1. The Rise before the Fall
'Unity is strength... When there is teamwork and collaboration, Wonderful things can be achieved.'
- Mattie Stepanek
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"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" Billions of people across the solar system yelled out in their respective languages as the 22nd century ended, and the start of the 23rd began. Celebrations on Earth, Luna, Mars, and several outposts and stations across the solar system rang out, as people cheered for the beginning of another prosperous century for humanity. Massive parades are held in every capital across Earth, Solar Associated Treaty Organization marines and orbital fleets fire off their rifles and cannons in salute, with jets soaring overhead as they bring colors of Blue and White trailing behind them. Massive holographic displays appear across the world displaying images of the celebrations and the number of 2200.
In the United Nations Solar Alliance capital of Geneva, having been re-constructed after the Geneva attacks by the now destroyed Martian Resistance Coalition, the United Nations International Conference Hall currently has every seat filled with representatives of each UNSA member nation, from Switzerland to Russia, including the United Lunar Colonies and Martian Colonial Union. Along with the representatives, were the 'National Leaders', as they had been called. While all of the leaders of the UNSA's member nations were equal, including the ULC and MCU, these leaders led the strongest nations of the alliance, and as such, held more influence and control, so long as they did not abuse their power over the aliiance.
The first of the national leaders President Felix Stone of the United States of America.
Prime Minister Jack Maria of the United Kingdom of Britain.
President Pierre Monet of the European Union.
King Osas V of the Pan-African Federation.
President Alexi Markov of the Russian Federation.
Prime Minister Xi Mingzhe of China.
And finally Supreme Commander Haffaz Aladeen of the Middle East. While he was a dictator, he was more like a ceremonial dictator, because he wouldn't shut up if he didn't have the role of 'Supreme Ruler of all of the Middle East'.
The meeting was focused on the standard topics, mainly discussing politics, resources, trade, and further expansion across the solar system. However, when it was announced that a new scientific discovery had been made, a man soon entered the Conference Hall. A balding and grey-bearded German man in a red and white lab coat with the symbol of the UNSA Institute of Science etched onto it's shoulder, going by the name of Doctor Heinrich Keifer. Keifer was one of the greatest scientific minds of the 22nd and 23rd centuries, responsible for engineering the theory surrounding Zero Gravity as well as Fusion energy, and man on the cover of Times magazine for 2178, 2182, 2185, and 2193. The man was waved to by those within the many seats of the conference as he waved back, before pulling a blue holographic data pad as he spoke in his German accent.
"Leaders of the United Nations Space Alliance, I am glad to see you all here today, and I believe that we will not only be able to kick this new century off with a mere bang of celebration but possibly the greatest scientific discovery since the first prototype of the Thulmin Fusion Reactor was developed. If you would please turn your attention to the screen." A large holographic screen appeared, and soon it loaded the image of a rather large celestial object. An almost completely pitch black asteroid, and surrounding it was some type of purple energy, flowing out of the many holes and cracks within the space rock.
"This, is what we have dubbed the Mage Comet. It was detected by the Curiosity Array only a few hours ago, and as you can see, it is unlike anything the UNSA has ever seen, surpassing even the Hyper Comet we discovered half a century ago. While we have not been able to retrieve any samples, we have determined that the surface area is comprised of a mix of unknown metals and alloys of unidentified composition, whilst appearing to have a surface similar to dark obsidian or coal. What is truly the most interesting part, is the energy you can see flowing from it."
Keifer said as he touched his data pad and a new image appeared on the screen, displaying a readout of various calculations and energy readings, as the data was all neatly compiled. It was hard to explain due to its complexity, and mostly everyone except Keifer barely even understood it. "Utilizing the Curiosity Array's high energy frequency detector, we were able to identify the readings of this aptly dubbed 'Mage Energy', and I can sufficiently say without a doubt, it may be the most powerful source of energy I have ever witnessed in my entire career of science, surpassing even the most refined forms of fusion energy."
