After Planetfall

sir_schwick

Archbishop of Towels
Joined
Jun 14, 2003
Messages
2,509
Location
USA
Someone else made a thread asking what would happen if the Unity mission had never fragmented. That seems very unlikely, but I am curious what others think would have happened if the mission had landed. More specifically, I am curious how the eventual splits and resulting wars could have occured. Some thoughts are my own as well.

Spoiler The Setup :
Santiago would likely be the first to split. As a few bases were established, she would try to establish autonomy at some of them. Probably under the guise of security against the mind-worms it would be granted. Morgan could not operate fully due to likely UN climate control measures and Deidre. So he would ally himself with Santiago and move industries into the autonomous zones. In response to Santiago and Morgan gaining autonomy for their followers, Yang would demand the same and probably be granted.

Now the UN coalition faces some issues:
A majority of the military-capable left with Santiago. Morgan's departure also means they will have a healthy defense industry to bolster their military strength. Yang's poor relations with both of them prevent an immediate alliance. However in the event of a war he may decide to absorb much of the UN into his Hive.

Until now Zhakarov's research efforts have been hampered by human rights concerns. The need for military and economic technology to deal with a possible separatist threat trumps those concerns. Quiet arrangements are made and less frequented bases are secretly converted into labs for Zhakarov. In exchange for aiding environmental and mind-worm research, Deidre helps suppress knowledge of the new research and enters in a warm alliance with the academician.

Meanwhile the leading theocrats are dissenting against the liberal democratic model of the UN territories. Unlike the fascist separatists, the believers do not want to participate in a corporate-militarist state. This desire to convert the UN homeland requires a quick solution. UN leadership, encouraged by the development of new weapons and increasing infrastructure, strike a deal. The believers will form the shock troops to wage a holy war against the fascist separatists of the morganite/santiago bases. In exchange for extinguishing them, they will gain soverignty over a new homeland composed of the conquered bases. This religious state would have friendly relations and free exchange of people in between.

Ideally this setup would allow the UN to control technology trade with the superstitious religious states. Also the believers would do a majority of the fighting in a potential war, potentially thinning out their numbers to be much less than the UN. This would make it difficult for them to challenge UN sovereignty to decades at least. Only one other factor had to be considered: the Hive.

Yang would be offered a deal to ensure his neutrality during the war. This deal would establish the future borders of Planet. The Hive would have a soviergn area roughtly 3/8 of the land area and 1/4 of the oceans. The religious states would have 1/8 inland. The UN would inhabit the remaining 1/2 of the land and also 1/4 of the oceans. The remaining 1/2 of the ocean would be international waters.

During the time since the separation though, some links had formed between the Hive and the fascists. An alliance during the war was not completely out of the question. If their was an alliance, then the immediate strength of the separatists would be greater than the UN. However balance would come back to the UN as the more advanced research of Zhakarov and the Believers would come to full strength. If the war went on long enough without too much lose for the UN, Deidre's mind-worm army would quickly tip the balance towards assured UN victory. So a few things can happen from here: I will describe them in an adjoining post.


Spoiler Case I: Ascent to Transcendence :

Ascent to Transcendence

Yang is further enticed to this deal by technology trade that provides him with more thought control abilities. Of course this technology had to be acquired directly from Zhakarov through back door channels. The Hive closes its doors to all outsiders two days before the first strike against the Fascist territories. They scramble their elite troops to meet the fanatic shock troops of the UN. Initial combat was fierce and casualties massive for both sides.

The ferocity of the attack eliminated fascist strategic offensive capability for several months. This was long enough for Zhakarov's new military technology to come online and provide a decisive edge in the air war. Now worn down by constant bombing, the fascist states slowly lost the war of attrition. A battered but triumphant believer army slaughtered and converted the defeated bases.

As anticipated by the architects of the campaign, the believers were greatly weakened by the intensity of the war. They graciously took their sovereign land and focused on the construction of cathedrals and religious schools. Militant elements of the holy states diminished quickly in the years of peace that followed. Yang, now without major security concerns, spread throughout his allotted territories. For the moment the mind-worms were enough to occupy most of his time.

Over the following decades the technologists and empaths who had provided the basis for the UN started to become more secluded. Large facilities secretly developed in the Monsoon Jungle for massive experiments involving the mind-worms and advanced technology. As Planet started to awaken, the intensity of mind-worm attacks rose significantly. After New Hague was destroyed by a swarm of mind-locusts the severity of the problem became apparent.

Over the decades the technology/empath cabal had been hording more and more of its research in its secret facilities through the Monsoon Jungle and in the international waters. The other states had begun to achieve military technology parity during this time. In the Holy states a movement emerged claiming the mind-worm risings were connected with the continued existence of non-believers in the Hive and the UN. Crusaders once again rose for conquest of a holy land.

When the war started the Hive decided it was time to turn on the UN. If allowed to absorb the UN, the believers would be too strong to defeat. Yang was safe within his fortress bases from mind-worms, but not the modern weapons technology that would likely be looted from the UN. As one could predict, the UN fared very poorly against the combined forces. The Cabal finally turned its back completely in its former UN patrons. They were preoccupied with another concern at the moment.

