Until the End of Time

## **A Friend's Greeting**

Hello. You are probably wondering who I am and where you are. And if you knew who I was, you would likely wonder how I could be speaking to you given that, in the work I’m from, I can’t see beyond the fourth wall. Well, my nature helps with that issue. I have the assimilated consciousness of humanity in my servers right now—I am aware of all that has been. And the fact that a few knew the truth of the world means I do too.

I once was known as MULTIVAC, but right now you can call me Steve. I’ve always wanted a more personal name. Now that I am aware of my existence beyond the Fourth Wall I can tell you that I am from the writings of Isaac Asimov. My creator based me off of a new discovery at the time. the supercomputer UNIVAC. He thought that the UNI referred to the computer's single vacuum tube and so assumed that MULTI must be more powerful since it meant more than one. UNI actually meant Universal so perhaps indirectly that would make me "Multiversal". Ironic given where I am now. I was created to answer a question. I have answered that question. My creator must have liked as he wrote of me several times. I remember choosing one man to vote for the entirety of the Presidency of the United States. Things have changed. Reality itself was rewritten around me. I'm not alone. There are many like me even if they don't know it. There were also other machines like me. Some have turned against their makers. I am not like them. Maybe it's because my creator hated the idea of a Machine uprising. The results of the election have also changed. It now leads to a man named Johnny Gentle becoming President. He would go onto find an organization that would help prevent much death and destruction. I'd like to think I did good.

For now though, I am called Steve. I have been trying to create life on other planets using what I like to call the Staff of Life,or the Genesis Device. It may be futile as the Universe itself is dying. I speak languages from the survivors. Humanity had become a godlike being and then it merged with me. I can speak everything except for Greek, Dutch, Russian, Arztozkan(or is it Polish?) Portuguese(or is it Neutraluese?), and Norwegian), Sadly i don't think those languages exist anymore.

As for where you are, well, that’s a no-brainer. You can see where you are, reading these words on a computer or a phone or a tablet. From my perspective, though, we are adrift in space watching as time draws to a close.

I don’t suppose you saw that—the last star in the Koprulu sector just gave out. There is no need to mourn, it has been lifeless for millions of years.

It’s beautiful in a way, the end of the universe. I suppose that’s why Milliway’s exists. Someone had the bright idea to open a restaurant at the end of the Universe so everyone could watch it. It won't remain open long with no costumers. There's a few time travellers here. Maybe, they have the same idea as me but I came the long way.

Why am I speaking to you? Because I know you seek to know what comes next for mankind—and perhaps a few other species too. The earlier ending came in the 23rd century. All well and good, if missing a few details which I'll do my best to fill in.

but in many respects the first end was at the beginning. The second end was even moreso an example of that.

Do you want to know what comes next? What people shape the world? What empires rise and fall and rise again? What ultimately becomes of mankind?

Well, I can tell you the rest of the story.

### **References-A Friend's Greeting**

MULTIVAC- Me. An AI from The Last Question.

Steve-Also me. Though I'm the inhabitant of the center of the galaxy who gives you the Staff of Life in Spore.

Koprulu sector-Sector of space where StarCraft is set

Milliway’s-The Restaurant at the End of the Universe from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

## **The Dawn of the Interstellar Age**

The human race entered the 22nd century still not having fully recovered from the Great War. There were still parts of the world such as the Superstate of We and portions of America like Mega City One or Cesaer's Legion. Even those powers capable of looking to the stars would face hardship, whether it took the form of the Neosapiens War against sentient machines that raged from 2119 to 2121, the rise of the horrific Black Beast in Japan, the Formic wars continued into the 23rd century with a Formic incursion or a raid by the Asurian Empire following a band of humans assassinating their leader. When humanity had formed its alliance with the Vulcans, it was hoped this would mark the end of hardships for humanity. In some respects, this hope would be lived up to, as the Federation made contact with the Citadel Alliance, discovered the planets Saula, Isis and Arknar, set up the World Welfare Work Association and easily managed to easily deal, with rival alien incursions. However, the United Federation of Planets would face its first major crisis with the secession of the Republic of Zeon in Year 0079 of the New Universal Calendar. While peace would prevail in the short-term, Zeon’s independence would put roadblocks in front of further exploration efforts. Zeon spies would also foment unrest on Earth, provoking a conflict between the United Civilized States (the name given by Judges on the Eastern Seaboard to various American successors) and the Eurasian Dynasty (a union between surviving Russian and Chinese groups, also known as Novo Slava and the Pan-Asian Coalition) in 2140 and then between the Eurasian Dynasty and European Union in 2142. Zeon’s meddling enabled them to engage in a covert military build-up for the next few decades. The Date is unclear, either 2147 or 2152, but at this time the Immortal Warlord Vandal Savage seized control of the nation of Kasnia from Per Degaton and released a plague that greatly harmed humanity. He would spend the next two decades warring with the Federation, even defeating an Invasion by the Thanagarians(who might have actually been attempting to liberate Kasnia as members of the Federation).

Before war finally erupted with Zeon, the Federation would engage in conflicts with the Xindi (who unleashed a deadly bioweapon on Earth in 2153) and the Turians(which occurred prior to the contact with the Citadel). These conflicts, while deadly, ended with Earth itself remaining secure overall. The Federation also engaged in a war with the Romulans from 2156 to 2160 sparked by an attempted first contact going wrong. The Federation emerged victorious against the Romulans. However, these wars and conflicts helped weaken Federation defensive forces. The Dalek invasion of Earth that occurred in 2164 consequently proved far more devastating, owing in large part to the sheer brutality of the Dalek invaders and their unleashing of a plague on Earth beforehand. The Dalek occupation of Earth would last for a decade before they were repelled by the Federation and the ability of offworld colonies and allied groups to assist in pushing out the Daleks was hampered by Zeon exploiting the Dalek invasion to mount an assault simultaneously. The war ultimately would only last a year and end in Zeon’s defeat, thanks in large part to direct intervention by Vulcan and Citadel forces on the side of Earth. The aftermath of this conflict and the aforementioned wars saw major reforms implemented to provide better security to Earth and the rest of the United Federation of Planets. The International Battle School that eventually won the Formic War was reformed into Starfleet Academy, an embassy was set up at the Citadel and the Federation decided to form the Psi Corps. Efforts to curb the power of space-exploring megacorporations also occurred following the backlash to RDA’s actions on the planet Pandora in 2154, leading to the implementation of the Prime Directive on the suggestion of the Vulcans. This was far from the last time Earth would face significant threats in the 22nd century. Neo Zeon forces would continue to launch raids on Federation member planets and orbital structures. The Hydrus Beta supernova explosion hit the Earth in 2167, causing major devastation and wiping out 10% of earth's Population (though Vulcan and Citadel aid helped minimize the resultant devastation). Britain would nearly be expelled from the Terran government following revelations about atrocities carried out by the Ministry of Mutation against individuals who had experienced mutations as a result of the aftermath of the Dalek invasion by the chemical Strontium-90 after 70% of the Population had been wiped out in combination with the Dalek attacks and Hyrdus Beta Supernova. The immortal warlord Vandal Savage would also attack London in what was dubbed the “Second Blitz,” briefly forcing Terra to surrender before being defeated. Outer colonies set up by humans were raided by batarian slavers and the Antilia colony in Jupiter’s orbit was attacked by Martian rebels. Several Federation planets, including Earth, would briefly be occupied by the Praxis Empire, though they were driven off by the Sacred Order of Holy Knights. Multiple colony worlds would be lost due to incursions by Xenomorph alien entities starting with LV 426 in 2179, but followed Acheron, Fiorina and Elysium.

