The Course of the War There were many great battles between the Alliance of Free Stars and the Ur-Quan and their Hierarchy of Battle Thralls. Both the Alliance and the Hierarchy built hundreds of asteroid forts all across the spiral arm of the Galaxy. Only a small fraction of these fortified positions, and the colonies and mining bases that surrounded them, survived the fighting. As the war spread, new alien races were drawn into the conflict until finally there were 14 separate species at war. On the Alliance side there were the Earthlings, the Chenjesu, the Yehat, the Mmrnmhrm, the Ariloulaleelay, the Syreen, and the Shofixti. Fighting with the Ur-Quan were the Mycon, the Spathi, the Androsynths, the VUX, the Ilwrath, and the Umgah. By 2134 it was becoming clear to both sides that the Ur-Quan and their Hierarchy of Battle Thralls were slowly but surely winning the war. Captain Burton’s Discovery On March 16, 2134, Star Control Captain I. Burton, a highly respected 28-year old female Earthling, was leading a task force of heavy cruisers on a deep recon into what was believed to be a friendly sector near the Zeeman-Vela star cluster. Burton was brilliant and beautiful, with wide-set deep blue eyes, a white, even-toothed smile and silky straw-colored hair. She also had a figure that turned heads, even aboard a warship hurtling through deep space. She had just taken a navigational star fix when the ships from Earth were suddenly ambushed by an elite force of Androsynth Guardian combat vessels. The Androsynth ships had been modified for extended blazer mode, giving them increased speed and range. The task force was cut to shreds and only Burton’s vessel, the Tobermoon, escaped immediate destruction. Knowing the Tobermoon could not outrun the Guardian ships, Captain Burton engaged in a desperate ploy to save the ship and crew. Fear crinkling the corners of her deep blue eyes, she warped her craft toward the heart of Zeeman’s Star, a nearby supergiant sun. She had a desperate plan, a last ditch ploy she prayed would confuse the pursuers’ sensors. The bridge crew began to panic as heat in the cabin climbed to oven-like temperatures. Two enlisted men finally broke under the pressure and came for Burton, terror in their eyes and sweat pouring down their faces. But the captain had guts as well as beauty. She drew her sidearm and held the mutineers off, gaining the precious minutes she needed. Finally, the cabin temperature now nearing 150 degrees Fahrenheit, she judged they were close enough to the titanic star for her plan to work. As the Tobermoon’s outer hull began to liquify, Burton jettisoned the ship’s entire stock of nuclear missiles and detonated them. From the Androsynths’ perspective, the vessel they were chasing had exploded when it flew too close to the superhot sun. As the Androsynth task force warped out of the system, a severely damaged Tobermoon slowly emerged from its hiding place behind Zeeman’s Star. Burton ordered a damage report. As she’d suspected, the craft sustained severe damage. Worse, the ship’s engineers informed her they couldn’t make repairs without a planetfall on a world with a breathable atmosphere. Like most supergiant stars, Zeeman did not have any Earth-like planets in orbit around it. The Tobermoon limped through space for almost a week before Hyper-Radar reconnaissance located a hospitable planet orbiting the dwarf star Vela. The planet was called Vela II, and it proved to have both an oxygen rich atmosphere and deposits of metal ore the humans could refine and use to repair their ship. After a successful landing, Burton ordered the engineers to begin repairs. She sent the rest of the crew off to explore their surroundings. It was only pure chance that a young ensign chose to enter an unremarkable cave in a nearby hillside. What he found within the cave was the most remarkable discovery of the century - a huge underground installation, the size of a small city, built in the distant past by an extinct race known only as the Precursors. The cave was massive, over 2500 meters long and averaging 50 meters from floor to ceiling. Off the main tunnel were countless side passages and hidden niches, almost all crammed with futuristic equipment and hundreds of long-dormant robots. Halfway down the main gallery, a deep crevasse sliced across the tunnel floor, evidence of a tremendous prehistoric earthquake that had offset the adjoining walls by more than ten meters. Over the centuries, water trickling into the cave from the planet’s surface had carried countless minute traces of calcium carbonate that settled out as lime. As the limestone sediment built up, the deposits covered much of the Precursors’ wondrous machinery with a smooth 14 coating called flowstone that was now five to ten meters thick in places. Artifacts of this powerful and technologically advanced alien species had been found in every quarter of known space. Yet this was the first time an entire Precursor base had been discovered. Captain Burton recognized that the wealth of advanced technology could bring the Alliance victory over the Ur-Quan - but only if scientists could be brought to Vela II to study the fantastic find. Realizing that the surrounding region of space could fall under the control of the enemy at any time, Burton accelerated repairs to the Tobermoon and rocketed back to Earth at emergency warp speed to report her findings to her superiors at Star Control. Within a week, the Tobermoon was on the return leg to Vela II, crammed full of hastily assembled scientific equipment and experts on both the Precursor’s civilization and their advanced xenotechnology. Expedition to Vela II The most respected