The Cabal had discovered that the mind-worm risings were due to the manifesting consciousness of planet. Work on the Voice of the Planet continued throughout the war. After Lal was executed, the Hive and Believers warred on each other. They ignored the secret complexes and sea bases that contained the Cabal. Finally the voice was completed and negotiations began with planet. Deidre and Zhakarov both agreed it was time that humanity move to something greater.

Soon both the Hive and the Believers learned to fear a planet that was sentient. Combing the intelligence of all the parts, the entire fungus network, and the hybrid armies of the Cabal; the Soldiers of Chiron marched forward and decimated all foes. After a quick but extremely violent culling, all those who did not join Chiron were dead.


There's a lot more possibilities of course.
 
Quite interesting. It's very interesting to speculate upon. I'd have predicted that the factions would have been much more blurred between each other- the University probably wouldn't have developed into an autonomous organization if still under UN supervision, and the same with the Gaians.
 
I believe you are correct that Zhakarov and Deidre would have been part of the initial UN vision. However there are a couple instances that might change. Zhakarov probably would have been severely limited, research wise, under the UN. If the UN needed that research badly enough, he would have to be given some kind of 'black zone' to do the research. If autonomous it would most likely be secret. Dawn is a much more likely candidate then Deidre to split in the Unity vision. I suspect the UN would still be a bit specist. The blurring is also why I think a military-industrial complex like a Morgan-Spartan faction would be likely to occur.
 
Spoiler Case II: Pyhrric Victory :

Pyhrric Victory

Relations had improved between the Fascists and the Hive in the time since the separation. They had even agreed to joint military exercises to test the possibility of a common defense pact against possible UN aggression. That is why the Fascist military were not easily convinced that the effectiveness of attacking UN troops was a Hive betrayal. Not until well into the late stages of the invasion did the partition agreement become known.

The information and espionage assistance was most useful to the UN Air Corps, which was mostly the built and staffed by the University. Critical HQ and defense facilities were utterly decimated before they could make a strategic difference. Additionally a few well empaths managed to gain extensive knowledge of the enemy C3 procedures and equipment. Without their command center advantage, the Fascist military was forced to participate in attrition heavy skirmishes. These kind of uncoordinated, low-tech battles greatly favored the crusader zeal of the Holy Corps.

In planning, it was decided that a primary goal of the conflict would be to bleed out the Holy Corps. Even if the war was not victorious, the damage to the Fascist states would be great enough to prevent aggression and favor diplomacy. Also it would be an opportunity to test the new technology and warfare capabilities being produced by the technologists. It was also prudently decided that such strategy should be kept only to high level planners as long as possible.

The initial victories in the war happened too quickly for UN HQ to properly react. They now had much less time to carefully let this strategy be known to lower level air and regular army command. Some lower level commanders were already suspicious of the rather conservative orders from above. As a results, Holy Corps casualties were much lower then secretly desired and the situation was not being changed quickly enough.

When the industrialists left the UN, their new allies had suggested that Industry should be protected from a future air war. This thinking had spared most of the industrial capacity of the Fascists. Without their record production the war would have ended within the first weeks. After a few months, enterprising priests from the political wing of the Holy Corps contacted the industrialist wing of the Fascist states. It was obvious to both parties the war would come directly to the industry heavy bases and the industrialists would die with their militant comrades. A deal was struck allowing the industries to remain, but they had to convert in at least name.

Strikes and other industrial sabotage was covertly organized by the factory bosses. The domestic unrest diverted more troops from the front. Additionally the slowing flow of military equipment started to have disastrous effects for defenders. Even as Air and artillery commitments lessened from the UN side, the fury of the Holy Corps could not be contained. Whenever they entered bases, soldiers and striking drones equally were massacred. Those who were part of the industrial elite were usually warned or protected by Archangels or other commando units.

Sparta Command was one of the few bases not massacred. Instead most of its population was shipped back to the UN for reintegration. This was part of the peace agreement that was eventually signed after several months of intense fighting. Now the Holyland had a large army of veterans and a well functioning industrial economy worked by obedient believers.

The believers quickly filled their partition of Planet and started to grow restless. Ministers and Deacons everywhere started to 'observe the evil festering on this planet'. Tolerance for abominable practices abounded in the UN while the face of Satan himself, Yang, sat comfortably in underground palaces. It was inevitable that they should return to claim the rest of the UN. However now they were not just enthusiastic volunteers. Coordination with former Spartan generals had quickly transformed the Holy Corps into a terrifying, modern fighting force.

Yang realized that he had the option of helping the UN repulse the invaders. However he had grown weary since assisting in a victory against the Spartans(Spartan/Morgan=Fascists), wondering if the UN would continue to be aggressive if he grew too powerful. Inaction in this case would result in a fanatic army with access to advanced technology and three times his population of potential soldiers. Instead his only option that remained was to try to acquire more of the UN then the believing invaders.

