Faction Backstories: daiseep - humans - khelons - saahrai

The Humans

State of the Union

Midway through the twenty-sixth century, Human scientists made a discovery that would go on to unify their entire species. They discovered that some rare individuals were developing control over an otherwise dormant part of their brains. These individuals had relatively weak paranormal abilities, such as the ability to move small objects, to whisper a thought in the minds of others, and sometimes even hear the thoughts of others.

But as the powers and control of these Psionics, as they became known, grew, so did the fear amongst the common Human population. Amidst growing reports of violent acts being performed against Psionics, the four Nation Unions of the world congregated to find a resolution. These government and military officials decided that Psionics would have to be closely controlled, both for their own protection and that of the general public.

Thus, in 2559 C.E., the Psionics Registration Act (PRA) was created. The act stated that every citizen of the world was legally obligated to report any instances of Psionic activity by an individual, and that those accused must surrender themselves for testing purposes. Those who were found to be Psionics would have a chip implanted in the back of their necks, called a Psionic ID (PID). These PIDs not only allowed authorities to easily identify Psionics, but they could also be used to overload the wearer's central nervous system, causing excruciating pain.

That was all the public knew of the PRA. But there was a secret directive set forth by this act, which was to be carried out by the military researchers who conducted the tests on alleged Psionics. These scientists were to study Psionics and their abilities, and to devise ways to control or disable them, as well as ways to boost the power of these abilities.

Eventually, secret military units were created by all four Nation Unions, designed to take down rogue Psionics. Although the operations of these units were covert, rumours of their existence and brutal acts earned them the nickname of Exterminators. Psionics became the ones who feared for their lives.

Meanwhile, the four Nation Unions of the Terra―the United American Nations, the European Union, the Conglomerate of Arab and African Nations, and the Syndicate of Asian Nations―had found new purpose and a drive for unity. Thus, they formed a unified, global government called the United Human Federation (UHF).

With the world's population reaching critical levels, and with natural resources dwindling, the UHF launched a massive space program. Within a decade, the UHF space program had surpassed the successes of all previous Human programs combined. It had colonized the Moon and Mars, including all the terraforming needed to create a hospitable environment for these colonies.

In this new age of prosperity, expansion occurred at a torrid pace. By the end of the millennium, Humanity had colonies in three solar systems, with over a dozen colonies, some of which rivaled the size of the Human homeworld, Terra.

But with an enormous imperial population, and given the distance between most colonies and the central government in Terra, the UHF was losing control over some of its colonies. Its power and influence began to diminish, as colonial governments became increasingly autonomous. In their desperate quest for control, the UHF turned to what they had feared most: Psionics.

The UHF decided to create two special groups of Psionics: one a political group named the Seers; the other a military group named the PsiForce. Members of each group were deployed within each and every colony, in order to ensure that the will of the UHF was carried out to its full intent.

Of course, the UHF was not about to just hand over control of its empire to the Psionics. So every member of the Seers and the PsiForce was required to have a PsiTracker implanted. This was a device that would track their location, vital statistics, and usage of their powers at all times. And like the PIDs, these PsiTrackers could also be use to overload the wearer's central nervous system. This way their allegiance to the UHF would be undoubted.

The Seers integrated well into their societies, becoming as loved or hated as normal politicians and diplomats. But the PsiForce was never in the limelight. In fact, most people did not even know about them, other than rumours and legends. And they were rightly feared by the general population, for the PsiForce was tasked with information extraction and extermination of all Human citizens that the UHF deemed treasonous.

The PsiForce carried out the will of the UHF through its power structure. At the top was the PsiForce Grand Master, who had the final say in matters of the PsiForce and resided in Terra amongst top UHF officials. Since the PsiForce's inception in 3073 C.E., this position had been held by a woman known as The Matriarch.

Ranked below her were the Masters, one for each colony. Most prominent amongst these was Master Howard Truman of Mu Arae III, who was considered the leading candidate to replace the Matriarch, once she retired. Truman was regarded as the second most powerful Psionic in the Human empire, and his loyalty to the UHF had been exemplary. But that loyalty was not earned, and was destined to be broken.

