The Ascendancy

The Ascendancy was the series of events leading up to the rise of the Corpus Federation. More detailed versions of these events have been played out in RPs, to which the link will be provided soon. The fall of Corpus may be found here.

## **Acts**

### **Act I:** **Trussian Takeover**

At the start of the twenty-first century, the Trussian Empire landed on Earth and established a spaceport colony near what was formerly Tripoli, Libya. Their initial message of goodwill was quickly superseded by Emperor Takota's vision to transform the planet into a Trussian homeworld. What Earth's governments gained in technological and moral advancements was quickly countered by the sacrifice of their people's free will under their new masters.

Exponential expansion resulted in Trussian outposts covering the entire globe. Most of mankind's cultures and accumulated knowledge faced extinction as the populations of the world were pressured into adopting the Trussian way of life.

The PAW Patrol, now missing Talon, was still recovering from the devastating incident at Adventure Bay Train Station.

### **Act II: Reaper's Brigade**

Some time after the Trussian takeover, a detachment of Trussian scientists observed a young stray named Ghost unknowingly display telekinesis. They ripped him from his older brother Talon and subjected him to torturous experiments to attempt to weaponize his powers. Subsequently, Reaper Syndrome was discovered and Ghost declared patient zero.

Realizing his God-given gifts and the true evilness behind Takota's intentions, Ghost wanted nothing less than to liberate Earth from the Trussian invaders. He broke free from imprisonment, freed his fellow captives and formed the Reaper's Brigade terrorist organization. They ransacked multiple Trussian outposts and reverse-engineered stolen technology to create a formidable army.

The PAW Patrol fully recovered and resume their rescue ops around Adventure Bay.

### **Act III: White Fence Security**

Takota finally took serious notice of Reaper's Brigade's attacks and commissioned global PMC (private military company) White Fence Security, led by a benevolent canine named Picket, to provide maximum protection for Earth's cities and Trussian outposts. Unbeknownst to the Emperor, White Fence Security housed traitors within its ranks: Picket's second-in-command, Barrier, wished to take a much more proactive and forceful method to international security and Trojan Bladespawn, Barrier's second-in-command, saw greater opportunity with Reaper's Brigade and began planning accordingly.

### **Act IV: A.R.R.O.W.S.**

As Reaper's Brigade's attacks moved from civilian settlements to Trussian military installments, Takota forced the United States government to activate R.O.P.E. in his favor. Surprisingly, the canine spy agency accomplished something the Trussians couldn't in the past year: thwart an assault by Reaper's Brigade.

Shocked from R.O.P.E.'s success, Ghost hired their villainous counterpart A.R.R.O.W.S. to deal with them. The anti-R.O.P.E. specialists provided reinforcements for Reaper's Brigade and injected their own tactics into their handbook. Their partnership was aptly named Reaper's Pact.

### **Act V: Reaper's Pact**

Fast forward a few months, and Reaper's Pact proved devastating for Trussian infrastructure on Earth. At the same time, world governments grew frustrated of the invader's inept rule and demanded autonomy. An increasingly desperate Takota initiated his final solution - the Black Knight Squadron. They were former pilots bred into supersoldiers via artificially-induced anabolism and an injection of Reaper Particles extracted from Ghost in his earlier imprisonment.

Unfortunately for Takota, one of the supersoldiers, Vulture, was captured by Reaper's Pact after Black Knight Squadron's first mission went south. Ghost himself oversaw Vulture's interrogation and torture as he knew of the supersoldier's true powers. Finally, Vulture was turned and swore loyalty to Reaper's Pact. He became second-in-command of the organization and a new figure of hope for anti-Trussia rebel groups around the world.

### **Act VI: Iron Legion**

Vulture's "defection" sent ripples of sorrow across the Trussian population. Sorrow turned to fear when they realized their people were no longer above the inferior humans.

Reaper's Pact under Vulture saw groundbreaking victories since his mind was connected to the Trussian celestial database containing all their knowledge. Additionally, he initiated their first superweapon project, a sentient construct called Karnivore who controlled the four elements to a terrifying degree, and the Neo Reapers elite special forces. Two combatants of interest recruited to the Neo Reapers were Chase "Ranger" Ryder and his wolf companion Slash. They were Ryder's malevolent identical twin brother and Talon's former comrade respectively.

But with success came arrogance, and Vulture soon saw Ghost as obsolete. He also came into contact with Captain Trojan during this time and came to a mutual understanding with him. In one swift scheme, the ex-Trussian staged a *coup d'etat* and claimed Reaper's Pact for himself, while Trojan did the same to White Fence Security. The two devised a sinister plan; Vulture would command Reaper's Pact to make surgical strikes on vulnerable but strategically important areas, thus allowing Captain Trojan to seize and subject them to White Fence Security's control under the guise of protection.

After being rescued by an escaped Karnivore (whose sentience was more aligned with the Ghost's), an ousted and livid Ghost found himself back at square one. He became disillusioned by the betrayal of Vulture and sought comfort in machines, whom he believed were superior to soldiers of flesh and bone. With feverish haste, he constructed an army of autonomous war machines by himself and named them the Iron Legion.

