Hey, would you look at that. It's story time! PT. 3 POSTED!

[Clavin12]

Vsmit, can you compile the the story so we can read it all at once, in order for us to review it better?

[AHadley]

Clavin, can I just explain something?

If the Scions that reached the dead moon survived, and they were encountered by the original scions, then two paradoxes would occur.

A) They would reveal the storyline before it happened, thus causing the scions to prevent it from happening, so their future selves could never have reached the moon and the whole thing would happen as normal.

B) The Scions would meet their future / past selves.

[Nielk1]

I think the whole implementation of time travel needs some work here...

Even I can't follow it.

[sabrebattletank]

Yeah, I don't like the end, I think 'twas part III. Lemme check.

[AHadley]

I don't like the end, it seems rather broken. But we're only making the frame, and the whole idea is that the rest of the community patches things together.

[Nielk1]

The original thought that the 3rd faction is living in the past of the planet they now call home, well before they even arrived there was one I liked. The current is... I don't get it.

[Clavin12]

Does it ever actually say that they travel time?

[Nielk1]

Does it ever actually say that they travel time?

Yes. Or else the ENTIRE story is impossible the weird ass way they have it.

[iron maiden]

I have a recamondation for the ending, whether it is feasible or not.

When the scions finish building their defenses, perhaps they could send out a signal into space, perhaps in some form of craft, and it floats through space for whatever time is agreed upon. After the end of the mod, there could be a cut scene in which the craft is scene in-bound for a Scion colony containing the knowledge and history of the events of the mod. Basically another way for the story to come full circle.


Also, my spell check button seems to be missing..

[Mr X]

They do send out a signal, remember the start of the story?

[iron maiden]

Oh, yes, sorry, I have not read the first part in a while, still though, do you think we should have the signal or the craft?

[Mr X]

Signal, that way they have no idea what to expect.

[iron maiden]

Yes, but for science's sake, wouldn't the signal eventually die as the years went by? Signal only have a limited range and "life" expectancy before it becomes white noise.

[Clavin12]

Vsmit, can you compile the the story so we can read it all at once, in order for us to review it better?

[Mr X]

I'll do it, seeing as Clavin lacks the basic skills of copy-paste

As of now, the 3rd Cthonian faction is unnamed, and is currently called [NN] so we can actually reference them.

In the long history of the Cthonians, there were many attempts by members of both sides to set up a third faction next to the long standing feud between the Olympians and the Hadeans. Many of these were merely short lived foot notes on the long history of a constant war; they were either destroyed by the larger factions or were simply starved of resources when they became isolated from the more civilized worlds of the other factions.
One breakaway faction stands head and shoulders above the rest though; they set up a utopia for those who no longer wanted to fight. This is their history.

Origins:
As the Hadeans and Olympians expanded their empires, the solar system that they began in became full. It is for this reason that both sides began sending colonists to other solar systems in order to become even bigger, evidence for this being the still existing Cthonians who have been encountered by the EDF and Scions in recent years.
The world on which the [NN] faction existed is in one such solar system. The Hadeans and Olympians had both sent colonization teams, each with a medium sized military escort, as they would be too far from other worlds to get support quickly (in fact the traveling time was several years), and scientists who had refused to turn their talents to creating weapons of war.
What neither side had anticipated was that the other would be there, and so the leaders of both colonies met to try to convince the other to leave. As one would expect neither were successful. The outcome was therefore the start of a confrontation, with the military escorts fighting each other. Eventually the fighting became so bad that the escorts were worn down and began trying to conscript the civilians and force the scientists to help. Many of them on both sides became very unhappy with this, and so many of them tried to flee.  At some unknown point two large groups of refugees (one from each side) encountered each other, their leaders talked and eventually they decided to join each other and form their own faction that wasn't constantly at war. They found a world that was just outside the area of space that had been explored by the other Cthonians and colonised it. The better of the scientists among them worked together and succeeded in terraforming the world so that they could inhabit it.