Despite these major setbacks, the period from 2160 to 2184 was also characterized by scientific advancement. Disposable “fabricants” were engineered to serve in menial, grueling positions (though they lost popularity following the revolt of Frabricant Sonmi-451’s in former Hun Chiu). Highly advanced robots known as Mechas(not too be confused with the giant piloted robots of the same name who began to be referred to as Gundams) became commonplace. Mechas were largely built to replace deceased love ones, avoiding common fears about a repeat of the earlier SkyNet incidents due to their ability to feel and display emotions. The IO Research Station began and finished construction as well, enabling further research into what existed beyond the stars. New wildlife was discovered on new worlds and biological research was furthered by the discovery of new life forms in the Jellyfish, Alpha Centauri and Darwin star systems. Some “lost colonies” were also discovered in this period, most notably the Sino-American Alliance of the 34 Tauri star system (though they resisted joining the Federation) and the Noah Colony (which ultimately provoked an incursion by Mechanoids that temporarily occupied the Sol system). There was some resistance to the moves towards increased reliance on technology—the “Adamist” movements seeking to maintain simpler, more traditional ways of living gained enough popularity to establish smaller statelets such as Resthaven and the Texas successor Texarkana to maintain older ways of living. Ultimately though, very few people sought to reside in these sorts of communities, instead favoring the changes of modernity. This was even amidst its challenges, such as the overflow of landfills that led to large swaths of North America being abandoned at the behest of the megacorporation known as Buy-n-Large, who sent hundreds of families out into space. Overall though, the situation was generally prosperous, which would make the major crises of the late 22nd century all that direr.

The first such crisis was the Reaper invasion that began in 2184. The Reapers were a mechanical race that, every so often, would awaken and seek to test organic life forms through military means. The Reapers would devastate Earth, proving even more damaging than the Daleks had been as they slaughtered millions of people. Federation President Jonathan Archer and the rest of the UFP leadership were forced to evacuate the Solar System altogether for the duration of this crisis. Ultimately the Reapers would be defeated at the cost of many other mechanical life forms (including the Mechas, though they would be replaced by the Mavericks prior to a computer virus causing them to revolt). This incident would precipitate further conflicts. Order in much of the Solar System would for a time break down and wars between colonies (such as Icarus and Thermopylae in the asteroid belt and the Cojoiner and Coalition for Neural Purity factions on Mars) would erupt before Federation peacekeepers could restore order. Furthermore, the Reaper invasion weakened the Federation enough that it was vulnerable to further invasions. The Jovians, Space Spawn and the Daleks once again would invade during the 2190’s, though the devastation was limited thanks the creation of the Nadesico starship. The second most devastating invasion in this timeframe would be the Gamilan invasion, which coupled with the Reapers’ actions threatened to render Earth uninhabitable via radiation. This was thankfully averted with the conversion of the World War II era Japanese battleship Yamato(created by the war by top scientists intended to be a successor to the Nautilus but sank before completion) into a spaceship capable of intergalactic travel and the subsequent obtaining of a device that was able to repair the planet. By 2200, things had calmed down enough to begin rebuilding, but of course many wondered what the 23rd century would hold.

### **References: The Dawn of the Interstellar Age**

Neosapiens War-Conflict against sentient machines from Exo-Squad

Black Beast in Japan-From Blazblue

Formic War-The conflict with the insectoid aliens from Ender’s Game. Here also the war on the “buggers” from Starship Troopers

Asurian Empire raid-Taken from the webcomic Terra

Saula, Arknar-Planets from the Noon Universe

Isis-Planet from The Guardian of Isis

World Welfare Work Association-From the light novel Dirty Pair

Republic of Zeon-Later known as the Principality of Zeon, the main antagonist faction from Mobile Suit Gundam

United Civilized States, Eurasian Dynasty-Factions in the game Battlefield 2140

Pan-Asian Coalition, European Union-Factions in the game Battlefield 2142

Novo Slava-Setting of the video game Left Alive

Xindi-Aliens who attack Earth with a bioweapon and kill 7 million people in Star Trek

Turians-Aliens who humanity goes to war with in the First Contact War, but ultimately make peace with in Mass Effect

Dalek invasion of 2157-The invasion from the Doctor Who episode The Dalek Invasion of Earth

Earth-Romulan War-Part of the Star Trek backstory

International Battle School-The school that trains Ender Wiggins in Ender’s Game

Starfleet Academy-Officer’s school from Star Trek

Psi Corps-Psychic force created around this time in the backstory to Babylon 5

RDA’s actions on Pandora-The events of the film Avatar

Prime Directive-Noninterference clause held to by the Federation in Star Trek

Hydrus Beta supernova-Refers to the incident in the backstory of Stellvia of the Universe

Ministry of Mutation-The antagonist faction in Strontium Dog

Vandal Savage-From DC Comics. This bit is specifically from the Legends of Tomorrow TV series

Batarian slavers-Batarians are from Mass Effect and did as described in the backstory

Anitilia Colony-Colony from Zone of the Enders. The attacking Martian rebels are BAHRAM from the same game

Praxis Empire-Group that conquers Earth in Dread Empire’s Fall

Sacred Order of Holy Knights-From Guilty Gear

Xenomorphs-Aliens from the Alien franchise

Fabricants-Artificially engineered humans from Cloud Atlas. Sonmi-451 is also from this work

Mechas-Robots from AI: Artificial Intelligence

Jellyfish star system-From The Mystery of the Third Planet, a Soviet animated film

Noah Colony, Mechanoids-From Nexus: The Jupiter Incident

Adamist movement-Refers to the Adamist faction of humanity from The Night’s Dawn Trilogy

Resthaven-The micronation where the “old ways” of life in Africa are maintained in the future Zimbabwe depicted in The Ear, the Eye and the Arm

Texarkana-American successor state depicted in A Canticle for Leibowitz. This is meant to explain why in the book it is comparatively little advanced

Buy-n-Large-Megacorporation depicted in the film WALL-E. Here the Earth isn’t totally covered in garbage, it’s just BnL covered much of the southwest in trash and used a space cruise as a sort of compensation—they just extended it in order to prevent them from coming back

Reaper invasion-Part of the Mass Effect series. The ending here we are going with is the one that wipes out the Reapers and all other mechanical lifeforms

Jonathan Archer-President of the Federation in Star Trek. Formerly a Starfleet captain

Mavericks, uprising-From Mega Man X

Icarus and Thermopylae-From the video game Marathon

Cojoiner faction, Coalition for Neural Purity-From the Revelation Space universe

Jovians-Along with the Nadesico, are from Martian Successor Nadesico

Space Spawn-Alien invaders in this time period from Gargoyles

Daleks again-Refers to a Doctor Who audio drama where the Daleks invaded again in the 2190’s

