47 years ago, a wormhole connecting the Milky Way with the Sunflower Galaxy (also known as M63) appeared. Mankind launched a swift and succesful colonization effort, aided in large part by the discovery of two garden planets (Baressia and Arta) within M63.
10 years ago, the wormhole mysteriously disappeared. The hundreds of millions of people residing in colonized M63 were left with no way to contact those in the Milky Way. Though FTL technology had been making steady advancements, it would still take centuries to traverse the distance between the two galaxies.
The loss of the wormhole, while damaging, was not debilitating to the humans of M63. They’d had ample time to colonize and establish themselves. While some effort was put forth to reestablish communications with the Milky Way, something of greater importance dictated that attention be focused elsewhere.
Four years after the wormhole vanished, humans in M63 made first contact with another sentient species. Contact was made in the form of an attack. The enemy, possessing ships faster and stronger than anything humanity had at its disposal, assaulted a mining platform and several ships nearby. When those dispatched in response to the initial distress call arrived, there was no sign of a battle, no sign of the human vessels or the enemy. There was no sign of anything.
This enemy, named the Conflux, began to attack with increasing frequency and alarming efficiency. More ships were lost. More lives were lost, too, all of them without a trace. It was impossible to trace the Conflux back to their point of origin—they were simply too fast. They also had an ability to manipulate temporary wormholes which allowed them to “jump” swiftly away if the battle turned against them. As the months passed, it became increasingly apparent that humanity’s future in M63 was being severely threatened. For reasons unknown the Conflux had started this war, and it appeared they were going to win it.
The joint military-security firm known as Sisyphus Armed Forces (SAF) began construction on prototype warships in direct response to the Conflux threat. These prototypes were the Aegis class (named for the ancient Greek word that can mean “shield”) and the Kopis class (for the ancient Greek term that means “to cut” or “to strike”). The two were designed to work together in combat. The Aegis, heavily armored, was meant to act as a distraction and was capable of soaking massive amounts of enemy firepower, which allowed the heavily armed Kopis an opportunity to fly directly into enemy ranks and launch an assault. In their first battle against the Conflux, the prototype Aegis and Kopis performed well. So very well, in fact, that SAF began scheduled them for mass production.
A fleet of Aegis-Kopis teams was gradually assembled and sent throughout M63. The tide of the war slowly turned in humanity’s favor, but it was clear a complete victory would be impossible until it could be discovered where exactly the Conflux were coming from. Even with the efficient tactics of the Aegis-Kopis warships, there was no current way to track the Conflux to their point of origin.
And so it has become a stalemate, with both sides winning some and losing some. No matter how well the new warships have handled the Conflux threat, the enemy is still as unpredictable and deadly as they ever were.
Which is something you’re about to learn for yourself.
Hosted and narrated by:
Pam K. (Pamphetamine)
Started 06/22/14.
Scenes played: 10
License: Community License
