[Max Darkness] The Fall of Humanity (Redux 1 of 3)

[Max Darkness]

This was possibly my first set I came up with (I can't remember); but I've now reduxed it to fall into line with my often-erratically told version of human history.

 

[spoiler=Backstory (The Short Version)]

After amassing a huge empire spanning almost half the galaxy, the Confederacy of Man faced a problem greater than all the alien forces could muster. Themselves.

On Earth, in-fighting broke out among the once-proud city-states. Warships once used to quell alien resistance to the imperial regime were now called to rain destruction on the very people that had created them.

In the resulting civil war, the empire collapsed and the conflict came down to a personal level. Several starships fought alone as different crews' nationality drew them to fight with their home city. Many pairs of cities fought, ignoring the others completely.

Eventually, enough damage was done. As the last remaining humans fled Earth, the guns fell silent and disappeared beneath the fog of war. Over time, the ruins of humanity were consumed and the cities fell to the ground.

All but one. One surviving city lasted; its inhabitants mutating to survive in the new, polluted world. This last stronghold became known as 'DarkCity'.

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Backstory (The full, well-written Version "A Voyage of Unwanted Discovery")]

 

Written from a future perspective of the events. I'm trying to improve my writing skills, so feedback on this would be appreciated.

 

I had found the audio-record in a scrap dealer’s yard a couple of years before. However, it was only when the Captain offered to decode it for me that I learned anything from it. Of course, decrypting ancient technology came at a price. In return for the information stored on the device, I had to accompany the Captain and his crew to a less-visited star system in which my knowledge of ancient civilisations would be useful.

It was a journey of several weeks and during that time, I learned a lot from the little device. It turned out to be an audio and text storing machine, designed to keep a record of events past. Here I shall recount what I learnt from that ancient piece of technology.

On the first day of the voyage, once we had broken orbit, the Commander and Engineer introduced themselves. The Commander was an elegant woman, probably in her 30’s; while the Engineer was a balding male. We conversed about our different careers in the Operations Room during which I asked about our destination.

“The Umbra System? I’ve been there once, but it was only a fly-by.” Said the Commander.

“And, what was it like?” I asked expectantly.

“It was like everyone said its like. It’s a completely barren system. There are three planets that once supported life, and a completely exhausted field of asteroids and comets. The main planet is called Umbra and there’s nothing there.”

“So, why are we going there?” I queried, rather confused.

“Because there’s nothing there; but only to the untrained eye.” Answered the Engineer. It’s the third planet that is truly interesting. He gestured to a three-dimensional display of the planet.

“As you can see, the atmosphere is completely toxic, full of smog, poisonous gasses and vaporised metals. But; if you look closely (at this point he changed the display to a different read-out), there are energy readings. And they are defiantly artificial. So there’s something down there. We just don’t know what.

“So that’s why I had to come along...” I suddenly realised. “You think that the device I found has information on the civilisation that lived on that planet.”

“We don’t think. We know.” Continued the Engineer. “We ran a chemical analysis of it. It comes from that system.”

“So how do we decode this thing?” I asked.

“We’re working on it now. It should be done by tomorrow.” Replied the Commander.

With that, I left to see the Captain, hoping he could shed some more light on the mysterious system we were to enter. I found him in his office, analysing the same map the Engineer had shown me. He looked up when I entered.

“Ah. There you are. When we reach the Umbra System, we’ll head for the third planet and enter orbit here.” He pointed to a location on the Western Hemisphere, on the eastern edge of a large continent.

“It’s here that the energy readings are the strongest, so it seems like a good place to start.”

“Indeed.” I replied.

I retired to my cabin until the morning where I headed to the Communications Centre. Here they were decoding and translating the alien technology. The first piece to come out of the computer was a list of historical events, starting almost 1000 years ago, in 2600. I returned to the Operations Room to study the list.

 

“2600. First Hypercities appear. Population soars.

2642-2667. Skirmishes between major cities lead to worsening relations between the largest cities.

2669-2718. As the cities become more independent, individual countries are destroyed and each city becomes its own state.

2750-2850. Rise of the Megalopises, cities with populations in excess of 1000 Million.

2860-2940. Continued war between the city-states over resources begin to destroy and pollute the atmosphere.

2950-3120. As resources run scarce, the city-states become desperate and find more ways to produce power to sustain themselves. However, the inefficiency of these methods renders the atmosphere unbreathable.

3120-3125. City-states unable to shield themselves from the toxic air quickly collapse. Death toll rises into the billions.