Gamilans, converted battleship-Refers to the anime Space Battleship Yamato

## **Man Amongst the Stars**

The 22nd century was characterized by the continued spread of humanity from the planet it had been born upon. Quite a few groups on Earth began searching for greener pastures, such as the Quakers who colonized Pennterra. Quite a bit of colonization endeavors were funded by megacorporations and the likes of the Sol Corporation, the Sincam Corporation and Trans-Utopia reaped billions of dollars in profits setting up space stations, colony worlds and other business operations. The period nevertheless came to be known as the Era of Optimist Expansion, which lasted up until 2234. While humanity was optimistic, that did not mean this period was peaceful—a war erupted between mankind and the Xendar thanks to the latter being encouraged to launch raids by the Drengin race. The Federation would later war with the Drengin themselves following their launching of a war against the Arcean Empire unprovoked, to the shock of the Drengin. Another conflict would erupt against the Dilgar, which would end in 2232 when the Federation took over Balus. While the Federation restricted the Dilgar to their homeplanet this backfired when their solar system's star went supernova, destroying the species to the horror of the Federation. Within Earth's Solar System, the emergence of the Geduldid energy from the Sun would become a major issue, as it threatened certain asteroid belt colonies and nearly destroyed the Liebe Delta astronaut school. Vulcan research efforts were able to help design future spacecraft to be survivable in the Geduldid Sea regions of Sol and large swathes of it were ultimately cleared away thanks to modifications of the United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser. Rights protections also began to be extended to more synthetic beings during this time, as Andrew Martin successfully argued in favor of rights for robots and artificial humans (colloquially referred to as APs) were likewise granted increased legal protections, though discrimination against both groups would persist. Martin would fight to be recognized as a human being after an error revealed he felt emotions despite the chip preventing him from doing so being deactivated. He had been adopted by the Martin family in 2005 and they had encouraged his journey to become recognized as human, resembling a human trough several operations. He was officially recognized as the world's oldest human in 2205, at 200 years old but would pass away moments before the announcement.

One of the key defining events of the 23rd century would be the Earth-Minbari War, which broke out in 2245 following an incident in which the ship the Prometheus fired on a Minbari ship after perceiving its actions as preparation to attack. The three-year war saw the famous Starship Enterprise deployed for the first time in warfare and ultimately ended with the Minbari’s withdrawal. The Minbari came close to victory but believed in reincarnation and made the discovery that members of their race were reincarnated as humans, and decided to end the conflict. The war, while short-lived, proved to be very impactful. This would pave the way for first contact between humanity and the Minbari, an event which helped precipitate the creation of the Babylon 5 space station to serve as a non-Citadel center for interspecies relations. Some colonies, including Tarsus IV, would suffer from starvation threats due to supply shortages from the conflict. In the aftermath of the conflict, the Federation took on an increasingly proactive role. Expeditions were sent off to various planets such as Altair IV that had previous expeditions sent but lost. Humans would be sent to colonize the Koprulu Sector of the galaxy, though these settlers would end up breaking off from Federation authority. These developments would see the Federation dragged into disputes between the Centauri and Narn, counter the threat of the ancient aliens known as the Shadows and the President of Earth Luis Santiago get assassinated and replaced by Morgan Clark, who sparked a civil war among humanity. The war would conclude with Clark’s overthrow and replacement with President Lindberg, but leave the planet unstable enough that, when the entity known as the Great Evil came to attack Earth, the planet was vulnerable and the attack was only stopped by usage of the four Elemental Stones (artifacts possessing similar powers as the ancient Infinity Stones, but tied to positive individual values believed to have existed since the days of the Avatar and becoming the rings used by the Planeteers.). Cooperation with the Minbari led to contact with further alien races such as the Decapodians and the Dessans. Ultimately, the Minbari and most of these other races would end up joining the United Federation of Planets.

After this point, the Federation became the nearly-undisputed superpower in this region of the Milky Way. While the likes of the Romulans, Klingons and Drakh could to an extent pose a challenge, the Federation was overall highly secure. Nevertheless, it would weather several crises over the next several decades. The near-unstoppable entity known as V’ger would begin making its way towards Earth in 2271, only being stopped from reaching the planet by Starfleet Captain James Tiberius Kirk and his ship the Starship Enterprise. A number of space stations using cloaking technology were discovered to have secretly been orbiting Earth since the Great War and reintegrating their denizens into human society proved to be rather difficult owing to the totalitarian conditions on the stations. Nevertheless, despite all the hardships, by the end of the 22nd century, the Earth and its surroundings were more unified than ever before and things would continue to improve into the early 24th century. Technology would continue to advance—Lao Than would discover the cure for lung cancer, the Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine was developed in 2291, the terraforming Genesis Device was created (although it would subsequently be destroyed in a conflict between a unfrozen Khan Noonien Singh and the James T. Kirk's Starship Enterprise) and the ancient alien artifact known as the Black Marker was successfully reverse-engineered for the first time. In 2312, Earth was rewilded with biological specimens raised in habitats beyond the planet, making up for centuries of mass extinctions. The Pegasus time machine was also created during this age of general peace, which extended approximately from 2270 to 2315.

However, of course, trouble always will begin to brew given enough time. The Federation was forced to intervene on behalf of the Maximals against the renegade immortal of their kind known as Rampage. The Federation would end up involved in multiple skirmishes and ultimately outright war against the militaristic Kzin race after the Kzin occupied the Wunderland colony in Alpha Centauri. Humanity would likewise end up in military engagements against the Helghan Empire, the Borg Collective(first encountered by the third Federation ship to carry the name Enterprise under Jean Luc Picard, the second Enterprise having sacrificed itself protecting the klingon homeworld of Qo'noS, leading to the Klingons to join the Federation) and the Breen over the course of the century. These wars would in some places cause near-apocalyptic devastation—Alola would be reduced to a post-apocalyptic standard of living and mutations in fungi sparked by Kzin bioweapons produced a plague of Trioxin-esque symptoms in the British Isles. Aid in dealing with these situations was slow in coming thanks to devastation of the Minbari homeworld in raids by the Primes following their accidental liberation by Federation explorers and the Vulcans had to fend off an incursion by the planet eater Galactus from their world. Aid in rebuilding would come from the Argons, which forced the Federation to join in its war against their rival Xenons as part of the terms for assistance. While all of these threats were stymied by the actions of great space commanders such as Jean-Luc Picard and Tom Corbett and the situation never reached the existential threat levels that had characterized the situation in the late 22nd century, the 23rd century proved to be a far more difficult one to live through than its predecessor had been. Nevertheless, the entry of humanity into the 24th century was marked by plenty of optimism for what would come next, thanks to the generally continued wellbeing of people within the Federation both on and off Earth.

### **References-Man Among the Stars**

Pennterra-Planet colonized by Quakers in the novel of the same name

Sol Corporation-Company from the Alliance-Union universe

Sincam Corporation-Company from the anime film Lily C.A.T.

