Exodus

## **Overview**

The **Exodus**, otherwise known for some as “The End of the World”, was a decisive period of human history, revolving around a fight of various nations and peoples from the doomed Old Earth in their journey through the mysterious alien gateway that had been discovered in a cavern under Istanbul. This journey was deemed as the only hope of humanity, as a massive Planetoid approached the planet and threatened to extinct all life inhabiting it. After the end of the **Exodus**, humanity found their new home in Ortus, a planet orbiting the star of Aasha in a unknown system, the survivors of the catastrophe would be rewarded with a second chance to rebuild humanity and strive among the stars.

## **History**

### **The Beginning of the End**

To this day, it is unclear who made the first discovery of the planetoid. What is known, however, is that in 2019, reports from multiple scientific facilities from all around the globe indicated the presence of a colossal entity passing through Neptune and coming directly in the direction of Earth. In a shattered geopolitical reality of that time, said reports were held from reaching public eyes in the initial moments. The stage was set. The clock was ticking.

Many politicians and scientists decided to present those informations at the annual summit of Amsterdam, a place residing in the oftentimes neutral region of the United Provinces, said to organize meetings for scientific discoveries and topics among the community both of the Polish Commonwealth, and their rivals, the British Empire. The presentation of the world ending issue brought chaos and uproar during the summit however, there was no cooperation between the two superpowers, only aggression and warnings unleashed into the meeting at Amsterdam. It looked like the destiny of the human specie was ignored in favour of meaningless rivalry of both giants, as a deadlock in discussions was becoming more and more frequent by the days.

### **A Message to All Peoples**

However, the outcome of the meeting was halted, when several astronomers from both rival sides bonded together and ignored the protocols, releasing all the information they could muster about the Planetoid to all possible regions of the planet, warning the masses of the globe about the upcoming menace.  And, although they were arrested by their respective governments, the message they had sent provoked the desired effects on the population, which pressed their nations to sign a pact of non aggression. That was it, war would be averted, but there would be no cooperation between the great powers.

From there on, humanity would be plagued with failure after failure, plunging the world into the darkest of ages it would ever face.

### **To Save Humanity...**

Needless to say, the powers of the globe didn’t stand still awaiting Armageddon. But from all the plans presented and put into action, none would actually ever succeed to save the people of Earth from their inevitable doom. As each project failed, humanity lost men, resources, and most importantly, time, a luxury they were running out of.

The following list of all the attempts made to save the human race:

* British Imperial plan to blast the planetoid by drilling its core and detonating it in half with 500 nukes.
* Polish Commonwealth plan to build a base on the Moon and utilize it as a staging ground to house the population of Earth.
* United Provinces plan to build a underwater city inside the Mariana trench, later named the Shicheng Project.
* British Imperial plans to construct underground bunkers deep inside the Earth core.
* Polish Commonwealth plans to send a colony ship towards the Star of Alpha Centauri.
* United Provinces most successful and final plan, a cryogenic spaceship landed on Mars, named it the Athena Project.

As hope vanished, society once again dissolved into chaos. Order was thrown into the abyss, and the expectancies of a better future were coming to an ending. It was a question of time now, and there was nothing that could be done anymore.

### **All Hell Let Loose**

Many of the nations were shaken by riots, after all, the people had little to lose after the many catastrophes left by the news of the failed projects to save their lives. Most places were flipped by civil unrest and barbarism, the multiple cities left irradiated after nuclear conflicts began being looted once more by bandit groups, as governmental presence was weakening by each day that passed.

Most places left without much military intervention soon fell out of order too. Mainland Europe was one of the few continents where discipline and organisation could be seen, as the world’s main capitals became more and more dense, the military was put into display as a police force, greatly increasing street violence, but also maintaining order in the old continent for good.

