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Three hundred years ago to this very day, the human
galactic empire of a.d. 2492 encompassed 77 thriving
worlds plus many small outposts scattered across the
human part of the galaxy. The 77 Worlds supported
each other and helped all humans expand into the
galaxy.
Through all the centuries of human expansion, there
had been no contact with alien empires. Mankind
outgrew the need for war. We were still aggressive, but
all of mankind’s aggressive ambition was channeled
into exploring, taming, and colonizing the 77 Worlds
and making them safe and habitable. Peace was
shattered when alien war fleets struck all of mankind’s
enclaves at the same time.
Centuries of peace had not left mankind defenseless.
Though we no longer practiced war, we hadn’t
forgotten how. Wave after wave of alien warships
dashed themselves against the powerful defenses of
humanity’s inner systems. The first, second, and even
third waves of massive starships were crushed before
they could enter orbit around the 77 Worlds.
This heroic defense was waged by fleets of S-ships:
massive war machines designed and built by humans
around independent, artificial intelligences. The
S-ships were fully automated to operate without
human crews.
The S-ships fought a brilliant campaign, but the aliens’
resources seemed limitless. Finally, with machine
precision, the linked plasma brains of the S-ships
computed that they would be overwhelmed and lose
everything if they continued defending all 77 Worlds.
With dwindling resources against unending waves of
attackers, they could save only one world: Earth itself.
The remaining S-ships retreated into the ether, leaving
76 worlds to the invaders. System after system fell
to the alien armadas, and the eventual fate of those
worlds was hidden in the vast distances of space. At
Earth Prime, the remaining, regrouped S-ships waged
a titanic battle against the aliens. In the end, both
fleets were utterly spent and Earth was scorched and
ruined. Only the Moon survived, and even there, the
aliens managed to land a small invasion force before
their transports were blasted into scrap.
In the centuries of peace and plenty, the Moon
had been a vacation colony where humans played
with their own past in automated, self-sufficient,
gravity-controlled domes. Among the historical
epochs humans could explore, there was one dome
dedicated to ancient Egypt, another for King Arthur’s
Camelot, and a third made to resemble Chicago during
the Roaring Twenties. As part of the experience,
computer chips slotted into the vacationers’ brains
(common, inexpensive technology in the 25th
Century) temporarily altered their own memories so
the enclosed, artificial world would seem utterly real.
When the vacation ended, their true memories and
modern knowledge were again unblocked, but while
the trip lasted, their surroundings would have ultimate
believability.
When it became clear that Luna would be invaded,
the artificial intelligences controlling the Moon bases
reprogrammed the chips implanted in the minds
of everyone currently on the Moon. They already
believed that their surroundings were real and that
they belonged in these historical or mythological
times, thanks to the computer chips. The managing
A.I.’s changed that programming subtly so instead
of being primarily focused on enjoying themselves,
the people in the domes were instilled with a will
to live and fight according to the cultures where
they found themselves. Harmless weapons were
transformed through nanotechnology into the real
things, or something even better than the real things.
Disintegrating bullets in gangsters’ tommy guns
became jacketed slugs. The dull, lightweight swords
and lances of King Arthur’s knights became tempered,
molecularly-sharp steel. The android clerics of Egypt’s
five gods were given beam weapons.
As the aliens entered each dome, there was massive
death and destruction. During the first 24 hours, the
domes’ nanotechnology defenses attacked the aliens’
technology and left them with dust for weapons. (This
defense was designed to prevent vacationers from
bringing dangerous weapons into the domes, but it
worked against the aliens just as well.) On the second
day, the army of the Pharaoh, the Knights of the Round
Table, and the organized criminal gangs of Chicago
counterattacked. The aliens survived—barely—and
adjusted, quickly becoming an acknowledged force
in each dome, but without their superior technology
they could neither conquer nor dominate.
300 years passed . . .
BASIC RULES
Historical Introduction