That statement caused several of the National Leaders and national representatives to begin murmuring to each other, obviously very intrigued. "Of course, we as of now have no clue how to properly replicate this energy, or know if it is even possible with our current technological or scientific understanding, but I am certain that through the use of the UNSA's innovations, we will be able to utilize this new energy for the benefit of all nations within this prosperous alliance." The many leaders in the conference hall, both man and machine, cheered Keifer as he nodded and exited the room.
After the conference, all of the national leaders returned to their nations, except for the National Leaders and LCU elected Councilwoman and Lunar Representative Elizabeth Mikala, as well as elected MCU Councilman and Martian Representative Zander Hoffman, who remained within the private meeting room of the building, before a synthetic voice with a male British accent. "Doctor Keifer wishes to see you all, may I let him in?"
Prime Minister Jack nodded. "Send him in, Bagley."
The door soon opened to reveal Doctor Keifer as he entered the room and took a seat. "Ladies and gentlemen, I have been informed of a new update to the Mage Comet we recently discovered..."
President Alexi spoke to Keifer in his heavy russian accent. "Well then. Tell us, comrade, what is this new update?"
"Well... Das ist the problem mister Alexi... I believe you should come to the Opportunity Institute of Astronomy and see for yourself." Keifer said as he spoke in a more somber tone. The National Leaders looked at each other, before turning back as Felix spoke up to Bagley.
"Bagley, would you kindly prepare a transport to the Opportunity Institute?"
"Of course, I have already ordered personal transport and escorts to arrive on the central landing pad of the conference hall."
Felix nodded, before looking back to Keifer. "Lead the way, doctor."
The gentle hum of the fusion engine for the transport craft was one of the only things helping Felix to keep his mind clear right now as he sat in the VIP section, along with the idle chatter between his fellow leaders, the clinking of wine glasses, and the casual snoring of Aladeen right next to his seat, as the ceremonial dictator lay sprawled on the carpet floor due to having one too many drinks. Felix looked to see King Osas sitting across from him, no longer dressed in his more regal African robes, but was instead wearing a more professional and toned down black and white business suit, as the royal figure smiled up at the president before speaking in his African accent.
"My friend, what is the matter? You have not smiled once since the conference ended. Is it the close call of the elections?"
"Of course it was the close call, almost lost to dang Mariah Joseph. She may have good views and valid points about her plans, but I still don't get why she thinks restricting the second amendment will lessen crime. Not only have we had the lowest crime rates in history, but if prohibition taught us anything..."
"When you restrict something, people want it more," Osas said, lightly chuckling. "I have read the datalinks about the prohibition era, it did not sound pleasant."
"Yeah, my great-great-grandpa lost his job back then. Stupid Hoover screwed everything up."
"Well, let's focus on the fact you won. Now you can put those promises of improved data-flow infrastructure and road work into effect."
"Yeah, but the Data-Flow Reforms are gonna have a hard time passing through congress, mainly cause everyone thinks the system is just fine. But I think everyone would agree on the road fixing, especially since even Aladeen's roads are starting to put ours to shame, and look at him!" Felix said as he gestured to the passed out Aladeen, as Osas laughed a bit.
"Yes, the man acts all high and mighty with his superiority complex, but deep down I know he wants what's best for his people, even if he only refers to them as peasants. Anyways, why do you think Keifer sounded so sad?"
"It's Keifer, his emotions are harder to read than even yours." Osas gave him a smug smirk. "Like there, are you trying to be smug, are you finding this humorous, or are you annoyed?"
"Maybe it's all of them." Osas chuckled to himself as Felix sighed. Meanwhile, President Alexi, Prime Minister Jack, President Pierre Monet, Prime Minister Xi Mingzhe, Councilwoman Elizabeth Mikala, and Councilman Zander Hoffman casually laughed as they chatted.
"I must say, comrade Xi, is a funny joke."