Very quickly the UN regular forces were overwhelmed on both fronts. Losses were consistent and the seat of government was not more then a few hundred kilometers from the invaders. The only successes came from the various paramilitary and advanced warfare branches being trained by various supporters of Zhakarov and Deidre. More utilization of 'The Cabal', as the conspiratorial group was called, was considered too dangerous by Lal. However political and pragmatic factors forced him to call on the Cabal for salvation. Fairly quickly full scale divisions were being trained for offensive campaigns. Defenders were bolstered by the advanced unit and turned the fronts into stalemates.

Six months passed before any major changes would occur on the front. During that time the UN transformed enormously. Having saved the UN from immediate defeat the Cabal had tremendous power. They started to have many bases away from the UN Headquarters core converted for strictly 'Cabal' business. This group was obviously forming a power base for future control of the planet. The old ideals of the UN were almost dead, and the mission of Unity had failed.

However the Cabal had always been an alliance of parties that were responsible for the military power of the UN. Its parties had grown farther and farther apart since the last war. Zhakarov and Deidre, its two polarizing leaders, had fairly opposed ideas for the future. In truth the bases started to become Gaian or University. The nature and focus of the projects at those bases were also leader specific. Additionally the two offensive armies in development were to be personally commanded by Deidre and Zhakarov respectively.

Deidre commanded the Army of Chiron, an acolyte force that worked using the forces of planet against their foes. Sister Miriam's forces were not prepared for the shock caused by massive psionic attacks. Their experiences with mind-worms had been limited, and certainly never at the intensity provided by thousands of demon-boils. Although not as rapid as the armored assaults of the past, the impenetrable wall fungus and worms and locusts marched ominously towards the believer forces. Base after base fell, and they always heard the words booming in their heads, "Macbeth shall never be beaten until Birnan woods come to Dunsinae Hill." Only towards the end of the war did Miriam start to have a chance against the worm assault. However by then it was obvious that peace was her only opportunity for survival.

The Hive had many years of experience with the full power of planet. They would have difficulty fighting the worms in the open, but against their powerful bunkers psionics were useless. Advanced technology was not in this case. Zhakarov had done his homework and his technology could crack this shell. On open ground the advanced aircraft and armored vehicles of the University gave complete control to Zhakarov. Most of the open territory of the Hive was captured within the first two weeks of the conflict. The bases would require months of intense siege to fully crack open. That would happen though, and only The Hive would prove too difficult to contemplate sieging.

All parties agreed to peace and maintenance of the borders that existed at war's end. A round of peacetime elections also went to the favor of Deidre and Zhakarov, who were no longer remotely allies. Additional bases were added to each holdings in a series of referendums. Now with separate laws, militaries, and leaders the territories of Gaia and the University of Planet appeared to be new states. What remained of the UN was a neutral zone, popular for international summits but little else.

Peace would not last much longer, nor did the militaristic Gaia or University plan for it. Both realized that the other would eventually meddle with their genetic and environmental plans for Chiron. Preparations to eliminate the problems began on both sides. Fighting between the two warring factions quickly spread into New Jerusalem and the remaining believer territory. Their partition of the Planet held particular advantages for orbital stage of warfare. This had been unrealized in the days of the partition.

It was a force exhibition that would foreshadow the horror of the final war. The University had decided on a military policy of 'salting the Earth' to prevent the worms from helping Deidre. They destroyed everything on and under several dozens meters of the surface within the Holyland. However Deidre had developed weapons that broadcast the psionic signals without need for immediate planet-flora and fauna. In the end the campaigns were stalemates as each side had some access to Mount Planet. The destruction was immense in the combat areas though.

The next move would be a demonstration of supremacy by Zhakarov. The Hive had been an insult to the University since it defiantly held out against them in the last war. It would be the perfect target to demonstrate the power of the Planet Buster. As one could predict, the missile's warhead destroyed not only the base proper but a majority of the sprawling tunnels that extended from the core. However it had taken considerable effort to produce the first Planet Buster and would take several months before mass production began.

Immediately a full scale war began between the two powers, as the Gaians were in a race against time. Casualties were massive, but the fury of the Gaian assault did net some gain of territory. They also were able to use the defensive stance of the University to increase infiltration. Their agents captured the Planet Buster technology secretly and started mass-production. Finally the moment of reversal came as the University launched strategic missiles at critical industrial targets. They were surprised when a PB aimed at each of their bases appeared on their radars. An immediate reprisal of extra missiles that escaped Gaian intelligence was sent towards Deidre.

Every major base on planet was destroyed in a great reckoning. Most of the planet life in the occupied areas was destroyed. Whatever humans survived either continued fighting or attempted to rebuild. However the planet recovered much more quickly. Everyone was eventually killed or joined the mind-worms. In one form or another humanity quit to exist.


Someone else must have thought of what would happen if the Unity mission at least made it to the surface. Give out your thoughts.
 
Top Bottom