3125-3130. The remaining city-states become increasingly hostile towards each other.

3130. World War breaks out between the city-states.”

 

“And that’s where it ends.” I spoke, disappointed, wanting to know the outcome.

“What a way to go.” Said the Commander, cynically.

“It’s not too different to some other species we’ve seen destroy themselves.” Spoke the Engineer.

“Well, at least we now know they destroyed themselves and it wasn’t an outside force.” Reasoned the Captain.

“Forgive my asking Captain, but you can’t be going for military finds. After all, the technology will be almost half a millennia out of date, so it’s not going to be useful. And the atmosphere will have destroyed all bio-mechanical life. So what are you going for?” I asked.

“The reason we’re going to this system is to find artefacts that we can sell. The things we’ll find will be almost unique, we’ll be rich once we’ve found them. We just need to find them.” He replied, smiling.

“I see. I’ll tell you if I find anything else.”

It was several days before the computer and I was able to uncover another section of the data. This was a personal log entry, dated 3132. It read:

 

“August 21. The war has got steadily worse. This conflict has stopped being a world war and has become many small wars. Many pairs of rival cities are clashing, leaving others alone. Other, more ambitious cities are attacking all the others, with the hope of destroying them in their weakened state. Although this may work, many cities have been destroyed by the backlash. Alliances are constantly changing. I no longer know which cities mine is allied with. Perhaps it is better not to think about it. This war will destroy us all just the same.

Missiles and shells continually rain down. But they are not the main enemy. No, it is the starships that now bombard our cities from orbit or from the sky, unseen. I read once that in the past, we designed our fleet of starships to explore and discover; but now they have become corrupted like everyone else and rain down death without mercy. I wonder how long I will live.”

 

I sat down, slightly dazed. Reading the log was different to reading the history. This was personal, from someone who was now dead; and who had experienced this apocalyptic event. An event that destroyed his home and everything he knew. I wondered whether it was he who had put together this device as a way of preserving the memory of his people, but I concluded it was too early for such musings.

 

***

 

Over the next week, I found more log entries from the same man, spread over a few months, from the end of 3132 to the beginning of 3133. During that time, I found he had almost been killed twice by enemy airstrikes; had had his home destroyed; and discovered his family had disappeared. It was surreal, reading these experiences. We were separated by almost 500 years, but sometimes it seemed they had happened the day before. Of course, the ship’s crew were only interested in information that could lead them to riches, so they ignored me as I studied the logs. A pair that truly caught my eye follows:

 

“March 15. Only a few cities remain. The death toll is in the hundreds of billions. Never before has death been this prolific. The armies of the cities have been decimated. Very few have any forces left and those that do are using them to sustain their own existence. Society as I knew it is dead. The army has formed a militia that enforces its rule with executions and terror. I always attempt to avoid the main routes.

As I scavenged for supplies this morning, I came across the ruins of a library. In the remnants of the building, in a section that hadn’t collapsed, I found a heavy and old-looking book. Captivating me with its antiquity, I brought it home. It contains a theory that everything on this earth was linked to one event. A conflict in the ancient past. The book puts the date as 20,000 BC and chronicles how two un-named races fought over the planet.

One was good, the other evil. After the conflict, it was the remnants of these societies that dictated our actions. When there was war, the evil race exerted more influence; and when there was peace the opposite was true. I wished to read more, but fading light prevented me.”

 

“March 16. I continued reading the book I found yesterday. After the initial conflict, the author wrote about the legacy of the two races. The benevolent race’s ancient cities eventually became three great cities, who conquered the world, but peacefully. They however, were destroyed by the malevolent race’s evil which took many different forms.

The good race’s power returned later with the birth of the phoenixes seen in the Middle Ages. It was an intriguing theory, but many elements seemed too fantastical to be true. Plus, I have more important things to worry about.

With the war drawing to a close, and only a select few cities still standing; I have to decide whether I stay here and try to survive, or I attempt to leave and face a hostile galaxy. Truly, I am caught between a rock and a hard place.”

 

“Found anything yet?” The Commander’s voice broke me out of my trance.

“Nothing you’d be interested in.” I responded dryly.

“You mistake me for a pirate and a mercenary. My father was like you, so I’ll listen to you.”

“Well, what I’ve found is a series of personal log entries written during the conflict, after our historical list ran out.” I started. “And it shows that the conflict was a drawn-out, very self-destructive one, with sides constantly changing and large numbers of fatalities.” The Commander opened up one of the later log entries, and grinned.

“What?”