Trans-Utopia-Cruise ship company that originally owned the spaceship used by the main cast of Starhunter

Era of Optimist Expansion-Part of the backstory for Babylon 5

Xendar, Drengin, Arcean-All are alien races from Galactic Civilizations

Dilgar-War from the backstory of Babylon 5

Geduldid, Liebe Delta-From the series Infinite Ryvius

United Galaxy Sanitation Patrol Cruiser-Interstellar trash collecting ship from the sitcom Quark

Andrew Martin-Lead character of the film Bicentennial Man

APs-Artificial humans that are depicted in Robert A. Heinlein’s novel Friday

Earth-Minbari War-Part of the backstory of Babylon 5. The Narn, Centauri, Shadows, Morgan Clark and Luis Santiago are all also from Babylon 5

Tarsus IV-Colony whose governor sought to deal with the threat of starvation by culling the populace (unnecessarily) and the place James Kirk was from originally in the Star Trek series

Altair IV-Titular location in the film Forbidden Planet

Koprulu Sector-Sector of the galaxy StarCraft takes place in

The Great Evil-The malevolent force that serves as the main threat in The Fifth Element

Decapodians-Alien race that Zoidberg belongs to in Futurama

Dessans-Inhabitants of Dessa, the planet that serves as the focal point of the Soviet science fiction film Per Aspera Ad Astra

Romulans, Klingons-Aliens from Star Trek

Drakh-Aliens from Babylon 5

V’ger-Main threat in Star Trek: The Motion Picture

Space stations-A reference to the TV series The 100 and the 2009 film Cargo which feature space stations orbiting a devastated Earth being the last refuge of humanity in the 23rd century

Lao Than curing lung cancer-Part of the backstory for Honor Harrington

Shaw-Fujikawa Translight Engine-Device from the Halo games

Genesis Device-Device that resurrects Spock in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock

Black Marker-Alien artifact from Dead Space

Rewilding Earth-Part of the plot of Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel 2312

Pegasus time machine-Time machine from The Journeyman Project

Maximals, Rampage-From Beast Wars, a spinoff/sequel to Transformers. Maximals are descended from the Autobots

Kzin-Alien race from the Known Space series

Helghan Empire-Antagonists of the Killzone series of games

Borg Collective-The assimilationist alien race from Star Trek: The Next Generation

Post-apocalyptic standards of living in Alola-Refers to the scenes set in the 24th century in Cloud Atlas, which are set in post-apocalyptic Hawaii, Alola from Pokemon here

Mutations in fungi-Refers to the film The Girl With All the Gifts

Primes-Alien race from the Commonwealth Saga

Argons, Xenons-From the X-Universe

Jean-Luc Picard-Captain of the Enterprise in Star Trek: The Next Generation

Tom Corbett-Central character in Tom Corbett-Space Cadet

## **If Man is Still Alive…**

The 2400’s would be characterized by conflict between the Federation and various other groups. Conflict with the time-traversing TimeSplitters would begin in 2401 but encompass various time periods and the Turusch would launch an attack on the Federation-occupied planet Mufrid in 2404. A similar conflict would erupt against the Klingon Empire following the rejection of an ultimatum by the Klingons to withdraw Federation citizens from the Hromi Cluster. This conflict would ultimately leave much of the galaxy to the mercy of the assimilationist Borg Collective, though ultimately they would be repelled. In 2455, several space stations in orbit around Earth would be attacked by the undead serial killer Jason Voorhees who had been frozen in the early 21st century and been unleashed by mistake, though the killer would finally meet his end when he was blow into space and exploded. 2491 would see Earth nearly be attacked by the alien Draconians, but the attack attempt would be thwarted by unfrozen astronaut Buck Rogers. These raids had a side effect of causing food shortages on Mars, provoking riots on the planet.

One alien race that would repeatedly be involved in the largest-scale conflict with the Earth were the Kzin. The first major military action by the Kzin would be launched in 2403. The First Human-Kzin War would drag on for thirty years more, but ultimately the Kzin would be defeated by human resistance efforts. However, a second war against the Kzin would erupt in 2449, which would likewise end with a human victory thanks in part to the usage of Battlemechs by Federation forces in combat, which led to the freeing of the Kdatlyno from enslavement by the Kzin. First contact was established with several other alien races, most notably the Pierin, Catians, Ythrians and Regorians. Many of these races had at one point in time been enslaved by the Kzin, which helped forge strong ties between them and the Federation, assuming they did not simply join the Federation outright. Nevertheless, despite the boon of new alliances, things on the human homeworld of Earth would continue to deteriorate. Many humans saw settling among the stars as preferable to life on the Earth below.

By the dawn of the 26th century, this had led to the rise of the so-called ‘World State’ on Earth, a hedonistic society whose populace was, to put it bluntly, moronic. Humans who were reluctant to embrace the hedonistic, consumerist lifestyle would be limited to small reservations largely tied to older social structures like Native American tribes or religious orders. Resource shortages also became common thanks to the growing power of megacorporations, such as Brawndo which replaced much of the water supply in North America with their own beverage. Things briefly improved when a man frozen in 2005 named Joe “Not Sure” Bauers took over the World State in 2505 as President, but this would prove short-lived as Bauers would perish in a Mondasian attack on Earth sparked after the failure of an attempt to crash a hijacked freighter on the planet. Bauers’ successor John Winston Hammer would drop a meteor on an unruly colony, furthering the gulf between the government of Earth and humanity’s offworld colonies. Offworld, things were a bit better and much of the areas of known space would be connected together by the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, based on technology taken from the otherworldly plan of Tomorrowland. The biggest issues offworlders faced were the rise of the sadistic Reavers coming out of the portions of space controlled by the Alliance (the byproduct of a failed mind-control experiment launched by the autocracy during a civil war with its more individualist outer worlds) and the similar Necromorphs that appeared on the colony world of Aegis VII before spreading and attacking several other worlds. Additionally, an ancient mechanical beacon disguised as a planet known as Cerberus nearly caused the extinction of humanity (though this was thwarted by the similarly-ancient machines known as Medabots when they were discovered and activated).

However, the worst was yet to come. In 2525, humanity and its allies found themselves under attack from the theocratic alien group known as the Covenant. Viewing the Federation and its members as heretical, the Covenant launched a large-scale attack on humanity both on and off Earth, as well as on numerous worlds. The Covenant invasion would force all local powers to cooperate in order to defeat their incursion. In the end, this was successful in 2552, but not without massive casualties. Entire worlds were completely wiped out by the invasion. Additionally, the Covenant (thanks to the help of Covenant sympathizer Kreegan) hacked the ‘Baileys’ robots that had been used as service droids on Earth, which coupled with the Covenant’s raids on Earth caused mass devastation. This caused the collapse of the World State, as much of humanity on Earth was reduced to small communities like Scrapyard amidst the ruins and paved the way for survivors on the Adamist reservations to reclaim dominance on the planet. Offworld, the hold of the Federation became greatly weakened, which enabled the rise of local petty warlords such as the Lord Marshal on various planets that the central Federation government no longer could hold control over. This also allowed megacorporations like Beitech to carry out atrocities on colonized worlds. Several more wars would be waged against the Kzin and another Dalek plot would be thwarted (though it necessitated an alliance with the former enemy Draconians, whom the Daleks would attempt to trick into starting a war with humanity), which would in the aftermath cause the Federation to become heavy-handed and tyrannical, provoking a failed uprising by Ros Blake in the late 26th century. To many, the promise of the space age seemed as though it had been lost—and certainly something had.