The golden age:
For the next decade or so the [NN]s prospered, their scientists creating ever more brilliant feats of technology thanks to them not having to concentrate on war. All the while the two colonies that they had come from had become full blown military bases, and had fallen into a stalemate with the wider scale war preventing reinforcements from being available.
The [NN]s finally decided that they were ready to re-introduce themselves to their former allies, with an offer of remaining neutral. At first this seemed to be going well, but then the leaders of both sides heard of how great [NN] technology had become. They decreed that their rivals must not be able to get it first and so the colonies (being the only ones near enough) were ordered to attack.

The war:
They arrived at the same time and when the [NN] refused to co-operate with either side the Hadeans ordered a mass extermination, with missiles fired from orbit to take out the citizens of this world. The fighting would probably have ended the [NN]s there if it were not for one crucial detail, the Hadean and Olympian armies were fighting their former friends. A fraction of both of the offensive armies rebelled and tried to go to the aid of their former comrades. Though they could not save any of the settlements on the world they succeeded in saving some of the populace, including most of the scientists who had made the world so great (this had been a priority for the rebels, whichever side had them would have an enormous advantage). They went underground, forming a resistance movement, and striking at the attacking armies' weak points where they could.
Soon the fighting took both sides to the quarrying areas of the planet, where they found some heavy duty mining lasers. They took these and turned them into brutal weapons of war, and each side used them to shoot down the other's carrier craft. The war became a "Do or Die" situation, as without carriers retreat would be impossible.

Part One: The Discovery

Twenty-four months after Operation Guard Dog prevented a Hadean invasion of Earth and eighteen months after the Dragonfly disaster, Scions on core pick up a distress call originating from just outside the explored sections of the galaxy. The writers of the message seem to know who its recipients will be, as it refers them as both Scions and humans.

The Scions contact the AAN and the EDF, who as a sign of goodwill send a small detachment force under the command of a Major to assist the Scion's much larger investigative force. A lieutenant in this detachment force is close friends with one of the Scion force's commanders. They have fought together before during the Dragonfly incident and they are recognized by their supervisors to be a good team.

Upon arrival it is discovered that a large structure on the surface of the seemingly lifeless moon is jamming their sensors and preventing a proper scan of the surface from taking place. The commander and lieutenant are sent down to the surface with a small task force to reconnaissance and, if possible, shut down the jammer.

When the force reaches the surface they discover signs of a struggle: many dead Cerberi hulls, along with some that seem to be of Scion origin but that neither the EDF nor the Scions recognize. They proceed with their orders and head towards the structure to investigate, intending to return to examine the remains later. Once they reach the structure, however, they encounter its automated defense system, consisting of both defensive emplacements and vehicles. These forces are neutralised, and it is speculated by the Scion scientist that had it not been for the Cerberi attack force they would not have activated, as it seems they are programmed to recognise their heat and engine signatures. He also speculates that had it not been for the Cerberi attacking the force would have been much, much stronger - possibly even tenfold what they encountered.

Once the battle is over the recon force claims the structure and begins to investigate within, shutting it down and allowing a full scan of the moon. From this structure they learn two things: Firstly the reason for the Cerberi presence - located deep within the facility (which is much larger than they had originally estimated) is a piece of technology which allows the bearer to travel large distances at beyond the speed of light, known to modern science as the Acclubiere drive, which would allow great advances over the Hadean StarPortal (between fixed points) or the Scion Wormdrive (between weakened points in the fabric of space). Secondly, they discover that the defence systems were programmed to react to Cerberi engine signatures, thus meaning that had the Cerberi not turned up the facility would be theirs for the taking. They also encounter a more detailed plea for help from deeper within the building, which they (and the rest of the Scion/Human force) immediately heads down to investigate. This message includes details of the Acclubierre drive and how to use it, but not of who wrote the message. Whoever they are, they beg the Scions to help them by using the drive. A flight program is already programmed in, but instructions are given for its attatchment to the Ark III's worm drive (which the unknown writer(s) seem to have intimate knowledge of).

