Well, as you can guess, I've come up with a rough idea for a total conversion, but I'm more of a writer, so I figured I'd post it up here, in case anyone with programming skills is looking for something to do. So, on with the plot.
This plug would take place in an alternate universe, ala Sliders. In the year AD 64 (or was it 66?) the Emperor of Rome, Nero, commited suicide and a civil war ensued, and after which, Rome went back to business as usual. In my plug, this civil war resulted in Rome being restored to a Republic, where the people had a say in their governing (though you could make a strong arguement that people didnt in the real Roman Republic, but this isn't the place). With its newer, more benevolent rule, the Roman Republic spread like wildfire, and technology progressed by leaps and bounds. No nation could stand in it way, except for the Chinese (my Chinese history isn't that good, so we'll just say that they, too, experience the same sort of renaissance). The two nations contested for control of the globe, and their rivalry, which would result in a centuries long Cold War, furthur fueled the fires of progress. They carried this rivalry to space, and soon colonized the planets (lets say around the 1400s).
Eventually, the two nations would delcare war, which Rome won, after many hard fought years. The Chinese empire was exiled from Terra (earth) by a now not-so-benevolent Rome, and their assets in space were seized. The refugees were consigned to the depths of space, never allowed to return to the Sol. Now Rome was free to resume its expansionist policies, and they expanded their influence across the stars. Eventually, the Romans would come in contact with their lost Chinese bretheren, who still bore a bit of a grudge (gee, who'd a thunk?). A Chinese terrorist group unleashed a powerful genetic virus, which targeted only the Y chromosome, so as to decimate the Roman military, which was predominantly male. However, the virus got out of control, and soon ravaged the Chinese as well. Much of the population in the galaxy was wiped out, whole colonies were lost, and everyone were touched. Thus began the Dark Ages. (we'll say around the mid 1700s)
Now, humanity is struggling out of that dark era and the ambitious are spreading their influence across space again. You are a recent graduate of the new space academy on your home planet, a backwater world, only recently reintroduced to higher technology by the influential Phoenicia Corporation. <Insert generic "What will you do with your destiny" line here>
Next, the major gov'ts of this plug.
Terran Republic- Formed from the remnants of the Roman Republic, which was, at the time of the plague, a republic in name only. After a short and relatively bloodless civil war, a new order was declared, and the people were again free. They rebuilt their ruined planet, and began to spread out again, reconquering some of their lost territory. While the Republic was hard hit by the plague, (side note: the vast majority of male reproductive systems adapted to the plague, so that they would be more likely to father daughters than sons, as daughters obviously had better odds of survival. While the plague has long since past, there are still many more women than men in the galaxy, with the ratio varying from region to region), it has the most even ratio of women to men in the galaxy, 5 women for every 4 men. Its capital is Rome, Terra, Sol. Their ships mainly focus on heavy armor and better manuverability, as their tactics consist of getting in fast, whethering or dodging whatever attacks are thrown at them, and winning the battle simply by outlasting their opponents.
Sinan Empire- To the galactic east of the Republic lies the militant Sinan Empire, populated by the decendants of the Chinese refugees. Suffering from sever overpopulation, due partially due to the fact that women outnumber men 4 to 1 (the men made 'good' use of this opportunity), they have decided that the best way to solve the overpopulation is the conquest of their neighbors, giving them room to spread and at the same time, lowering the population. Due to overpopulation, their society has become rather brutal, and values obedience and usefulness to your superiors, because only those who display those traits get fed. Their military tactics are basicly swarming the enemy (surprise surprise).
The Something(havent thought of a name)- Still sketchy on this one, but they are a very honorable society. They have feudal hierchal system, going from house to tribe to clan to family. They record whether a persons actions are honorable or not, and assign "points" for the actions. These points are tallied up once a year, so that the person most honorable person leads their family, most honorable family leads their clan, yadda yadda, and the most honorable house leads the empire. While they place heavy emphasis on honor, they are not warlike. In fact, they feel that war of aggression is dishonorable. While their technology isn't particularly better than others, they put so much work into their ships that they are, on average, better in qualitiy, but fewer in numbers.
Phoenicia Corporation- A large interstallar corporation that goes around helping lower tech planets reclaim their technology, so that they can remain independant of the expanding empires. The Corporations usually gets exclusive trade rights with these systems, so its incredibly profitable.
Thats all for now, tell me what ya think
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"We must look forward to the future, and past- to the back,"
Dan Quayle
"If it wasn't for my horse, I wouldn't have spent that year in college,"
anonymous