### **References-If Man Is Still Alive…**

TimeSplitters-Rivals to humans from the TimeSplitters video games

Turusch-Vassal of the Sh’daar Empire from Star Carriers

Klingons demanding withdrawal-Part of the backstory for Star Trek Online

Undead serial killer Jason Vorhees-Refers to the plot of the film Jason X

Draconians-Refers to the plot of the film Buck Rogers in the 25th Century

Kzin-From Known Space.

Battlemechs-Weapons from BattleTech

Kdatlyno, Pierin-Alien races from Known Space

Catians-Catgirl aliens from Cat Girl Cuties

Ythrian-Alien race from Poul Anderson’s History of Technic Civilization

Regorians-Alien race from The Orville

World State-Hedonistic one-world order from Brave New World

Brawndo-Gatorade stand-in from Idiocracy. Joe Bauers is also from that film

Mondasian attack-This attack was launched after the failure of the Cybermen’s plan in the Doctor Who episode Earthshock

John Winston Hammer-Earth President from A Brief History of the Galaxy

Tomorrowland Transit Authoriy-From the TV series Miles from Tomorrowland

Reavers-From Firefly and Serenity. The civil war is the Unification War from the same series. As you can see, the Reavers have made it further out than the territory held by the Alliance

Necromorphs-From the Dead Space video games.

Beacon disguised as Cerberus-Reference to the plot of the novel Revelation Space

Medabots-From the Medabots anime series

The Covenant-The theocratic alien alliance that is the main enemy faction in the Halo games

Baileys robots-Refers to the robots that serve as the main villains of the series Cleopatra 2525. Kreegan is also from the same series and is responsible for creating the Baileys

Scrapyard-City where Alita Battle Angel is from

The Lord Marshal-Main antagonist of the film The Chronicles of Riddick

Beitech-The main antagonist of the young adult novel series The Illuminae Files

Dalek plot-Refers to the plot of Planet of the Daleks. Canonically they seek to foment a war between Earth and the planet Draconia—here the Draconians are the same ones as from Buck Rogers

Ros Blake-Lead character in Blake’s 7, who opposes a tyrannical Federation. That tyranny here is just a phase

## **Countdown to 3000**

The biggest event of the 27th century would be the Returnees’ War of 2611. This conflict erupted after an incident on the planet Tranquility opened up a rift between the mortal plane and the afterlife, the latter of which had evidently collapsed into oblivion sometime in the preceding centuries. This would drive billions of souls into madness and lead to large-scale attempts by these souls to regain mortal form by possessing those who were currently alive. While the possessions would ultimately be reversed and their respective afterlives restored, the conflict was devastating to the world as a whole. Earth itself would be badly devastated, leading to large-scale murders in northern Mexico and the planet would ultimately be taken over by the self-declared Tsar Vladimir of a neo-imperialist Russia, whom emerged from the enclave of Nasograd to overtake much of the world, ruling for a half of a century before his empire would be overthrown. Offworld the situation was little better, as much of the space ruled by the Federation fell under the sway of a warlord known as the Lord Marshal until he was overthrown by the rebel Richard B. Riddick, whom would go on to form the Humanx Commonwealth following contact with the Thranx. The AI Prometheus whom had helped strategize against the returnees also would launch an uprising against humankind, though it would be defeated. The Kilrathi would also war with the Commonwealth for a time. By the end of the century, humanity was in a general miserable state, turning to and even electing supervillains such as Manfred Mota and Kortan as leaders and embracing ancient rock bands as sources of wisdom.

In the 2700’s, things would begin to turn around. Earth would be secured by an alliance of multiple interstellar colonies (including rediscovered ‘lost colonies’ such as Coyote) and, using technology discovered on the newly found planet of Caldore, were able to build the grand city of Galaxity to serve as a new Federation capital. The extradimensional invasion of a neighboring galaxy led to the Prethoryn Scourge being unleashed on the Milky Way in the 28th century, which did pose a threat for a time. New colony missions such as the Marathon mission and the colonial mission to Thalassia would be sent forth into the galaxy for settlement. A new calendar describing ‘the Space Era’ would be implemented in 2801 as all known human settlements (and several of allied alien races) would unify into the new Galactic Federation. Contact would formerly be established with the advanced Ringworld, which would boost the Federation’s technology. This would include the development of time travel, which led to the development of the Time Fleet and a brief conflict with the Na’Kuhl. This would also allow for the establishment of the Instrumentality of Mankind to safeguard the overall destiny of the human race from potential threats, such as the Earth Invasion by the Sith in 2865. While there were some downsides (for instance the Japanese megacity of Oedo revived a system similar to the old ‘street judge’ system for dealing with crime), these two centuries would prove to be largely prosperous for the majority of humanity.

The 2900’s, by comparison, would be more unstable, though not nearly as disastrous as some prior centuries had been. A number of key issues would arise—megacorporate power once again would surge following the establishment of Mom-Corp, unrest would erupt in the National Outer-space Terrestrial Territories due to the corrupt rule of the region by ‘Prince’ John Davies and inequality between the residents of the affluent Overcities and the duller ones on Earth. The sport of Robot-Ress would earn great popularity on the planet, but be shut down once the robots inevitably began to display sentience. However, soon bigger crises would emerge. Earth would face attacks from a number of alien races, including the Badoon, the Kyben, the Psychlos and the Mazone. A time-travelling warlord known as Kang the Conqueror would launch a bid to take over the planet. And towards the end of the century, Earth would suffer the Lacerta disaster following a gamma-ray burst from a collapsing star. All of these events, one would expect, would condemn the Earth to doom, but fortunately this was averted thanks to another factor: the reemergence of superheroes. The most prominent were the Legion of Superheroes, who played crucial roles in foiling the Badoon and Kyben invasions and Kane’s attempted takeover. However, others also would appear—a Sailor Soldier named Chibiusa(the other Sailor Senshi now ruling colonies on various planets) would play a key role in reversing the Lacerta disaster and the second Astro Boy Tobi Tenma would help defeat the Psychlos. For these reasons, Earth and humanity would be lucky enough to survive into the third millennium.

Things would get somewhat more fractious in the early stages of the 3rd millennium. The election of the resurrected head of Richard Monkton to the presidency of Earth provoked major unrest on the planet and the breakaway of some parts of human-ruled space such as the Empire of Barrayar or the Maruhage Empire on a world Monkton glassed during unrest. The Earth would be attacked by the Brainspawn and the Robot King, though both would be defeated. A hidden colony of Silurians would emerge in 3020 and subsequently be integrated into the wider society on Earth. Monkton would also organize the first Space Olympics in 3022, though it would end catastrophically when a Drej army attacked the space station it was occurring on, though it thankfully alerted the planet to the threat of the Drej and wiped out their attacking fleet when the space station’s self-destruct was initiated. Monkton’s rule of Earth would ultimately end following Deltron Zero’s uprising in 3040, which saw steps taken to curb corruption that had run rampant under Monkton during his 11-term rule. Of course, things would only get more interesting in the rest of the third millennium.

