Tesla's Children: Rise of the Superhumans

Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM

Tesla’s Children: Rise of the Superhumans

By Matt Mitrovich

1893: An accident in Nikola Tesla’s lab causes one of his assistants to gain the control of electricity. The assistant becomes the first superhuman under the name the Human Dynamo. Tesla begins further research into creating superhumans.

1894: Tesla creates his second superhuman Waverider, a man able to travel great distances using radio waves. The US governments seeing a possible opportunity provide Tesla with new funding and make the Human Dynamo and Waverider the first members of the United States Unique Forces (USUF).

1895: Tesla creates two new superheroes with electric powers. By now other scientists are working on creating new superhumans in both the United States and other nations. Not all experiments are successful causing many humans to die or become horribly maimed. Many of these failed experiments are kept away from the public eye, but a few manage to escape from their prison and begin to take their revenge against the US. They become known as the Horrors and are the greatest nemesis to the USUF.

1899: Waverider uses his ability to create the radio, making him a millionaire.

1900: The first non-American superhuman is created when German scientists grant the ability of flight to a lucky German volunteer.

1901: American scientists create the first "Super Soldier," granting one American officer super strength, speed, and reflexes.

1902: The USUF builds its headquarters in New York City.

1909: Nikola Tesla wins the Nobel Peace Prize for his work on superhuman research. Thanks to superhumans across the world crime and deaths from accidents are at there lowest. Of course not all superhumans are on the side of good. Some do become villains.

1910: The last Horror is imprisoned ending the world’s first super-villain gang.

1914-1918: World War I begins with the assassination of the prince of Austria-Hungary. Super-humans fight on both sides using their abilities to fight in the war. Germany and its allies are defeated and the war ends with the Treaty of Versailles. Many heroes question the morality of using their powers in war.

1916: The first flying super-soldier is created. They became the largest group of superhumans in the world.

1917: Radar is invented when a super-human gains the ability as living radar. He becomes known as Hunter.

1919: The Great Walkout. Over a hundred heroes quit the USUF in protest of being forced to serve their country in war because of their powers. Many become vigilantes, who are in turn hunted down by a group of hero-hunters led by Hunter.

1920: The first energized super-human gains the ability to shoot particle beams from his arms.

1921: Some children of super-humans begin showing the ability to use their parents powers, or even manifest their own special ability. This means that powers can be transferred over the generations.

1922: Commercial airships become popular after a new type of super-humans are discovered who can mass-produce certain elements of the periodic table.

1924: The Human Dynamo burns out his body. He becomes a living body of energy. Immediately he disappears but he would turn up from time to time during crisis. Other electrical heroes will go through the same metamorphous later in time.

1925: A new treaty ends the economic sanctions placed on Germany for World War I. Germany begins to recover from the war. The first super-speeders come into being.

1926: The Second Entente is signed between the United States, Britain, France, Germany, and Italy. It is directed against the communist Soviet Union. The Second Entente also undermines the power of the League of Nation, making the multi-national alliance more powerful.

1928: The first super-humans who can breathe underwater are created.

The first flying cars enter the market after scientists discover how to artificially produce the same force that keeps flying super-humans in the air.

1929: A possible bank crisis in Europe is avoided thanks to the work of the Second Entente.

1931: First appearance of superhumans who can control fire.

1932: Herbert Hoover wins a second term as President of the United States. The Human Dynamo stops Hunter from killing a rogue superhuman. He convinces Hunter to end his inquisition. Hunter writes several books about being moral and being a super-human.

1934: Public opinion on government controlled superheroes in the United States turns negative. The US bows to pressure and disbands the USUF and also any experiments involving the creation of new superhumans. Hunter creates the Code of the Hero, to act as a moral compass for all super-humans. Hunter and the Human Dynamo enforce the rule. The heroes who follow the Code of the Hero label many superhumans who refuse to sign as villains.

1933: Second Entente stops Japan from invading China by threatening war.

Adolf Hitler commits suicide after the continued failure of his political party to gain any ground in the German government.

The United States creates the Secretary of Superhuman affairs.

1935: Italy agrees to abandon attempts to invade Ethiopia after pressure from Second Entente members.

1936: The Second Entente sponsors the creation of the Superhuman Governing Authority (SGA), with its headquarters in the old USUF building in New York. Regional offices are created in every nation that signs on to the new organization with the agreement to halt anymore superhuman experiments. This group made up of only superhumans, acts as a watchdog agency for superhumans across the world, using the Code of the Hero as its guide. They also continue the remaining superhuman experiments, but only under the careful of Second Entente representatives.

Failed military coup in Japan. Japanese government attempt to make closer ties with the west by becoming the newest nation to sign on to the SGA.

1937: Communist forces overthrow Spain. Spain allies with the Soviet Union. Tensions increase between Communists and the Second Entente.

1938: An accident at a nuclear reactor creates the first nuclear powered super-human, ushering in a new era of super-humans. To better understand this new generation of heroes the SGA allows limited experimentation to create new superhumans. These nuclear powered heroes (and villains) become some of the most powerful in the world.

1939: Germany creates the first nuclear reactor. Research goes into the possibility of using nuclear power to create a bomb.

1943: Nikola Tesla dies. His funeral attended by several world leaders and thousands of super-humans who view him as the father of their race.

1944: The super-human Skyrocket, becomes the first human to go into space when he discovers he can survive for short periods in total vacuum.

1945: The United States creates their own nuclear reactor.

