Alternate Dimensions

[taalismn]

It would have been a better world! At least that is what I think.

Instead of taking the bear for their symbol, the Russian's take the vicious and frightening.............. Cottontail rabbit. Imagine if you will the ultimate counter symbol.............. Elmer Fudd!

"You call it children's entertainment, you capitalist imperialistic thugs....In reality it is brainwashing young minds of the world to disrespect the Rodina...."

[Aramanthus]

It would make cartoons made during the cold war an entirely different sort of fun. Imagine all of those hidden messages.

A person is born on earth who gains the ability to grant death to any being or object. At first this individual goes crazy with this power. But after sending millions to their death he suddenly realizes he is out of control. He needs balance and works on gaining it.

[MrTwist]

Embattled Earth

This world appears to be a late twentieth/early twenty first century Earth. The main difference, on first glance, is it looks like a war took place here. In the cities buildings are damaged and there's a decent amount of debris. In some areas the wilderness has started taking over. What is odd, though, is that most of the roads are clear enough to drive down. If the players stay nearby where the rift opened, they will encounter some of the denizens of this Earth.

Here's what happened here. A long time ago an alien race had problems with some of their citizens joining a cult and worshiping gods that were positively Lovecraftian in nature. This cult spread and gained followers throughout the colonies. Finally there were enough worshipers to bring forth an avatar of one of the dark gods. This avatar warped and changed everything it came into contact with and sparked a giant civil war between the cultists and the rest of the race.

It took decades before the aliens finally put down the cultists and the avatar. They went through their colonies and wiped every last trace of the worshipers away. It took centuries before the cult showed up again, but this time it showed up in a neighboring race. They did everything to warn their allies, but it was all for naught. It wasn't long before another war broke out, only this time it was the aliens versus their allies. Their allies had proven weaker and the entire race was under the thrall of the dark gods.

They won, although it almost decimated their entire race. The sad part was that they had to kill every last of their allies because of how pervasive the evil influence. A splinter group decided to scour the cosmos and wipe out every last vestige of the dark gods in order to prevent this from happening again.

On Earth, humans were getting by rather well. There was very little to worry about and prosperity was being had by all. It looked like a golden age was coming. Then a shadowy cult very few had heard about started to rise to power in different areas of the globe. Atrocities became commonplace and the world became a much darker place. Very quickly there was a war between the cult and everybody else. Nobody could figure out how the cult had risen to such power and numbers, but it had.

If that wasn't enough, the aliens showed up. They had stumbled across Earth and had decided to investigate. Looking over the situation, they decided the Earth was too far gone and the cancer of the cult needed to be excised. They added a third side to the war and started killing indiscriminately. If ground forces proved unable to combat a threat, they destroyed it from orbit.

Now the humans hide out in safe havens around the globe. They are survivors and scrounge for what they need to survive. The cultists have become twisted by the dark gods influence. A very few look perfectly human and direct the masses, which have become warped and changed. Tentacles extrude from bodies, along with just about every deformity possible. They are mostly mindless and follow the orders of their leaders blindly. These cultists hide away in the dark corners of the city, biding their time and gaining strength.

The aliens, with their greater technology, are the only ones to move about in the open. They scour the cities and the countryside, looking for humans to exterminate. The cultists try to kill them to prevent being wiped out, and the humans try to kill them for survival and to gain their technology.

Players will likely be attacked by one of the three factions pretty quickly after exiting the rift. The aliens want to stop the spread of the cult, so they will attempt to wipe out dimension hoppers and their tech. The cult wants to spread, so they want to be able to traverse dimensions. The normals likely will be doing it to get supplies, or because they're scared. There could be a verbal solution to the conflict between players and their attackers, unless it's the aliens. If they encounter the cultists or the normals they could join their side for the time being. The cult leaders are very crafty and will likely say the deformities of their flock is due to radiation or biological warfare.