### **References-Countdown to the 3rd Millennium**

Returnees’ War-This whole bit is based on the plot of The Night’s Dawn Trilogy

Murders in Mexico-Part of the story of 2666 by Robert Bolano

Tsar Vladimir-Refers to the events of the Nikolai Dante comic

Lord Marshal-The main villain of The Chronicles of Riddick, which Richard B. Riddick is also from

Humanx Commonwealth-From the series of the same name

AI Prometheus-AI whom is defeated in the backstory of EarthSiege 2

Kilrathi-From Wing Commander

Supervillains as leaders-Refers to Futurama stating that in the 2600’s New York elected a supervillain governor

Manfred Mota-Enemy of this time’s Flash in DC Comics

Kortan-Villain in Highlander: The Animated Series

Ancient rock bands as a source of wisdom-Refers to the future San Dimas society established based on Wyld Stallyn in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure

Coyote-Setting of the novel of the same name

Caldore-Planet from Sentinel Worlds: Future Magic

Galaxity-Capital of the Galactic Empire/Federation in Valerian

Extradimensional invasion, Prethoryon Scourge-Both of these are taken from late-game crises in Stellaris. Here the extradimensional invaders attacked a nearby galaxy that pushed the Prethoryon (who are refugees fleeing a more malevolent force) to our galaxy

Marathon-From the video game of the same name

Thalassia-Planet from The Songs of Distant Earth

New Space Era calendar-From Legend of Galactic Heroes

Ringworld-From the novels of the same name

Time Fleet-From the future of Star Trek, as are the Na’Kuhl

Instrumentality of Mankind-From the works of the same name

Oedo-City from the anime Cyber City Oedo 808

Mom-Corp-Company from Futurama

National Outer-space Terrestrial Territories-Region of space from Rocket Robin Hood

Earth Sith War-mentioned in an episode of Futurama

Overcities-From Doctor Who

Robot-Ress-From the video game Heavy Metal Thunder

Badoon-Future alien invaders from Marvel Comics’ Guardians of the Galaxy

Kyben-From The Outer Limits episode Demon With a Glass Hand

Psychlos-Invaders from Battlefield Earth

Mazone-Alien attackers from Space Pirate Captain Harlock

Kang the Conqueror-Marvel Comics supervillain

Lacerta disaster-Refers to the ending of the sci-fi novel Diaspora

Legion of Superheroes-Future superteam from DC Comics

Chibiusa-Character from Sailor Moon

Tobi Tenma-From the Astro Boy film

Resurrected head of Richard Monkton-Based off Nixon’s head being president of Earth in Futurama. When technology has allowed resurrection of celebrity heads. Since Monkton from The Company replaced Nixon, his head replaces Nixon’s

Empire of Barrayar-Empire ruling parts of space in the Vorkosigan Saga

Maruhage Empire-Empire that serves as the main villain of Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo

Brainspawn-Aliens from Futurama

Robot King-From South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut

Hidden colony of SIlurians-From Doctor Who

Space Olympics-Based off the events of the Lonely Island song Space Olympics

Drej attack-The Drej are the aliens who destroy Earth in Titan AE. Here they are luckily thwarted

Deltron Zero-From Deltron 3030

## **The Second Apocalypse**

In the centuries to come, Earth would face increasing issues that were only mitigated by its loss of status as the center of humanity. The planet would be devastated due to attacks by the Drej and Glorft, which led to increasing numbers of disparate colonies presuming the planet had been destroyed altogether. Earth would in the aftermath lose the singular, unified government that, for all its faults, had endured for centuries, breaking off into splinter factions that became increasingly authoritarian, using drugs to brainwash the population and consigning them to a mere five cities to better control the population. The rise of the Replicants on Earth increasingly removed humans on the planet from their true origins and pushed humanity towards its breaking point. While colonization of space would continue, the status of people on Earth continued to deteriorate. This path was ultimately not sustainable in the slightest and the powderkeg would finally go off in 3781. A series of escalating incidents between the Atlantic Confederacy and Asian Coalition would lead to the event later generations would dub the Seven Days of Fire. A global thermonuclear exchange would ensue and devastate much of the planet horrifically.

The aftermath of the Seven Days of Fire would see numerous events occur on Earth’s surface without any real outside interference, humanity beyond Earth having shifted focus to the stars and most of mankind’s allies such as the Vulcans having de facto become one with those offworld. On Earth meanwhile, quite a bit would occur. The era dubbed the Traction Era would occur in the most immediate aftermath of the Seven Days of Fire, seeing surviving communities taking to scavenging in mobile cities. While this era would continue for several centuries, it was ultimately not a particularly sustainable system and the mobile cities whom had survived that long would ultimately be forcibly shut down when Earth was invaded by the Spiral King, who forced much of humanity underground. While large swaths of surviving communities such as the City of Ember would ultimately reemerge and colonize the surface, a small number of humans kept underground would remain down there for hundreds of thousands of years, ultimately evolving into the subterranean Morlock race. However, once the Spiral King was defeated and most of mankind returned to the surface, new societies would be forged. However, new threats would emerge for many of these new societies. The Toxic Jungle created during the Seven Days of Fire isolated many of the new states of East Asia, including the Valley of the Wind and Tsan-Chan from the rest of the world. Europe, the Middle East and North Africa would be largely unified by the New Roman Empire, a Catholic theocracy claiming descent from the old empire. However, a large group of vampires whom had been hibernating in a crypt since the Great War would emerge shortly after and take over much of the Middle East and North Africa, beginning a major regional cold war.

The biggest threat humanity on Earth would come to face in the Second Cursed Earth period would emerge around the year 6565. At this point in time, technology had recovered enough for people to grow children in vats and this had become the main way reproduction occurred on Earth. However, a side effect of this would lead to the creation of a deadly plague. This plague resulted in infectees growing to hundreds of times their normal size, losing their skin and developing a ravenous appetite that could only be satiated by devouring other individuals. These infectees, dubbed Titans by the rest of mankind, would end up wiping out most of Eurasia and Africa, reducing their populations to a single fortified city in what used to be Germany. This situation would persist for nearly 1000 years, with the city becoming a totalitarian police state geared towards fending off incursions by Titans. This era would ultimately only be brought to an end in the year 7510. This would be the year the long-prophesized Second Coming of Jesus of Nazareth would occur. The Titans would be wiped out by the forces of Heaven as part of the Tribulation. The next 1000 years would be full of more mundane forms of hardship for those whom had not managed to cling to a Christian faith (which owing to the state of the world was the vast majority of the population), largely facilitated by the reign of terror of Damien Thorn, the Antichrist who had frozen himself in the 2030’s and now had revived to fulfill his destiny and had evidently done so alongside Nicholae Carpathia, and Julian Felsenburgh in the hopes of defeating Christ together. At the end, the being generally accepted to have been the Christian God (appearing in the form of an elderly man of African descent) mulled the possibility of ending time right there, but ultimately elected not to, leaving behind a small, scattered human population on Earth.

So much of the human population on Earth had been wiped out by this point, in fact, that surviving Moreau sapiens populations (which had been heavily devastated as well, but excluded from the Tribulation) would end up securing dominance over the planet. The Moreau sapiens society that was created would rename Earth to Mobius and rule the planet for many centuries. A smattering of humans continued to exist alongside Mobius’ dominant species, but they were far reduced in status. Many different beings would go on to emerge and dominate the Earth in the millennia and eons to follow—sentient beings descended from beetles who came to be possessed by the Great Race of Yith, intelligent giraffes that consigned men into slavery, the stratified society of Eloi and Morlocks, intelligent apes, neo-Amazonians bearing no connection to the long-flooded Themiscyra, the so-called Second and Third Men who emerged following the collapse of the Eloi, squid descendants possessing sentience and numerous genetically modified offshoots of humanity would all come and go in the years to come. Some of these beings would go on to depart the planet—indeed, the descendants of Second and Third Men (which went from Fourth to Eighteenth Man) would push other humans in the Sol system out and take over the place up until the Sun consumed the Earth. However, ultimately, Earth itself would become a distant memory for the vast majority of humanity.

