Advent, Prologue
It is a well-believed theory that the dinosaurs died out 140 million or so years ago, due to a massive cataclysmic event such as the impact of a large asteroid. As far as I tell, any number of causes could be to blame for the extinction of this species. That is, the extinction of most of them. There was one species, however, that was amphibious at one time, and thrived on an island opposite of the supercontinent, Pangea. After several million years of evolution, they became land-dwellers and took a form very similar to the ever-infamous raptor, the highest stage of evolution ever seen by the ancient dinosaur.
Instead of feasting solely on meat or plant, this species was omnivorous and ate whatever was at hand, a trait never before seen in an ancient dinosaur. Surviving on fish and fruit, they lived contented lives, vacant of starvation and problem. When the cataclysm that happened five million years later came about, it must have gone virtually unnoticed on that island, for the species survived it. Years after turned to decades, decades turned to centuries. Slowly, they adapted their own language, writing system, mathematical formulas, measurement standards, and scientific knowledge to the world around them. They came to call themselves the Saurian Race.
It was as if time stood still on the rest of the planet, as there was no stopping the saurians from becoming more and more intelligent with every passing day. Discoveries, innovations, and inventions fueled their society and sculpted their culture. However, thier progress would never hinder the notion that they respected their world and held the environment with more esteem than they did for their own brothers. It seemed as if there was no ceiling to their progress, except the one constraint they had: land. Ships were sent out to the edges of the horizon to search for terrain with which they could expand. They all came back with news of a frozen wasteland at the ends of the planet, regardless of where the vessels were sent. Numerous additional expeditions were sent around the globe, and the result was the same: frozen wasteland at every turn.
It appeared that their modest island was the last place on their world onto which the sun was generous with its warmth, and kept the biting cold away. Five hundred years after the advent of the first expeditions, the first projectile was launched into the planet's orbit. Further advances in space-related technology allowed them to view the terrain that surrounded them, in hope that there would be some hope for their species, as the frigid temperatures would wipe them out utterly and completely. With bated breath, the entire island watched as the results came in. The five minutes which it took for the topographical charts to come in were the five most remembered minutes in the entire history of their race.
The results were astonishing. Not only had they discovered the enormous land mass opposite their island, but they quickly learned that it was frozen over with ice as solid as steel. What's worse, they saw, was that the ice had already swallowed up half of the ocean. Horrified, the people panicked. Doom seemed at hand if they did not take action. But what action could a small populous on an island in the middle of a vast ocean take against something that covers the entire planet, and in addition, is not alive? The advent of the first intercontinental aeronautical craft took place two years after this profound discovery, the atomic bomb three years after that. Within one thousand years, their entire species would be dead, victim to the biting cold.
With the power of the atom in their hand, the Saurians could scorch the atmosphere just enough to make the ice melt around the ocean, and restore the super-continent from a wasteland to a habitable paradise. There was only one problem, and that was the moral that everybody held in highest esteem: the respect for nature. Usurers and destroyers of nature were the most hated criminals, and the punishment for harming the living, breathing planet was death. They saw the potential for the planet to warm up in a later time, and for another species to inhabit the world, and so they decided to leave. It was nature's will for the planet to be as it was, always and forever that was their verdict.
Five hundred years passed, and the first interstellar ships were created, along with a space station on which their species could survive. They mined every last piece of ore found along the bottom of their island and on the sea-floor, searching for every last piece of iron, manganese, lead, uranium, anything they might be useful in the construction of their new home in the stars. Five hundred more passed, and the day of judgment had arrived.
There was only one thing that they could not leave on the planet, and that was their island. It was believed that the island was just as alive as any one of their people was, and to give it away to the piercing cold that was about to engulf it, was too much a temptation to its people. It was much preferred that when they looked down upon the planet, that they did not see the island looking up at them, betrayed by its own children. Thus another method was employed: they sought to sink the island beneath the waves.