[taalismn]

The Great Depression never happened....The Age of Excess throttling back as Americans saw the changes overseas and sensed the approaching storm...
As a result, the great economic stimulus programs of FDR never came about...economic change was slower coming to many areas as the differences between rich and poor gradually increase...a number of momuments and infrastructure programs are never established, and a certain social Darwinism continues to take hold in the American economy.

[Aramanthus]

Wow that was a great one Mr Twist! Please continue to put them here.
Of course Taalismn comes up with another great one too!

Ah. How about this variant. The great depression never ended. FDR's plan didn't help. It ended creating something which no country on earth could pull itself out of. And as we entered the 21st century we are still suffering from it.

[taalismn]

As the Germans swarm across the Polish border, Stalin, realizing he's been out-bullied, leaves Moscow to retreat deeper into the interior, abandoning the seat of Russian power...

With the Free Polish delegates yelling at their ears, and sensing that Stalin has no choice but to resist Hitler if he's to remain in power, FDR and Churchill tell Stalin to go to hell on the issue of dividing up Europe after the war...Poland and the Baltics are to be recognized as free and independent....
Sadly, this idealistic decision results in the war dragging on, as the Russians suddenly realize the Allies aren't going to let them take over Europe, and thus assume an adversarial relationship...

[Aramanthus]

Great ones guys!


Another world launches a colony ship to colonize a world they detected. The ship is large enough to travel to several systems in case the first system is not condusive to supporting life. These travelers arrive in our system in the year 2020. Also during their travel they lost contact with their home system. Their astrologers tell them that their home star went nova. They make contact with earth and ask permission to colonize Mars after the language barrier is broken. Human kind has some new neighbors.

[taalismn]

The swine flu really does turn people into swine...Or leaves them infused with porcine and avian characteristics(not always beneficial)...

[Aramanthus]

Some great ones guys! Maybe I should continue with the pandemic ideas.


The swine flu and the avian flus are the first of many. The first two were actually RNA retro viruses which granted the victim aspects of creatures it waas named for. The next set are the cow flu, horse flu and last and funniest porcupine flu.

[taalismn]

here we go i will start one and then another person finishes it. we will do this until we have all taken turns starting and ending an alterante setting.

In 104 PA the CS demands to Free Quebec had not yet been made. that following summer Emporer Prosek ordered the leader of Quebec to stand down. failing this Karl sent his legions out across North America to attack the rebel state of Quebec. after 2 and a half bloody years of battle the CS deafeted Quebec. However, the CS lost about 25% of its manpower and resources. dispite this the emporer could not stand idly by has an old threat suddently became to powerful to ignore.
In 107 PA the CS states went after Tolkeen to deafet the nation of magic users. In the end the CS won the war, but at a huge cost. most of there army was desroyed and a great amount of factories that built the skelebots, samas and other CS military staples have been destroyed. the Fortress city itself was badly damaged by an attack orchesrated by the coucil of 12. a good portion of the fortress cities southern wall is gone. Tolkeen was successful in assassinating Emporer Prosek. however, his son is now the emporer of the CS. has Joseph is preparing for a rebuild of the CS the FoM moves in seeing the CS has a now crippled giant.

Moving in openly, the Federation of Magic's fresh troops make impressive gains into CS territory, and Lord Dunscon begins crowing that the end of the Coalition is at hand, and threatens to declare any magic-using nation that ISN'T standing beside him when Chitown falls, "a silent ally of the CS and an enemy of the righteous", seeking to intimidate Tolkeen, still licking its wounds, into accepting his leadership; some of Tolkeen's more rabid warhawks take him up on it, and send their own forces to join the Shermanisc rampage through CS territory...Incidentally also eating uo anybody who's standing by the wayside(often killing them for their PPE).....Stormspire and Dweomer take exception to Dunscon's statement and deeds, and while Dunscon is hammering on Chi-Town, they attack the City of Brass and Dunscon's real echelons....Meanwhile, the Vanguard rallies the survivors of the Coalition, and a guerilla army of 'burb d-bees and citizenship-seekers bog down the FoM legions, while the Vanguard openly bolsters them with their own magic...The guerillas are heartened by rumors of CS forces rallying in the west and at Lone Star....