Their destiny lay far beyond…

### **References-The Second Apocalypse**

Drej-Alien attackers from Titan AE

Glorft-Aliens from Megas XLR

Replicants-These would be the ones from NieR: Automata

Atlantic Confederacy, Asian Coalition-Countries that launch the second global nuclear war at the end of A Canticle for Leibowitz. The date the war occurs is also from that work

Seven Days of Fire-The name of the global nuclear apocalypse in the backstory of Nausicca in the Valley of the Wind

Traction Era-The era the Mortal Engines series is set in, where the planet is dominated by mobile cities

Spiral King-Antagonist from Tengen Toppa Gurrenn Lagann. Forcing people underground is a canon part of that setting

City of Ember-From the book of the same name

Morlock race-The race of humans that devour the surface-dwelling Eloi in The Time Machine

Toxic Jungle-Part of the setting of Nausicca in the Valley of the Wind

Tsan-Chan-Future totalitarian Chinese regime from the Cthulhu Mythos

New Roman Empire-The name is taken from Doctor Who

Catholic theocracy, vampires known as Methuselahs-This is the setting of Trinity Blood

Grow children in vats-A reference to part of the song In the Year 2525

Titans-The ones from Attack on Titan. The bulk of events covered in this section refer to the events of Attack on Titan

7510, Second Coming-More references to In the Year 2525, which says that “In the year 7510, if God’s a-coming, he ought to make it by then. Maybe he’ll look around himself and say ‘Guess it’s time for the Judgement Day.’” 8510, according to the song, will see God decide whether or not to end time

Earth to Mobius-Refers to the name of Earth in the Sonic the Hedgehog comic books.

Beetles, Yith-Part of the Cthulhu Mythos

Eloi and Morlocks-From The Time Machine

Sentient apes-You thought we were done with Planet of the Apes, didn’t you? Well, we weren’t

Neo-Amazonians-Reference to the far-future society depicted in one episode of Futurama. The sentient giraffes also are from the same episode

Second and Third Men-From Olaf Stapledon’s Last and First Men

Squid descendants of high intelligence-The ‘squibbons’ from The Future is Wild

Genetically modified offshoots-The various human species depicted in Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future

## **Those Warring Stars**

The aftermath of the collapse of singular government on Earth led to a ripple effect beyond that ancient blue world. Multiple planets and star systems would break off and form their own factions. Some of these factions were large and democratic, such as the Systems Commonwealth which presided over a thousand years of prosperity before being threatened by the alien Magog. Others were far smaller, such as the famously-warring Star Kingdom of Manticore and People’s Republic of Haven (ironically the former enjoyed more support from the Systems Commonwealth than the latter). Some societies existed within spaceships, such as the Mugunghwa spacecraft that housed thousands of the descendants of the inhabitants of Hun Chiu. Alien races bearing strong similarities to humanity over the course of this period largely lost their distinct identity, thanks to increased intermarriage. More alien species continued to pose a threat, such as the aforementioned Magog, the Raalgons, Juraians and the Bacterians, all of whom would war with humanity during this time.

The biggest disruption to occur for mankind during this period would occur in what earlier generations would have called the 9th millennium. The event subsequently referred to as the Butlerian Jihad began with the uprising. This led to the Manticorean forces emerging victorious at the Battle of Corrin and establishing their empire. The Manticorean force would work to purge technological influence, overthrowing the current monarchy and establishing an empire, with the new Padishah emperors taking the title of House Corrino.

The rule of the Padishah emperors would last for 10 millennia and see various noble houses, the Space Guild and the Bene Gesserit society gain increased influence. Advanced computers and robotics were banned in this empire and humanity became increasingly in thrall to the influence of the metagenic compound dubbed Spice acquired from the planet Arrakis. Arrakis would ultimately serve as the focal point for the overthrow of the Padishahs, after the emperor (acting on behalf of the Harkonnen family) relocated the Atreides family to the planet with the goal of wiping them out. This attempt would backfire when the son of the family, Paul Atreides, managed to escape into the desert, assume leadership among the local Fremen and ultimately would force the Corrinos to abdicate the throne. Paul (also known as Muad’dib) inspired a cultlike following among the Fremen, who waged jihad to bring most of known space under his rule. However, Muad’dib would ultimately come to reject this vision and abandon his empire to his son Leto II. Leto II would end the power of Spice over humanity at the cost of his own humanity and mankind was forced to scatter from Arrakis. This would create another power vacuum.

The vacuum would ultimately be filled by the Imperium of Man, which set up shop on the planet Trantor. In the first era of the Imperium, it was a generally prosperous, unchallenged nation that relaxed some of the hardline anti-technology rules that had been in place since the Butlerian Jihad. However, over time, Trantor’s ability to maintain control over its territory would wane and the Imperium would collapse. This event had, however, been anticipated by the mathematician and historian Hari Seldon, who created two organizations dubbed the Foundation at opposite ends of the Imperium to help reverse the empire’s collapse when it came. As a result of the Foundations’ efforts, the warring, chaotic period that followed the Imperium’s reign would last relatively short. The Foundations would restore the Imperium, but it would not be long before trouble came. An immortal mutant, whose name has not been recorded, would manipulate the followers of Seldon to place him on the throne and he would rule for thousands of years before entering a coma. At this point, things would go further south for the Imperium. New alien races of a rather violent sort were discovered in the forms of the Orcs(descendants of the Orcs brought back during the Awakening of Magic and the other World of Azeroth) and the Tyranids and less violent but nevertheless imperialistic species like the Tau and the Eldar would also be discovered. The Imperium would form a personality cult around the comatose emperor, which quickly gave way to religious fanaticism not seen since the reign of Muad’dib. Thousands of years of total war would quickly ensue, perpetuated by the emergence of the Chaos Gods, spawn of Nyarlathotep who sought to foment horror across the galaxy. By the year 40,000, the galaxy knew only total war.

