Project Altes

Project Altes

''“With every generation, there comes war. With war, comes the need for new ideas of how to best one’s enemies. Better weapons, stronger soldiers, bolder ideas, greater cunning, and new ways to kill. And in order to look to the future, we must take lessons from the past. That is what gave birth to all of you; the children of the past. The sons and daughters of the Ancients.”''

-Dr. Markus Renber. First contact speech to Altes subjects.

Beginning of Project Altes

During the Great Galactic War, the Galactic Council sought new means to defeat and return the worlds that seceded from the under their rule. Project Altes was one of many projects that sought to do this. With the reemergence and application of magic that began in the Space Age, people began discovering ancient areas that were ripe with magical energies, which then served as bases for rediscovering and teaching magic and its history.

One of these areas discovered a crystalline stone chasm, where at the bottom was an apparently humanoid figure. Originally believed to have been a statue that may have been magically created or had magic imbued in some way into it, people studied the object with great interest. It wasn’t until around twenty years after it had been discovered that a private company interested in finding how the statue managed to maintain a constant magic field, found the statue to actually be a person, who had encased in the formation for centuries. There were many attempts in the next decade to finding the secret of the magic source, which even resulted in a research facility being built up around it. The most known attempt was known as Project Birther, an attempt to extract the DNA of the person inside the formation and splice it into people with compatible DNA to the subject. The project apparently succeeded after hundreds of failures ranging from no change to success in power but with insanity. But the facility and nearly all relevant information and materials were destroyed, due to a faulty test that accidently managed to resurrect the person that had been mistakenly thought to be dead. (For more information, see article of Project Birther.) Many years later, the data and materials left over from the facility were rediscovered. Included were data and samples of the subject, who was dubbed “Altes,” or “Old One.” Dr. Renber was the lead on the team, and was appointed to restart the project, as interest in magic during the Galactic Age had grown by leaps and bounds, particularly in military application. Thus, Project Altes was created.

Basic Premise of Project Altes

The long term goal of Project Altes was similar to its predecessor, but varied greatly in its means. Instead of splicing DNA into people already capable of surviving the procedure, the project aimed to use a method similar to artificial insemination, except that compatible eggs and/or sperm were combined with the DNA of Altes. The theory was that those born from his DNA would be more likely to possess magic, or at least have the means to understand it. The project was a resounding success. Unlike the splicing DNA method, which could be rejected by the host body, the artificial birthing project resulted in only few deaths (measured after a successful birth), most of which were caused by the experiments performed later on, not the DNA use itself. The Rise and Fall

The original subject to be successfully born and show magical aptitude was a boy, who was given the project name Altes Null. However, the project was nearly destroyed almost twenty years after it began, namely due to the treatment of Null. Since he was considered the original to see if magical aptitude could even be obtained through genetics and special training, he wasn’t even considered a viable candidate for use, as he didn’t receive any of the other special modifications the other subjects did, and it was assumed he wouldn’t show any significant magic power. Unfortunately for the project, Null had the same raw potential that his “father” had in terms of magic, which quickly grew beyond the control of the researchers and the potential of the other subjects. This coupled with his ill treatment resulted in his very violent escape from the space research station. Roughly forty percent of the research subjects were injured or killed, and almost half the research team was killed. However, through the quick action of the project director Dr. Renber, who used the high security station’s destruction as an example of the power that subjects could possess, many powerful backers helped to quickly get the project back on track. The project was moved to the garden world, Ursha, shortly after its setback. The planet allowed the project to be more easily hidden, while also providing a harsh conditions for subject training.

The project continued on through most of the Galactic Civil War, until the project materials and the researchers were destroyed, killed, or went missing in one day, when in a great destructive force of magic, the entire area was turned in ash, with graves created and marked for each person that was killed. The area the facility was came later to be known as The Hallowed Blood Range. It was taken from a letter sent from the subject Altes to the Galactic Council that's overall meaning was clear.

“You failed.”