World of Cascadia

[Samuraidad]

Glad you like it, JB. Yeah, I should have some time tomorrow. I already have a few ideas forming about the 70s - 80s.

Hmmmm, Blue Fox as being Ocelot's Grandmother perhaps? That's an interesting idea! Blue Fox had similar powers. And it would explain Ocelot's motivation to be a hero. Intriguing.

[Jukeboxer]

For the time-being, I'm not able to commit to narrating a Supers game, so development of Cascadia is on hold. We have some more good timeline stuff that will eventually get posted here when we are ready to move ahead.

[Jukeboxer]

Wow. I can hardly believe 7 months have passed since we put this setting on hold. Enough! I guess we need to finish developing the history from the 70s to present. I believe we entered the 70s with Martin Luther King as the U.S. president (2 terms) and Vietnam resolving without US involvement. In 1976, former Vice President Jimmy Carter held the White House for the popular Democratic Party, which puts us back on a more historical track at the national level.

In Cascadia, the 70s saw the rise of Unitrex Corporation. This corporation was built on the aggressive investment strategies of a few nameless venture capitalist. As the company diversified, it's subsidiaries became regional brand names as the parent company faded into the background. The two prominent subsidiaries were:

CGA - Consolidated Grocers Association - wholesale food distribution

Orion Aerospace - they started as a avionics/component defense contractor, but found a niche in reviving zeppelins and blimps as a platform for commercial use. This sector of the business really flourished in the 80s with the development of gas converters and solar energy tech that took advantage of the large surface area of a zeppelin. Orion also brought new innovations to other facets of aerospace industry, including missile systems and pulse jet R&D. A secretive spin-off called UniTech originated from those programs.

Omicor Pharmaceuticals - As the 90s approached, Unitrex also acquired and grew a presence in the exploding over-the-counter drug market.

By the early 80s, Unitrex was a leading employer in the Cascadia metro area rivaling the long-standing companies of Donnegan Enterprises (DE) which were founded on the fortunes of the legendary B. P. Donnegan in the early-to-mid 20th century.

[Jukeboxer]

The Coming of the Karn

In February 1983, the greatest crisis in human history began. U.S. Strategic Air Command detected an unknown object re-entering the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean. The object was tracked to 23 degrees, 56 minutes North, 168 degrees, 21 minutes West - a lonely expanse of ocean between Hawaii and Midway Island. DEFCON 3 was authorized and a contingent of the U.S. 3rd Fleet was dispatched from Pearl Harbor to search the area. The USSR had also detected this event and before long the two nations were accusing each other of illegal or suspicious military operations.

Arriving at the scene ahead of the 3rd Fleet was a lone recon aircraft out of the soon-to-decommissioned naval air station on Midway. The pilot reported detection of a submerged heat signature on their infrared sensors, but without warning all contact was lost with the aircraft. The next day, the contingent of six warships began to search the area. Some floating wreckage of the recon aircraft was found and the search intensified. A Polaris-class submarine homed-in on a baffling source of noise and heat. The submarine was siezed in a powerful undercurrent - like an underwater jet-stream - and it was quickly pulled into an utterly alien construct perched on a seamount. The captain of the sub continued to transmit, describing their experience. The sub was damaged while being captured and nearly half of the boat flooded before they could seal it off. He relayed that the massive alien structure had an organic appearance that blended well with the deep sea environment. It also seemed to have many holes or vents pulsing sea water in and out. As comminications with the sub faded, the last transmission said something about huge crab-like creatures boarding the vessel as violence erupted in the background.

Notified of the loss of a nuclear submarine, President Reagan authorized DEFCON 2 for only the second time in U.S. history. A destroyer on the surface began to drop depth charges on the alien construct. The crustaceanoid aliens came to the surface to engage the 3rd Fleet and thus began Earth's first encounter with an alien race. These aliens would come to be known as the Karn.

