Original story - Phoenix and Venus

Main char Phoenix: scientific expansion

Recruits the top talent worldwide, best scientific minds and most fit survival (top .01% of population)

One of technologies has to do with eliminating natural disasters which have begun to plague the planet due to pollution and wearing away at Earth’s stability (earthquakes/floods/volcanoes etc)

Discover eternal youth, but cannot share it with everyone for overpopulation reasons

Begins to terraform Venus using monoxide eating bacteria

Also implement a series of experiments to allow sampling outside of Phoenix to be immortal.  Including lottery, payments methods, etc.

Fail miserably, easy access to the non-Phoenix immortals resulted in multiple murders, return to only allowing Phoenix members immortality.

Superpowers are threatened, attack Phoenix colony

Nuke reflectors, all superpowers are leveled

Phoenix does not occupy, stays neutral, Diaspora takes place, balanced playing field

Break

Terraforming completes, Phoenix set for test run

World is terribly polluted, new quasi powers in place, but most of world is set back to 1930’s levels

World War III breaks out, Phoenix neutral.

Entire world turns on Phoenix

Phoenix responds by revealing transporter, ready for travel, exits for Venus

Upon exit, takes  natural disaster device, causing massive eruptions worldwide by the weakened state of the planet’s ecosystem

Puts Earth in a similar position to what Venus started in (greenhouse effect), but less so.

Leaves Venus bacteria batch and a warning message saying Earth will recover in 100 years if they reverse their polluting ways.

Earth crumbles into a backward and warring technological wasteland, has no idea what’s happening on Venus

Scene change: Venus

Phoenix transporter crashes upon Venus landing, killing 90% of the population, Phoenix survives but with virtually no remaining technology

Low-tech, scientific society begins again on a lush planet

Shocking discovery in surface exploration in a network of caves, left unknown at this point

Break/scene change: Earth

War finally ends, 237 years later, absolutely devastating to human race, thanks to a great Leader rising to power from ignominy in one country

Leader is master of tactics, wielder of advanced technologies (specifically an archeotech Mech found deep underwater), and charismatic.

Establishment of one nation, peaceful and scientific, led by the Leader of the Planet Earth

The message Phoenix left, and virtually all memory of Phoenix had become shrouded in myth and legend.

Archeotech explorations begin, quickly catching Earth back up to 21st Century over the course of 30 years

The world is still horribly polluted, but quickly realizes there is something reversing the effect

The message and history on Phoenix is mysteriously discovered by the Leader of the Free World

People begin to doubt the Leader and his scientific dreams of reestablishing contact with Phoenix 

The Leader is assassinated, quickly replaced by his previously unknown son

The son is a complete dictator, removing most freedoms and redoubling effort in science

His main goal: Chase Phoenix to Venus, destroy them and claim the planet.

Break: 30 years

The Leader’s son is still surprisingly young, but dictatorship keeps people focused on scientific development

The project is ready, weapons armed and aimed for Venus

Mission launches, is destroyed in space by wormhole technology, no survivors, only small pieces of some of the ships remain, the rest are destoryed.

Leader’s son has a huge breakthrough in the fight though while observing from Earth, realizing the wormhole was an activated attack by Phoenix, but only covered the a circular orbit with a 33 degree arc (based on the disappearance vs. destruction pattern of their ships) and not the full sphere around Venus.

Next attack took an indirect route, but find the planet in the same pristine condition that it was originally in when Phoenix arrived

Leader’s son arrives on planet with a small troop of scouts, not convinced that Phoenix is gone

After months of exploration, stumble upon the same network of caves originally found by Phoenix

Discover a huge adamatium statue of a Phoenix, 50 stories in height, with a human man raising his arms below it

The remainder of the caves are empty of people, but ample signs of human habitation in the past, including advanced technology

Return to statue, test its age.  75,000 years old.

As they are finishing this, Phoenix squadron uncloaks

“So, you finally uncover the truth”

Phoenix speaks with Leader’s Son in a tense conversation, both sides have gotten to the same technological point, both squadron’s weapons drawn

Phoenix explains ancient society, clearly started here, ruined their planet, traveled to Earth.  Unknown how many times we’ve restarted as a civilization.

“This was not the first time the Phoenix has flown, nor the first time it has fallen,”

Beseeches Leader’s Son to end the madness, before we start our history over again, or worse.

Leader’s Son steps forward, and begins a story about the first experiment once run by Phoenix on Earth with immortality.

Flashback

Phoenix remarked after his victory in the lottery that it was a person’s character and genetic aptitude that determined their lot in life, other man says luck clearly plays some role.  The two have an excellent philosophical debate, where they bond. Phoenix wishes him well, and they plan to remain in contact, completely unheard based on typical security on the Phoenix colony. The man is murdered a day later by a jealous servant.  Phoenix never lotteries a gift of immortality again, hating to be the source of human evil. Also mentally reaffirms that luck is worth nothing, and is an evil master, preferring to stack the deck.

End Flashback

“I guess we were both right, my stroke of  luck got me to where I was, but I realized you were right in believing that stacking the deck was the only way to keep what I had, so I faked my own murder, a trick which served me equally well to keep power when my power was slipping.  A very lucky thing indeed for the two of us now, and for the fate of both our people.

Phoenix realizes he was correct, sees the mark of immortality on his neck.  

The two groups are confused for a second, Phoenix calls for a private meeting.

The two could not be this close to each other without quick and devastating struggle.

Phoenix reveals that he was setting up a separate colony for this eventuality, through an archeotech wormhole established between their two planets, 1000 light-years away.

Earth had reached them faster than expected, though, so their last assault put the last Earth assault right at their would be homeland, with unknown results.

Only option was to send Earth to the new land, and Venus would keep these two planets.

Needed to separate the two rivals

Although rivalry was natural and understood, led to development in the end, but needed to be at a lower level, eg a new rival started on Venus, those that thought (something trivial and non-violent)

The Leader realized this was true, only way he needed to lead the assault, because otherwise the people of Earth would never enter the holes.

Phoenix begged him not to go, he had shown him the way: not everything was about genetics, a good character can make all the difference to a civilization, and Leader had that character

Leader remarked “someone has to lead them, and they are my people, flaws and all”

Returns to Earth, says their mission was a great success, they destroyed the space weapon and are ready to do a full-scale assault, referencing the “burning the ships tactics” of the Vikings.  Every man woman and child packed up their lives and were ready to fight/transport within the year. (Year of the Exodus) 

Before reaching the ring, hail via communication system: last conversation between Phoenix and Leader, but both must maintain appearances while saying their goodbyes

Reached the ring, teleported to far off galaxy

Mass-confusion, Leader claims trickery again, looks for nearest planet

One right there, with their expeditions from years ago alive and building a colony.

Old rivalries disappear as they realized what Phoenix had done for them, exit colony ships and begin starting a new life.

Scene Change: Venus

Phoenix travels alone to the caves, looks up at the statue and then down at the man.

Maybe this time it will be different. . .

And destroys the wormhole generator.