LEGACY
And God said: “Let Us make man in Our image—after Our likeness—and him have dominion over all the Earth.
But when man—when we—abused our commission, Earth was taken from us.
We thought we had mastered ourselves—learned everything there was to know about who we are.
…but we were wrong.
We inadvertently created a virus that corrupted our DNA.
It turned man into animals.
Into monsters.
Legacy is a group of stories—a super series, if you will—that explores the aftermath and rebuilding process of the human race, the ultimate goal being to reclaim Earth. Yet in the aftermath of the first inter-species war, humanity was forced to flee the Milky Way, entering a completely unknown galaxy.
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The series follows different characters in vaguely connected sagas. This isn't a group of loosely connected books that string together in a sprawling series, but rather a group of series that belong to the same universe.
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The plan is to make a number of discrete, semi-self-contained series that cater to different interests; think of it as an anthology of tales in the same universe, though instead of short stories, they are entire series.
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Here are those stories:
THE SETUP
Dalen III, the planet where the J.P. Starwind series begins
(Art by me)
SCIENCE FICTION
Like most science fiction, Legacy is centered on science, technology, and the glories or horrors of the future. What happens when the level of human power begins flirting with the infinite? —where, by today’s standards, individuals have access to technologies that any reasonable person would think could ensure happiness?
Yet what are the consequences?
When people have a virtually infinite amount of energy and matter at their fingertips, no one goes hungry, certainly, but what about the downsides? Legacy is a universe where technology offers infinite possibilities?
But not all those possibilities are good.
What happens when everyone has all of their physical needs met immediately. What are the spanning sociological ramifications of mass instant gratification? What happens to social interaction when everyone has the ability to simulate their own personal paradise? What happens when those people, self-isolated and alone, fall victim to those who prey on their predictability?
What of a race that can literally create new worlds to dwell upon? —one than can dismantle black holes and dismantle galaxies? What happens when that type of technology is turned to war?
UIG-X1, the galaxy where Legacy takes place
(Art by me)
MR. J.P. STARWIND
THE STORY OF
The J.P. Starwind series is one that focuses on a group of travelers approximately 500 years after mankind flees Earth. This will be the first release in the Legacy series and takes its inspiration from the series that first got me into science fiction in the first place: Outlaw Star. It also is heavily inspired by works such as Redline and Firefly. The series holds to the accepted tenants of the space western genre, a somewhat difficult endeavor, given the level of technology in the Legacy universe.
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Corporate powers battle for supremacy in games of advertisement, investment, and espionage. The pragmatism of the modern battles the wisdom of old when the old ways are questioned. Tensions rise as the New Humanity Initiative threatens to break with traditions honored for by The New Earth Imperial Order for the sake of human survival.
And as all this occurs, something monolithic prowls beneath the surface, tendrils of influence affecting everything.
This series follows J.P. Starwind and a group of unlikely allies as the mystery unfolds, all triggered when a ship that has been hiding in plain sight reveals itself as Legacy, an artifact ship of the old world.
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The current plan is to release this series in the form of novella ebooks on amazon. A link will be provided here when the first novella comes out.
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If books can be thought of as movies or movie series, this string of novellas would best compare as a TV series, with many more, shorter episodes.
THE STORY OF
MR. ACE WOLVERMAN
The Ace Wolverman series follows a group of “free thinker” hackers in a setting where computing is utterly alien to our own. While infinite resources ensure computing power is accessible to virtually everyone, the corollary is the inherent security concerns. That is where the thinkers and free thinkers come into play.
Humans have an unparalleled capacity for “inherent thinking,” whereby the mind governs the things that don’t need to be individually processed and groups them into larger wholes. People don’t have to think about triggering every fiber of a muscles to make the whole move—let alone worry about balancing the force on each; a computer would.
It is because of this principal that humans are hired by corporations, using their minds as a form of cyber security. And the more powerful the mind—in any of a plethora of different ways—the better the security. Most minds are linked together, forming a networked dream engine to protect an entity’s assets, while more skilled minds drive the whole. The best minds can act like guardian angels to their employers.
But not all talented minds are interested in protecting corporate and government data.
About 1,600 years after humanity flees Earth, Ace Wolvermen and his group of free thinkers are seeking to crack New Tokyo, a world with nearly 18 billion occupants, the majority of whom work cyber security. While the job starts off as one for personal gain, a secret is uncovered and the group finds themselves weighing risk and greed against curiosity and humanitarianism.
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The plan for this series is similar to that of J.P. Starwind. I'll begin working on this with intent to publish once the J.P. Starwind is established and the audience is ready for more in the same universe.