[taalismn]

George Washington, pre-Revolution, visited the English sugar island of Barbados and was tempted to stay to pursue the life of a sugar cane plantation owner....Suppose he HAD decided to stay?

[Hystrix]

Russia invades China. The US annexes Canada. The European Commweath dissolves in bickering, quarrling nation states...

...But War... War never changes...

[Aramanthus]

Ok. I'll take up this story.


As the seeming continent wide wars continues to widen. As Lazlo and New Lazlo joins with Dwoemer and Stormspire in the attack against the FOM. They also send representatives to the Chitown. There they find that the last of the old guard are dead. Prosek's son has been murdered along with most of the military command, lead by Dr. Bradford. Even Bradford falls in the insuing chaos. Those that are left are very desperate, almost ready to use the nuclear arsenal of the CS to defend what is left of their nation. They actually see the offer to work together for a chance they all need to survive this war. With the additional forces that Lazlo and New Lazlo bring with them help roll the forces of the FOM back. Eventually they are back in their little part of the FOM. At this point the alliance of the Future of Humanity makes an offer to the struggling FOM. It is revealed that Dunscon fell at the pivotal battle after the new allies joined together. The FOM refuses to surrender to the overwhelming forces. They are finally forced to surrender. The survivors are banished to the multiverse. The survivors look at what happened and what they have done. Magic and technology working together. Prejudices are forgotten because of acts of courage by forces that wield both magic and those that wield technology. A man had come to the fore front to lead the combined army that defeated the FOM. That man sets about uniting the remaining countries under one flag that represents all factions. That one man binds together what once were rivals and forged them into allies. That one man is also elected to lead the newly establish reborn United States of North America, even though he tries desperately to avoid the office, by saying that he isn't worthy of the office. He'll serve a second term and shortly after leaving office he writes his memoirs. He dies a few years after that is widely recieved. The US will provide super strength in the times of Rift's after this point.

[taalismn]

Lord Dunscon found the Lone Star complex first.....

[Cybermancer]

What if, upon discovering North America, Columbus realized it wasn't India and instead realized it was an undiscovered continent? What if he then declared it to be Atlantis?

[taalismn]

What if, upon discovering North America, Columbus realized it wasn't India and instead realized it was an undiscovered continent? What if he then declared it to be Atlantis?

We'd be the United States of (North) Atlantis

[Cybermancer]

What if, upon discovering North America, Columbus realized it wasn't India and instead realized it was an undiscovered continent? What if he then declared it to be Atlantis?

We'd be the United States of (North) Atlantis

You might be. I imagine North and South Atlantis would be just as balkanized as North and South America.

[Aramanthus]

Although I have to admit that if the continent being named Atlantis would have been an interesting change!

A sudden increase in gravity of the super black hole at the center of our galaxy reduces the lifespan of the galaxy to only a few dozen years.

[taalismn]

Although I have to admit that if the continent being named Atlantis would have been an interesting change!

A sudden increase in gravity of the super black hole at the center of our galaxy reduces the lifespan of the galaxy to only a few dozen years.

You've been reading Stephen Baxter, haven't you?

[Hystrix]

All gaming systems use *gasp* 12-sided dice ONLY!!!!

Fickin' 12-siders!

[taalismn]

All gaming systems use *gasp* 12-sided dice ONLY!!!!

Fickin' 12-siders!

all RPGs use exploding dice.....
THAT would make our lives a lot more interesting!

[Aramanthus]

Actually I've never read Steven Baxter. I might have one in the waiting pile to read someday in the future. Actually I just finished up "Orphan's Journey" by Robert Buettner. Read it Sunday and Monday when I was visiting my family.


