell into Fey hands, these humans feared they were heading towards complete takeover. The other side of the spectrum were humans who wished to see what they could do without constant Fey influence. When extremists began acts of terrorism, setting off bombs targeted at Fey heavy communities, the Fey hunted down those responsible, sentencing them to public execution. This brutal reaction drew the whole spectrum together, causing riots across the planet. Hoping to avoid what would be a civil war, a man named George Embris stepped forward with a peaceful solution. Embris was a scientist who fell on the less extreme side of the fence. He suggested rather then force the well established Fey out, this group of humanity could seek out a new home, a sister planet in the same solar system, to give humans a fresh start while still maintaining relations with New Earth 5. An accord was reached, treaties signed to keep Fey as a trade relation, nothing more.

Humans established colonies on New Earth 6 in the year 3429 A.E. (After Earth.)

New Earth 6 divided into six vast territories, each with their own city/state laws.

Jamestown: named after the Jamestown of ancient history, the colony is a purist one. Wishing to regain and maintain their heritage, the Jamestown territory is isolated, many citizens never leaving its boarders. Their society is highly secretive, few know what goes on behind the massive wall surrounding the territory.

New Yorkshire: The most diverse and accepting territory, New Yorkshire maintains a high traffic spaceport, keeping trade open with as many races as possible, though few are allowed to stay. New Yorkshire is the wealthiest of the territories.

Alexandria: the artistic mecca, Alexandria is an almost bohemian utopia. All races are welcome here, the territory boasting a rich university system and extensive open trade market.

New Tokyo: The technological heartbeat of New Earth Six, New Tokyo has the most contact between the territories, boasting the largest medical training and experimental facilities on the planet.

New Amsterdam: Like its historical cousin, New Amsterdam is a city state of vice. Although it boasts a thriving black market, this territory is a huge "tourist" destination of interplanetary visitors. New Amsterdam's space port revivals New Yorkshires and appeals to merchants over Yorkshire's heavily enforced trade laws. There is one law upheld above all others. No reproducing with the human female populace. If a woman is caught with a half bred child of any race she is exiled, along with her spawn. There are some rumors this offense is a death sentence in Jamestown.

Terra Nova: The agricultural epicenter of New Earth 6, Terra Nova provides goods for all territories. Terra Nova is the largest territory, to accommodate extensive crops.