Concept render of Legacy's main engines, for use as reference in later art
(Art by me)
Syloria Prime, I, II, and III, planets and moons of interest in the main series
(Art by me)
THE STORY OF
MR. ADAM YOUNG
The Adam Young series is peculiar in that it is the only series that takes place primarily before humanity departs Earth. This series follows a group of scientists that investigate a natural disaster in the making, a foreign object of unknown origin impacting the moon and gradually devouring it.
This series is intended to be a shorter one, focusing on the discovery of the technology that becomes the foundation for everything humanity later develops. Initially, it deals with the crisis of having all our moon-based colonies destroyed as the moon implodes, but the focus then shifts, centering on how the way of life on Earth changes when we gain access to infinite power and matter.
This is also slated for a novella-based release, to be started after the previous two have begun.
VARIOUS OTHERS
The current list of stories is by no means exhaustive. For instance, I plan on releasing stand-alone novellas and short stories, the contents of which vary. One deals with A.I. and consciousness, while another pertains the initial foray into teleportation. The list isn’t endless, but, like human history and it’s plethora of curios, there are a lot of little things that can be explored.
THE MAIN SERIES:
THE STORY OF
MR. ANDREW REYNARD
This is the “main” series, the one that focuses on humanity’s attempt to get back to Earth. It follows Andrew Reynard, a boy of but 11, who wakes from stasis 1,700 years after the Battle for Earth to a world where everything he knows is gone.
He is a messiah—prophesied to usher in the return of humankind to Earth—though the whole situation is a bit overwhelming, admirers everywhere, assassins lurking in the shadows, and everyone with power attempting to influence him. He goes into hiding with a war priest from The Order for his own protection, learning in an isolated monetary before eventually deciding his path should take him to the Reynardian Naval Academy, the primary military learning institution of the Reynardian Legion, a military sect created hundreds of years before with the sole purpose of protecting him.
This is a longer series and the closest to a traditional series of books in the Legacy universe. I plan to start this series—restart, as a bit has been written for a while now—once the others have been written. I want to cultivate a similar feeling in the audience as would be present in the characters.
Imagine if Harry Potter had been written after a number of other books that had taken place in the wizarding world, all of which having hinted at the “Dark Lord” that no one wants to mention and the then missing “Boy Who Lived.”
Perhaps it is a bit pretentious, but I think the effect will be wonderfully enjoyable to readers, that sense of “finally” coming after years of waiting, within a universe by then well understood that has been pointing toward it subtly the entire time.
ANOTHER ANGLE:
“ARMADA”
Armada is a game concept I have been toying with. It is set in universe as a learning tool that will be present in the Reynardian Military Academy: a simulation where the Earth, rather than the moon, was destroyed in the 2116 Lunar Event. The user assumes the role of an early stage A.I. tasked with rebuilding humanity with limited resources.
As a 4X game, the player will control the remnants of the human race, deciding what to shunt to automated control and what to directly manipulate.
Yet it isn’t like any other 4X game.
Ships, weapons, and systems need to be designed from the ground up. Military doctrines need to be fabricated. Economies need to be designed.
Then again, some of that might not interest you. Perhaps you want to have a military sub-A.I. handle your combat while your focus on the layout of conveyors in a factory ship. Perhaps the economics bores you and you want to focus on politics and social issues. Maybe you like optimization, designating everything from when more widgets need to be produced to when fighters need to retreat from combat.
The idea is to give unprecedented control to the player, while simultaneously giving them the ability to automate; it can be anything from complete control to sit back and watch. The ideal way to play, however, would be with a group of friends, each specializing in their own interests. The strategy oriented one might be commanding a battle, while the more tactical one is heading a boarding party. The micro oriented friend might be designing a new factory, while the macro one might be deciding how to use the space those new, more efficient factories generate.
I’m looking at games Starcraft II and its polished tactical play and subbing in Factorio for its resource gathering. That would be too much of one person to handle, perhaps, but in a team vs. team scenario where some like to build and others like to fight, it is a cross-genre project where players of different arenas can create teams with radically different skillsets.
And it wouldn’t just be those two games, either.
I look to everything for inspiration—Cities: Skylines as liable to mashup with Factorio as Starcraft II. The possablities are staggering. Furthermore, like it would be for the Reynardian Military Academy cadet simulation it seeks to emulate, this game would be “educational,” all the physics accurate and technology sound (if futuristic).
All told, this game is one for the future. It is fun thinking about, however, and I think mentally developing it over the next several years in the forums will lend to a better final product when I have the money, connections, and “star power” to make something like this actually happen.
Writing books—even with art—is one thing, but a game is a team job.
Concept render of Legacy's exterior, interior, and gravity cannon
(Art by me)