Past and Present

It was not by accident that the three species, human, jun-ila and kikoku, were brought together. The humans called it the Overlord, the jun-ila, the Creator Above, and the kikoku, the Great Guardian - all names for the same mysterious alien ship. Each species had stories of their ancestors lost in the depths of space, of being rescued by the vessel, and of being delivered to worlds prepared for them. Many of those stories had since fallen into myth and legend, or lost entirely to time.

The alien ship seemed to watch over them, appearing infrequently, but never interfering. After space travel was re-established, it would vanish in a flash of light if anyone dared approach. It would sometimes appear during a conflict, at a distance, or be observed flying off to some part of a star system.

Some say the aliens are from the future, many believe the ship is a divine being or its crew divinely guided, and others think their ancestors were not lost but pulled there by the alien for some sinister plan. Their worlds were terraformed, they know that much, but over the course of a hundred thousand years prior to their arrival. They were expected by the aliens, but how is the great question asked by scientists, theologians, and skeptics alike.

Answers never came. Since the humans, the last of the three, arrived two thousand years ago, the three species had encountered each other, nations had risen and fallen, formed alliances, fought wars, and had expanded into nearby star systems. They had rebuilt their societies from the small seeds of unexpected colonists into empires of billions. The alien ship was a constant in the new chapter of their civilizations, an unchanging and seemingly eternal mystery, but stoically silent throughout all the trials and tribulations they each experienced.

Six years ago, the Patapsco War was fought between the most powerful human and jun-ila nations; the human Colonial Providence, and the jun-ila Iliamalori Grove. It was as much of a war of grievances as it was a war of possession.

The original discovery of the system was a venture of Edwin Patapsco's exploration team, funded jointly by the Colonial Providence and Iliamalori grove in an effort to forge better relations. Patapsco found the nexus point that lead to a system comprised of three large gas giants and a few minor worlds only one of which was barely habitable. Shortly thereafter the expedition ran out of money and the system was written off as poor for development.

A decade later, a small survey team came across a surprising discovery in the Patapsco System. Nearly a hundred moons orbiting the gas giants, largely ignored by Patapsco's team, were habitable defying all expectations. Peculiarities in the magnetic fields of all three planets that help the moons avoid severe radiation exposure, geosynchronous and geostationary orbits inside of safe zones, and other strange aspects of the gas giants turned their moons into a treasure trove of exploitable territory.

Almost instantly a rush of colonists, primarily from the Colonial Providence and Iliamalori, descended upon the system in a desperate grab for land, with the original Patapsco charter forgotten or ignored. Since the charter only provided for split ownership of habitable planets, moons seemed to be fair game for whoever staked a claim. Over forty years, more and more colonists settled on the moons while the human and jun-ila governments tried desperately to reach a compromise.

Grievances between the colonists for everything from resource rights, piracy, terraforming disputes, and anger over the continuing failure of the governments to reach an agreement eventually forced the nations into war.

The kikoku, who only ever had a small presence in the system quickly consolidated their holds onto four of the moons and fiercely guarded them as the war raged around them. The Colonial Providence eventually won but they ultimately conceded half of the moons to the Iliamalori hoping to end the dispute once and for all. Conflict continues to plague the Patapsco system but the relations between the Colonial Providence and Iliamalori Grove have improved, if only slightly.

This is where the story begins...

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