“Well, here you have a man whose life could end at any minute, but he’s fascinated by a book that he found. I don’t know whether to feel contempt or respect for him.”

“Well I respect him. He showed remarkable resilience to the dangers he faced.”

“Fair enough. Just to let you know, the Captain’s getting a bit annoyed. It’s been over a fortnight and you’ve found nothing of interest, at least in his view. You’d better find something, for your sake.”

“I’ve decoded over half of the data, and I predict at least another 20% will be these entries; because I think I’ve found a personal recorder, used to preserve memories of the person who put records into it. I think ‘useful’ information might be a little thin on the ground.”

The Commander simply glanced at me before turning away and walking out, not saying a word.

 

***

It was four days later that I came across data that would save my skin, along with more, fragmented logs. It appeared to be tactical data, most likely ripped straight from an available database or the computer core of a damaged starship. It contained diagrams of different battleships, named “Daemon”, “Despoiler”, “Fafnir” and “Invincible”. Since there were only four, I concluded that they were the only ships to survive the war. I informed the Captain and he was interested in my work for the first time since the second day.

“So, what are they?” asked the Captain.

“My guess, they’re warships that ended the war. Or at least survived until the end.” The Engineer replied.

“Is there anything that can help us?” The Commander queried.

“Actually, they might be the key.” I said.

“How so?”

“This analysis shows that their hulls and systems were very advanced for their time, and the logs seem to indicate that they were still in orbit as the conflict ended. They might still be there, and they’ll contain a lot of information that would be useful to us.” I continued.

“Very well. Use the long-range scanners to search for any trace of those ships.” The Captain ordered.

 

***

It was during the day before we reached the system that I uncovered the most striking logs yet. Due to unknown circumstances, a lot of the logs were damaged or missing, and so I did not have a complete picture of what had happened. But this latest find was to prove decisive.

 

“January 7. A large number of people have attempted to flee, either to space or the irradiated wastelands; both are as hazardous as each other. The army is losing its grip, simply because more of the city is destroyed by raiders, residual munitions or the acidic fogs that sometimes appear. I wrote some time ago that the book’s theories were too outlandish to be believable. However, my view has now changed.

As I walked through one of the more habitable sections of the city, I looked up and saw what appeared to be a young boy. On closer inspection, I saw he had wings and numerous markings on his body. As I stared, he turned to face me. When our eyes met, I was filled with fear. He simply sneered at me, as if hating my very existence. I called out to him, but he ignored me. I then moved on.

I next saw him two days later, in a similar position. This time, he seemed to be waiting for me. As I walked past, he spread his wings and swooped down to my eye-level. Again, the irrational fear overcame me. He smiled a sadistic smile and spoke slowly.

He told me of the ancient conflict I had read of; of the Forgotten, the Malevolent and of the great cities of Agartha, Lemuria and Atlantis. He said that he was a member one of the ancient races and was happy. When I asked why, he responded that the darkness had finally conquered the light. We were finally fading into the shadows that the Malevolent had borne. With that, I hurried home.”

 

“January 28. I am leaving. I have secured transport on one of the last vessels leaving this planet and I shall be on it. I am filled with mixed feelings. I will miss my home, but not what it has become. This may be my last entry.”

 

“So sad, and so moving.” I thought as I sat back in my seat and contemplated what I had read. Here where the experiences of one man in a global conflict, but he seemed so significant; as if he were a pivotal figure. I left the computer to do a final analysis as I went to sleep, ready for the day ahead.

 

***

 

It was ‘midday’ when we entered the Umbra System, and it was a horrible sight to behold. Around all the inner planets were rings of debris; rocks, starships, other mineral waste. All the planets had green-grey clouds for atmospheres, although large amounts of smoke and dust created black smears that streaked across the cloudscape.

“Right! Today’s the day we get rich!” cried the Captain, excitedly.

“We’ve scanned the remaining vessels; and we’ve worked out that the best way to get to the source of the energy readings is to take a shuttlecraft. We can’t teleport, the smog could interfere, with fatal results.” Said the Engineer.

“Okay, you and I will take the shuttle and scout around and see what we can find. Commander, you take care of the ship.” He then turned to me. “Try to keep out of our way until we bring something back.”

“I will.”

The Captain and the Engineer then proceeded to the shuttle-bay while the Commander headed to the bridge. I returned to the Operations Room to find the computer had decoded one last log entry, hidden until then. It was dated 3175; over 40 years after the other entries. I thought it would be a different person, but that was a foolish suggestion and I read it anyway.

