Out of Obscurity -- Chapter 1

After milleniums of conflict and violence, humanity
had finally come to terms with its mortality and put
aside those petty conflicts which had divided man
since before the first days of recorded history. I
wish this were true... unfortunately, it is not.
Humanity had not finally evolved into a species set on
prosperity and peace... but instead was thrust
forward, onto the galactic stage like some unwitting
child in a Shakespearean play. Humanity found itself
unable to comprehend the epic in which unfolded about
them, much less come to grips with the role they were
destined to play.

In the year 2010, the curtain was drawn, and the stage
had been set. An uninvited and unwelcome visitor had
arrived from afar, bearing "gifts" of technological
advancement. They asked for nothing in return, other
than to remain. They were few, a few thousand humanoid
creatures... yes they were those funny little grey
men, with the long heads, small bodies, and big black
eyes. They did not impart upon us any galactic wisdom
or knowledge of the universe about us, they just
educated our scientists on the advanced designs of
their civilization.

No other information was imparted. They never revealed
where they were from, who they were, or why they came
here. All they asked, was to be allowed to colonize
the continent of Antartica, as it was the only place
on Earth that was close to their home world.

To ease the fears they knew humanity had of them, they
helped the global powers develop the apporpriate
weapons, and allowed the militaries of the planet
earth to destroy all but one of the space craft they
arrived in. They only asked to keep one of their
colony ships, but they did not explain why.

In the span of two years, humanity advanced 1,000.00
years technologically. In fact, many philosophers
speculated that humanity would never have reached such
heights alone, and that we were destined for
extinction on the third rock from the sun, all alone.

But that isnt quiet the case... for some reason, our
Antarian friends decided that we we deserved to eat
the fruits of their toil. I suppose you can say, those
philosophers are wrong, and they can eat sour grapes.

Humanity now had at its hands a myriad of technology
never imagined before. Up until this time, it was a
massive undertaking to place a man on the moon, and
almost a pipe dream to place a man on mars. Now, the
governments of the world came together and were able
to develop, at a fraction of the cost of the previous
space fleet, massive Frigates, Destroyers, Light
Cruisers, Cruisers, Space Stations, Satellites, space
bound figher planes, drones, mines... and many other
achievements unknown before.

Our understanding of spacial anomolies... well... no
longer anomolies, they are now well understood. Our
understanding of Physics and AstroPhysics had been
blasted into the future. Two worm holes (vortexes in
space, invisible to the naked eye, that are skewed in
the space time continuium to connect to locations that
would other wise be light years apart) were found to
be located in our Solar System. The advances in
technology provided us with "Quantum Engines" to move
get to these worm holes. Our advancements in sensor
technology gave us the ability to see clearly across
the solar system, and locate worm holes.

One would imagine that such sudden advances would have
either plunged humanity into immediate chaos, or caused
an instant state of nirvana. There were no longer any
excuses for hunger, poverty or inequity. The new technological
advances had increased efficiency of manufacturing and
recycling more than %10,000. 100 acres of land was now
able to feed 1 million people, with no fear of despoiling
the land. As crazy as times after "contact" may have appeared,
humanity adapted to it rather well. Many technologies were
withheld from the public... most being reserved for "military"
application.

The world leaders met together to realise that for the first
time in the history of human kind, it was time to unite all
people under one banner. Although this goal was lofty, it
came about slowly. The United Nations was over hauled to
oversee the projects related to space exploration, and the
colonization of distant worlds. A global tax was implimented,
requiring each of the worlds nations to contribute 10% of
their gross domestic product to fund the expansion of humanity
into space. Each nation was given a minimum of one seat on the
United Nations Council of Space Governance, with additional seats
being awarded to nations based on the total percentage of the
"Global Resource Fund". This "Space Council" as it was called, had
elected to it an Executor to guide initiatives, and direct Space
military activities.

Military Training academies were set up in Europe and North America,
and each of the contributing nations were delegated to provide officers
to this fleet, in order to insure its nuetrality in Earthly affairs. The
selection process of nation, gender, and race nuetral. Only test scores
were considered for entry to the academy, not education level, as
to prevent elitist elements from specific countries from controlling
the prestigious officer positions. All the education that was needed
was given at the academies.

The first ship to come out of our shipyard was the USS
Andor, a "Frigate Class Starship". It was an amazing
ship that held 80 crew members. Its design was highly
guarded, controlled by the US Government. Amazingly,
this new frigate could reach Pluto and come back in
less than two months. There is still no means to go
faster than light, but with wormholes, that is no
longer necessary.

The first steps were the colonization of the Solar System, renamed into the
Antares system after the guests who have given humanity such great gifts. Humanity
was about to step onto the Galactic stage in ways that they could have never
imagined, with consequences only known to the Antarians.