| Subject: Nietzschean History |
Author:
Telemachus Rhade
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Date Posted: 12/02/05 12:38am
In 3474, Dr. Paul Museveni, a human geneticist, left Earth and headed out to deep space with about 3,000 followers. Dr. Museveni's views were not considered proper, and he was shut out of proper scientific society. Four months later the Museveni Fleet arrived in the Omari Globular cluster just outside the Milky Way. A habitable world was found orbiting the Beta Sirrius Omega star. Museveni and his followers named the world Fountainhead, and declared it the home world of the new Nietzchean sub-race. Ayn Rand Station was built in orbit around Fountainhead. The station was completed in 3476. It was built by converting one of their ship's into the station. The political capital was located at Ayn Rand Station. The settlements on Fountainhead continued to grow. The people willingly embraced the philosophy of Dr. Museveni, which was based on elements of Nietzsche, Rand, Darwin, and Dawkin.
Drago Museveni, the son of Dr. Paul Museveni, was born in 3477. Drago was the first true Nietzschean born, the result of genetic modifications. Because of his birth the first Pride was formed: Pride Museveni. Drago had a physiology all future Nietzscheans would have. In addition to being ten percent stronger and faster than an average human male of his size, he was immune to many poisons (aconite, ammonia, antipyrine, arsenic, atropine, camphor, hydrocyanic acid, iodine, lead, picrotoxin, and strychnine) and diseases (diphtheria, hepatitis a, hepatitis b, influenza, lyme disease, measels, meningococcal disease, mumps, pertussis, pneumococcal disease, polio, rabies, rubella, tetanus and varicella). He was able to breathe chlorine gas for short periods of time, although long-term exposure (longer than 30 minutes) would cause permanent harm, just as if he were a "normal" human.
Due to the modifications of his genetic codes, Drago developed three bony spikes called "bone blades" on each forearm. These bone blades were a natural outgrowth, and were fully developed by mid-puberty. The part of the forearm where his skin covered the three bone blades looked similar to a fin on top of a fish. The bone blades could be either perpendicular to a forearm or can lay on a forearm with blade tips pointed toward the arm elbow. The bone blades were made of a bone-like substance, and could be used as a natural weapon in personal combat when blades are perpendicular to forearm to stave an opponent.
Within four years, nearly 5,000 more Nietzschean children were born, these children were the first members of Homo sapiens invictus, The Wise Unconquerable Man, they were the first generation of Dr. Paul Museveni's genetic manipulations.
In 3496, Paul Museveni died under mysterious circumstances, by a rare strain of arsenic poison. His son Drago, at age 19, took the mantle of leadership of the Nietzschean people. It was suspected by some that Drago removed his father, but it was never proven. In 3497 the Drago-Kazov Pride was formed, the second Pride in Nietzschean society, after Drago broke ties with Pride Museveni, and formed an alliance with the Kazov clan. A year later, the Kodiak, Jaguar and finally the Three Rivers prides were formed.
Drago Museveni died of natural causes in 3530. Rheged Mossadim, of the Three Rivers Pride was chosen as the new leader. Thirty-one years later in 3561, the Nietzscheans decided to spread out. The Nietzscheans established Zarahustra, their first colony in 3576. Enga's Redoubt followed near the end of the year. Midden was established in 3579 and then Dawkinstown and Victoria in 3585. Barbarossa was established a year later and Hawking the year after that. Kagame's World was established in 3594 and Cestus Mortialis in 3599. The Nietzscheans established the colony of Enkindu in the year 3608. Four years later, the newly formed Nietzschean Alliance established the Bedford Forest Colony. The last of the Nietzschean Colonies was established at Hephaistos IV in 3616.
The Nietzschean Alliance continued to govern themselves by the strongest and most able of their men were the leaders, with the Alphas of the Major Prides competing against each other in combat to determine who the next Alliance Leader would be.
Formal first contact with the Systems Commonwealth was made in 3618. A quick, but cautious, alliance formed, the Nietzscheans happy to find their long lost human cousins returned to them. They did not join the Commonwealth though, preferring to keep their independence. They became loose allies instead, sharing culture, technology and other interests. Eventually in 3627 the Nietzscheans formally joined the Systems Commonwealth.
With their gospel of gene-based survivalism and self-improvement, the Nietzscheans quickly spread throughout known space, reproducing rapidly until by the 52nd century they constitute 8 percent of the overall Human population. They also developed a very unique culture. They divided themselves into even more of the family groupings called "Prides" usually named after powerful mythological or historical figures or creatures from ancient Earth.
The most commonly practiced method of reproduction among Nietzscheans became a modified pair bonding in which various males compete to win the favor of reproductive-age females, who choose their consorts on the basis of genetic fitness more than emotional compatibility. And in Nietzschean society, women definitely have full control of their reproductive options. Which means they chose the men, not the other way around. It became not common for a high status Nietzchean male to have many wives, and have children with each, with some families as large as one male with 10+ wives, and 30+ children.
Nietzscheans built their culture on the twin pillars of social Darwinism and Dawkinite genetic competitiveness. Their single-minded devotion to self-improvement and the propagation of their own genes struck other species (even their non-Nietzschean Human cousins) as selfish and arrogant, yet in practice the Nietzscheans' boundless energy and willpower made them valued contributors to Commonwealth society. For centuries Nietzscheans lived as loyal Commonwealth citizens, obeying its institutions, serving in its military and energetically contributing to its welfare - until they decided to destroy it.
