The IX: June 2016

Sunday, June 5, 2016

The IX Series - World Building - Part 12

Hello Again.

Hopefully, by now you'll be getting to know Exordium quite well. As you no doubt remember from last week, we zoomed in on Origen, the only major continent to grace the once beautiful world that was reduced to nothing more than a dust bowl by the advent of the Horde.

Those who have read Exordium of Tears know that most of the action takes place on the Elvetine Peninsula, a place where Arden's top scientists established the CIART

(Cosmological Institute of Advanced Research and Technology)

Do you remember the brief description given in the story when our adventurers first touched down on the plateau? Here it is again:

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Their landing site was once the quadrangle of the facility, occupying a huge open space in the center of four main buildings. Freshly downloaded plans from Exordium’s database showed them to include a laboratory and teaching wing to the north, with a combined astrometrics and deep-space observatory overlooking the plains to the south; an impressive administration block to the east and even larger habitat/recreation center, due west, completed the setup.

The Ballarat had dropped them off fifteen minutes ago, and Mohammed had been keen to make his way to the power plant some four hundred yards beyond the campus precincts: If another override net-link existed inside, the legion’s task would become much simpler.

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You no doubt imagined what this facility looked like in your own minds?

Well, here's something to help...
(And don't worry about the size. Just click on the image and it will enlarge)

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When the task force first lands, they have to take control of a small power sub station just south of the peninsula. Then, after five of the six cave mouths are sealed off, and all three sinkholes mined, the Legion moves in through the most westerly entrance to engage the Horde Masters underground.

Meanwhile, Mohammed and the Special Forces team head up to the CIART to commence their assault of the main power station just beyond the precincts of the facility.

Once again, you'll see a few details that never make it into the story...(Free of charge)
hee hee.

What comes next? - Ah you'll have to wait for Prelude of Sorrow for that...but rest assured, it will be worth the wait.

The IX

Roman legionnaires, far from home, lost in the mists of
Caledonia.
A US cavalry company, engaged on a special mission, vital to the peace treaty proposed by Presidential candidate Abraham Lincoln.
A twenty-first century Special Forces unit, desperate to
prevent a nuclear catastrophe.
From vastly different backgrounds, these soldiers are united
when they are snatched away from Earth at the moment of their passing. Thinking they may have been granted a reprieve, imagine their horror when they discover they have been transported to a failing planet on the far side of the galaxy,
where they are given a simple ultimatum.
Fight or die.
Against all odds, this group of misfits manages to turn the tide against a relentless foe, only to discover the true cost of victory might exact a price they are unwilling to pay.

How far would you be willing to go to stay alive?

The IX.

Sometimes, death is only the beginning of the adventure.

Exordium of Tears

Fight or die.
That simple yet brutal reality is the tenet by which the refugees from Earth – including the fabled lost 9th Legion of Rome; the 5th Company, 2nd Mounted Cavalry Unit; and the Special Forces Anti-Terrorist Team – were forced to live by while the Horde menace existed. Believing that the threat is over, the
survivors now yearn to settle down, start families, and reclaim the lives stolen from them.
But such aspirations might remain beyond their reach, for a shadow looms on the rose-tinted horizon of new beginnings.
The release of the re-genesis matrix has done much to foster a restoration of exuberance across Arden. Along with a resurgence in floral and faunal diversity comes the results of splicing the Ardenese and human genomes: transmutation. A
metamorphosis of stunning magnitude that not only affects the living, but those still is stasis as well.
Recognizing the emergence of a new hybrid species, the Architect – the arcane AI construct tasked with the preservation of the Ardenese race – responds by unlocking
previously hidden and inaccessible areas of the city. It also releases an archive of sealed state secrets. Such revelations are eagerly perused, whereupon a shocking discovery is made.
Prior to the fall, it was common knowledge amongst the Senatum (the highest levels of Arden’s government) that not all the rabid Horde had joined in the rampage across the stars toward Arden.
Realizing that the peril still exists, the newly reformed administration elects to respond in earnest. Existing resources are utilized, suitable candidates are chosen, and a flotilla of ships is sent out to secure, quarantine, and reclaim the outer colonies. A mammoth and hazardous undertaking. And nowhere more so than at the planet from where the
outbreak was known to have originated – Exordium – for there, the ancient Horde are not only supremely evolved and highly organized, but are capable of a level of lethal sophistication, the likes of which has never been witnessed before.
It is into this kiln of incendiary potential that the cream of Arden’s fighting forces is deployed.
Worlds are torn asunder, suns destroyed, and star systems obliterated. Yes, tragedy is forged, in a universe spanning conflict which proves once again that…

Death is only the beginning of the adventure.

Prelude to Sorrow

Fight or Die.

The task force dispatched to eradicate the Horde menace on far Exordium failed, and for those few left alive, the tenet by which they have survived for so long resounds as never before.

Now marooned, out of time and out of place, the survivors lick their wounds and struggle to recover while the Horde gather their strength for a final strike that will change the course of history forever. The fate of the galaxy – and more – hangs in the balance.

But fate, it seems, isn’t done with the Ninth, and our heroes find themselves forced to mount a last-ditch attempt to end the threat once and for all.

Will the darkness be vanquished, or will our heroes’ efforts finally signal the beginning of the end of their adventure?

Find out in – Prelude to Sorrow – the stunning conclusion to the IX saga.

IX Genesis

Arden, birthplace of a people who have mastered the secrets of arcane, reality-bending technology, and home to a civilization that now spans more than thirty planets throughout an entire quadrant of the galaxy. They are wise and understanding. Majestic in vision. Powerful beyond compare. And intent on extending their benevolent influence throughout the stars. . . Until the fateful day their thirst for knowledge leads them to push too far, too quickly. In doing so, they open a door into the antiverse, a realm where the very nature of existence is an anathema to life. An antithesis to all that is good. Evil. And that evil is sentient, as highly contagious as it is fueled by an irresistible proclivity to feed and multiply and spread. And feed and multiply it does. Faced with an overwhelming flood, the Ardenese have no option. They must fight or die!

Where to find us:

Sunday, June 5, 2016