1947: After a young super-human missuses their power in Berlin, the SGA decides to create a formalized training regiment that all underage super-humans must go through. New schools are started up in the member countries of the SGA. The United States build theirs in a remote area of Arizona, so that the young super-humans can practice their powers without affecting the local populace. The new school is named the Tesla Academy in honor of the famous scientist.

1948: Chinese communists defeat nationalist forces, even with material support from the Second Entente. The USSR, Spain, and China form a permanent alliance called Communist International.

1950: Communist uprising in Japanese held Korea. Entire event is being controlled from Moscow. Stalin hopes to use it to justify his plans for war.

1951: World War II. Combined Soviet/Chinese invasion of Korea to support their fellow communist brothers. The Second Entente condemns the invasion and orders to Soviet Union to withdrawal or face war. The Soviet Union expecting this launch a massive invasion into Eastern Europe while Soviet bombers located in Spain strike at targets in the west. The superhuman arm of the Red Army, the Red Legion, launches covert strikes at nuclear weapons research plants in Germany and the United States. These attacks deny the Entente the one advantage they had over the Soviet Union.

1952: Soviet forces reach Berlin, but the Germans fortify the city. The Red Legion is employed along the eastern front and uses their powers against Entente forces. Entente nations ask the SGA to join the war. Up till now the SGA has aided the war effort by fighting espionage on the home front and participating in roles away from the front since the Code of the Hero forbids using ones powers to take another life. However with the possibility of communism overwhelming Europe, the SGA creates the Volunteer Corp, for any super-human who wants to enter combat. Hundreds of super-humans join and are immediately sent to the front line.

The first telepathic superhuman comes into existence.

Personal computers come on the market.

1953: In a bold move by the Entente, the nuclear powered superhumans of the Volunteer Corp bring their nuclear abilities to the max and unleash their energy at certain points along the eastern front. Though several of the heroes destroy themselves, their actions allow a breakthrough, relieving the siege of Berlin and sending the Red Army retreating due the pressure of the Entente offensive.

On other fronts Entente forces capture Madrid while the Japanese defeat the Soviet fleet in the Sea of China. However Soviet sponsored revolts in the Middle East and India threaten to destroy the colonial empires of Europe.

1954: Events on the Eastern Front changes drastically when the Red Legion assassinates Stalin and overthrows the Soviet government. The Red Legion renames itself the White Legion and promises to end the communist government. Loyal Communist forces resist the new government and the Entente finds themselves unwilling allies with the White Legion.

1955: Soviet loyalists flee to China to continue the war there. Spain surrenders while the Entente recognizes the White Legion as the government of Russia until elections can be held. A pro-independence movement begins in the Ukraine.

The SGA is forced to hold a draft after major loss of superhuman life has made the Volunteer Corp ineffective. Though the name remains the same, several heroes are upset of the irony of the situation and worry what the war is doing to the morals of superhumans. Several go into hiding to avoid the draft.

1956: The revolts in the Middle East are crushed thanks to the revitalized Volunteers Corp. In China the last organized communist force surrenders. However due to continued guerilla resistance the Entente is forced to divide the country into occupation zones under the control of the United States, Japan, Russia, Britain and France.

1957: The Treaty of Geneva is signed, officially bringing about and end to the war by establishing a new world order. The Second Entente and the League of Nations both disband and reform into the United Nations. The United States, Britain, France, Italy, Brazil, Germany and Japan will lead the new UN. The UN will have more authority than the old League, while providing member nations with enticing economic and technological advantages. Also any nation that signs on must have its superhuman population adhere to the ruling of the SGA. Russia, who was offered membership, declines.

1958: It becomes painfully clear why Russia declined to join the UN. In a lighting campaign, Russia forces invade Afghanistan and Finland, and bring an end to the independence movement in Ukraine. The leader of the White Legion declares the rebirth of the Russian Empire by crowning himself the new Czar. He announces the immediate annexation of the Russian conquests along with the occupied Chinese territory. The UN though horrified, does not wish war with Russia. Instead it put a general embargo on Russia that all member nations must adhere too. As for the Russians, the new Czar begins to create a new Empire ruled by superhumans. He offers promises of noble titles to any superhuman who wishes to immigrate to the new nation. Many people begin to fear the potential of their own nation’s superhumans overthrowing their government. Any super-human caught trying to enter Russian territory is thrown in prison for life. The SGA decides the time has come to move their headquarters to a new location. Aquamarine suggests a floating city in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. While a bizarre the location, the SGA approves the location and a massive construction program begins to build a floating city.

The Volunteers Corp is renamed the Peacekeepers and is put under joint UN-SGA control to act as the elite super-human team to combat the White Legion. Many super-humans protest government involvement with super-human affairs. More go underground to join those who escaped the draft. These people begin to refer to themselves as "The Forgotten."

The first super-humans who can control their size come into being.

1959: The United States grants statehood to the Philippines as the 51^st state.

1960: A group of electric powered super-humans stop a superhuman coup in Cuba, ending the effort to create another superhuman run state. The SGA takes what they learned from the Cuban crisis and creates new superhuman teams based on certain powers. The SGA creates a new program with the Tesla Academy and other schools to support these new teams. Once graduated, the new heroes will join these minor teams to gain experience. If they are considered good enough they will move to the elite Peacekeepers who will be at the top of team hierarchy with the other teams in supporting roles.

1961: The new SGA headquarters is finished. The floating city is christened New Atlantis. By now fears of a super-human revolt have begun to fade from the public mind and many head-of-states are there to witness the opening ceremony. Still the world continues to worry about the threat of Russia to the rest of the world.

Coming up next: The Road to World War III

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