"Of course, my father taught it to me when I was a small girl. He said it was guaranteed to bring me a husband if I utilized humor."
"Which is technically true, as I have seen the number of people who simp for you on the inter-web." Jack said as Xi visibly cringed.
"Ugh, I swear there is more Rule 34 of me than the rest of you combined," Xi said as Pierre chuckled.
"Oh really? Then you must not see how many results my wife has on that website. It is quite a large number, non?" As the National Leaders continued their idle chatter and drinking, the voice of Bagley spoke through the speakers in the room.
"Alright everyone, stop talking about hard to read expressions and how much pornographic material there is of you because we will be arriving within the martian capital of New Ares shortly." The smart mouthed AI said before the windows had their views opened to reveal the outside, as the view of the red planet itself came into view, with several ships seen coming and going from Mars, as well as arriving and departing from the several stations in orbit. The National Leaders had all seen the view before, but it never got old seeing the alien world so close up.
As the transport ship descended through the atmosphere, the clouds began to dissipate as coming into view would be a massive city, with skyscrapers putting the Empire State Building to shame. Large bio-domes contained parks and gardens, while traffic both on the road and in the air was bustling, with trains rapidly running across the many train lines throughout the city, some of them leading out of New Ares and to other cities in the distance.
A large spaceport could be seen at the very center of the city, as several shuttles and transports came and went, while the National Leaders watched as their shuttle slowly descended onto a landing pad, which proceeded to lower into a hangar as the heavy hangar doors closed and sealed while the hangar itself pressurized. As the pressurization of the outside commenced, Osas shook Aladeen awake, who slapped away his hand before standing up as the National Leaders exited the VIP room and made their way to the shuttle's exit, going through the airlock and stepping down the ramp into the hangar to see Dr. Keifer and a few security escorts with him, wearing black suits and shades.
"Greetings everyone, it is good to see you all in New Ares once again, now if you would please follow me, we may be underway to the Opportunity Institute in no time." The leaders nodded before following Keifer and being escorted by their guards, as they made their way out of the hangar and into a large welcome hall, a massive window showing several ships passing by while several holographic screens played information bulletins and advertisements. Automated assistants spoke with newcomers as robotic baggage handlers assisted new arrivals with their luggage, and hologram signs and arrows helped show directions to locations within the spaceport as well as train arrival times.
Keifer and the National Leaders followed a sign leading to the main train station, where the blue line could be shown leading to the scientific sector of the city, including the Opportunity Institute. As they waited for the train, a Remara-Class Luxury Train soon pulled in, its white and sleek exterior shining thanks to the station's skylight letting light through. The train doors then opened and the group stepped inside, taking their seats inside a rather luxurious interior before the doors closed and the train rapidly departed from the station, as the various sights of the city could be seen through the windows as they went along the line.
Inside their specific train car, the VIP car, the floor had a nice Persian carpet laid out while the walls and ceiling were lined with a wood finish, as fancy holographic chandeliers shined light upon the comfy seats made of fine leather. At the front end of the car, a large and fancy bar could be seen, as the robotic barman smiled at the approaching President Alexi before speaking in an Australian accent.
"Good morning, mister President, would you like your standard Vodka?"
"But of course comrade Bernard. Your name is Bernard, right?"
"Why yes it is, and I shall have a glass ready for you right away!" The robot said before pulling a wine glass, setting it down on the counter as he then pulled out a shaker and poured a combination of liquids into it, making vodka as he added a couple ice cubes before sealing the shaker and rapidly shaking it up and down before finally pouring it out into the glass, and then putting a tiny little Russian flag in it. "Enjoy, mister Alexi."
Alexi nodded before he took his glass and sat down, listening to the classical music playing on the speakers before he pulled out a remote and pressed the power button, the lights in the car slightly dimming as a TV screen descended from the ceiling and turned on, displaying a large stadium with a massive glass dome above it.