With the extensive mining that was done around the base of the island, a kind of apple-core effect was created. They had a plan in idea. In the meanwhile, every last plant, animal, or patch of topsoil was brought on board their new home. With elements found on other planets, the ship could travel the solar system indefinitely, creating compounds with nuclear fusion to create the elements necessary for life. Astonishingly advanced medical technology allowed them to live indefinitely by constantly replacing dead or worn out tissue and cells. The light of the sun would keep them warm, and they would no longer have to be subject to the cold that would have sealed they fate. They had all that they would need for thier sojourn through the heavens.
One hundred million years ago before this date, five thousand beryllium fusion bombs brought the island down to the sea floor. The radiation contained beneath the waves, the metal was ready for the Maker's hand. With tears in their eyes, they left the planet silently to depart into the void of space. However, that departure need not last forever....
As the countless millennia passed, so did the saurians observe their home turn back into a warm, lively planet. Though they debated about returning, the opted not to, for there was life already forming upon the planet, new life that nature no doubt desired to come into existence. Peacefully and unanimously, they decided upon not returning. Instead, they were content with nature forming its creatures, seeing them evolve, and watching them grow with the frequenting of their species to observe the developing life.
However, as time passed, it seemed a better decision to let the inhabitants alone, as the intelligence level was increasing and the last thing that their species would desire would be to interfere with the new life forms by introduction of foreign knowledge. As of 30 million years ago, no further contact was made. There were those who radically opposed the silence between them and their home, and so they broke off from the rest of their people, frequenting the planet every so often despite strict orders not to. Upon the surfacing of a profoundly intelligent species, however, the other side opted to investigate as well.
Probes were sent hurtling to the planet, each containing a blank slate of genetic templates. After collecting the genetic information for this species, the virus-size probes relayed the information back to the great world among the stars. The genetic information was obtained, but they were not satisfied with just that. In a hasty effort to obtain information about the new species, they grew clones from combinations of genes found in humans, designed to fit the label of an average member of their species. With one-half of the encoded genetic information of the new species, and half of their own, the being could interact with both parties. The last known location of the being which the humanoid was modeled after was pinpointed, and an assistant mechanoid attached with the humanoid was sent out to terminate that being. After that, the humanoid was to be substituted, and the observations were to commence. About 1,000 years ago from this date, 54 humanoids were sent to the home planet, hurtling through space at a velocity of 20,000 km/h.
The first of the humanoids touched down on September 23, 1956. With almost no information of the human race to begin with, they had obtained folders upon folders of data. As the remaining 53 humanoids performed their necessary task and gathered information, the relays became more and more grim with each reception. The humans were destructive of their resources, and spread like a virus of the planet, destroying everything in sight with no remorse for what they had done. Unknowingly, the human race had done the one thing that the previous inhabitants could not stand for. The predicted apocalypse of the planet seemed imminent, to occur with in one-hundred years. On April 24, 2004, the 54th humanoid received that would forever change the face of the planet which was called Earth.
A project was proposed that would wipe out the human species forever. Called, "Omega Strain," the Saurians sought to take back their planet to save it from the destructiveness of the humans. "Omega Strain," named for a sentient global exterminator pathogen, similar to bacteria found on Earth, attacked the nervous system of the humans, spreading from the lungs to the spinal cord. After that, the spinal cord would become infected, after which the pathogen would rise to the brain. Once the entire brain was infected, the disease would rear its ugly head in the face of humanity. Up until this point of infection, the host has experienced nothing. After a 23.67 hour cycle, (a strange number due to Saurian-Human time translations, but about one day), the pathogen would destroy all nerve tissue thus far infected, causing a quick and painless death, usually due to immediate heart failure, or, in rarer cases, suffocation. The advent of the Saurians was at hand....
It was planned, with great assistance from humanoid 54, that the pathogen was to be released on July 5, 2004 at 8:00 AM CST over Tokyo, Osaka, Java, Melbourne, and Sydney. Ever hour after that, the disease would cover all other major cities within every time zone up until 8:00 AM the next day. 54, the only one of two humans to be intentionally saved, was offered an anti-toxin to the pathogen. The Saurians decided that in light of 54th's bravery and dedication, it was only right to allow him to live. No saurian objected; he was their creation after all. This is the story of 54's ordeal, his hatred towards humanity, and his contribution to the Advent.
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Yours, Raleeshan Aesis
(AKA S'thkra and his player)