Andromeda

The television series Andromeda began its life as a rejected early draft of Star Trek: The Next Generation. In this draft, Captain James T. Kirk was to become trapped in the event horizon of a black hole, stuck in time until being rescued centuries later. The premise was that the Federation, having been backstabbed by its Klingon allies, had collapsed, with the Borg presenting a grave threat to the shattered empires which remained. Kirk was to have command of a ship with a sentient artificial intelligence.

In Andromeda, Kirk was replaced by Dylan Hunt, and the Federation was replaced by the Systems Commonwealth. The Klingons were replaced by the genetically enhanced superhuman Nietzscheans, and the Borg were replaced by the savage Magog. Hunt's ship, the Andromeda Ascendant, is a sentient AI system with a feminine 'avatar' known as 'Rommie.'

The series follows the exploits of Hunt as he and a new crew of misfit and mismatched individuals (a smuggler, a tech geek, a Nietzschean, a good Magog, and others) attempt to re-establish the Systems Commonwealth against all odds, with the threat of the Magog always on the horizon.

In the Andromeda universe, humans did not spread out into the stars on their own, as is often the case in other sci-fi. Instead, they were eventually contacted and accepted into the Systems Commonwealth (SCW), a series of allied civilizations and protectorates originally united under the rule of Vedran Empire. In time, the Vedrans had given up their imperialism, allowing the SCW to form under their guidance.

Within this huge alliance - which extended across three full-sized galaxies and three dwarf satellite galaxies - humans proved highly adaptable, spreading everywhere and often splitting into new subspecies on a local level, thanks to readily available and effective genetic engineering. One such subspecies, the Nietzscheans, followed survivalistic principles and possessed enhancements which effectively made them superhuman. They carved out their own 'empire' within the SCW, of which they were a part.

However, the ideological differences between the Nietzscheans and the Commonwealth as a whole led to the downfall of both. The Commonwealth was under threat from the slowly encroaching Magog, a savage, feral race bred and equipped by a higher power for use as warriors. The Magog both fed upon and required sentient beings for hosts for their larvae, and were brutal yet cunning. The Commonwealth appeased them for a time by granting them planets, in order to buy the time to build up a fleet strong enough to destroy them decisively. The Nietzscheans, on the other hand, felt that the Magog needed to be opposed immediately, to prevent them from growing stronger.

Eventually, the Nietzscheans orchestrated a mass 'mutiny' against the Commonwealth, resulting in a civil war which destroyed the Commonwealth as a governing body and left the Nietzscheans themselves fragmented into numerous 'prides,' with much technology being lost in the three centuries following this event, the Fall. The threat of the Magog was never dealt with.

It is into this context which Dylan Hunt is returned from near-suspended animation in the event horizon of a black hole. His life's work then becomes to rebuild the Systems Commonwealth, making allies and encouraging the forging of alliances between powers which were once under the common banner of the Commonwealth.

Record 15 - universe - Last update 28 Mar 2007, 23:16:02

Entry written by: Torvus

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