A race with technology this advanced would be a very useful ally to the Scions especially since they seem to know the Cerberi. The Scions also decide that a device this powerful must never fall into enemy hands.

With this in mind the Scions destroy the remaining defenses inside the building and capture the device. It is far, far beyond their understanding, and thus are very grateful for the instructions on how to use it (if a little perplexed by them). Within the drive itself they discover a third, even more confusing message:

          "It is essential that you aid the [NN].

They send a message back to Core and Earth indicating what they are doing by connecting the drive to their ship and activate it.

Part Two: Into the Unknown

Upon leaving the course set by the Acclubierre Drive (having had time to rest, eat, and otherwise prepare for what awaits them) the detachment are thrust into orbit around a medium-sized planet (slightly larger than Earth), upon which there seems to be a struggle. The ships locked in combat over this world seem like nothing any of the force have ever seen, until one of the Scion engineers comments that they bear more than a passing resemblance to the reconstructions of Ancient Cthonian craft his team have been working on.

Without a moment's warning they find themselves under attack from a massive force from both sides, who evidently perceive them as a threat. The [Ark III] is overwhelmed by the attack, and even once its sheilds power up it is to late. The damage has been done. Scattering dropships and escape pods across the surface of the planet, the [Ark III] spirals down to crash in the depths of one of the planet's oceans. The Acclubierre Drive is lost forever to the seas.




Most of the dropships and escape pods land at their intended locations, but some are pulled off-course by an anomalous gravity well which appears suddenly out of nowhere in their paths. When they land the survivors (including the Commander and Lieutenant) discover they are separated from the smaller group (which contains most of the allied force's leaders) by a massive swath of jungle. Staying within radio contact, the two groups attempt a rendezvous at what seems to be the origin of the gravitational disruption, but en route this smaller group is destroyed in a massive, overwhelming Hadean attack, leaving the force stranded on the unfamiliar planet under the command of the two heroes.

Shortly after, the Scion scientists discover the true extent of the gravity well's effects. The planet's moon is slowly growing larger - it is being pulled down towards the planet!

Part Three: Non-Hostile

Both factions simultaneously decide that the Scions are not necessarily hostile, and both declare their intentions (not necessarily truthfully) and offer to help the Scions escape their planet. The choice of which faction to join is delegated to the Lieutenant.

If the player chooses the first faction (the Hadeans, though the player doesn't know this yet), the next few missions will revolve around attempting to recover parts required for the repair of a damaged StarPortal, which is as yet the only exit from the doomed planet.

If the player chooses to fight with the second faction (the Olympians), the next few missions revolve around reaching the parts for the StarPortal before the Hadeans, and then capturing the StarPortal from them. This is the harder set of missions, much like the Scion set in the original game.

As the portal is switched online by the player's side, a mysterious third faction reveal themselves to the player, who introduce themselves as Cthonians, explain the story of their race fully, and reveal that they have been orchestrating the events right from the beginning. They present the Scion/EDF force with the same technology they discovered at the beginning, telling them to take it with them to the other side of the portal and to hide it. An experimental Scion automatic defensive recycler is also given to them, though with no explanation for how it was obtained, for them to take to defend the drive. A small task force is formed from this force and some of the third faction's members just as a massive enemy attack is detected. The remaining members of the collaboration between the Scion/EDF force and the two allied Cthonian factions remain behind to defend the portal as the task force passes through. The Lieutenant opens a private communications channel with the commander. Their conversation needs no explanation.

Part Four: Total Destruction

As the final members of the task force pass through the portal, the defence is finally overwhelmed. The enemy breaks through the last lines of defence, killing both the Commander and the Lieutenant. Failing to reach the portal, the enemy turns on anything in sight, intent on causing as much destruction as they can before the moon crashes down into the planet and everything is obliterated.


 
Ta da