Intro post
Emote Control
Plenty of genius, not enough sense.
This idea came to me a few hours ago, and I don't think I'll write a full story based on it because it would be way, way too dark. But the plotbunny won't let go, so I'm posting it here. It was inspired by Girls und Panzer, though I added lots of science fiction elements. The setting has terrified child soldiers, just so we are clear for a trigger warning.
Humankind could be forgiven, in the 23rd century, for thinking had finally gotten things right. Global warming had been contained to a low enough level that it had been possible to rebuild the ecology. Nanotechnology and AI hadn't achieved the fantasies of the old futurists, but they had still delivered universal prosperity to the world in a clean and safe manner. The unconscionably vast disparities in wealth between continents and regions had been eliminated. Every country was a liberal democracy, with peace, equity and justice strong priorities. Paradigm shifts in physics had unlocked new compact energy sources and even allowed the control of gravity, enabling megaprojects once believed physically impossible and permitting colonies on other planets in the system. Advances in biology had removed plague and famine as concerns, while making a long and healthy life available to all, with old age not killing till someone was in their seventeenth decade.
And wouldn't you know it, that's when the aliens invaded.
The Rurakak came in a reactionless-drive slower-than-light starship, of the sort 23rd century humanity could have built with their advanced physics if they had wanted to allocate the funding. In fact, the disparity in the physical, mechanical and computational sciences between the two species wasn't that large, and given that humanity had seventeen billion, and the Rurakak only a fifty million in hibernation-sleep, one would expect any war to be a curbstomp by mankind -- while the nations of the world had largely abandoned war, they certainly had capable militaries with plenty of guns, just in case. The starship had been detected by astronomers approaching the system, and the governments were prepared for diplomacy, trade. colonization. or conflict.
What they weren't prepared for was the invaders being our vast superior in biochemisty.. The Rurakak took prisoners when they wiped out the sparse outer-system colonies, and based on that knowledge attacked Earth not with armies, but with diseases. By the time they got to Earth's orbit over 70 percent of humanity was dead from dozens of different pandemics, which had completely overwhelmed the public health systems - 46 percent of the females, and 95 percent of the males. The gender disparity was not an accident, since the Rurakak knew that a single man can impregnate hundreds of women to produce more slaves.
The world's situation is beyond dire, with the 12 billion+ dead people accompanied by near-total societal collapse. The few functioning governments, desperate for soldiers to fight the landings, have recently begun the unthinkable -- drafting girls as young as 14 for combat duties. The girls are all traumatized, having watched their brothers and fathers perish and their whole civilization collapse. But they also know that if they lose, there is no one else.
Humankind could be forgiven, in the 23rd century, for thinking had finally gotten things right. Global warming had been contained to a low enough level that it had been possible to rebuild the ecology. Nanotechnology and AI hadn't achieved the fantasies of the old futurists, but they had still delivered universal prosperity to the world in a clean and safe manner. The unconscionably vast disparities in wealth between continents and regions had been eliminated. Every country was a liberal democracy, with peace, equity and justice strong priorities. Paradigm shifts in physics had unlocked new compact energy sources and even allowed the control of gravity, enabling megaprojects once believed physically impossible and permitting colonies on other planets in the system. Advances in biology had removed plague and famine as concerns, while making a long and healthy life available to all, with old age not killing till someone was in their seventeenth decade.
And wouldn't you know it, that's when the aliens invaded.
The Rurakak came in a reactionless-drive slower-than-light starship, of the sort 23rd century humanity could have built with their advanced physics if they had wanted to allocate the funding. In fact, the disparity in the physical, mechanical and computational sciences between the two species wasn't that large, and given that humanity had seventeen billion, and the Rurakak only a fifty million in hibernation-sleep, one would expect any war to be a curbstomp by mankind -- while the nations of the world had largely abandoned war, they certainly had capable militaries with plenty of guns, just in case. The starship had been detected by astronomers approaching the system, and the governments were prepared for diplomacy, trade. colonization. or conflict.
What they weren't prepared for was the invaders being our vast superior in biochemisty.. The Rurakak took prisoners when they wiped out the sparse outer-system colonies, and based on that knowledge attacked Earth not with armies, but with diseases. By the time they got to Earth's orbit over 70 percent of humanity was dead from dozens of different pandemics, which had completely overwhelmed the public health systems - 46 percent of the females, and 95 percent of the males. The gender disparity was not an accident, since the Rurakak knew that a single man can impregnate hundreds of women to produce more slaves.
The world's situation is beyond dire, with the 12 billion+ dead people accompanied by near-total societal collapse. The few functioning governments, desperate for soldiers to fight the landings, have recently begun the unthinkable -- drafting girls as young as 14 for combat duties. The girls are all traumatized, having watched their brothers and fathers perish and their whole civilization collapse. But they also know that if they lose, there is no one else.
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