### **A Miraculous Disaster**

As the Planetoid approached Earth, many of the tectonic plates holding the planet together started moving as an effect of the colossal being’s gravitational pull. One of those movements in tectonics struck the Commonwealth metropolis of Istanbul, one of the greatest of the nation. The earthquake killed thousands and left a damage that could not be repaired due to the ever growing anarchic crisis, but it also left the single last and most important chance for humanity to survive the impact, an unknown vault presenting an alien portal possibly to another world, a better world. Humanity was given a second chance, it was up to them to take it and survive another day.

That choice, however, was not made lightly. Commonwealth scientists and military security personnel isolated the area, making it top secret and carrying out experiments to discover what that portal could do and where would it bring the ones that entered it. It became another deadlock in a moment when time couldn’t be wasted. It would all stall once again if it weren’t for the brave actions of the First Exile, a lithuanian engineer who, at mere six months from the impact, gathered supplies and bypassed the guards into the portal, breaking the morale of the others and initiating what would later become known as ‘The Scramble for Salvation’. Thanks to his actions, humanity later was forced to take its first step towards safety.

### **The Scramble for Salvation**

The action of the First Exile caused several repercussions, one group of Chinese scholars from the Commonwealth university of Beijing argued that the best option the people of Earth had was to take a chance at the portal, and so, the group hijacked a Commonwealth satellite orbiting the planet and threatened to release all information about the portal to the population. The government was presented a dilemma. In the end, what was left from the Commonwealth assembly gathered to release news to the general public, though not pointing the gateway as a viable option, but a mere chance that was up to be taken by those who decided so. Because of that, many did not decide to go, being left to their deaths when the Planetoid struck.

When the first civilians arrived, the entry was made as orderly as possible, with military folks from the Great Eastern Alliance ensuring that little chaos would be brought as the people entered the gateway. It didn’t take long for some to question the inactivity of the Empire, however, and when the first few decided to contact the isolated British nation, their government stood in complete shock, not knowing the news that the Commonwealth had possibly found a way out of Earth. That was the last straw for the Empire, as the nation broke its Non Aggression pact with the nations of the Eastern Alliance and Queen Victoria VIII ordered every imperial citizen to mobilize, they were to reach the gates and save themselves from imminent doom.

Between the scattered civilian columns, conflict soon rose up to what became the ‘Salvation War’, as millions of Imperial soldiers clashed against Commonwealth forces, destroying everything on their paths to reach the portal at any cost. Hundreds of thousands died in days, as civilians were caught under crossfire and the defending soldiers tried to hold their ground with everything they had. A pointless slaughter began from day to night, but eventually, Commonwealth managed to hold their positions and protect their civilians from reaching the gateway.

### **Last of the Many**

During the final days before the impact, soldiers alike laid down their firearms and, along with the other refugees, desperately stormed through the gateway. Little reports were made on the last days of humanity on Earth, all that could be said was that the sky was glowing red, tornadoes ravaged the lands, and earthquakes became more and more devastating by the hour. The ending was coming, and the many left on the planet rushed to save themselves by the gate.

Among one of the desperate refugees, a young girl from the Caucasus region, one who had lost her parents in the crowd, barely arrived in time to reach the portal. The planetoid shock wave made a enormous impact on the ground, the girl passed through the portal, finally reaching the frozen mountains of the new planet that awaited her, Ortus. She was later deemed as the Last Exile, as the portal she came from shut down moments later she passed through it. The beginning of the end was over, a new start for humanity would soon begin in the new world they were given to restart from. A true Second Chance.

## **Aftermath**

To this day, it is unclear how many managed to arrive through the portal, nor it is known how many were left behind during the chaos. One thing was clear however, the casualties were catastrophic. The survivors initially perished under starvation and extreme cold temperatures, but with the organization of many city states and nations, the death rates begun to decline and humanity stabilized itself in the planet. Later in the centuries, the many cities in the new world reorganised themselves into the Ortus Council of Nations, under the initial rule of the Exile Party, and much later, the Innovation Party, declaring a new era in human history, one of new achievements and greatness for the entire globe. The stage was set, this time, humanity would not falter again. It would prosper among the stars.