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[x2yzh9]

   Hello there! This is some fictional writing of mine. I hope to write a story, based on one person(maybe multiple if I can incorporate them) in the game of Stellaris. Occasionally I will use screenshots, to give a visual representation of the writing. It is my hope that you enjoy this writing, or at least provide positive feedback.

Prelude and a Brief History

   In the year 2050, the middle east was a warzone, yet still. Over the years people tried for peace;almost as if mankind had some sort of faith to it. The truth was, the fighting would never stop. Terrorist groups had taken over the entire region, warring against eachother, and so on. But there was one hope for the rest of the world.

   In the year 2034, a major breakthrough in science allowed for a network of satellites to accurately detect any ground based nuclear detonation and immediately lay a protective 'sheath' so to speak, around the area. It would still kill millions, but it wouldn't mean the end of the world. The security and technology related to this in modern countries was just enough that they could even stop ground based nuclear detonations there. But the middle east? It was practically no more. The surrounding regional countries that weren't affected built a massive wall around it, manned 24/7 by the armies of the world. They would let people who got to the walls out, of course, so long as they passed the screening process, lest they be put in a detention center. The truth was that something bigger was brewing. Something major.

   A missile. One researched and built in the silo of one of the strongest surviving terror groups in the region, ISIS. It launched one day, and the effect was catastrophic. That day was 2055. The so-called Super Heavy Ion Electric Defense Network, or S.H.I.E.L.D., was destroyed in a single blow, as people who designed it did not predict that in the software programming itself, the network would fail if even one of them was destroyed. Billions died. The earth was shielded from the Sun. People retreated to the vaults, and a special military program called ARK(A giant Ark capable of carrying 80 million people in cryogenics, with the ship large enough to be restructed into a dyson sphere habitat once at the sun) launched. It would take 6 months for ARK to get to the orbit of the sun, and it took the inhabitants a steady 145 years before the people frozen in ARK could restructure the original ship, make it self sufficient, and start sending ships and so forth into the system to mine planets. But then, in the year 2200, a breakthrough came.

Spoiler: The A.R.K. (click to show/hide)

   Among other things, scientists had figured out that there were certain anomalous gravitational fluxes happening at the edge of the solar system. Further research, funded by the group now called the Human Federation(housed on The A.R.K.) determined that these fluxes lead to other ones, in neighboring star systems. A drive that made use of this was designed and made- but at the same time, warning signs were coming in. The people on Earth, numbering only in a few of the tens of millions now, in self sustaining vaults said that something was happening-The surface was not only getting exponentially colder. But the ice was starting to seep into the vaults. They estimated ten years would remain before the population of earth would die-the remaining ones, at least. There existed someone-A simple energy technician, that lived on The A.R.K. He had a family, and his name was Stoddy Ryante.

Chapter One: Earth is Dead, Stoddy!

   

Spoiler: The Year 2210 (click to show/hide)

   The year 2210. Cycle '05 and 06' meaning, month 5 and day 6. At least, that's what everyone referred to it as. Everyone of the survivors had been evacuated from earth, and in recent years mankind had expanded to four neighboring systems, one being Alpha Centauri. That was where rich people got to live, at this point in time. Or at least, highly qualified. Stoddy Ryante and his family were on a colony ship, the CSS Alaska. They were candidates to go to the moon, a colony to be named 'Hindsight', as directed by the A.R.K. Government. There was much propoganda, misinformation and even shock. Mankind was going to the moon-with a view that would certainly make sense to the name of where they were living. It seemed propped up-maybe even engineered, but Stoddy didn't care; those were merely his opinions, and his wife's better logic beat him when it came to making the decision to move. He knew it would give them more opportunities, but why leave safety? Once again, Stoddy didn't care. The words that made him make the final decision? Well, that's another story...

    "Stoddy! STODDY!" his wife Jane screamed at him. "The Earth is dead! You can't do anything about it, we can't!" She huffed and puffed. Here face turned bright-red. "Do you want our kids to learn ignorance in an enclosed wannabe GARDEN! Or do you want them to know why they had to grow UP ON ONE!" and this was the final straw. Stoddy relented, for the first time in months, and 7 days before the CSS Alaska was meant to launch.
"Fine. FINE! We'll go. But we're gonna be watching the kids more carefully. That's an airless world, and while we'll be living underground, I don't want them growing up and thinking that they can just run around on the surface."
His wife, simmering down now, said one last thing. "Stoddy, it's an airless world, but this is exactly what I said earlier. It's a wannabe garden. Maybe that's all they'll have there, still, but they will see the reason why every garden save for those rich schmucks in Alpha Centauri is a 'wannabe' one. When they see that, and you see them realize that, you'll understand Stoddy. The Earth is dead."
Stoddy nodded. He loved his wife, and his kids, and it made sense to him at last. They would end up going on the trip, and now, in Cycle 2210.05.06, they were in orbit, prepping for descent.