As humankind evolved the family unit remained most important to it. This continues to the present time. Most families are far larger then modern families. Most families number on average 15 to 20 in the immediate nuclear family. And extended families most of the time number up to 75 members.

[taalismn]

Baxter can get downright depressing, considering Humanity(and the universe) pretty much always go POP! in his stories, with a few survivors or transhumans hanging on at end...

Jesse James gets the drop on the coward Ford, shooting him first...the legend lives on....

[Aramanthus]

Thank you for the update on that author. I guess I'll read him when I especially happy.


Abraham Lincoln never enters politics. He decides to go into the family business.

[taalismn]

Magic is much more powerful in Rifts, but carries a 'balance' that must be eventually maintained...a loss of one's lifeforce, accruing injuries, loss of good lookc, personal fortune, whatever....some people constanty adjust the balance, figuring a little hurt now rather than a lot of hurt later, while others accumulate a 'debt' they figure they'll pay when they're old and grey(and maybe would welcome death. or figure a way to cheat it)....THus, really powerful mages are either poor, really ugly, really clumsy, or so frail of health, they really can't enjoy their power...Many mages over the years have also tried to find ways of dodging the Balance, with many experimenting with ways to proxy the debt(and have somebody else pay it in their place) with varying success(sometimes it backlashes, like a Portrait of Dorian Grey)...
Think of magic as credit cards...with interest plans...And the Mafia as debt collectors...

[Aramanthus]

LOL Now that is a cool one!


On certain days not mormally associated with any sort of solar or lunar event it turns out that magic is actually tremendously more powerful than normal. During these periods the magic actually reaches up to a thousand fold more powerful. But also on certain days during the year magic is significantly weaker than normal. Balance is never achieved.

[taalismn]

LOL Now that is a cool one!


On certain days not mormally associated with any sort of solar or lunar event it turns out that magic is actually tremendously more powerful than normal. During these periods the magic actually reaches up to a thousand fold more powerful. But also on certain days during the year magic is significantly weaker than normal. Balance is never achieved.

On such days, the problem is that magic assumes an EXPLOSIVE quality, and tends to run out of control on such event times...So rather than mages gathering around to perform their most powerful magic on such days, they just AVOID doing so...since only a mad man would risk self-incineration....IN fact, mages scrupulously AVOID each other's company at such times, in case a careless act or old grudge results in a FAE-like event....

[Aramanthus]

LOL Explosive twist!

It is discovered that eating microwave popcorn can lead to super powers due to the genetic changes in the corn from the genetic changes and the microwave radiation.

[taalismn]

Hmmm...suddenly had a really bad image flash in my mind of Orville Redenbacher wearing tights and a cape....

[Aramanthus]

LOL Now that is great that I inspired that!


Science becomes one of the most popular destinations for graduates of colleges around the world. During the next generation we see scientific programs explode. Things that were predicted by science fiction during the 20th and early 21st century occur after only a few generations.

[taalismn]

Sputnik rams into a transparent 'sphere' encompassing the entire Earth...seems we're caged in...By whom? When? And for what purpose?

[Aramanthus]

Looks like we're caught like flies in some amber for somebodies own amusement.


It turns out that earth is a safari destination for every intelligent species in the galaxy. So all of those supposed UFOs are actually here taking photots. The cattle mutilations are taking place because the keepers have to make sure that their creations are doing fine!

[taalismn]

The Salem Witch Trials were a cleverly choreographed move by a cult to perform the sacrifice of innocents to let loose...something...onto the world...(this is more a BtS adventure hook than anything else)...

[Aramanthus]

Still it's not bad. You might find something like that in the world of Rifts.


In a surprising move by Emperor Prosek. It was determined that humans with excessive gas are not considered human and are subject to experiments, culling or weapon test participants.

[taalismn]

A major network breaks a story on a small organization of people who have attained true immortality...unfortunately, they did so through cannibalism, and the secret is now out....