It detailed one last trip back to the man’s home planet, the one we were now in orbit around. As I read it, I became more and more apprehensive. It seemed the planet was now home to unimaginable monstrosities and twisted machines; all developing from the ruins of the former civilisation. At the end, it contained a warning. A warning never to return to this planet.

After a few minutes, I ran to the bridge to tell the Commander.

“Sorry, but I’m rather busy at the moment to be talking about your 500 year old mystery man.”

“You said you’d listen. So please, listen.” I replied.

“...Alright, what is it?”

“This.” I said, presenting the log’s transcript. It definitely caught her attention as she asked one of the lower-ranked crew to contact the shuttle and call it back. The Captain refused until he had seen the energy source for himself.

We listened nervously to the Captain and the Engineer as they touched down in the shuttle, and headed out in environmental suits. We heard a few remarks about localised power surges and seemingly moving energy bursts before a mechanical screech pierced the com link. As we recovered all we heard was screams and cries of pain from the ambushed men.

The last log revealed this planet’s long-forgotten name. This planet was not Umbra. And the energy source had a name. The planet was Earth, and the source was DarkCity. We had discovered a nightmare. 

 

 

 

 

[spoiler=Effect Monsters]

 

Effect: This card cannot be Special Summoned. This card returns to the owner's hand during the End Phase of the turn that this card is Normal Summoned or flipped face-up. This card is also treated as a "Terran" monster. If this card is destroyed by battle, or by your opponent's card effect while it is a Monster Card, equip it to a monster your opponent controls during the End Phase of this turn. A monster equipped with this card cannot declare an attack, cannot be tributed, and its effect(s) are negated.

 

 

Effect: When this card is summoned, Special Summon 1 "Terran Airship "Lightning"" from your Deck in Attack Position. As long as you control a face-up "Terran Airship" monster, this card gains 400 ATK. If this card is destroyed by battle, inflict 500 damage to both players.

 

 

Effect: When this card is summoned, Special Summon 1 "Terran Airship "Helios"" from your Deck in Attack Position. Once per turn, you can pay 1000 Life Points. If you do, this card can attack your opponent directly. If this card does not attack during your Battle Phase, inflict 500 points of damage to your opponent during your End Phase.

 

 

Effect: This card is also treated as a FIRE monster. When this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent, your opponent discards 2 cards from their hand. If this card is used as a Synchro Material Monster for the Synchro Summon of a non-"Terran" monster, the Synchro Monster returns to your Extra Deck during the End Phase of the turn it is summoned.

 

 

Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by Tributing 1 face-up "Terran Military Scouts" and 1 other "Terran" monster on your side of the field. This card is also treated as a WIND Machine-Type monster. Once per turn, you can look at the top 3 cards of your opponent's Deck and rearrange them. Once per turn, select 1 of your opponent's face-down cards and guess its card name. If you guess correctly, remove the selected card from play.

 

 

Effect: This card loses 100 ATK for each "Terran" card in your Graveyard. Once per turn, during your End Phase, you can Tribute this card to Special Summon 1 "Terran Vigilante" from your hand or Deck.

 

 

Effect: This card is also treated as a Pyro-Type monster. This card returns to your Deck during the End Phase of the turn it was summoned. If this card is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Special Summon it during your next Standby Phase.

 

 

Effect: Once per turn, during your Main Phase, if you control this monster, you can equip it to a Spellcaster or Warrior-Type monster as an Equip Spell Card, OR unequip the Union equipment and Special Summon this card in face-up Attack Position. While equipped to a monster by this card's effect, the equipped monster gains ATK and DEF equal to the original ATK and DEF of this card. The monster equipped with this card can attack your opponent's Life Points directly by reducing it's original ATK by half. (1 monster can only be equipped with 1 Union Monster at a time. If the equipped monster is destroyed by battle, destroy this card instead.)

 

 

Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except when a "Terran Warship" monster you control is destroyed or by the effect of "Terran Exodus". As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent cannot select "Terran" monsters as attack targets. This card is destroyed when a "Terran Warship" monster is summoned.

 

 

Effect: This card cannot be Normal Summoned or Set. This card cannot be Special Summoned except by the effect of "Terran Citizens". This card can attack twice during your Battle Phase. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, each time you draw 1 card from your Deck, your opponent discards 1 card from their Deck.

 

 

Effect: This card is treated as a Normal Monster while face-up on the field or in the Graveyard. While this card is face-up on the field, you can Normal Summon it to have it be treated as an Effect Monster with this effect:

- Once per turn, you can discard a number of cards from your opponent's Deck equal to the number of cards on your opponent's side of the field. If you do, discard 3 cards from your hand.

