The Uprising universe. By Brian Mix Millions of years ago a great race of people walked the universe. The Old Ones were so powerful and so advanced in their technology that nothing was outside their grasp. The problem: What is there to strive for when you have everything. All that is left is power over other individuals. A power struggle developed. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Gods battling gods. A small faction of the Old Ones tried to escape but where can one go when their foe has mapped the universe. Realizing that escape was impossible and death certain, this small band of dissidents sprinkled their DNA across an out of the way arm of a tiny galaxy and faced their doom, hoping some day their lineage might be truly free. Many races and species sprang from these seeds. The sower of these seeds left behind warnings signs couched as religious symbols. If any of their children would ever see signs of the Old Ones they would surely flee. How could they have known that the warning signs left on a planet to be called Mars would never be seen, their DNA seeds being carried to another nearby planet by a passing meteor. The day humankind discovered the path to the stars was cause for great celebration. The people of earth heralded it as a new beginning for humanity that would unite the world in peace. That is not what happened. Humans soon discovered not only were they not alone, but that they were a very young race. The Xaja, Mincobe, and the Nartooth, all scoffed at this non-religious upstart race. They made it clear that our technology out-reached our moral being. Many factions of Humans roved the galaxy buying or stealing what they could from the advanced races and generally proved them right. The day the Swarm came changed everything. The planet Albion was a treasure trove of Alien artifacts, a human archaeological masterpiece. It fell in minutes to the military power of the Swarm. The Humans were appalled. The Xaja had heard of the swarm. "Just like the Humans", they said, "The Swarm take from others what they would not learn". The Swarm had been looting races of technology for centuries. None of the other races would help the Eathers. Vengeance in their hearts, Earth formed the largest battle fleet ever seen and attacked the Swarm. It is not known by many that the war was won in one day. The Human battle fleet poured onto Albon just as the Swarm were unearthing their prize, the Wraith. The Swarm had seen pictures of this machine of death, read tales of its incredible power. But when they heard rumors that the Humans had blundered into one, they struck instantly. The Swarm had no idea the Humans would strike back so hard. Even with their advanced weapons and teleporters they could not stop the Human invasion. The tide was turning toward the Swarm when the Earthers took the facility hiding the Wraith. Once the Swarm realized the Wraith would be powered up against them they fled. The whole odf the Swarm armada was gone in hours, all but the ones captured by the Human military. For many years the military scavenged the Swarm's technology, incorporating it into their own and learning what they could from the Wraith. Soon they had all they could want and there was nothing left to attain. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The military hoisted up an Emperor and mankind was crushed under his domain. This was not enough. With the Swarm and Alien technology, the Human military was even more powerful than the Xaja, Mincobe, or the Nartooth and they too were conquered. Tyranny always spawns a resistance. These Rebels started as they all do very small, with voices of disdain spoken quietly. Some military-like bands arose but were easily crushed by the military boot. Then in an error of overconfidence the Wraith was sent in alone to squash a Rebel uprising, and the Rebels were waiting. They captured the Wraith and everything changed. The Xaja, Mincobe, and the Nartooth banded up with the Rebels and the Imperium was beaten all the way back to Earth, down but not quite out. From Xaja space a rumor crossed the Emperor's desk, about a legend of another Super Weapon as ancient as the Wraith. Deep in the Xaja sector a religious dig was in progress on a old planet. The Emperor, realizing they were as good as defeated, sent most of his remaining forces into Xaja space to take this new weapon. With this Super Weapon maybe they could turn the tide of the Rebellion. Unfortunately, there was not a Super Weapon to be found but rather instructions to build one, and the Xaja were hiding them. This was even better for the Imperium. Now they could have many Super Weapons, but the Xaja were steadfast against the whole idea. These ancient plans were for evil, and they could not unleash this on the universe. The Xaja knew of the Old Ones and feared their return. The Empire tried to convince them the Old Ones were dead and gone, but the Xaja were unconvinced, until the Imperium's Chief Designer showed them the Wraith. This was proof that the Rebels had the Old Ones on their side and must be defeated at all costs. The Xaja agree, and thus began the Xaja war. The new Super Weapon was a set of three remote relays powered by a central generator, a triangle with it's power station at the center. What this weapon can do is devastating. The three remote stations can be hundreds, even thousands of miles apart. More distance means a more powerful generator at the center. This arrangement, once activated, collects all of the geokinetic energy (hot spots) between the three relay stations and merges it into one focused burst. All of the energy is expelled in a microsecond. Of course everything between the stations is vaporized leaving a crater in it's target planet that looks like a bite from an apple. What the Imperium's Chief designer didn't realize until too late was that this was not a weapon at all but rather a signal, a intergalactic homing beacon. By the end of the Xaja war the Imperium had fallen. Peace and freedom reined across the galaxy once more, but a dark foreboding feeling was cast amongst the people. Who would answer the signal? The return of the Swarm seemed to be the answer. Hearing this ancient and powerful signal from across the galaxy they realized that the Humans had more of the Old Ones technology than just the Wraith. The Swarm knew that if the Humans weren't stopped, soon they cross the universe conquering all in their path. So the Swarm attacked and they sent everything they had. This Swarm war made the last one, and all other wars for that matter, look like a neighborhood scuffle. Billions would die, and it wasn't until the end that both sides realized whom the signal was really meant for. It was near the end of the Swarm war when THEY first arrived. Having "home field advantage", and the Wraith, the Humans had just about defeated what was left of the Swarm. Then THEY arrived. Some called them Titans after the Greek legends, but everyone knew The Old Ones had returned with ships the size of planets and Wraiths. More than the Earthers mere one. This enemy would take all of the combined power of the Humans, Xaja, Swarm, and others to defeat. Entire worlds would disappear, Solar systems would be vaporized. But the distant descendants of the older race would win, and they would make the Old Ones' technology their own. They would need it. For the most tremendous battle this Galaxy had ever seen was against only scout ships. The Main body of the Old Ones fleet was yet to arrive. The war with the Old Ones would tear apart the universe. Unimagined technology and weapons would unleash destruction across galaxies as the warring factions hopped from one galaxy to another like stepping stones. In the end, the descendants of that small faction of Old One Dissidents would win the battle that their "fathers" could not. The Old Ones would fall and across the universe freedom from oppression and individuality would rule. PREHISTORY UPRISING 1 UPRISING 2 UPRISING 3 Rise of the Rebellion Return of the Swarm The Old Ones |-----------| |---------------------| |---------------------| |--------------------| |------| |------| UPRISING PCX PCX 2 The Xaja War Coming of Titan's