   "All crew, this is an automated announcement" the computerized loudspeaker blared, "Please return to your cryogenic pods immediately-we are preparing for descent".
Stoddy, Jane, and his kids did as told. They were trained extensively in seven days, possibly more than they could've imagined. But this was happening-and this was real. Stoddy got into his pod, as it latched onto him and the lights lid up on all the pods showing the shock absorbing modules activating.

   "All crew, please proceed to your pods now. This is not a drill."
Stoddy didn't get it. Everyone had gotten in their pods, why was the AI not saying what they had been told in the handbook? What was going on? He thought of his family, and briefly went to try to break out of his pod in exasperation of emotion-but space is dangerous. He would very briefly learn that.

   A body, filled with life, went flying down the hallway. The ship had begun it's descent, but one person had been outside. Before he could even look to see who it was, as the local pod was familiar with eachother, they vanished, and a disgusting, horrid splat; crunch was heard. Stoddy tried, with little progress, to bang on the cryogenic door banks. "ROGER! JANET! STAY IN YOUR PODS! CLOSE YOUR EYES!" he said through a cold reinforced glass. In the back of his mind he knew they couldn't hear him. In space, no one can hear you scream.
(End of Page 1)

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Chapter One Continued

Page Two
   Now, the shock was setting in. Not only from having lived and grown in a Zero-G environment and being one of the few of the population that would still remain candidates for stellar body colonization;but the trauma was, too. Someone had just died. The handbook prepared them for all contingencies, and as of now they were supposed to 'remain in their pods', so as to 'minimize exposure to traumatic contingencies' until the skeleton crew workers came in and cleaned up the dead body. but how long would all of them be stuck in their pods, the slow poison of space exploration seeping into their very veins-surely everyone's adrenaline was high, even the kids. He knew the other parents were surely doing the same for their children;but all he could think about was his anger. His wife had brought them here, and this was supposed to be their promised peace. Their land, and their tribe. Now a member had died, and the tribal tendencies of the human spirit were evoked in that moment. He could see people crying, banging on the doors, in the even narrow view of the pods, he could still see it. He was not heard screaming, but he was not alone in it.

   It would be some time before the ship had fully landed, and the skeleton crew cleaned up the remains before they could be let out. But everyone in that pod bay was tired and yet terrified still, so they let them out one by one. Six months would pass before Stoddy and Jane Bryant had to deal with something else even more dangerous.

Spoiler: A View. (click to show/hide)

   In deep space, on the A.R.K., the representative government and committee of the colonization of Luna, or Hindsight now, convened. Reports had come in of several people dying in the descent to what was now named hindsight. It would still be five years before it was a fully complete colony, but horror stories were filtering in now. A bad job by a energy technician, coupled with the fact that he was working on an electrical system in a small 50,000 person underground colony, near a lava flow, caused an electrical fire. Before the firefighters could put it out, lava flooded the underground habitat.
   "Maybe we shouldn't have done this. Speaker Terry, what is your position on this?" The president of the Human Federation asked Speaker Terry, of the Committee.
Terry sighed, "We shouldn't have done what we did on Earth, either. I don't know how we're going to move forward with this colonization prospect if we don't factor in the necessity of the establishment itself." He continued, "I don't think it was a wise decision, but in our current situation, all the rich are going to Terra Nova, a new continental planet in Alpha Centauri, with a fully equipped starbase, and a navy that patrols the trade route. I think the wealth gap that you have put in place, with all due respect President Bannister. We wouldn't be facing this if we had just let everyone go to Terra Nova, so we're putting the poor on Hindsight? What were you thinking, sir?"

   "I was thinking of our survival, speaker Terry. I hate the wealth gap too, and it is my fault, but without it we wouldn't have the factors we need to-"
 "WHAT FACTORS!" Yelled the speaker. He unleashed on the president, "The factor is that people are dying, mister president."

   It would be 3 more months before the completion of the ARK Intelligence Agency, or ARKIA, would find something very disturbing. But that was not to happen yet, however the president had been briefed on something. Something that would affect everyone, he thought.

   On Hindsight, Stoddy and Jane Bryant and their family had finally settled in, and had gotten over the initial shock of what had happened. They lived 50 small kilometers from the capital, The City of Hindsight itself. Shuttles were provided for free and the free counseling had helped, but it had run out after the six month. Stoddy was busy working on design plans with a large amount of other technicians themselves, for designs on a workable helium-3 extractor. In fact, it excited him and relieved him-it was something else to put his mind on. They were even planning on implementing the helium 3 extractor infrastructure planet wide. It would solve local energy shortages, at least, if it ever came to that. But he was lost in thought, before suddenly he heard his name.
"Stoddy, are you okay?" His endearing wife asked. She was happy now, and he was happy she was. He was just zoning out at the dinner table. He had been working non stop, and there was not much entertainment, or amenities at the moment. The whole colony was struggling honestly, just in different ways. The population of 1.5 million was growing, to the necessary ten million mark To be considered a actual colony. Right now they were in a grey area.
   "I'm fine honey. I actually was just thinking about something. Listen Jane, we're going to take a trip tomorrow. We'll have Sonia babysit Roger and Janet."
His wife looked surprised, but in a good way. She said 'hmph' in a positive tone, and they continued eating that night.
End of Page Two, To be Continued..

