====== The Age of Heroes ======

And so it was that Earth became a protectorate of the Annunaki Empire.
Governments worldwide were either absorbed or replaced by Naki
officials, with the exception it seemed of those who had collaborated.
The Naki became more ruthless in their attitude to remaining pockets
of insurgents, yet kept displays of brutality shielded from the best
part of humanity. Favoured Overseer Allison ensured that the Pro-Naki
states were assimilated seamlessly into Imperial citizenship, while
taking more draconian measures with those states that had shown such
recalcitrance. Nevertheless, he was not seen to be overly harsh to any
particular area.

Yet there remained resistance across the world, especially in those
most troubled of locations. Of course the Global Militia could never
abide the loss of their planet to an alien, and so they formed the
body of the resistance movement. Of course many others were involved
too. The Australian Outback, Wales and the Basque province along with
mountainous, secluded regions in other countries showed continued
opposition to the Annunaki yoke.

And as time went on, rumours grew that the resistance was becoming
better funded somehow, in spite of the Naki's presence. They were
gaining more technology (some of it supposedly neither Human nor Naki)
and adopting a more military command structure. The most silent of
rumours hinted at the existence of the 'Hidden Master' of the
resistance movement. Those in the know pointed out that only certain
resistance cells were gaining this extra attention, and that it was
from a pro-human source outside the original resistance movement. More
and more cells consolidated their efforts with this organisation as
the months went on. Other cells whispered in secret that ancient gods
were protecting them, and these cells always seemed to have an edge
when leading attacks.

Humanity became inspired by these resistance heroes. No longer were
they the dread insurgents who would blow up buildings full of
innocents; they were the great freedom fighters that would cast off
the shackles of the Naki's belligerent xenocracy. Support gradually
built up for resistance groups, giving them the necessary extra power
to fuel their efforts.

Surprisingly, Annunaki attempts to infiltrate the resistance movements
met with very little success. Processed human interlopers were quickly
discovered and abducted by certain cells. This apparently caught the
attention of the Empire, who began using indoctrinated humans instead,
leading to the removal of a few cells of insurgents, but nowhere near
as many as they had hoped. The Naki soon realised that a Pro-human
group was funding this effort, and outlawed GeneTech, arresting many
personnel and razing their facilities to the ground. Many personnel
escaped without apparent trace in the struggle. GeneTech has
apparently been working further on diseases to rid the world of the
Naki, amongst other strange experiments. Gradually, more and more
resistance centres would be targeted by Allison himself.

Allison had a great airborne battleship of Annunaki design. It was
known as the 'Mobile Oppression Fortress' by most people including the
Naki. Allison himself rejected this name, calling instead the 'Yellow
Submarine' although in truth it was neither of these things. The
Favoured Overseer would take this Fortress to areas showing resistance
and unleash bombardments and troop drops onto them until they either
broke, submitted or were destroyed. In this way, much of the
resistance lost heart. But for those who remained, it simply
strengthened their iron resolve.

Especially one, known as 'The Reckless' to some, and Adam Wilson,
frontman of Skalding Hot to others. Claiming that he was the chosen of
the gods, he unleashed an all-out attack on Allison's centre of power
- The Los Angeles Museum of Rock. What transpired within that museum
would never become fully known, although rumour and legend describe a
titanic battle in which Allison and Wilson would lock themselves in
brutal one-on-one combat, each armed with a great hammer - Wilson's
was in the shape of Mjollnir, the Hammer of Thor. Allison's was a
great silver hammer, supposedly a reference to a Beatles song.
Whatever may or may not have occured within those halls, one thing is
for certain. During the fight, a nuclear device was triggered that
caused the death of both the combatants. And so was a great loss dealt
to both the resistance and the Naki.

More hope returned to the resistance after an individual known as the
Dragon Slayer, said to be Shauna Li herself, did lead an attack on the
Dinosaur breeding pens that the Annunaki kept a tight guard on. This
was one of the largest assaults that the resistance was ever able to
lead at this time, with many dinosaur spawn vats obliterated and the
great Dragon slain by the Dragon Slayer. How she was able to
co-ordinate this attack is uncertain, though there are still those who
suggest that an individual known as the 'Bringer of Truth' was able
to act as an intelligencer.

Following the death of Wilson, the resistance gathered around the one
called the Shepherd of the Unsung, who had been Wilson's lover. She
became a heroine of the greatest sort, and was rumoured to be
protected by powerful magics, or even the blessings of the gods. And
so the resistance began to regard her as the saviour of humanity,
forming a kind of cult around her. It was rumoured that she disliked
this attention and sought to portray herself not as a saviour but as a
revolutionary. But somehow, the Saviour status seemed to stick. She
blamed someone called Thom for this, so it is said.

Yet the most daring strike against the Naki was yet to come. It came
with a great hero of the resistance, a man known as Himin's Hound, one
of the leaders of a group of heroic soldiers. The Hound, so called
because the legends surrounding him spoke of him as a werewolf, led a
group of his men on a daring mission to attack Nibiru itself. They
landed by shuttle on Nibiru's surface, and though their exact actions
are not known, they caused considerable damage to a great deal of the
planet's war machine, and even slew the Zebulan of Nibiru himself -
Zebulan being the name the Naki give to their planetary leaders.
Nibiru's Favoured Overseer, Assan, took over the role, and focused
most of his efforts on rebuilding the damaged planet. As for the Hound
and his pack - they were never seen again.

It was at about this time that the resistance announced that it had
created a cure of sorts for Naki processing, supposedly able to alter
a processed human back to its original state. This involved
considerable cloning technology, and had some success. However, the
'cured' clones were not the humans they once were - reports indicated
that brain damage, personality loss and other inhibiting factors were
rife. However, the resistance had some hope that perhaps this barrier
too would be overcome.

With the resistance in full swing, and the Naki still in firm control
but pushed onto the back foot, it was announced too that a God had
been born. The son of Adam Wilson the Reckless, a charming child and
most beautiful, had been living in secret among the resistance
members. The child's mother, Hannah Lake, Shepherd of the Unsung,
claimed the child was Baldr born again, and that he would free
humanity from the Naki.

All the while, the man known as Thom looked upon this baby Baldr, and laughed.