Nietzschean discontent with the Commonwealth had been growing for decades, with many viewing it as a decadent and insufficiently challenging environment for a people as energetic as Homo sapiens invictus. But this simmering unhappiness rose to a boil after the Magog invasion of 4840 and what many Nietzscheans regarded as an insufficiently aggressive Commonwealth response. Long a frontier-dwelling people, many Nietzschean worlds found themselves along the front lines of Magog/Commonwealth confrontation, and suffered greatly from Magog attacks. Dawkinstown, Hawking, Kagame's World - these are only a few of the Nietzschean planets and settlements despoiled and terrorized by the Magog.
Talk of Nietzschean secession from the Commonwealth began in earnest during this period, with the leading Drago-Kazov Pride beating the drum for a full-scale insurrection. But many Nietzscheans opposed such a radical course of action - until the Treaty of Antares. This peace treaty signed with the Magog in 4855 was viewed by the vast majority of Nietzscheans as the ultimate betrayal of the losses they had suffered and the burdens they had borne in the fight against this implacable foe. The negotiators who made peace with the Magog may not have realized it at the time, but in the course of taming one enemy, they created a far more dangerous one in its place.
With the majority of Nietzscheans now backing a full-scale assault against the Commonwealth, preparation for the attack began in earnest. Nietzschean-owned shipping firms went on a ship buying and building spree, always choosing vessels which could easily be converted from harmless civilian uses into lethal military ones. Passenger liners became troop ships, cargo vessels became cruisers and destroyers, and couriers were converted into stealthy attack fighters.
Similarly, the Home Guard units on Nietzschean worlds were beefed up with new personnel and equipment, and even in the elite High Guard Argosy and Lancer Corps, Nietzschean officers and crew made plans to betray their ships and units and turn them over to the enemy. In secret, a vast armada of 10,000 vessels was assembled in the Hephaistos system, with smaller strike groups positioned throughout Commonwealth space, ready to pounce on unsuspecting High Guard bases and Commonwealth seats of power when the signal to strike was given.
At Hephaistos System, a convenient rogue black hole allowed the insurrectionists to send distress signals to a large number of High Guard starships, summoning them into a trap where they could be picked off one by one. In 4858, over 200 top of the line vessels were destroyed in this fashion, until the captain and crew of the heavy cruiser Andromeda Ascendant managed to draw off the fleet's fire long enough for much of the crew to escape and reach Slipstream. Their veil of secrecy about to be rended, the Nietzscheans struck, and struck hard. Their intent to overthrow the Systems Commonwealth and replace it with a Nietzschean-dominated empire.
In the opening days of the war, the attackers inflicted devastating losses on the High Guard fleet and ground forces. Despite the Commonwealth's overwhelming superiority in ships and personnel (Nietzscheans comprised less than 2 percent of the population of the Systems Commonwealth), defeat appeared swift and certain, with the Nietzscheans already planning to establish a post-Commonwealth Nietzschean Empire.
But rather than roll over and accept defeat after these initial losses, the Commonwealth regrouped and fought back fiercely. Interestingly enough, some of the High Guard's few victories were actually achieved by Nietzschean commanders, for a sizeable minority of Nietzscheans remained loyal to the Commonwealth and fought bravely to preserve its ideals.
A war that was supposed to end in weeks lasted over two years, and rather than resulting in a Nietzschean triumph, ended in the two sides' mutual annihilation. The last battle of the Commonwealth Civil War was fought in 4860 at the Witchhead Nebula when High Guard ships were ambushed by a larger Nietzschean fleet. The two fleets destroyed each other almost completely. Shortly afterward, the Magog crossed the Quarantine Zone in strength and numbers never imagined. Swarm fleets roamed all of known space, indiscriminately attacking Nietzschean and former Commonwealth worlds alike. With no central political authority remaining and reliable interstellar communications only a memory, individual worlds were left to fend for themselves.
Weakened by the war to overthrow the Commonwealth, the ruling Nietzschean Drago-Kazov Pride was betrayed and attacked by Pride Jaguar in 4861. The Nietzschean alliance was shattered, and instead of replacing the Commonwealth with a Nietzschean empire, chaos reigned instead. Fountainhead was rendered uninhabitable by orbital bombardment from either a Pride Jaguar attack or a final act of vengeance from a remaining High Guard starship.
The remains of Nietzschean Progentior Drago Museveni were recovered and entrusted to Kodiak Pride, one of Drago-Kazov Pride's allies. More than two hundred years later, in 5095, The still-powerful Drago-Kazov Pride betrayed its Kodiak Pride allies and seized the remains of the Progenitor from them. Kodiak Pride was exterminated, and the Progenitor's remains were relocated to Enga's Redoubt, the Drago-Kazov homeworld.
As instigators of the civil war which ultimately destroyed the Commonwealth, Nietzscheans aren't the most popular denizens of the current post-Fall landscape. The war itself proved devastating to the Nietzschean people, with untold millions killed in battle fighting on both sides. Many Nietzschean Alliance planets were on the front line of hostilities and suffered greatly in the war, while Nietzschean populations on many Commonwealth worlds were subjected to internment and mob attacks. And the clan wars and general strife that began with Pride Jaguar's betrayal of the Drago-Kazov and continue to this day have proved even more pernicious to the long -term health and survival of the Nietzschean people. Dozens of once powerful prides-Atreus, Kodiak, Al-Sharif, Three Rivers, and Banyamulenge to name but a few-have been all but exterminated by other Nietzscheans, while still others have fallen prey to Magog, Than, or other hostile powers. Meanwhile, those prides which remain powerful, such as Drago-Kazov, Sabra, and Jaguar, spend much of their time defending territory from each other or putting down revolts by restless subjects.
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