The Seeds of Internal Conflict

As the Human empire continued to expand, the UHF was threatened by an underground movement aiming to overthrow the government. These rebels believed that the UHF had become a bloated, corrupt machine. Politicians from all parties would have to work for years to gain the favour of the incumbent regime, just to position themselves to become part of a future regime. Elections had become a sham, with candidates hand-picked by the ruling elite.

The underground movement, named the Covenant, was created by a group of Psionics and commoners, who could no longer tolerate the tyrannous totalitarian state that was being passed off as a democracy. The oppression of Psionics, too, could not continue unopposed. But thanks to the PIDs, the Covenant was forced to wage a careful war from the shadows.

Master Truman had killed members of the Covenant before, in Mu Arae III. And he would have done it again, had the Covenant not target him as a means of altering the course of the war.

During a visit to Terra for a heads of state meeting, Truman was ambushed in his hotel room. The Covenant had infiltrated the hotel's staff months earlier in preparation for Truman's visit. Conducting the ambush were the five most powerful Psionic leaders of the rebels. Not only because this would be the Covenant's sole chance to turn Truman to their side, but because Truman would be too powerful for any one of them individually.

The assailants combined their power to suppress Truman's psionic abilities, and to force their shared memories into his mind. They made him see what the UHF had done to Psionics who opposed the PRA. He felt their blinding agony as their nervous systems were overloaded. He experienced the suffering of those kept in camps for research. He saw the extermination of peaceful protesters, both Psionics and commoners.

Truman was so overcome by the experienced that he became physically ill. The rebel leaders explained to him the political side of the UHF's oppression as well. How there had not been a fair election in Terra for centuries, explaining that the parties were simply for status and for show.

At that point, Master Truman was at least willing to listen to them. But he could not see what they wanted with him, specifically. They explained that as long as the PIDs worked as advertised, the Covenant's war would be on the sidelines. They simply could not confront the UHF directly without being tortured to death.

The solution: Truman would steal the technical information for the PIDs, so that they could be reprogrammed without the UHF's knowledge. By the time the government learned the truth, the only threat to the Psionics would be the Exterminators.

In one day, Howard Truman had gone from being a future Grand Master, loyal to the UHF, to being the secret weapon of the Covenant. And he carried out their plan to perfection, killing whomever he had to in order to acquire the information he sought.

But because he was assigned to the colony in Mu Arae III, Truman could not easily travel back to Terra without raising suspicion. And long-range communication between Covenant members was forbidden, to prevent any messages from being intercepted. Truman had only one choice: to send the information with someone who had his utmost trust.

Truman was presented with the perfect opportunity to do just that. His colony had produced a state of the art cruiser-class vessel, named the Dark Star. The vessel had to travel back to Terra for its inauguration ceremony. So Truman included a close friend in the ship's crew, and hid a datadisc in a secret compartment in the ship's hull.

Everything would have gone according to the Covenant's plan, had it not been for the Daiseep's talent for clandestine behaviour. The Daiseep imperial government had decided that the best way to advance their technology was to steal that of other empires.

And they did just that, by hijacking the Dark Star. But the Daiseep did not realise the importance of their loot, or Truman's commitment to regaining control of it. Howard quickly mobilised his fleet to chase down his vessel.

Truman's fleet reached the stolen vessel in the vicinity of Nih'ki, and opened fire. Just as the Daiseep brought the ship around Nih'ki's orbit to shield themselves, the Humans were able to critically damage their target. The Dark Star's furtive new crew was forced to perform an emergency landing on the planet, but the Humans lost track of its location in the process.

The crashing vessel broke right through the planet's surface, and into its crystal-rich cave system. Now, a plan that was on-track only hours before, was spiraling toward catastrophe. Each day that Truman failed to recover the Dark Star was a day closer to the UHF stepping in. One way or another, Truman had to recover the datadisc. There was no time to waste.