[Aramanthus]

LOL That is a funny one Taalismn. Sort of like the "Deathwalker" episode of Babylon 5, in which the evil being known as Deathwalker had created a formula for immortality. In order to create it you had to kill off half the population so that the other half could become immortal.


The missing link discovered recently in Europe turns out to be a fake. The real missing link is actually living quietly in the eastern United States, having retired a few million years before. As it turns out the missing link is immortal.

[gaby]

Spain join the Axies instead of Japan.

How do you think this will changed things?

[taalismn]

Spain join the Axies instead of Japan.

How do you think this will changed things?

Spain, as a more active member you mean? Besides the fact that the Allies knew that anything that fell into Spanish hands made its way to the local German intelligence agents? Well, Spain would have been the 'poor partner' of the European Axis....after all, it was the Nazis who armed Franco with his best weapons during the Spanish Civil War, so a lot of resources that would have gone to arming the German Army and reinforcing France would have gone to re-arming the Spanish Army and rebuilding the Spanish economy, which doubtlessly would have annoyed Hitler...On the other hand, the British would have feared losing Gibralter and access to the Med if the Spanish had taken a more active roll in Axis military affairs, such as providing bases for German and Italian aircraft, warships, and providing troops...even if the Spanish didn't provide serious amounts of war material, their participation might have cost Britain the Med, by their proximity to vital British lines of communciation and supply; the African theatre would have had to be supplied via a more southerly route through North Africa, and Bomber Command would be assigned to hitting Spanish targets...Neutral Portugal, on the other hand, might have been persuaded to knuckle under to Spanish/Axis persuasion...or might have come out more wholeheartedly for the Allies...

[Aramanthus]

I concure about Taalismns ideas on Spain during WW2. I know the British on purposely dumped the dead body of one of their servicemen to fool the Germans over the Normandy landings by dumping the body near Spain. That way the Germans would get the information the British intelligence wanted them to find.


Instead of malfunctioning Archie 3 continues to support the struggling humanity after the coming of the Rifts. He does whatever he can to preserve humanity. So by the time the Rift's setting starts in the book it's totally different world than the one presented in the books.

[taalismn]

Earth is the only world where people live and die...On other worlds, people breed, then essentially become undead(not needing to eat, but aging no further, but still quite conscious and mobile) at a certain point....THis makes for rather bad circumstances if a populace cannot find some way to travel offworld, and the planets become grossly overcrowded by the ever-living(at which point population pressure causes a decline, if not outright extinction, of breeding....as the overcrowded worlds cannot support any new lives)...Travellers from these worlds find the human life cycle puzzling...Why is humanity so cursed...or blessed?

[Aramanthus]

Some excellent ones. Please keep them coming.

As humanity explores space they slowly turn their bodies more mechanical. Until finally they are the equal to any Mechanoid. It is at this point that the race of humanity and turns on it's creators. And then after destroying them it then looks across the immenseness of the Universe to conquer. And so they begin their march across the stars.

[Overlord Rikonius]

Sputnik rams into a transparent 'sphere' encompassing the entire Earth...seems we're caged in...By whom? When? And for what purpose?

Damn, Randy should have just gave back the space cash!