The Karn

Subspecies: Warrior breed, worker breed and ruler breed

Sexes: Three: male, female, and a lesser known/rare third sex that helps in reproducation and care of the young

Appearance: The Karn come in a variety of shapes and sizes, but in general they have a crab-like carapace and exoskeleton, menacing pincers, and at least a pair tentacles used for finer dexterity. The Karn have a set of three eyes, with one central eye for distance vision, flanked by smaller peripheral eyes. Their eyes are usually set in sockets, but there have been reports of peripheral eye stalks in rare cases. Appearance varies between the three breeds. They average over 7 ft in height (in bipedal mode) or length (when crawling like a lobster). This, again, varies between breeds. The warriors are the largest, preferring bright, solid colors (which seem to denote rank) on their shells. The workers are smaller and don't seem to have colors. The rulers are the medium in size, and are the most colorful preferring vibrant mixes of colors and symbols that accompany them.

Disposition: The Karn, as a race, are very territorial and aggressive, and are, after all aliens...so their ways of looking at things are going to be odd, if not just plain imperceptable to humans. Their immediate view of humans is disdainful finding humans repulsive, barbaric, and bizarre. Their plan is simply to claim Earth's oceans - and hence Earth itself - as their own.

Background: The Karn are an aquatic species and can breath underwater and in an open atmosphere. They also have the ability to adapt to Earth's atmosphere (which is actually slightly more oxygen rich than their homeworld). and have over populated their homeworld and are running out of resources, so they have taken to the stars out of necessity and despeartion. Both the warrior breeds and the worker breeds are subserviant to the ruling class. All Karn connect through a hive mind which is actually done through a form sonic communication that is imperceptible to human senses.

Karn: Technology, is quite advanced and is largely biological in nature. Their starships are essentially bio-netic organisms that share a symbiotic relationship with the Karn. These ships are able to attain near light speed (but not exceed). Karn have a variety of weapons including aqua-jet type weapons, but also take pride in the use of melee weapons which have a rich tradition in their culture. Particularly striking are their war walkers, which are essentially Karn mecha with larger armament.

[Jukeboxer]

The Great Karn Invasion

Fortunately, the first group of Karn to arrive in the Pacific in 1983 was presumably an expeditionary group, sent to evaluate the conditions on Earth for a permanent colony. Their numbers were estimated in the dozens. Nonetheless, the battle at sea lasted for a couple days, before the aliens decided to pull-out. The Karn bio-tech ship was apparently hobbled, but they were still capable of reaching escape velocity.

A much larger Karn Invasion came in 1987, with enormous capital ships descending on major cities around the world. This invasion brought many superheros together in an unprecedented global effort to protect Earth at all costs. The Karn had not dealt with super-humans or nuclear weapons in their previous visit, so this must have come as a surprise. Arguably the most powerful superhuman of the time was Novos, a Russian atomic paragon who had once been estimated to reach atmospheric flight speeds of Mach 15. During this conflict he also exhibited space flight amongst his array of powers as he took the fight to the Karn mothership in orbit. The world's most powerful superheros banded together with a dazzling assortment of abilities and powers that surprised the Karn invasion force. The media labeled them "The Pinnacle Alliance", who's efforts, combined with all the firepower that human race could bring, were enough to turn-back the Karn before they gained a foothold, or so we thought...

The Pinnacle Alliance quickly disbanded as life and geo-politics returned to normal, but based on this precedent, the Pinnacle Initiative was established for the eventuality that a global super-team would again be needed. The unifying effort of this battle with extra-terrestrial invaders, spelled an early end to the Cold War.

In 1990, Karn sightings and skirmishes were reported again. Apparently, the aliens had left groups behind, deep in the oceans, where they had been preparing for a more subversive campaign against Earth's stewards.

[Samuraidad]

Hey JB,

Two words: LOVE IT! I really like the rounding out of how the corporate build up/predominance occurred. I really dig how the KARN are infused into the mix. And hey, I get my zeppelins! I'm happy.