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Chapter One Continued

Page Three
   The next day, Stoddy had gotten off of work. He was driving with Jane, while Sonia babysat the kids, age 5 and 8. The mag rail they were flying on was leading them to the movies. He had a surprise in mind, however.

  They arrived at the movies, and watched a stunning documentary about the last days of old earth, before it froze over the vaults. It was the only opportunity for fun in Habitat Seven, which housed 300,000 people. It was connected by long mag-lev train networks to the other habitats, of course.

 "That was great, Stoddy!" Jane said walking out of the movies. "I know, sweetie." he responded. His wife gave him a kiss of affection, and they sat back down on the mag lev. Jane thought they were going home, but she was in for a surprise. The train lurched, and the commspeaker bleeped, "Destination:EVA Freesite One". Jane was stunned, she thought they didn't have the money for this? Stoddy had a reserve, that he tucked away when he moved, of surplus credits. It was enough to afford the richer option of going to EVA on the surface. They said it was beautiful, and it was.

   "We're going to go up there honey. And we're going to jump, and look at Earth. It may be dead-but it'll be a reminder of why we came here, even through it all. Even through that death, the destruction of Sub-Habitat 18, and all this struggle we face-we're going. And it's going to be great."
Jane was happy.-She was beaming even, their dream, their promised land was here. And Stoddy finally understood-The Earth was Dead. But they weren't. And now they could take in the beauty of true hindsight-freedom from the mistakes from the past. Forgiveness.

End of Chapter One

Author's Note
   If you enjoy my writing, or have taken the time to read it, thank you. Any critique is welcome; I wish to improve my creative writing skills. Hopefully this fiction that I'm writing provides some sort of entertainment, of one way or another to you!

[x2yzh9]

Proverbs 22:7
The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender.

Chapter Two: Frozen Beauty and an Opportunity He Could Not Refuse

   Page Three Continued
   The mag-lev eventually made a right turn, out of the habitats. It went through a double-sealed vertical route, where it stopped for a minute to pressurize correctly. "Alright baby, this is it". He smiled. Soon, they were on their way, and within 60 seconds, they saw something they hadn't seen in 6 months, and something else they had never seen, save for a telescope Jane had bought for the family.

   It was the moon, the sun, and the frozen earth. It was all that we knew under the heavens long ago, and it was frozen beauty to them. As they looked at the Earth, every person on that mag lev had a thought;whether it lay in the forefront of their conscious or locked parts of their hearts, they knew this was true hindsight. But it was beauty. Mankind for long had not valued the art of being enlightened, and over the course of 145 years on the ark, things changed. People had to learn to live with each other. To not fight with one another. So of course, everyone inherited that art of harmony as well. It reflected well here.

   Soon the maglev was at the station. They departed, and well-paid workers prepped everyone for EVA, sticking them in mobile, advanced suits. Soon they were on the surface, departing from the airlock for the first time, Stoddy could see Jane, along with the other participants launching themselves from the hill. The EVA suits were guaranteed to be reinforced, and so he did it as well. He could feel the freedom of dancing across that moonscape;but it was not like that of the confined ARK. Here, it was all theirs.

   Stoddy and Jane returned home that evening, paid Sonia, the babysitter, handsomely;and finally tucked the kids to bed for school. Stoddy would soon receive a letter in the mail, from a long-lost relative. It would be an opportunity. An Opportunity he could not refuse.
End of Page Three

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Page Four
   Stoddy was at work that afternoon. It was about 1PM in his timezone, as the colony was still being setup lunar geographic time descriptions were still somewhat fluctuating, so in fact it wasn't quite 1PM. But he did know that it was mailtime for the house, but that wasn't on his mind. "Stoddy!" He heard his boss yell. He had just finished a core component of the helium-3 reactor designs, it was an infrastructural aspect. Why was his boss yelling in an urgent manner, and not that of a congratulatory one?

   "It's your wife, she said it was somewhat urgent. Also, congratulations on the grid simulations. Your team impressed me, you might be getting a raise soon." his boss, Johnathan, said as he handed him the
cell-comm phone.
 "Stoddy, I'll make it quick. I got a letter this morning, and it was sitting on the door! It was marked 'confidential' and it had the Confederation government stamp on it! You need to get home when you can. I won't rush you but this is worrying!"
 "I'll be home at 3. Tuck it in my safe, with the gun."

