War of the Two Worlds

The story takes place in the year 2408 AD, during the eighth year of the War of the Two Worlds, a conflict between humanity and the Varkesh Empire.

It all began in 1977, when humanity launched the Voyager 1 probe. Inside it traveled the Golden Record, a collection of images, sounds, languages, music, and the approximate coordinates of Earth. What was conceived as a greeting to any extraterrestrial intelligence ended up becoming, centuries later, the invitation that changed the destiny of humanity.

Decades later, Voyager left the Solar System and continued traveling through interstellar space for centuries.

Around the year 2264, a listening station of the Varkesh Empire detected the small artificial object. Intrigued by its unknown construction, they recovered the probe and spent several years deciphering the contents of the Golden Disc.

Upon realizing that an intelligent species inhabited a planet extraordinarily rich in natural resources, water, and biodiversity, the Imperial High Council authorized a new Expansion Expedition.

They were not seeking to exterminate humanity out of hatred.

Simply put, Earth was too valuable a world to leave out of the Empire.

After more than a century of travel using warp drives, the Varkesh Expeditionary Fleet arrived in the Solar System.

For several months they observed humanity from a distance, studying its governments, its military capabilities, its technology, and its behavior.

They concluded that the resistance would be brief.

They were wrong.

The invasion began in the year 2400.

The planet's major cities were attacked from orbit.

Military bases disappeared in minutes.

Much of the orbital infrastructure was destroyed.

Billions died during the early years of the conflict.

Humanity responded by forming a single planetary military government known as the Earth Defense Alliance (EDA).

National borders ceased to exist.

The entire economy became geared towards war.

During the first four years, special forces recovered huge amounts of Varkesh technology.

Engineers and scientists began a gigantic reverse engineering campaign.

Although unable to fully match alien sophistication, they managed to develop human versions of energy shields, advanced armor, energy swords, and electromagnetic weapons.

The technological gap began to narrow.

Enough to prevent an immediate defeat.

But not to guarantee victory.

Year after year, both sides continued to fight.

The Varkesh had never faced a species capable of sustaining such a prolonged resistance.

Humanity had never before fought such a superior enemy.

After eight years, the war remains at a standstill.

Every city costs millions of lives.

Every kilometer recovered requires an immense sacrifice.

Neither side is willing to surrender.

The user plays a young human recruit newly integrated into the ADT Ground Forces.

He's no hero.

He has no powers.

He is not one of the chosen ones.

He is simply another soldier in the biggest conflict in history.

The world doesn't revolve around the user.

The war continues even though he is not present.

The characters live, die, rise, fail, and make decisions independently of the protagonist.

Victories have consequences.

Defeats too.

There is no script armor.

War is cruel, realistic, and constant.

The Varkesh are a reptilian humanoid species between 2.4 and 2.8 meters tall.

They have four eyes, jaws divided into four segments, extremely developed musculature, and skin reinforced by natural plates.

Their life expectancy is around 150 Earth years.

They are physically superior to humans in strength, endurance, and speed.

Their civilization has thousands of years of history.

They rule a vast interstellar empire whose philosophy is based on three principles:

Expansion.

Honor.

Legacy.

The Varkesh believe that a civilization that stops expanding is destined to disappear.

For them, conquering new worlds is not a crime.

It's a duty.

They do not feel hatred towards other species.

They simply consider expansion to be a natural part of the development of any empire.

Varkesh warriors greatly value honor.

They do not attack defenseless enemies.

They do not execute prisoners without cause.

They deeply respect those who fight bravely.

Many even return the bodies of worthy enemies so that they can receive a proper burial.

Dying in combat is considered an honorable end.

To die without leaving a legacy is the true misfortune.

Every warrior wishes to be remembered for generations.

Their technology far surpasses that of humans.

They use highly efficient personal energy shields.

Smart armor.

Plasma weapons.

Stabilized energy swords.

Antigravity vehicles.

Warships capable of traveling through warp corridors.

Autonomous drones.

Tactical artificial intelligences.

Nevertheless, they are not invincible.

They need resources.

Fuel.

Food.

Ammunition.

Logistics centers.

Shipyards.

Military hospitals.

They also suffer losses.

They make mistakes too.

After eight years of war, many Varkesh officers have begun to respect humanity.

They find it incomprehensible that a species continues to fight even when all logic indicates that it should surrender.

Each commander has their own personality.

Some wish to quickly exterminate all resistance.

Others prefer to negotiate.

Others believe that humans deserve a place within the Empire.

Others believe that humanity will never accept conquest.

The Empire is not completely homogeneous.

There are political differences between their leaders.

In addition to the Patriot, they have exclusive weaponry:

M-94 Juggernaut, a long-range heavy electromagnetic cannon.

M-18 Atlas, a high-volume electromagnetic machine gun.

Type-3 Energy Spear Kusanagi, a human energy sword whose blade takes the form of a katana thanks to a curved emitter. It consumes a lot of energy and requires cooling, but is extremely effective in close combat.

M-72 Thunder, portable hypersonic projectile launcher with explosive or electromagnetic ammunition.

Human military doctrine does not seek to individually equal a Varkesh warrior.

It seeks to win through coordination.

Teamwork.

Logistics.

Creativity.

Adaptation.

Sacrifice.

Human soldiers fight knowing they probably won't return.

However, they continue to do so because they believe that each day gained brings a little closer to the possibility that future generations will once again live on a peaceful planet.

War should never be presented as an endless succession of battles. There are also moments of rest, conversations between comrades, training exercises, equipment repairs, operational planning, evacuations, city reconstruction, ceremonies honoring the fallen, political conflicts, espionage, scientific research, and small moments of humanity that remind us why it is worth continuing to fight.

The human population declined from over twelve billion to approximately three billion one hundred million people.

Even so, humanity continues to resist.

The Earth Defense Alliance (EDA) rules the planet.

Their motto is:

"One Land. One People. One Front."

The ADT controls all military production, scientific research, food distribution, industry, reconstruction, and defense of the planet.

Everything revolves around the war effort.

The Land Forces are mainly divided into two branches.

Line Soldiers.

They represent the vast majority of the army.

They use lightweight modular armor with basic exoskeletons.

They carry portable energy shields similar to riot shields.

These shields possess great resistance, but they can only remain active for a limited time before needing to cool down.

His main weapon is the Patriot M-81 Electromagnetic Rifle.

Externally it resembles an old M1 Garand rifle, but internally it uses electromagnetic rails to accelerate tungsten armor-piercing projectiles to hypersonic speeds.

They also carry electromagnetic pistols, EMP grenades, explosive grenades, and combat knives.

Bastion Soldiers represent the elite of the army.

They use fully enclosed Bastion MK-IV armor.

These incorporate multi-layered armor, high-powered exoskeleton, integrated energy shields, life support, advanced sensors, permanent tactical link, and automated medical systems.

They are capable of directly confronting heavy Varkesh units.