Manchu Rising: An Alternate Account of the History of Modern Man

Penelope

Banned
MANCHU RISING


Somewhere out there in the solar system, a cold, dark, and barren piece of stone tumbling through the void that man called space, was setting an eerie shadow on a small blue marble that, on the contrary, sat in space as if fixed to path. The asteroid, a majestic but deadly beast of the cosmos, was now at the climax of its life. Its old and long tale could not be retold through human eyes, ears, or tongues. But would require an event, a small collision, to force its life story onto the unknowing organisms of a word with the force of a hammer to a nail. Small bits of metals and ores were sandblasted off the asteroid as Earth's atmosphere began to cut into the layers of stone that had been built up over millions of years. As it drifted towards Earth, certain to destroy anything that lay in it's path, fate intervened. Not today, she said, as the rock slipped back out of the atmosphere. Fate, being cold and mysterious mistress, quickly decided that another day in history would be far more suitable of a day. A day that time was inevitably hurtling towards, but lay not on the minds of men as they struggled to push their broken bodies up the walls of the half-completed Pyramids.


A sickly Egyptian let himself fall off one of the golden walls of the Pyramids, believing the afterlife more profitable than continuing work on the monument. The Pharaoh's peacekeepers quickly kicked the body into a pile of sand, before morale could be lowered by the man's selfish act. Braymapet, a lowly worker, still awed of the magical fireball he had just witnessed, was brought back to his poor life by the crack of a whip, and a bloody smear across his side. Saddened, but hopeful, he continued back with his work, pushing on into the lowest catacombs of the tomb that lay below the beauty above.


Braymapet arrived back at his particular wall, where he was instructed to account the events of that year, and began carving something he had just thought of. It could not hurt to recount the most awe inspiring event of his life, he thought. He'd seen the glory of Ra that day. No Egyptian would discredit him for giving praise to the god of the sun.

Four decades would pass until Braymapet, then a hieroglyphic carver for the pharaoh himself, passed on to the afterlife. He would be given a funeral service on the Nile River, and was set to sail the smooth waters of the river of life. The majestic Pyramids had been completed, the fireball long forgotten, and men who saw that fireball all dead in the sand or sailing for eternity on the Nile. However, Fate had not forgotten. She was waiting with a succulent appetite for that glorious day when the fireball would come again to bring wrath to man and his civilizations..


Rome, 44 BC



Now several millennia had gone by, and the Egyptians were no longer the dominant culture. Yes, the Egyptians were no more. In their place, the Romans had arrived, taking with them the title of dominant empire.


At this very moment, the asteroid that Fate so fantasized of was somewhere near Mars, slowly, but surely making its plan for vengeance. Fate had denied it its glory of destruction and mayhem, and it planned to cause enough chaos for its quota to be fulfilled tenfold. But several more centuries would pass before the dreams of the celestial body were fulfilled. Although this day was an important day, it already had another one of Fate's mysterious and malevolent tricks to be played on the stage of history. For it was the Ides of March, and of the year 44 BC none the less.


[FONT=French Script MT, cursive]Et tu, Brute?[/FONT]

[FONT=French Script MT, cursive] [/FONT]​
 
Last edited:

Penelope

Banned
Yes, I know, no major changes, but don't worry ladies and gentlemen, I promise a wild ride once we get to Fate's day of reckoning.
 

Penelope

Banned
How big is this asteroid? If it's in the atmosphere, it's already too late to keep it from hitting the surface.

Exosphere, very outermost layers of the atmosphere where it still has the possibility to escape. Oh, and smaller than Apothis but large enough to cause some good amounts of havoc.

@KingByng: Et tu, brutus? The last words of Julius Caesar.
 
So... it smacks Rome? :confused:

KingByng

No, definitely sounds like its going to hit on a later pass. Probably about the 16th-18thC, but possibly later and I suspect that Europe is going to take a hit.:( The title suggests a Sino-centric world to me. However late enough not to butterfly the Manchu/Qing dynasty.

Steve
 
I really enjoy your style of writing. I like to imagine how awesome it would be if it were Timothy Dalton narrating it! :D
 

Penelope

Banned
::bouncing in seat::

When do we get to the good part???:p

All in due time, son/daughter, all in due time.. :D

I really enjoy your style of writing. I like to imagine how awesome it would be if it were Timothy Dalton narrating it! :D

Thanks!! :D:D

Hmmm your idea intrigue me but the shortness of your posts frustrates me.

I am sorry for this, it is a habit of mine. I have added the second post to the first one and have a post about twice the size of that coming up today. Short posts will begin to occur less and less as we move forward in time.
 
Last edited:

Penelope

Banned
As the senators left, cleaning blood of the emperor from their garments and knives, they saw something peculiar. Very, very peculiar. A streak of different shades of white, blue, and green was bored into the sky, like an ocean trench or cracks in the dry, parched sands of Libya. Jaws dropped, knives relinquished to the floor in horror, or, perhaps, awe. It would continue for many months, until the cold, nail bitingly chilling months of winter.


Later, a Roman Scribe would call the event an omen of horrors to come following Caesar's assassination.


If only he knew how true his words will be, Fate would reply in a seductively foreboding voice.


3 AD


Fate's eyes grew increasingly dark with boredom. She sat in her chair on the eternal throne, with cold and gray eyes that looked towards the comet with a thoughtful glare. Fate, after all these years, had found a way to cope with her wait.


The comet flew past Jupiter, resulting in a tear here, a split there, and a loud crash seconds later. The asteroid was sent rocketing back to Terra, and the bits that were severed looked to the glistening beauty of Mother Earth as well. Mischevious little eyes, burning with a desire to destroy and annihlate, set a neverending stare towards Earth. A decisoin was made for them, by the lovely, malevolent Fate, and within a split second to Fate's eyes, they had arrived.


406 AD


Along the Rhine River in what we know as Germany, thousands of barbarians struggled to find a path through the rushing waters of the river, and into Roman Territory. Horses, hogs, armored men with a vengeful thought for every Roman citizen worked their way over the rushing rapids and rising waters in the rain. The cold waters, made frigid by the December winds, would be the only thing between them and glory that day, and it seemed not even the gods themselves could think to stop their rampage.


Or so they thought... and perhaps they thought to soon.


A massive bit of flaming rock fell from the sky, eviscerating men and horses abroad. Seemingly thousands more followed, burning the waters of the Rhine to scorching temperatures, melting skin and searing flesh. Armor melted, solidified, and crumbled in the heat. Flames burst up the sky and the ground, as it seemed the underworld had come to the surface and invaded the lands of the Gods above. Fire spread across the ground for miles, as more and more fiery stones crammed themselves into the cold, frosted ground. Steam erupted from the melting permafrost as from fissures, and in no time, the barbarians were no more, and the Romans would be none the wiser about any of their plans..

OOC: Yes, not that long, but I decided to split the post into to parts to leave you with a cliffhanger. :D
 
Top