   Stoddy continued his work that day for the next five hours, but he was extremely worried. What could this have relation to? He knew his sister worked in some kind of intelligence agency on the A.R.K., for the Human Confederation government and the council, but that's all he knew. It really didn't make sense, because his sister hadn't talked to him in years. It couldn't be her, he thought. It had to be something else, maybe related to the helium-3 generation. He wasn't sure. Soon enough, it came time to clock out, and he did. He went on the mag-lev, thinking to himself on the ride home. It was a problem he couldn't calculate mathematically. So he resigned himself to it.

   He got home, and immediately went to the bedroom and locked the door. He reached into his safe, after swiping the bio-metric ID of his on it. Sure enough, it was there, along with his gun;an old ARK government issued laser gun, of a low capacity, but still enough to kill. It was passed through his family, but he was focused on the letter. He opened it;
     "Dear Stoddy
It's Marie Bryante. Your sister. I know you've just gotten settled in on Hindsight, and I remember mom sending me an email about it. God, she still sends me those emails. I'm sorry for not talking to you stoddy for the past couple of years. Here at the agency-Oh, and before I continue; this is confidential, Stoddy. The government will terminate you if you so much as even talk about this, or you will at least go to prison for an indefinite amount of time. I wouldn't do this if it wasn't of importance to you, Stoddy. I know you not only care about your family but want to give them a good life on Terra Nova. We can do both of that, here at ARKIA. Your pay will be exponentially better than your current job, I assure you."

CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION:UNAUTHORIZED DISCLOSURE PROHIBITED BY ARK LAW
   "Stoddy, for the past year and a half, we've captured images and comms transmissions of a space-faring vessel in space, in the system of procyon, or thereabout. ARKIA has codenamed them 'devils', while we have also encountered another similar, but different, transmissions for vessels in 'scorpio' system codenamed harpies' Here's a map;"

Spoiler: SWIPE BIOMETRIC ID TO CONFIRM (click to show/hide)

PHOTO ONE
PHOTO TWO

   Stoddy was in still reading the letter, but at this point his better senses were starting to fade into shock. What the fuck, he thought. Aliens? Ones like us, seriously? What did that have to do with him? It was an offer he wanted to say no to. But the pay and opportunity for his family was appealing, but he knew Jane would probably give him hell, especially considering he couldn't disclose any of this, even to her, his loved one. He kept reading,

   "We need you. Your one of the best candidates for training, once we find out who the 'devils' are in 3 months we need to send a small team to their space, to investigate any type of structure or planet, hopefully. It's a dangerous mission, but Stoddy, I know you love your family more than your life. Plus, we don't know what their intentions are. This is for the best of humanity. A ship will land at your house in one day from the arrival of this letter, approximately one day cycle galactic time, exactly. It will require your biometric ID specifically. Tell your family tonight. I love you, your my brother and I'm giving you an opportunity you probably can't refuse. I'm sorry if that upsets you, but please know this isn't just my love for you-it's my hope that your family never has to face an invasion. A deadly one.

   Stoddy finished reading the letter. He was tearing up, but he knew one thing: He was gonna go. He had no idea how to explain this to his kids, or Jane. Fucking Marie! he thought. Why does she have to do this shit to me.

   Then, so it was. It was dinnertime. Stoddy was a very concrete thinker, and even after considering things, he had to let it out, and in a pliable manner.
"Hey, kids? Give me a moment with mommy." he said to his children;Roger and Janet. Aged 12 and 7. They were spitting images of their parents, and smart, and good-mannered.
They immediately left to go play. Jane looked at him and he could feel her glare. "Stoddy, don't tell me."
"I'm sorry Jane! I can't do anything about it. This is for you and the family, as soon as I sign some papers you and the kids will be on Terra Nova, where you've always wanted to be!"
His wife stood up, and stepped forward passive-aggressively. "You are NOT leaving Stoddy!"
"I DONT CARE, JANE!" he let out. "It's not MY choice!".
"What do you mean it's not your choice, Stod." she said, with a finality. He could only say so much.

   "I mean this is about the bigger picture. I'm doing this for you and the kids;I want you to live on a good planet, with breathable air, and so on. I want you to be happy. This is also something from the government, and that's all I can say, but I should be back in about a year."
"Well, give them hell Stoddy. Give 'em hell for taking you from your kids, whatever it is that they need you to fight."
Stoddy nodded, knowing damn-well he may not even fight anything. But it was better for her to ask less questions, in this fight. They went to bed that night and ended up fucking all night long.
End of Page Four

[x2yzh9]

Hey guys, just wanted to give you guys an update. I've just been busy lately with school, this project isn't dead, not yet at least .