Swapper Virus:
A plague besets the human race. Transmitted via bodily fluids, and unable to live outside of the human body. Initially it was a blank virus with very little "payload". This is Swapper A.
When Swapper A infects a person, it lies dormant for months or years, then eventually bonds with their DNA, but in a reversal of normal viral behavior, it copies a random sampling of DNA into itself. This makes it Swapper B. A person will typically be a carrier of Swapper B for life. The person also has Swapper A in him, but this is rarely communicable.
If Swapper B infects a person, it deposits that payload, replacing the victim's DNA with the prior victim's. Results are random. Jawline might shift, eyes may change color. Conditions like diabetes or huntingtons or cancer may appear or disappear. Even intellect or disposition may change. And sometimes the changes aren't uniform. Someone with a round jaw might get Swapper from a square-jaw and have only half his jaw change. Sometimes, even gender traits swap.
However, sometimes, the payload isn't delivered, and it just infects the victim with Swapper A. Whether this happens appears to be wholly random.
The virus only affects humans, and metahumans are resistant (and normal humans are resistant to Swapper from them). In addition, people with extra or missing chromosomes are totally immune to the effects.
Infection gives an immunity to other Swapper B strains that lasts a year or so, but eventually fades. Of course the strain that previously infected you would just rewrite your new DNA with the same new DNA so no change would be noticeable(unless a subsequent SB infected you and overwrote those bits).
At first, panic and confusion abound as people begin shapeshifting into chimeras. Biometrics stop being reliable. People who need to disappear deliberately infect themselves and hope for a big change.
Due to SA's long dormant phase, it spread to much of humanity. Ergo, these people are all carriers for Swapper A and their own Swapper B strain.
A vaccine is also found for Swapper B, but due to the nature of the virus, the best we can manage is a vaccine for SB merged with specific human DNA (ie, you won't get infected from that person, but this can change if that person get's swapped enough). Vaccination costs about $500.
Curing Swapper A is impossible. It is inextricably bound to the DNA. Curing Swapper B is possible, but then a new SB pops up (and any vaccines to your old strain are worthless). Still, SB cures are applied if someone's Swapper B would give a serious disease of disfiguring change.
If a parent is infected with Swapper, their offspring have a high chance of being born with Swapper A or B.
Society eventually adjusts. Most take precautions to avoid getting swapped around. Symmetrical features become a more important visual cue (less likely to have been swapped). But a growing subculture of Swapheads see the virus as liberating. They deliberately infect themselves and spread their DNA among their cliques, reveling in their amorphous forms. Some even use the Swapper B cure to purge themselves of the virus so they can swap themselves out faster. Unfortunately, too much swapping often leads to instability, and also difficulty in identifying perpetrators (height, weight, fingerprints, eyes, hair, facial features, any or all could change). As a result, the cops come down hard on all Swapheads (who are easy to spot with their mishmash of chimeric features).

edit: for an alt. universe campaign, you could have the DNA of the PCs be just different enough that they are incompatible. This could, of course, lead to them being "outed" as alien.
And even worse, nobody knows where Swapper came from. Now there's these guys with no ID records in the system, possibly with advanced tech, and they're immune. You just know the PCs are gonna get blamed for it

[taalismn]

Ouch...
"I saw Bob from Accounting today, Ned...Looks like he got your nose..."
"Agh...I think I got Rita's morning sickness in return..."
"ewww...tough break, Ned...."

[Aramanthus]

LOL That is a pretty incredible alternate universe OR! Good response Taalismn!

North Korea's next leader turns out to be a peace maker. Even willing to listen to demands from the western non-communist powers. He is will to work with others to prevent bad situations from getting worse.

[Overlord Rikonius]

LOL That is a pretty incredible alternate universe OR! Good response Taalismn!

Thanks

North Korea's next leader turns out to be a peace maker. Even willing to listen to demands from the western non-communist powers. He is will to work with others to prevent bad situations from getting worse.

Sounds pleasant. It'd be nice if that happens.