but least liked Precursor expert in the expedition to Vela II was Professor Jules Farnsworth. The professor was well known for his formidable intellect and his extensive knowledge of the Precursor civilization. Though recognized as a great mind, Farnsworth was also widely disliked for his flamboyant egotism and rude impatience with peers who did not hang on his every word. The man was simply impossible to work with for anyone with a modicum of self-respect. It wasn’t long before both his fellow scientists on the mission and Captain Burton rued the decision to bring Farnsworth along, for the professor did little but complain during the voyage from Earth to Vela II. Yet, as irksome as he was, Professor Farnsworth proved his worth almost immediately upon his arrival at the Precursor installation. Within hours he located the base’s deactivated central control computer. While the professor worked feverishly on the ancient aliens’ computer, Captain Burton received a fateful message from the Star Control High Command. As feared, the Ur-Quan had smashed through the defensive lines drawn between the Mira and Indi constellations. Star Control reconnaissance ships reported that a large Hierarchy task force was hurtling toward the Vela star system. Captain Burton was ordered to evacuate all personnel from Vela II and return to Earth immediately. Burton’s heart beat like a hammer in her chest as she read the rest of the message. Star Control was paranoid that the Precursor’s advanced technology would fall into the hands of the hated Ur-Quan. To prevent the Hierarchy from obtaining these ancient secrets, Burton was ordered to install nuclear devices throughout the Precursor installation. Once the Tobermoon was in orbit, she was to set off the weapons and destroy the entire complex. The non-military members of the Vela II research team were stunned by the order. Destroy the most significant discovery of the century? It was unthinkable! Professor Farnsworth was especially distraught for he was in the middle of several critical research projects that promised to unlock ancient Precursor technical secrets. In an uncharacteristic display of courage, Farnsworth offered to remain behind, promising to detonate the nuclear bombs if the Ur-Quan found the Precursor caves. The majority of the other scientists and engineers also asked to stay on Vela II and continue their research. Finally, Captain Burton was persuaded that saving the treasure trove of advanced Precursor technology was more important than obeying a direct order from the High Command. Still, she didn’t trust Farnsworth to det-onate the nuclear bombs should the Ur-Quan land. She decided the only logical thing to do was to remain behind herself. On August 11, 2134 Captain Burton gave over command of the Tobermoon to First Officer Chi, with orders to leave the star system immediately. He was to return to Earth at best speed and brief the High Command on the expedition’s desperate attempt to save the Precursor installation. Chi promised to return with a relief party and supplies as soon as the Ur-Quan attack was repulsed. After the Tobermoon had lifted-off, the team quickly moved all their equipment deep into the cave system and obscured all signs of their presence from the planet’s surface. Now, if an Ur-Quan reconnaissance ship scanned the terrain, Vela II would appear uninhabited. The weeks turned into months as Captain Burton and her team of 200 waited for the return of the Tobermoon. Marooned After six months in the caves, food reserves grew critically short and Captain Burton imposed strict rationing. Professor Farnsworth found a data bank in the computer memory describing Vela II’s flora and fauna. Burton felt her spirits soar as Farnsworth pointed out several plants and animals that could be harvested for food. The most likely sources of meat were the red-brown Libixx, animals that looked like winged rabbits, and the six-legged Ortogs, 2,000 pound beasts with pendulous udders that resembled a cross between a cow and a lizard. Both had cell structures, internal organs and flesh remarkably similar to mammals on Earth. The Precursor data also indicated that several plant species - especially the giant blue-flowered Iccamullon - had the same proteins, sugars and starches as crops humans had been raising for centuries. Captain Burton assigned teams to hunt wild animals and harvest food plants, allowing them out of the caves only under cover of dark for the first year they were there. Then, gradually as the years passed, the marooned Earthlings grew confident they were safe from discovery by the Ur-Quan on this out-of-the-way little planet. They began to see themselves as colonists and most moved out of the caves to settle on the surface. Still, with Captain Burton prodding them, the humans remained cau-tious, building camouflaged houses and planting crops in purposefully chaotic patterns. Eventually they gave their planet a name: Unzervalt. It meant, simply, "our world." Ten years slipped past, marked by the deaths of a dozen colonists from accidents or old age, and the birth of 42 children. Several of the scientists had now become full-time farmers. Others fabricated old-fashioned bullet-firing rifles and disappeared into the Unzervalt wilderness, appearing months later clad in Ortog skins and bursting with tales of strange landscapes and even stranger life-forms. Farnsworth’s Breakthrough After more than a decade of hard work, Professor Jules Farnsworth announced with considerable fanfare that he had finally succeeded in unlocking the secret of the Precursor Control Computer. Without Captain Burton’s permission - indeed without even knowing what would happen - Farnsworth commanded the computer to initiate its prime function. The resulting near-disaster almost got the professor put in the stockade. Suddenly, the immobile machinery within the cave roared to life. Huge electrical arcs shot between massive electrodes, incinerating a wooden storage shack. Robotic vehicles began tearing across the cavern floor along pre-programmed paths - paths which led them right through several man-made buildings. A 30 meter tall crane-like machine detached itself from one wall and swiftly rolled through the cave, nearly crushing a group of panicked scientists. It was a miracle that no one was killed in the ensuing chaos as humans fled the caves in terror. The next day, robotic vehicles emerged from the cave, and cut down a nearby forest. They levelled the ground, covered the surface with some kind of metallic plastic, and then returned to their cave. Bronzed from the Vela sun, her straw-colored hair pushed up under her commander’s cap, Captain Burton led a squad of volunteers back into the caves on a cautious reconnaissance mission. Inside the main cavern, the squad came upon the robots assembling the spine of a huge ship - a starship! Although the robots clearly knew the humans were there, turning to focus benign scanners on the volunteers several times, they obviously did not consider the Earthlings a threat. Captain Burton decided it was safe for humans to return to work in the caves, so long as people kept out of the robots’ way. Days later an abashed Farnsworth was finally coaxed back to the Precursor Control Computer to continue his research. Almost immediately, the professor discovered two significant facts. First, the construction process would soon transition out of the caves and assembly of the starship would continue on the planet’s surface. Second, as far as Farnsworth could tell, the construction was going to take a long time. The "long time" that Farnsworth predicted turned out to be nearly a decade. The colonists grew accustomed to the framework of a great starship looming above their tiny village. Day after day, a hundred robots moved across the surface of the vessel, welding and fitting, assembling and fabricating. Then one day, without warning, the construction robots stopped work and returned underground. They assumed their original positions in the cave and shutdown completely. The cave was exactly the way the research team had first found it - silent, motionless. A flustered Professor Farnsworth frantically asked the Control Computer for an explanation, and got an immediate answer. There were not enough raw materials left to finish the vessel, nor were there suitable substitutes any-where on the planet. A week of tests by Burton and her team proved the ship was complete enough to blast off from the surface of Vela II. But it would have to cruise slowly through HyperSpace, lightly armed, and with only enough room for a skeleton crew. There was another problem. The controls for the vessel were not designed for humans. It became obvious from the interior layout of the starship that the Precursors were giants, and seemingly not bipedal. Levers were almost impossible to move, three people were required to actuate a single switch, and the chairs, beds and other furnishings were better suited for a wooly mammoth than a human. Some kind of automated control system was needed. After mulling over the problem for several days, Captain Burton decided that the only answer was to remove the Central Control Computer from the cave and configure it to run the ship. Surely Professor Farnsworth knew enough about the Precursor com-puter system to give it whatever commands were necessary to take the ship back to Earth. Despite vehement protests from Farnsworth, the Captain ordered the Precursor’s computer installed in the vessel. After 20 years marooned on Vela II, the colonists were at last ready to return to Earth. Or were they? Pressed to begin programming the computer, Farnsworth broke down and admitted he didn’t have the foggiest idea how to do it. It turned out he had never understood the incredibly complicated system. Instead, for years he had secretly employed the natural computer talents of a precocious young genius. This gifted child, now a young man, had been born on Unzervalt - the son of an officer from the Tobermoon and a Research Team engineer. Each night, after Farnsworth left the Control Computer console, the young boy had crept into the caves and tinkered with the computer. Within a few months, the child had established a rapport with the computer far beyond anything Farnsworth had accomplished. When the Professor discovered the boy’s nocturnal acti- vities, he used gifts and phony promises to win the child’s confidence, then talked the young genius into activating the entire complex. This time, the Captain did throw the Professor into the stockade. Then Burton called the young man into her office and proposed a plan. She would command the starship, and he would serve as pilot, acting as the interface with the starship’s Precursor computer. With trepidation, you accepted. The Return to Earth After 3 months of intensive crew training, Captain Burton felt it was finally time to leave Unzervalt. You weren’t so sure, weren’t entirely comfortable with your new role as a starship officer. Burton listened as you expressed your doubts, then put an arm around your shoulders and reassured you. You’d make a fine pilot. She’d trust a ship to you any time. Besides, all the plans were set. The two of you would lead the return to Earth, and once there send back a rescue ship for the colonists left behind. If necessary, Burton vowed, you would fight your way through