[url=http://www.roleplayerguild.com/topics/93972-plague-of-the-stars/ooc]Former RP in this universe.[/url]

Long ago, for some unknown reason, many primitive humans started developing trait which made them superior to those around them.  They were generally feared for their power and, as a result they began to seek out others like them so that they could be accepted.  These people formed their own society and separated themselves from the rest of humanity on a series of islands and began developing technology far faster than the others.  This separation spread the various superior genes through the population, making them a separate species from humans, a species that came to call themselves Titans.

When, thousands of years later, they began to interact with humans once more the humans believed them to be gods and began worshiping them.  For a time they enjoyed the attention but they eventually grew tired of it.  They began to crave the power to order the humans around but the fiction the humans had created around them prevented the transition from god-above-man to king.  Because they could not have what they wanted, they built star ships to travel to other inhabited worlds.  They conquered these worlds and ruled over the people of those worlds.

Some of the scientists from the more technologically advanced races decided that, as the Titan's powers gave them an advantage over the other races, they would give powers to the subject races.  They created a retrovirus which contained genetic improvements from over one hundred species of sentient beings, including the Titans, and released it among the people of many subject worlds.  This virus granted those genetic improvements to any that became infected and survived.

When the Titans learned of this, they began exterminating any population in which the virus was present.  The people began to fear anyone who had the virus, and turned them over to their rulers in order to be spared the ruler's wrath.

When the scientists that created the virus learned of this they fled in ships of their own, hoping to hide among the stars until their decedents became powerful enough to fight the Titans.  One of those groups fled to the old home system of the Titans, taking the opportunity to learn about their enemy by spying on them from the fourth planet in their home system.

In 2037 a group of scientist returned from Mars with viral symptoms.  Due to the heavy use of medicine during the return journey, four of the six Martian astronauts survived.  While in quarantine however, one of these astronauts, a carrier of the disease, knocked down a wall of the facility and escaped.  He infected others when he got to the nearest city, and the Red Planet Virus began to spread.

Those that became infected sometimes developed superhuman abilities, apparently in response to stress experienced while infected.  Most of the infected, however, survived the infection and got over it without getting powers.  A rare few, however, became carriers.  The virus reached an equilibrium with their immune system where they remained contagious but didn't have any symptoms.  The most remarkable thing about these carriers, however, is the fact that they sometimes get new powers which they didn't have before.

Humans have begun to fear these carriers, however, seeing the few super-powered people that used their abilities for evil and believing that the carriers will soon be too powerful and their enemy.  These super villains have begun to attack others, believing themselves to be the rightful rulers of the world due to their superiority.  We must protect the people from these villains, if only so that the public doesn't hate us.

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We are either carriers or people who gained powers while infected.

If you are a carrier you can gain powers while you play, but you can only get them if they prevent an extreme cause of stress (injury, illness, mental stresses, etc.) and none of your other powers can deal with the situation.  You will also be limited to five powers so that things don't get out of control.

I would like some of us to be villains and some heroes, but if not I can play NPCs to balance the game.

Special Rules:

1) Some of you will die, but that's a sacrifice I am willing to make.
Just kidding, but I want this to be realistic, or at least as realistic as it can be with super powers and advanced tech, so you can get sick, injured, die, etc.  Your battles will take a toll on you and you will need to recover.  This means that powers that help out will be valuable. 
2) Powers start off weak, but get stronger quickly.  Using your powers near their limits will be the fastest way to improve them.
3) Carriers can give others the virus through some form of bodily fluid transfer.
4)  We don't know the whole backstory of the virus, just that Mars astronauts brought it back with them and the stuff after that.  Learning the rest will take research.

[hider=Character sheet]
Tell me if you think anything's missing.

Name:
Appearance:
Age:
Sex:
Infection type: (None if you never had it, Immune if you had it and didn't get powers, Empowered if you got it and got powers, Carrier if you are a Carrier)
Powers: (Up to three for now, later up to five)
Personality:
Bio: (include the stresses that earned you powers)
Equipment: (super equipment will come after we develop it.)
[/hider]