The Eternal Dawn
The Undying Dawn | |||||||||||||
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History
The Adharan Schism created two blocs-one moderate, allying with the secular government and then with PACT, and one extremist, which hijacked the long-range exploration ship The New Dawn and left, with its fabricators and rapid-growth systems, ready and waiting to return one day. But they would need to take a few stops along the way, to bolster their strength, to create their armies, and to advance their technology. The slowship took five years, with a then-current database of colonies.
Although a few of the exiles wished to keep going into the Rim, the majority of them were set on finding a stopover point on the edge of unexplored space, a point where they might eventually turn into the first step of their vengeance. Searching for a backwater colony which they could exploit, they chose the colony of Gimlet, and landed their vessel on the far side of their moon, deploying its fabricators. Enhanced exowombs, mind-imprint units, and fabricators produced ready-made soldiers by the batch, waiting for the invasion time.
Gimlet and the Invasion
The colony of Gimlet had been created from a "failed" Longshot, a colony eking out a small safe zone in the middle of a hell-forest, where the predators and biotoxins were no less dangerous than the environments of many hell worlds. In fact, many would have said more dangerous, since radiation is predictable, but a tiger-sized octopod with serrated poison blades, 360 degree multispectral vision, and multiple redundant organs isn't, not in attacking, in territory, or in even dying when shot repeatedly. Even with advanced technology, battlesuits, and armored vehicles casualties were not unexpected as they tried clearing the brush. On the other hand, it created a very hardened group of colonists.
It was rather insufficient when the attacking force screamed through their meager ground-to-orbit defenses, depositing flash-cloned soldiers trained by accelerated VR and mind-imprint, as well as hardened veterans of the Adharan Schism onto major population centers. Despite that, the Gimlet colonists, used to a hard life and a bloody conflict, fought back quite well, but they were outmatched, technologically as well as training-wise. The survivors were forcibly assimilated, enhanced and loyalty-boosted to serve under their new overlords. However, the invaders were not precisely cruel-those who were loyalty-boosted were allowed to become fully serving citizens in the new world order, the Undying Dawn.
The then-Adharans found themselves in control of a world that fitted their ideological preferences-a world where to be king, every man had to be grossly superhuman. The predators there were fast, tough, cunning, often worked in packs, and devastating. The atmosphere was poison, the water tainted. It lacked an ozone layer. It might have been more beautiful than Adhara, but the planet still had plenty of teeth.
And that was exactly how the invaders liked it. A planet that would challenge them, test their bodies to the limit, force them to build better ones.
The Undying Dawn
The sect chose a new name instead of "Singularitan", a name that would hopefully reflect their devotion to the path of continual cybernetic enhancement. Their inspiration came from the vessel that was supposed to be Adhara's first outward light, its salvation during the Breakdown. They would have their salvation-one day.
The Undying Dawn was born on the planet, which they rapidly renamed Rebirth. The Dawnies ventured out into the forests, sometimes to hunt, other times to be hunted. They built and expanded, landing the New Dawn on the planet, allowing the vessel to grow into its new capital city.
Rebirth
The fauna on Rebirth is unlikely to be naturally occurring-many of its adaptations are exceedingly complex, and most of the animals lack legacy code that would imply natural evolution. Even though the higher radiation levels from the blue sun and the lack of an ozone layer and weaker magnetic field make the radiation levels higher and evolution quicker, it's doubtful that something as hostile like this could be natural. It might have been precursors, or an unknown xenosophont, or something altogether more obscure, but few believe it could have been natural.