"Ah yes, the 2200 Martian Superbowl is about to begin!" Alexi said as he watched several ball players within the massive stadiums emerge onto the field before a holographic ball spawned in and the whistle blew as the players began to play, while two robotic commentators spoke.
"Oh boy, it's gonna be the best game of a century, ladies, gentlemen, and bots! After all, this is officially the first superbowl game to ever take place in the 23rd century, so this is quite the thing to celebrate, and with the opener we got Johnathan Marti kicking the ball over to CT-56 but oh no, Leonard Bossman intercepts it and passes it to RX-50!"
"These are quite advanced plays going on here today, OX-1. Quite the way to start off our new century."
"Indeed, TO-2."
As the National Leaders sat and idly chatted while drinking and watching the superbowl, the train soon came to a stop, as outside the window they would be able to see they had arrived. The group got out of their seats, waving goodbye to Bernard before exiting the train car and soon leaving the train station, entering the welcoming area to see several Rovers on display, known as the Rover Memorial. In front of it would be a large golden plaque illuminated by the skylight of the martian sky.
'This institute of Astrological Study is dedicated to Sojourner, Spirit, Opportunity, Curiosity, and Perseverance. These rovers are responsible for the first scientific expeditions on the surface of Mars and are some of the greatest contributors to the scientific communities understanding of Mars and its planetary features. We hope to honor the memory of their sacrifice in the name of science with our work on studying the stars, here at the Opportunity Institute.'
The National Leaders and Keifer smiled at the display, as even Aladeen was seen saluting the memorial before they continued on their way. As they walked through the halls of the facility, they looked into very various labs and testing rooms, seeing scientists working on a variety of projects, before they turned and entered in the 'Curiosity Array Control Room'. As they entered, they saw a massive screen displaying the Mage Comet, as well as several readings and diagrams, before Dr. Keifer turned and spoke to the National Leaders as they took their seats on the Observation Deck.
"Ladies and gentlemen, as you can see, here before you is a live feed of the Mage Comet, and now, I feel like it is time to say the bad news. This asteroid you see... Is currently heading directly for Earth." A series of panicked and surprised gasps were heard from the leaders.
"Well, why can't we simply send it off course? The DART test proved we could do it." President Alexi said as Keifer shook his head.
"I am sorry, but it is not that simple. No amount of ordinance is capable of fully steering it off course or destroying it due to its immense size, dwarfing the original meteor we tested DART on. Of course, it isn't on a direct collision course, so much as it is going to be a very tight close call as it passes by. The real problem is the Mage Energy I mentioned. Our readings show that while it is generally non-harmful at lower levels, but at the levels of which the Comet is exerting, it could very easily spread across the solar system and result in our extinction by causing what we have dubbed 'Mage Poisoning'."
"Well then, what do you recommend we do, smart man?" Aladeen said before being smacked by Osas.
"Let the doctor finish speaking."
"Thank you, your majesty. Anyways, from what we have been able to determine, the Mage Energy does have a weakness, which is its inability to pierce the planetary surface, meaning that anything at least a few hundred meters underground is safe. Sadly, however, the Mage Energy does not simply dissipate, it remains around for an extended period of time, calculated to last over almost a total of a million years. In this time the entire solar system would be reshaped and reformed, with the shifting of tectonic plates, geography, and biology on our planets included. But, if we could fit our populations underground on the worlds we inhabit, we could preserve our race."
The World Leaders all looked at each other before slowly nodding and looking back to Keifer, as President Felix spoke.
"How long do we have before the apocalypse?"
"Four years total before the Mage Comet arrives in our Solar System."
"Well then... Set the doomsday clock, because we have some bunkers to build."
Now of course, you can't just announce the coming of doomsday without creating mass hysteria and panic, so for four years, the construction of massive bunkers was carried out across Earth, Luna, and Mars, capable of housing the entire human race, as well as any synthetic populations.
