Solare: The Fall

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Silver Swordsman
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Solare: The Fall

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Solare

Part I: Prologue

In 2012, the Earth’s condition was dire. With over 10 billion inhabitants, the environment was having serious repercussions. On August 7th, the first underwater colony, Atlantis, suffered an implosion of its dome. There were no survivors among the 10,000 inhabitants. The dramatic failure of the Atlantis deep sea colony prompted the various governments to look into space. With the development of the new fusion propulsion system, objects can be transported into space cheaply. In 2024, the first civilian space station was operational. While the fusion engines work with deuterium and tritium, engineers discovered that if the engines were fed with liquid hydrogen, the net energy yield rose to uncharted levels, which were then charted. Ships running on Liquid Hydrogen Drives could reach speeds of up to 700 km per second. Due to the fact that Jupiter was confirmed to have liquid hydrogen, various countries began to build colonies around Jupiter, intent on harvesting the gas. By 2100, there were over 10 space stations orbiting Jupiter, and in 2107, the first civilian colony on Mars was operational, with many more planned.
Surprisingly, China was the most ambitious in its approach, and owned seven of the ten space stations around Jupiter, contrary to two by the United States. The Mars colony was also Chinese, and the US found itself under strangulation. The United States was noted to have the highest frequency of launches, but their stellar growth was still stagnant. By 2157, the US had only 5 registered commercial stations while China had over 20.
Stellar piracy was running rampant by 2100, and China’s losses were hard against privateers. In an attempt to regulate trafficking, China’s stellar fleet became militant to stop raiders and to protect industrial and civilian interests. Shortly after this was implemented, the United States promptly refused to trade with China.
On May 3rd, 2158, Chinese scout craft Star 4156 disappeared when orbiting Pluto, which prompted a larger fleet to investigate. The fleet, which consisted of five lightly armed patrol ships, was annihilated before they reached the Pluto vicinity. An even larger ship, aided by the state of art Emperor Han battleship, was dispatched. It too, was annihilated. The Emperor managed to broadcast a message back to Chinese Headquarters before contact was lost:
“Shi mae gwo duh! Shi mae gwo duh!” (It’s American! It’s American!)

Chinese officials demanded an explanation from the US, who finally admitted that a secret American research facility was orbiting Pluto, and anyone who trespassed into that area would be neutralized. With the deed exposed to the media, China declared war on the US, with the world joining China’s cause minutes later.
Actual fighting never occurred. The US then revealed that it had in fact over a hundred satellites trained on every country that would annihilate the countryside in a matter of seconds. China, along with the rest of the world, was forced to surrender, and all stellar colonies and interests were ceded to America.
From 2158 to the 23rd century, the United States of America began the slow process of assimilating the world into one. The American government then adopted the title of United Dominion of Humanity, hence USH.
Part II: The Fall

By 2390, the world had settled down again. The net population of humans was well over 35 billion, with at least 5 billion still land-locked on Earth. The approximate population for a space station ranged from 100,000 to several million, while planetary surface colonies could support over a billion.
Piracy was becoming a major concern in the colonized Solar System. The League of Silent Knives was a headache in particular. Holding complete dominance over the Asteroid Belt via hideouts between the massive rocks, any ship that dared venture there was asking for a ravishing. The threat was so serious that the Solar System was essentially cut in half, into the Inner and Outer Sectors respectively. Merchant and civilian ships that needed to cross were grouped into convoys that were escorted by battleships. Still, it was impossible to guarantee complete safety, and the marauders still enjoy booty.
On February 20th, 2393, observatory stations outside the orbit of the Sun sighted a rogue planet. Estimated to be three times as large as Earth, it was calculated that it would drift right into the Solar System. Roughly placing its speed at over several hundred thousand miles per second, it was estimated that it would either crash into the Sun or go in orbit. As it narrowly passed Uranus three years later, super-computers gave a disturbing 87% probability for it colliding with another planet. Months later, computers mapped out a preliminary and it was ruled upon that a collision course with a planet was imminent.
For awhile, the USH government refused to alert the public regarding the threat of a planetary collision due to the fact that it would upset the fragile economy that was only starting to bloom. They decided to wait until it was confirmed which planet would be at immediate risk.
Six months later, computers calculated that Earth’s rotational arc fit snugly with the trajectory of the incoming planet. The chance of collision increased to 89%. It was calculated that the foreign planet would impact in fifty years. USH began to make preparations by constructing five large carrier ships that could house 10 Boeing 999s. The ships were the state of the art at the time, and each boasted five propulsion tentacles that allowed the ships to accelerate faster than normal ships. The tentacles also gave the ships an almost jelly-fish look. The public was not notified when they were launched.