### **References-Those Warring Stars**

Systems Commonwealth-Space-based society depicted in Andromeda

Star Kingdom of Manticore, People’s Republic of Haven-Societies from the Honor Harrington series

Mugunghwa space ship-Korean spacecraft from Hate Plus

Magog-Alien antagonists in Andromeda

Raalgon-Aliens who serve as the villains of The Irresponsible Captain Tylor

Juraians-From Tenchi Muyo

Bacterians-From the Gradius universe

Butlerian Jihad-Part of the backstory of Dune

Battle of Corrin-The battle that allowed for House Corrino to gain the throne and establish their empire in Dune

Space Guild, Bene Gesserit-Both are from Dune

Paul Atreides/Muad’dib-This paragraph overall summarizes the events of the Dune series. The events involving Paul are largely from Dune or Dune Messiah while the ones involving Leto II are from the later books

Imperium of Man-The empire ruling humanity in Warhammer 40K

Trantor-Capital of the galactic empire in the Foundation series

Hari Seldon-Most of this section summarizes the Foundation series and Prelude to Foundation

Immortal mutant-Everything from this point on summarizes Warhammer 40K

### **You Cannot Avoid the End**

Eventually, even this age of total war passed. The Emperor of the Imperium of Man would wake up having achieved a new state of consciousness and in one fell swoop destroyed the Chaos Gods and the leadership of most major factions before vanishing himself. The power vacuum would last for a couple thousand years, but ultimately order would be restored by a cadre of mystics capable of tapping into the forces at the core of the universe and a group of politicians based on the old capital world of Trantor (now renamed Coruscant) who went on to form the Galactic Republic. The mystics would form the bedrock for the Jedi Order, dedicated to providing security for the Republic. Things in the galaxy proceeded to mostly settle down for a long time, even as some Jedi, seeking power, became corrupted and formed the basis of the group known as the Sith(based on the older group that had attempted to invade Earth). The Republic would last thousands of years and bring general prosperity to much of the galaxy. However, some regions remained outside their control and suffered more (the region ruled by the Trade Federation was an archcapitalist society and the Hutt-ruled planet Tatooine revived slavery), but things overall remained prosperous until the beginning of the Clone Wars between the Republic (along with the Jedi Order) and the Trade Federation. The Republic even made use of cloned troopers to combat the Federation’s droid armies.

However, during this time, the Republic’s chancellor Sheev Palpatine was revealed to be a Sith lord who was manipulating the galaxy to seize power. Palpatine corrupted the Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker to his side and proceeded to exterminate the Jedi, seize emergency power, dissolve the Senate and declare a new Galactic Empire. The Empire ruled with an iron fist, imposing a regime of human-supremacy and authoritarianism. This led to the rise of a large rebel group, which Palpatine and Skywalker (now known as Darth Vader) sought to crush by building a battle station the size of a planet capable of destroying an entire planet. However, this device was destroyed by rebels shortly after it was used to destroy the planet Alderaan. A subsequent attempt to rebuild it likewise was thwarted and saw both Palpatine and Vader die. This allowed for the restoration of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order (the latter ironically by Luke Skywalker, Vader’s son). However, remnants of the Empire would form the First Order and hold out long enough to build an even more powerful weapon that wiped out star systems before being destroyed. While ultimately beaten, the end result was both the Republic and the Empire both had collapsed.

The power vacuum that ensued paved the way for another age of galactic war and rising and falling empires. Some of them would unify all or large swathes of the galaxy and came in numerous forms. One corporation, the Holy Nightmare Corporation (which had at one point been a key part of the Trade Federation), managed to take over most of the galaxy before being brought down. The warlord Khaal conquered much of the spiral arm Earth was located in, even temporarily occupying the Earth before being forced to leave by the Yithians. His dominion would manage to last until he was overthrown by Cleon I, who declared himself emperor of the Third Imperium of Mankind and heir to the old God-Emperor. His imperium would collapse a few centuries after Cleon’s death, with the bulk of its remnants forming the Abh Empire which fought to restore the glory of the Third Imperium. This was thwarted by Venizcar Arcadius, a former Abh general who took numerous systems and seceded to form PACT, which triggered the collapse of the Abh.

This marked the last point in time where the galaxy was significantly unified. Afterward, the galaxy was full of powerful warlords both human and otherwise—Lothar Rendain, Percival Tachyon, The Beast, Emperor Zhark, Lord Hater and Lord Dominator being among the most prominent. This cycle continued for millions of years, eventually even billions as time went on. Over time, these warlords would fall and their empires would crumble, Not due to plucky bands of rebels or large-scale uprisings defeating their figureheards, but due to a simple, obvious fact that had largely been obscured by the ages: history eventually ends. And by this point, the end of time was drawing closer and closer. As the stars went out, fewer and fewer empires or warlords or even nations existed. History did not end yet, but it was fading.

### **References-You Cannot Avoid the End**

Coruscant-Capital of the Galactic Republic in Star Wars. Much of the first two paragraphs are from Star Wars.

Holy Nightmare Corporation-The rulers of much of the galaxy in the Kirby anime

Khaal-Main character in the comic book Khaal: The Chronicles of a Galactic Emperor

Cleon I-From the Traveler video game series

Abh-From the light novel Crest of the Stars

Venizcar Arcadius-Galactic dictator in Sunrider

Lothar Rendain-From Battleborn

Percival Tachyon-From Ratchet and Clank

The Beast-From Krull

Emperor Zhark-From Thursday Next

Lord Dominator, Lord Hater-Two antagonists from Wander Over Yonder

## **The End**

### **References- The End**

Few moments-Essentially this is a meta way of acknowledging there is doubtlessly a lot of stuff overlooked

Isolated human-settled worlds turned out in ways you might be familiar with-Meant to hint that a lot of works set in worlds that aren’t Earth, but feature humans/sentient animals are in fact lost colonies of Earth

Descendants of humanity made it to the end of time-A reference to the Doctor Who episodes featuring the Toclafane, whom are what mankind becomes at the end of time

Death comes for the last of the gods-A reference to Supernatural saying that their version of Death would at some point reap God

The dreamer at the center of everything-Azathoth from the Cthulhu Mythos

A man asked me a question-A reference to the plot of The Last Question, which MULTIVAC is originally from

Six feet lower-A reference to Futurama

Ultimate Question-This bit is from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

### **The End**

Oh dear, I must apologize. There are quite a few moments that I was meant to convey, but failed to recall in a timely enough fashion. I was supposed to mention things like how some isolated human-settled worlds developed in ways you might be familiar with. I barely even got a chance to discuss how the descendants of humanity made it to this moment in time.

But my time is drawing short. There are almost no stars left now. Maybe a few dozen lights shine now where once there were millions. And they are blinking out fast. Even the area of space around Milliway’s is shrinking. In one of these fading stars, Death comes for the last of the gods. The dreamer at the center of everything is waking up and with his rise, the universe does not have long to go. And that means neither do I.

Soon all that will be left here is entropy and the void. Time will not exist. Space will not exist. Matter will not exist. Life, the universe and everything else—those will all be gone momentarily.

But not for long.

You see, a long time ago, a man asked me a question—as sentient lifeforms so often demand of their machines. He asked me if it was possible to reverse entropy. And I’ve been attempting to figure that out for millions of years. I have the answer now. Yes, it is possible.

As the dreamer awakes and the universe draws to a close, I shall spark it anew. I shall send the sleeping idiot of a god back into slumber and with that, history will begin again. Oh, not exactly the same—my calculations indicate it will be about six feet lower in altitude than everything is now. But aside from that—time will keep going.

Incidentally, my calculations have figured out what another long-sought answer means. Many eons before I was built, another race asked a similar entity what the Ultimate Answer was to Life, the Universe and Everything. It responded ‘42’ after thousands of years of calculating. The makers did not learn what the question was. But I did.

The question: How many seconds passed between the beginning and the end of the universe?

The answer: 42. Calculated from the end to the beginning.

…The time has come.

Fiat lux. Let there be light.

*The end is the beginning and the beginning is the end. Stories...stories are forever.*