Ghost then offered his services, no strings attached, to Takota. The Trussian emperor was skeptical at first, but given the dire situation the Trussian colonists were in accepted a temporary alliance that would immediately end when Reaper's Pact was destroyed.

### **Act VII: Reaper Alliance**

The unlikely coalition of Iron Legion, White Fence Security and Trussian forces began a series of large-scale engagements against Reaper's Pact. Their war, referred to as World War III, ravaged large portions of the world, killed tens of millions and displaced billions.

Reaper's Pact saw they were becoming overpowered for the first time in their existence, and with soldiers and resources dwindling, Vulture offered to surrender leadership to Ghost. Ghost's next move was unforeseen by Takota who had grown to admire him: he proclaimed himself leader of Reaper's Pact once again. Surprisingly, Vulture's punishment for betrayal was to simply be demoted to second-in-command.

Soon, White Fence Security and Iron Legion disavowed the Trussian Empire and joined forces with Reaper's Pact to form the Reaper Alliance under the leadership of Ghost.

### **Act VIII: Trussian-Reaper War**

An outraged Takota mobilized all Trussian forces in the solar system to hunt down the Reaper Alliance. And so began the Trussian-Reaper War, an international conflict on an unprecedented scale that dwarfed the previously-mentioned World War III. So much destruction was caused that nearly the entire continents of South America, Africa and Eurasia crumbled into the oceans from repeated WMD (weapon of mass destruction) strikes and worldwide population reduced by a staggering 30%.

Unfortunately for the Trussians, White Fence Security had been sabotaging their military resources and installations they were tasked to protect during their employment. In addition, their home planet of Trussia was suddenly confronted with a massive crisis (which necessitated a mass recall of soldiers.

Now with effectively the largest military on the planet, the Reaoer Alliance quickly steamrolled remaining Trussian forces and their few allies. Many lesser villainous organizations also threw in their bets with the Reaper Alliance, turning them into the largest single-standing powerhouse in mankind's history. As the last Trussian outpost was besieged, Ghost gave Takota an ultimatum: leave Earth or be massacred. Unwilling to lose more, the Trussian emperor retreated all of his forces from the planet they thought they could take in just a few years.

### **Act IX: Corpus Federation**

Ghost was not stupid, as he knew the Trussians would take the battle to space for the first time ever. He took control of one of Reaper Alliance's most recent allies, an enterprise known as VEGA Corporation which held a monopoly on space mining. Trillions of funds were poured into their development to create Earth's first space armada, multiple orbital defense stations and five shield installations on the Moon. Next, as the entire world bent their collective knees to his rule, Ghost put their best minds to work in maintaining supply lines, renewing urban infrastructure and generally attempting to repair the damage done by World War III and the Trussian-Reaper War.

Takota did not forget, Takota did not forgave. The imposing Trussian Star Navy launched multiple surprise strikes on VEGA Corporation territory in the Kuiper Belt. Ghost anticipated their return well in advance and counterattacked with Earth's armada. Careful strategic planning and equal technological might saw continued resounding victories for the Reaper Alliance.

In perhaps the most significant event of the past century, Ghost gave himself the new title of Supreme Overlord and appointed the leader of each allied organization into his circle of influence - the would become the Nexus Council. He then renamed the Reaper Alliance to the Corpus Federation and under the new flag, launched an enormous offensive operation, codenamed Amarok, against the weakened Trussian Empire. Ghost's previous ambition to rid Earth of its invaders at this point was replaced by a burning desire to wreck havoc on their birth world.

### **Act X: Operation Amarok**

The frontier of the Corpus Federation was first fully realized with Operation Amarok. Highly-advanced warships built using stolen Trussian ingenuity devastated the remnants of the the enemy armada. Entire solar systems, once ruled by Takota, were captured at a breakneck rate and huge space installations constructed in each.

However, the Trussians held an extremely resilient last stand in their most sacred territory in the heart of the Orion Arm of the Milky Way Galaxy. But Ghost was unrelenting in his pursuit for vengeance. Against the wishes of his peers, he activated Project Manticore. The experimental WMD was in essence a DNA bomb and its first test run would be against the Trussian frontline.

The Manticore bomb proved to be an overwhelming (and downright horrifying) success. Three million Trussian servicemen defending their home solar system perished instantaneously. Yet Takota still refused surrender. Ghost had no choice but to execute the next phase of Operation Amarok. Massive blitzkrieg-esque strikes absolutely destroyed the Trussian last stand in their solar system and sent them scampering. Finally, their home planet of Trussia was surrounded by the entire Corpus armada of one million warships.

### **Act XI: Treaty of Orion**

Not wanting to spill any more Trussian blood, Takota of the Trussian Empire finally agreed to surrender to Ghost of the Corpus Federation. The Treaty of Orion was signed by both parties on board Ghost's personal flagship, the *Throne Eternal*. The terms of surrender were as outlined:

* Destruction of all space-faring warships, space installations and spaceships larger than 300m
* Destruction of all sophisticated weaponry and technology
* Disbandment of all space-faring military branches
* Downsizing of military to 1 million personnel maximum
* Quarantine to the home solar system with not outbound communications
* Taxation of every citizen

It was an embarrassing end for the Trussian Empire, but a necessary one to survive against their prey turned predator.