These bunkers had all the essentials needed for humanity's survival, and to ensure that the one million time gap went by quickly, cryogenic pods were created, as they were installed into the bunkers.
Along with these bunkers were genetic vaults, storing the genetic data of animals and plants across the Solar system to ensure everything was preserved. Old seed vaults were also renovated, and new underground animal habitats were made to ensure that pure genetic data still remained intact.
Then, came the dawn of the final year, and the announcement. Of course, everyone panicked, but when the existence of the bunkers was revealed, things mostly calmed down, as people already began to enter the bunkers and go into cryogenic sleep. Of course, there were those that refused, like people who simply wanted to go out in peace, or believed it was some sort of religious reckoning, and there were one or two people who thought it was all fake. There were also those who capitalized off of the coming apocalypse, either running scam operations or escalating crime, resulting in a chaotic situation that the UNSA had to deal with for a bit.
And finally, when the bunkers finally sealed, and the Mage Energy spread across the Solar System, wiping out all life in a great purple apocalypse and covering all worlds in a great cascade of energy akin to something like magic, the Doomsday clock struck Zero...
And humanity was laid to rest in peace...
Slash!
Slice!
Cut!
"I dare say, these ruins are unlike anything I have ever seen!" Daring Doo said as she chopped through the thick brush and vines with her machete, pushing aside a branch as it then recoiled towards Rainbow Dash's face, which she quickly managed to dodge.
"I'll say, ain't nothin' like those ruins we explored last time. Look at something Humans would build... But then again, how could humans ever build this?"
"I have seen human ruins before, Rainbow Dash, and from what I have learned before they become isolated and violent, they were much like us, civilized and advanced."
"You honestly believe that?"
"Well, do you think Aliens built this place then?"
"... Fair point." Rainbow Dash said as she followed her idol and friend through the bushes and shrubbery, before they both stepped onto an old road of some kind, heavily damaged and overgrown, leading through the old decrepit ruins of an old city. "You sure there's even treasured in here?"
"I don't just look for treasure you know. Ancient artifacts of historical value are what I look for, and most of the time it just so happens to be a treasure." The two ponies admired the tall ruins of skyscrapers, looking to see ruins of old metal wagons, bent street posts, and ancient graffiti. Unbeknownst to them, however, a tiny little camera was watching, operated by the one and only Bagley.
"Oh great, weird technicolor ponies that speak English and wear clothes that rip off Indiana Jones. Going by my superior judgement, if there was ever a good time to wake up the humans, it would probably be right now. Melissa!" A female Australian AI voice replied.
"Yes?"
"Send the wake up call to all the bunkers. Humanity's about to be back in the house."
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You did a lot of hoi 4 inspiration, and if I remember correctly, you still haven't played it. which, my friend, really impresses me. Also, are you sure this Hoi 4 mod is called "Beyond Earth'? because I can't find it anywhere. And at the end, you did very good work, comrade.
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I thank you for the kind words, comrade. And the truth is, the mod isn't actually out yet and I've been going off of teaser content from the mod's discord server and reddit.
The link to the reddit is here.
And let's just say that I watch a lot of HOI4 breakthroughs, including TNO and EAW.
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The mod is based on Civilization: Beyond Earth, which is a standalone game. Though somehow, I'm not surprised that people forget about it.
this was good. the description of king osas reminded of that meme guy(smiling dude in suit usually accompanied by classical music)
there were a few errors
looking forward to more
Nice job! I am very excited for more of this story!
Can't wait for the next chapter! This is a keeper. Hoping the updates will not take too long.
Please, just please let us have a story like this and continue it 🙏. I just really don't like unfinished stories especially with humans vs ponies. U can take ur time.
-.-
I have a feeling this is gonna be a good one
Um, you do realize 100 mph is barely a category 2 hurricane, right? And that’s sustained winds. Gusts are always much higher.