 

 

Effect: When this card is summoned, destroy 1 face-up non-"Terran" monster on your opponent's side of the field. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all Synchro Machine-Type monsters gain 500 ATK.

 

 

Effect: Once per turn, pick up 1 card from your Deck. Depending on the type on card picked up, select and activate 1 of the following effects:

- Normal Monster Card: Your opponent discards 1 Monster Card from their hand. - Effect Monster Card: Destroy 1 face-down card on your opponent's side of the field. - Spell Card: Switch the battle position of 1 monster your opponent controls. - Trap Card: Destroy 1 Level 6 or lower monster your opponent controls.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Synchro Monsters]

 

Effect: 1 "Terran" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

This card is also treated as a FIRE monster. Once per turn, you can discard any number of cards from your hand. If you do, your opponent discards an equal number of cards from their Deck. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, all "Terran" monsters gain 300 ATK and lose 300 DEF, including this card.

 

 

Effect: 1 "Terran" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

This card is also treated as a Warrior-Type monster. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, your opponent cannot attack with monsters with 1000 or less ATK. When this card is destroyed by a Level 4 or higher monster, Special Summon 1 "Terran" monster whose Level is equal to that of the attacking monster.

 

 

Effect: 1 "Terran" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

This card is also treated as a WIND Machine-Type monster. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, once per turn, you can guess the type of card that is on top of your opponent's Deck (Monster, Spell or Trap). If you guess correctly, the card is removed from play.

 

 

Effect: 1 "Terran" Tuner + 1 or more non-Tuner monsters

When this card is summoned, Special Summon 1 Level 5 or lower "Terran" monster from your hand or Deck. Once per turn, during your Standby Phase, Tribute 1 Machine-Type monster on your side of the field. If you do, this card gains 1000 ATK, until your End Phase. If you do not, this card cannot attack during your Battle Phase.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Fusion Monsters]

 

Effect: "Terran Warship "Daemon"" + "Terran Warship "Fafnir""

This card cannot be destroyed by battle. (Damage calculation is applied normally.) Once per turn, Special Summon 1 Level 8 or lower Synchro Machine-Type monster from your Extra Deck. (This Special Summon is treated as a Synchro Summon). The summoned monster is destroyed during your End Phase. This card loses 150 ATK for each non-"Terran" monster on the field.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Spell Cards]

 

Effect: Discard 1 "Terran" monster from your hand to activate this card. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, during each of both players Draw Phases, put 1 Terran Counter on this card (Max. 5). "Terran" monsters gain 200 ATK and DEF for each Terran Counter on this card. If this card is removed from the field, it is returned to your Deck.

 

 

Effect: Discard 1 "Terran" monster from your hand to activate this card. As long as this card is face-up on the field, each time you inflict Battle Damage to your opponent, put 1 Terran Counter on this card (Max. 5). During each of your opponent's End Phases, your opponent discards a number of cards from their Deck equal to the number of Terran Counters on this card. If this card is removed from the field, it is returned to your Deck.

 

 

Effect: Discard any number of cards from your hand. Special Summon an equal number of "Terran" monsters from your Deck in Attack Position.

 

 

Effect: Discard 1 "Terran" monster from your hand to activate this card. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, each time you summon a "Terran" monster, put 1 Terran Counter on this card (Max. 10). When this card is removed from the field, your opponent discards a number of cards from their Deck equal to the number of Terran Counters on this card. If this card is removed from the field, it is returned to your Deck.

 

 

 

[spoiler=Trap Cards]

 

Effect: Activate only when a "Terran" monster on side of the field is destroyed. As long as this card remains face-up on the field, each time a "Terran" monster on your side of the field is destroyed, put 1 Terran Counter on this card (Max. 5). When this card is removed from the field, Special Summon a number of "DarkCity" monsters equal to the number of Terran Counters on this card from your hand, Deck or Graveyard.

 

 

[ragnarok1945]

this time I'm not going to bother reading the long hand story because it'll take up too much time.

 

Every picture/effect/OCG is perfect, they all look balanced out and well fit into the short story version, so I'll give you 10/10 for it

[justinanders]

i like it 10/10

[Max Darkness]

this time I'm not going to bother reading the long hand story because it'll take up too much time.

 

Yeah, I picked up on the fact some of the backstories were getting too long. So from now on, I'm doing a short version alongside the actual one in each of my threads.

 

Thanks for the rates.

[WTF]

i like the idea then the cards