Welcome world!! This is my first attempt at a shared-universe
(online anyway..) But I have two friends (and one sibling) who are
willing to come play with me... Anyone else?

     This is the introduction to the universe the series is running in
and I must admit, I swiped most 'o it from X-men. (don't we all ;] )
This intro should give you the basic outline of the base story, from
there we (us four) are working it in a 'Canterbury Tales' type format.
(i.e. my first story is Dodger's Tale: What's in a name?) If you are
interested in the details 'o de world (pages 'n pages... <jk>) gimme a
write!

     The normal legal-junk, what is Marvel's is Marvel's, all the rest
is my work... (and under my copyright)
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     When the Katacsi came looking for allies in an intergalactic war,
Earth was willing to help. Or at least that's what the Katacsi assumed.
After all, they were fleeing the Nnn, which, counter to their silly
sounding name, made the Kor-ah and Ur-Quan of Star Control look like
kids. (1)

     The Katacsi had already found allies in the near-by regions of
space, and so when the reached Earth they were momentarily stunned. A
world crammed to over-flowing with new recruits was just what they had
been looking for!

     But even before they started counting their chickens, they found
out that they were dealing with turtle eggs. For the recruits they
were looking for were in a severe minority, even in the massive
population. This, however, could be remedied. The Katacsi were far from
primitive and genetic manipulation was one of their strengths.

     They spread a mutagen into the upper atmosphere causing a wave
of... (can you guess?) mutants to be born. 99.9% of the new population
to be exact. Needless to say this caused many massive problems for
poor 'ole mutant-hating Earth. Thankfully, the problems worked
themselves out, and the 'baby boom' of mutants became a thing of
history.

     That was fifteen years ago, and now the Katacsi are back. While
they have not claimed responsibility for the mutant generation, most
people have figured it out. But the Nnn are fast approaching, and the
Katacsi are valuable allies. When the 'powers that be' discovered that
the mutants were the only ones capable of fending off the Nnn they
threw money at the problem. An Academy was built to train the newly
awakened mutant powers, and that is where our story is set. In the
hallowed halls of Xavier Academy, named for its founder, who died
over three hundred years ago.

     These are the stories of the few, the young, the understandably
angst-ridden... the mutants who are training to fight the (as yet)
unseen enemy.

     The Academy is built around Ender's Game (2) and the same sense of
impending doom is everywhere. Yet all the stories are not so doom-and-
gloom, while I will admit the stories people are working on now are a
little depressing, I have one on the back-burner that is anything but
serious ;].

     This series of stories is called the Last Generation for a reason,
and if your willing to write a fan-fic... we'll tell you ;]

     While the original X-men are long dead some interesting descendants
are already starting to appear. Like Dodger, who is by some interesting
quirk of genetics, related to Nightcrawler. All other X-men stuff is
still around... like sentinels (like roaches, you can never quite kill
them _all_), all the immortals, and all the time-travelers.

     BTW Bishop's future did not happen. In fact the future was
relatively a lot like the present. <sigh>

     So anyone interested?? If not, I will happily write loads of
stories by myself... but I'd rather get to read some too...

     Thanks for reading!!

                                     Martha (and cat)
<mcber@interserf.net>
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(1) The Ur-Quan enslaved everyone in Star Control I
    The Kor-ah _killed_ everyone in Star Control II

(2) READ THIS BOOK!!! It's very very very good :)
    Summ-up for reading-impaired people (i.e. those without a decent
     public library...) This is a book about a kid, Ender who is
     recruited into an academy to train the younger generations to
     fight an alien invasion (so maybe I borrowed a bit here too.. ;])
     He is eight when he graduates. (Six when he entered) The academy
     is break-down central...