• Synopsis
• Earth: One Small Step for Man
• Earth: One Giant Leap for Mankind
• Jalnar: Several Millenia of History in a Few Paragraphs

The shortest (and, actually, only) known inter-galactic wars has come to a close for the humans. Jalnar, the homeworld of the Kha'rlar, a race of intelligent anthropomorphic animals who have developed from a shamanistic society, has been bombarded on a planetary scale by the Terrans, leaving only a small fraction of its former inhabitants alive.

Only a few have managed to escape the destruction. The Lost Cause, with its crew of a handful of more or less randomly thrown-together individuals, including a panther military commander, an ill-tempered cervine shaman, a Murphy's Law-abiding reptilian engineer, an insane cheetah pilot, a wolf hacker, and some random cat, are among those few.

While for now, merely surviving is their main priority, the war against humanity is only beginning.

This is CAOS. Please find your designated seat and relax while the program is loaded and we wait for all others to be seated.

Welcome to the Tri-Alliance Company Soft Museum of Modern History. I am CAOS, the Mark 3 Model of TriCoSoft standard artificial intelligences. While you are in this facility, if you ever need any assistance, or have any questions about the displays, the museum, or anything else, simply ask me. I can be everywhere at once, and I am always at your service.

The following is a short introductory movie of the last four decades of the history of our world. Please note that fast-moving holographic projections will be used, and those with a genetic marker for motion sickness-related related syndromes of a TR of, or over, 7 should continue without viewing this movie now. If you fail to do so, TriCoSoft and/or McRonalds will not be responsible for any undesirable effects that may result from the viewing of this movie. If you do not with to watch this movie, please proceed now, before the movie begins. Image capturing devices are not allowed within the museum, and the possession of them is a class 5 misdemeanor. The three of you currently possessing them should leave them behind with a TriCoSoft security guard after this movie. I will ensure they are made available to you when you decide to leave.

As you all know, the world-wide collapse of the tyranical systems known as government began in 2087. Despite the great flaws of government systems, the world had grown used to them, and suddenly deprived of them, anarchy and violence spread like wildfires across the globe. This was when brave, large megacorporate entities, such as TriCoSoft, stepped forward. With humanity's best interests at heart, these large coporations collaborated with one another, and established the global control grids that we now have today. With great work and sacrifice, the world was lead from chaos and disorder to a controlled, ordered world under the protection of these corporate entities. Large free commercial sectors were established to ensure that the people were not restricted to the services of one corporation.

With this wonderful system established, technology advanced in leaps and bounds, supported by many corporations, and especially TriCoSoft, who allowed for the greatest advancements known in the last few centuries. Examples include cybernetics, the human-interfaced memory chip and processor, the complete mapping of the brain and genetic makeup, and, the most important development, if I may say so myself, artificial intelligence.

On a bittersweet note, there was also the discovery of psionic potentials, who are now no longer a threat to society, due to strict control through a collaboration of all corporations. Not only that, but they are now all employed as enforcers and in military. Do you not feel safer already knowing that these once-feared individuals are the ones that protect your home and family?

Unfortunately, perhaps these corporations were too successful, and soon, overpopulation and the limitation of resources began to infest earth. Wars between other corporations spread, and the world nearly fell back into the dark age it had so recently emerged from. Seeing this new threat, TriCoSoft established a team to solve the problem, composed of the greatest minds of the times. As a result, lunar colonies, like the one you see before you, were established. TriCoSoft also developed controlled anti-matter technologies, which allowed for both defense of colonies, such as your own, and a highly efficient source of energy. These developments solved many of the problems that had come up, not only for those under the TriCoSoft grid, but for all the people of the world.

One of the greatest discoveries soon after, was the development of the FTL - Faster Than Light - drive. Along with the invention of cryostasis, the exploration of the final front, space, seemed within reach. Soon, new solar systems were found that could support human life. With advancements of terraforming by TriCoSoft, humanity began spreading across the reaches of the galaxies. Resources and space became less of a problem than ever, although unfortunately, many necessary resources are as rare throughout the systems as they are on earth.