The 5 captains and 10,000 crew members were hand-picked from the military.

When the date of impact suddenly accelerated after the planet glanced Saturn to less than ten years, the officials were driven to speed up the pace. By the 24th century, only 1.5 billion had been evacuated. Scientists and observers realized that the planet was traveling in a parabola, which was unnatural. The countdown continued to accelerate.

The USH government succeeded in ultimately evacuating over 3.7 billion people from planet Earth by July 7th, 2403. They were relocated to various colonies amongst the planets and space stations.

On July 10th, all ships were cleared of the vicinity excepting the five carriers. The Dawn of Reason, Sunrise of Hope, The Savior of Mankind, The Unicorn of Power, and The Oracle of Foresight had received orders to make one final pickup. Understanding that over 2 billion people were still trapped, they decided to save as many as they could. Due to chaos and problems on the flight deck, coupled with the slow loading and unloading time of the overcrowded passengers, the final evacuation took longer than expected. Approximately five seconds before impact, a trailing scientific vessel took an interesting photo of the alien planet. On the rear was an unnaturally large and round crater. In the center, a volcano spat bluish gases hundreds of miles into the sky.

When the two celestial bodies collided, there was no sound, yet there was a quiver in the very abyss of space, which radiated outwards and flung ships around like a cosmic tsunami. On the surface of planets, glass shattered, and the streets were plunged into chaos as people and buildings were leveled to the ground. Then came the sheet of light. It blinded everything, its power more than a trillion atomic weapons. While at such far ranges it proved not dangerous, one can only imagine the chaos on the Blue Planet.

The Dawn of Reason had already left Earth’s vicinity and was roughly 420,000 miles away. Observers and video documentation saw the ship accelerate in a blue aura and disappear into thin space, leaving behind a bluish trail. By the time Scavengers had arrived, there was nothing left.

The Sunrise of Hope was around 200,000 miles away and had just fired up its boost engines. She was the first ship of her series, and was the lightest. It, too, disappeared into a blue streak. Two pieces of debris, Propulsion Tentacles 1 and 4 were found on Mars later.

The Savior of Mankind was one of the heavier ships. She was approximately 170,000 miles away. Her engines were not yet fully activated; although high-quality footage later shows that her tentacles were mashed together by the shockwave. She too, disappeared without a trace.

The Unicorn of Power was the farthest away at the time, being 778,974 miles away during Impact. She was the sole survivor of her sisters, and crashed into the Hercules space station, severely damaged. No one was believed to be injured.

The Oracle of Foresight was still in Earth’s orbit during Impact. She was immersed by the subsequent sheet of fiery light that followed. Her identification beacon was later found in the ruins of Man’s Cradle a few months later. There were no known survivors.

The Dawn of Reason, Sunrise of Hope, and Savior of Mankind ships were believed to be torn to pieces by the subsequent cosmic shockwave. All 1.3 million on board supposedly perished.
The USH dissolved and ceased to exist after Earth was destroyed, her massive empire in the Solar System crumbled and split into three warring factions that would remain so for centuries.
The Fall seemed to be the end of everything. It was, in fact, the beginning.
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