the forces of the Ur-Quan Hierarchy. You, above all, will remember that trip, for during the journey you went through a rite of passage. You left Unzervalt a boy and soon found yourself forced to be a man - to lead bravely and boldly and wisely. Think back. Do you recall the exhilaration of blasting off from the tiny planet where you were born - and the sheer terror later? Three days out, as you approached the perimeter of that cursed Oort Cloud, you found the Tobermoon - derelict and tumbling through space. The deep burns along her hull were mute evidence she’d seen combat. And lost. The discovery was, of course, a great shock to Captain Burton. Unconsciously she chewed her bottom lip, and for the first time her handsome face showed the awful strain of the past twenty years. She’d been engaged to Captain Chi. Through two decades she’d clung to the hope she’d see him again, kept alive the dream they’d shared of marriage and children and a life together. Now the dream was shattered. She knew he was gone, even though there was no body to mourn over. Strangely, there were no bodies at all on board. And most of the important ship systems were intact. Do you remember how Burton wondered, tears brimming in her blue eyes, if Officer Chi and the other crew members had been taken prisoner? How her words conjured up a picture in your mind of the Earthlings being tortured - their ordeal provoking mirth in the soulless Ur-Quan. With a few days work, the engineers brought the Tobermoon back to life. What came next changed your life forever. With Captain Burton the only one aboard qualified to pilot the Earth Cruiser, you were put in command of the Precursor starship. Admit it. Standing on the bridge - those epaulets the grieving but bravely smiling Captain Burton pinned on gleaming from your shoulders - you felt proud, sure of yourself. Hey, truth be told, at that moment you thought you were invincible. Your confidence didn’t last long, did it? With the Tobermoon leading the way, you and Burton pushed your ships out into HyperSpace - the parallel dimension where distances are fantastically compressed and interstellar travel feasible. Blazing white flashes surrounded your vessels and everything took on a crimson hue. Something up there wasn’t right. Remember? Your body felt like it was in a vise and your head was spinning. You fought for control, forcing yourself to focus on the soft voice of Captain Burton radioing a command from the Tobermoon: “Set course for Earth.” A day later - you think it was a day, but now, looking back, you can’t be sure - a sinister shadow began following you through HyperSpace. It moved fast, real fast. Within a couple of hours it had approached close enough to interact with your ship’s hyperdrive field, pulling you both back into TrueSpace. At close range, the enemy ship looked like a pair of spinning red globes surrounded by a crackling energy field. Some kind of glowing rod or energy beam connected the red globes. The alien craft built up speed rapidly as it zeroed in on the starship you commanded. Burton saw the attack coming and signalled you to warp out of the area immediately. A moment later you watched on your command console monitor as the Tobermoon flashed away on a trajectory to intercept the alien ship. As you pushed up into HyperSpace, you saw a crackling bolt of energy lance out from the alien vessel and strike the Tobermoon. Burton’s craft wobbled violently, then veered off on an erratic course in the general direction of Unzervalt. The Alien craft was apparently satisfied with disabling the Tobermoon, for the strange ship made a 180 degree turn and rocketed at warp speed toward deep space. Once your starship reached HyperSpace, you radioed the Tobermoon, only to learn that Captain Burton had been killed by the alien’s unexpected attack. You felt sick to your stomach. Then you wanted to punch the bulkhead. You’d been half in love with Burton, you knew that now. Life stunk! Captain Burton’s death left you in full command of the mission to find Earth. You navigated the Precursor starship back on your original course, your mind swirling with all that had happened. A terrible doubt overtook you, gnawing at the edges of what had always been your strong self-confidence. Could you pull this off? You, a son of Unzervalt, born in a cave, raised on Ortog milk and Libixx meat. You, a man who’d never set foot in a university, never had formal space flight training beyond the crash course from Burton? You’d taught yourself everything, learning from reading computer programs and watching how engineers and scientists did things. The question ate at you now; had you been both a good teacher and a good student? Good enough at both to prepare you for the awesome task that lay ahead? Time would tell. And time did tell. Five days after the alien attack you arrived at a stellar vortex leading out of HyperSpace. Your scanner showed the vortex spiralling down to a brilliant yellow star. You knew at once that this was the great star that had given life to your ancestors, the star your Earthling progenitors called the Sun! You warped down out of HyperSpace and took a navigational fix. You were just beyond the orbit of the ninth planet of the yellow star. Earth was the third planet out from the Sun. With all thrusters on, you can reach the blue planet in two days. A horrible thought flits across your mind. Had the Ur-Quan broken through the Alliance defense lines and attacked your ancestral home? Was there devastation? Had the cities been obliterated by nuclear weapons and the survivors left irradiated mutants, genetic freaks roaming the ashen landscape like primal apes? You’ll know in 48 hours.