Category 5 starts at 157 mph sustained winds, and 2019’s Hurricane Dorian at 185 mph sustained winds/gusts up to 220 mph was actually so bad some people said we needed to extend the scale beyond category 5, since changing climate is going to generate even more of these superstorms.
Dorian itself would have been a low category 6 under the suggested changes, which weren’t actually adopted because officials figured “cat 5 is already pretty much guaranteed to be catastrophic, and we still have people that refuse to get out, so why extend it?” or something.
The only Earthside storm in recorded history that would have reached the suggested category 7 metric (yet!) was Hurricane Patricia in 2015, with up to 215 mph sustained winds. Thankfully it weakened considerably before it made landfall in a pretty rural region of Mexico: I’m sure it sucked if you lived there, but It wasn’t nearly as deadly or destructive as it could have been had that absolute beast of a juggernaut hit a city directly.
POTUS is reported to have considered announcing, “We receive Vladimir Putin’s gift of single moldy potato in spirit of friendship in which it is offered, and reciprocate with return gift of whiskey bottle filled with finest trucker urine in country,” in properly Hollywood-Russian accent style.
This better be an oddly hamfisted sophisticated alien attack (dropping rocks from deep space would be much simpler, and just as effective) or a catastrophic magical accident bleeding across dimensions, because that’s just not scientifically possible with what we know.
Roight-o, guvna! Magic it is! Because that’s only way the UN accomplishes anything!
Yup, yup, we already saw that foreshadowed...
...
... Okay when does the prefatory exposition end and the story begin?
...
...okay, finally some dialogue, kinda dry and tell-y still, though...
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Ah, finally, some Daring Do!
...
Alrighty then, it’s popsicle humans watched over by an A.I. and not humans evolved into mole men through a million years of living underground. Good. That’s simpler, simple is clean, and lets you get on with the story. Speaking of which...
I hate to say it, and please don’t take this as an attack, I don’t know how much of it isn’t actually your fault but is simply carried over from ill-thought-out lore for the mod you referenced, since I haven’t played it or even read about it, but...
That entire multi-thousand-word exposition dump could have been condensed to a few paragraphs summarizing “humanity had crazy bad shit happen, pulled together and unified, then a magical comet irradiated the entire solar system for a million years (seems like an extremely long time, but maybe that’s from the mod.*shrug*) so humans retreated underground to wait out the danger.”
No need for going into details about impossible weather phenomena, handwaving nuclear catastrophe away with “they cleaned it up,” or any of the other potholes created that instantly trip a reader up with thoughts of, “Wait, what???!” derailing the connection with the narrative (which technically hadn’t really started yet).
Anything relevant to specific characters awakened in this scenario would be better distributed through the story on an as-needed basis, or exposed by a scene later on in which it is told to the ponies, if there’s a detail we really are going to need to know to understand some upcoming event in the story. Otherwise, it’s unnecessary background weeds that don’t actually matter, and that... well, it’s kind of slow reading to slog through.
So, uh...
Tl;dr: Opening the story by diving into irrelevant ancient history isn’t going to hook readers. Cut that expo way shorter and get to the action!
Yeah, what she said! You rock, Daring!
HEY!!! I TAKE OFFENCE TO THAT
Humans can adopt, and even the humans that live on the service can adopt too. There are no humans living like degenerates thing for literally ever. People will build villages, new societies, and governments.
I like this A.I style
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Same. But I can look past that I bit since it probably has been too long since humans were ever seen before
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True. Wait what sentence in here spawned that though?
thats disgusting! where? (jk)
little rover by the stupendium
Man, I wish that was possible in real life. Whenever we men joke about anything, the untold rule is to NEVER make a joke that can be related to the topic of sex in any shape, way or form.
In order NOT to be labelled a sexual harasser, and definetly fired from our job in generating a "scandal".
If only we were past that already.
Yeah, after a million years, there should be no human remnants left standing, not on the surface atleast, nature should've destroyed them by now.