Got another alternate universe, but this one is kinda weird


The Unhappened Land (warning: includes time travel metaphysical speculation):
When you go back in time, you make a bubble. All the events and points of space time where things differ exist in both ways. Eventually, this must be settled. If the bubble is similar enough to the original world (on a macro level, if you don't prevent yourself from going back....), then the two merge. If the bubble is different from the original, but the traveller still travels back (ie, a self-sustaining change), then the bubble forces itself into the "real" timeline, pushing aside the overlaid history.
But, if time catches up to when the traveller would have gone back, and the traveller does not go back, this produces a paradox. The bubble cannot exist, so the original time remains established and the bubble is no more.
But what happens to the bubble (or the original time snippets) that are forced out of the universe? Did they just never exist? No, they were not destroyed. They still exist. The Unhappened Land is a forbidden surreal land. Snippets of the world exist there coverred in a pulsing fog. The prevented exist here in a shifting pulsating eerie starless land. Alternate versions of those affected by time travel live here.
Because the entire planet is rarely affected by time travellers, there are swaths of land with inhabitants wondering where the outside world went, why the stars vanished. These are the lost, forever denied the world of their birth.
But they are not alone. Venturing into the fog finds other regions. Some of which hold other alternate prevented versions of the intrepid explorer who dared brave the fog.
The Unhappened Land is bleak. It is a temporal existential hellscape. And any one of us, at any moment of our lives, could suddenly find ourselves there, while another version lives on in the real world.
Travellers to the Unhappened Land (it can be reached via rift or phasing) can return (and the luckless inhabitants can escape their fate), but there is a risk to returning from the Unhappened Land. For you see, the Unhappened Land is shaped by events from the future. Traces of the future may still exist in it. Actions taken with such knowledge may invoke a paradox if the escaper acts differently than this future requires. If the character would change things so that the part(s) of the Unhappened Land he visited actually happened, then he might find himself (and all he touched) standed once again in the Unhappened Land.

[Aramanthus]

That is a cool alternate universe OR! Sort of scary and bleak at the same time. I wish that North Korea would react like that, but we all know it isn't likely to be that nice and simple.


Military technology is actually one hundred years of what they tell us. This is not due to UFO's and aliens. It is actually due to having managed how to manipulate the various frequencies that seperate various dimensions and then either purchasing technology of conquering these lother lands. And of course maintaining the resources of these other worlds. Of course the citizens never know what their country is up too.

[taalismn]

That is a cool alternate universe OR! Sort of scary and bleak at the same time. I wish that North Korea would react like that, but we all know it isn't likely to be that nice and simple.


Military technology is actually one hundred years of what they tell us. This is not due to UFO's and aliens. It is actually due to having managed how to manipulate the various frequencies that seperate various dimensions and then either purchasing technology of conquering these lother lands. And of course maintaining the resources of these other worlds. Of course the citizens never know what their country is up too.

Several decades ago, after a short, brutal, and utterly secret war with extraterrestrial invaders, NATO used a captured alien starship to send a highly trained strike force to commit a pre-emptive strike on the aliens' 'foothold' in this section of space..a move that, if successful, would deny the enemy the chance to threaten Earth for another thousand or so years...The mission, totally secret, the strike force; considered to be expendable...
Now, decades later, the survivors of that taskforce have limped home, much changed(but still relatively young due to relativistic travel and alien technologies), war-weary, and triumphant...to find the political climate has changed, and the knowledge of their expedition almost lost....The troopers don't WANT to go along with the secrecy clause; they want to come home, they want the truth made public, and they want the world to know what they and their comrades did....and they still got the armament and technology to back their demands...

[Aramanthus]

That is a good one Taalismn!

Humankind is involved in a secret war in space with aliens bent on destroying us and our lives. In reality the defenders are actually spread all over the solar system to defend our lives. They actually have walked on Pluto. They have multiple bases on the moon. They have many people living on Mars and they are working on colonizing it.

[taalismn]

AS above, aliens are coming to Earth for breeding purposes...Fortunately(or unfortunately, depending on how highly you regard the human race) they ain't interested in us...THey're here for the dogs...

[Aramanthus]

Excellent one Vampire_hunter_D! Taalismn all I can say ! That was something I didn't expect!

The aliens are actually not the little greys but are reptilian descendants of an intelligent species that existed during the time of the dinosaurs. Some of them left to explore and colonize the universe. And since they haven't heard from their mother planet they are returning to see what happened to their people. And low and behold there is an alien race living on their mother planet, with no sign of their own progenitors.