Then came the greatest discovery of humanity. We are not alone. The Kha'rlar, a strange race resembling humanoid animals, were encountered. While primitive in many ways, and savage, they too had technologies that in some ways surpassed our own, such as nanotechnology, which allows for the construction and rearrangement of objects atom-by-atom. Also notable, is that what was long believed to be mere myth, magic, is possessed by this race of animals. For years, relations were peaceful. Then, came one of the dark days of our history. The Kha'rlar turned on us.

The war began, and even now, it still continues. The Kha'rlar use both their nanites as weapons, killing in gruesome ways, and their magic, which only our very own psionics can fight against. TriCoSoft, as well as the McRonalds corporation have teamed up and taken it upon themselves to defend humanity against this unrelentingly aggressive, hostile race. And even today, we are winning, and step by step, we are pushing back these beasts.

But this is the present. You've come here to explore the adventures of the past. And that, you will do. We've provided you with a giant array of presentations and artifacts of recent history, where you can explore the culture, discoveries, and story of humankind over the last century - including the things before the events of this presentation. We encourage you to do so. Again, if you require any assistance, please ask me, or a TriCoSoft employee, and we will do our best to accomidate your every need. A final reminder, if you are one of the individuals who have brought image-capturing devices, I have requested an employee to pick them up on your way out. On behalf of all the members of TriCoSoft, we welcome you, and hope you enjoy the rest of your stay.

The Kha'rlar are composed of a vast variety of species, all originating from Jalnar. Originally, they were scattered throughout the planet, totally unaware of each other. Many were nomadic, and while vastly different in their beliefs and customs, almost all developed with shamanistic cultures, believing in spirits as well as gods, and having a great respect for nature and all forms of life. Notably, nearly all groups had shamans, who were all capable of performing magic (real magic, with undeniable effects).

Eventually, they began encountering each other. Each race discovered others that weren't quite like other animals, and it didn't take long for conflicts to begin. Wars began and ended constantly over a variety of things - from land to beliefs to one insult or another to someone of some importance. Eventually, though, peace was established for the most part, although most races were highly intolerant of others.

In current times, war between races is unheard of, although violence between various groups still comes up on occasion. In general, there is peace, and great tolerance of differences between them, partially because of necessity, and partially because difference and variety has come to be viewed as their greatest strength. While they still tend to live together among their own kind with their own unique societies, they have come to all view each other as a single race.

Throughout history, the Kha'rlar have combined magic and technology together ingeniusly and have proven to be a resourceful and intelligent people. Due to a general avoidance to fire, technology dependent on combustion is virtually undeveloped. However, with mechanics and electrical sciences, the Kha'rlar are far superior to us. The current acme of their technology is nanites, microscopic machines capable of accomplishing things on a molecular scale. Shamans, who are all magic users, continue to play a crucial role in society.

One of the notable moments of history was first contact with an alien race. This race, of course, was not actually Terrans. The race was encountered as a single individual who had inadvertently lost control of a ship and crash-landed right in one of the largest cities of the Ternari continent. This race more or less disappeared after. The second encounter was with humans.

While things were peaceful at first, humans were surprised by nanotechnology in a seemingly primitive race by their standards. Magic was also of great worry to them, which isn't surprisingly considering their own history with Terran psionics. After many years, a war began. It is not entirely clear who started it, or if it was even started intentionally, but it is established that the Terrans are the ones who escalated it. Taken off guard, the Kha'rlar, who had never even considered space warfare (due to the fact they rarely had wars themselves, much less in space), were at an immediate disadvantage. Throughout the few years, they had rapidly developed weapons, especially using nanotechnology and magic. Regardless, the Terrans continued to push the Kha'rlar back. The final assault that ended the war as far as Terrans are concerned was done by the McRonald corporation, in which Jalnar was subjected to mass planet-scale bombardment by anti-matter weapons. Only a small fraction survived. A very, very small fraction managed to escape from the planet. While the Kha'rlar still have a few small space outposts, they have been all but wiped out.