Gideon
Cadet
Joined: September 14, 2001
Posts: 4604
From: Oregon, USA
|  Posted: 2003-03-08 16:14
Here is the reworked history. This replaces the information in the history area on the left. Parts 1 and 2 deal with periods before this time, and are not currently relevant to DS.
History Galactica
Part 3: The Human Experience
“How did it come to this?”
Circa 2000-2010 CE: Humanity peaked sociologically in the early 1960s, CE. Since this point, we began a slow slide downhill towards a dark age. Early in the twenty first century, this Dark Age finally came upon us. The details as to its inception are not entirely known to us. The devastation during this age on our centers of learning and knowledge storage was severe. What we do know is that some time early in the twenty first century, a rash of extremely violent terrorist attacks began to sweep the nations of the Earth. At first the civilized peoples of the world united in a stand against this barbarism. However, before too long the old rivalries began to kindle descent between the recently united governments of the world. Because of this infighting, certain terrorist groups were allowed the time to acquire and position biological and nuclear weapons in many of the major cities of the industrialized world. An object lesson was made of Boston, USA. A 10mt thermonuclear fission weapon was detonated, laying waste too much of the downtown and bay areas. The radiation cloud blew inland, over many residential areas. The death toll was in the millions. Rather than capitulate, the civilized nations of the world united and began to cut this cancer from the world, but it was too late. Shanghai, Moscow, Greenwich, Berlin, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo, and New York were all obliterated in rapid succession by nuclear and biological weapons that had been positioned in their most densely populated areas. The world gave in. The terrorists seized control over the resources, wealth, and people of the bulk of the first and second world. Some nations, such as the USA, UK, and China, absolutely refused to buckle under. The slaughter in these nations was severe. They eventually gave in when it became clear that if they didn’t there would be nobody left alive to surrender.
Circa 2010-2060 CE: The second Dark Age griped the people of Earth. After gaining control of the major economic and military powers of the world, the leaders of various terrorist regimes declared themselves rulers for life. Within just a few months of gaining power, the purges of “unclean and unfaithful sinners” began. It didn’t matter your religious faith. If you didn’t support the psychotic religion of the moment, you were tortured or simply executed. Whole populations of Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Taoists, Atheists, Protestants, Catholics, and anyone else whom these people could get a hold of died, many times horribly. The new leaders of the world began to be distressed at this. If all their subjects were eliminated, then whom would they rule? Who would create their wealth? What good would his or her power be with no one to lord it over? Political leaders in these new nations began to crack down on the more extreme of their religious brethren. These extremists were some of the oldest supporters of the terrorist organizations, and had personally known many of the members of the now ruling parties of the world. New battle lines were drawn, between religious and secular leaders. Additionally, several of the new secular states that had come into being were controlled by peoples and individuals who had old grudges against one another. These two rivalries blossomed into open warfare using their recently secured nations as power bases. This was one of the darkest and most violent periods of Human history to date.
2062 CE: Ironically, the extremists could not expunge the one thing that they professed was their greatest enemy: major international corporations. These economic entities became vital to the financial survival of these new nations. Even amidst all out warfare between these terrorist states, the corporations maintained their power. Even the religious zealots recognized that to topple the foundations of your economy was to extinguish your ability to make war on each other. Adding to this was the fact that most of these secular and religious leaders who professed a hatred for corporate culture and grown fat and rich off of wealth extorted from the same corporations they claimed to wish to topple. The corporations, however, were fed up. They had seen their loyal employees die by the literal truckload. They had seen their profits become smothered by the senseless destruction. They had seen the progress humanity had been making towards a better tomorrow crushed under the boot heel of madmen and tyrants. They had seen enough. On September 21, 2062, the first meeting of the Global Corporate Council was begun. The GCC was sold to the world leaders of the time as a way to “better facilitate global trade and economic growth”. How the GCC planed to do that was not revealed to the madmen in charge of the world. It was the determination of the Council that the current state of affairs of the world was too costly in terms of “manpower, resources, trade, lives, and progress”. The GCC began a covert mission to end this once and for all.
2066 CE: It took over three years and a mammoth investment of capitol and manpower to get all of their pieces in place. Never the less, on February 18, 2066, the GCC was ready to take the reigns back. At 00:01:00 GMT, the GCC shut the world off. At once, every power station, every communications station, every fuel pump in every vehicle, every computer, every anything that they had been able to introduce their control circuitry into, was shut off. What little remained of the world’s economy ground to a complete halt. At the same time, certain equipment that was directly operated by the GCC was spared this blackout. Covert and elite strike teams had been moved into position. As these Para-military forces struck at the current leaders of these tyrant nations, word was spread using carefully placed operatives in communities all over the Earth. “Join us, liberty is at hand!” was the message spread throughout communities on the Earth. At first slowly, and then with growing momentum, the people of these villages and cities took up whatever weapons they could find against the corruption occupying their nations. While they were an unorganized mob, they were a very large mob, directed at the enemies of the GCC. On August 26, 2066 at 14:23:17 GMT the last of these rouge nations fell under an impressive weight of civilians and corporate forces. The GCC moved immediately to consolidate and codify their power. On September 2, 2066 at 18:02:49 GMT they ratified the Corporate Powers Act and made the GCC the ruling body over Earth.
2066 CE: It was immediately apparent that the Earth would need to be rebuilt. What wasn’t apparent was exactly how this would be accomplished. The calculated requirements for resources were immense. If manual labor was to be used, then a great deal of time would be required to build up the appropriate levels of population. If it were to not be used, then major resources would have to be invested to create machines with which to build up Earth’s infrastructure. Regardless of which path they would pursue, it was obvious to all that Earth could no longer support humanity the way it once had. The levels of chemical, nuclear, and biological contaminants had rendered much of the Earth uninhabitable. Global population had been depleted to just under one billion persons. Still, the GCC would do what it could to repair what damage it could while searched for the solution to its answers.
2068 CE: Plague and infirmity continue to grip the majority of humanity. In the face of dwindling populations, and a reduced workforce, the GCC decides to start an ambitious “cleanup project”. Using information recovered from some sundered pre Dark Age data stores, the GCC is able to compile an accurate map of the human genome. To allow for humanity to survive better on their damaged home, the GCC begins a project of gene therapy on the populous. Participation is not optional. Early in the project, it is realized that Humanity still does not posses the necessary knowledge or experience for massive modification. Too much deviance from the base genome begins to yield unstable results, creating life forms that are not viable for survival. However, small modifications are fully within our grasp, as is the ability to repair some of the damage that had been done to Humanity from radioactive and biological fall out. By the end of 2068, over 95% of humanity has undergone gene therapy. The end result is that Humanity is granted a slightly enhanced immunity to disease, the reduction or removal of inherent genetic diseases, and an overall reduction or elimination of such maladies as myopia.
2084 CE: After a major scientific and industrial effort, final breakthroughs are yielded in the harnessing of fusion power. Fusion reactors begin to be built in key locations on Earth to provide power to homes cheaply. While this may seem counter to the normal practice of businesses milking their customers for all they can get away with, the GCC is willing to take a reduction in profits in order to better insure that large numbers of population can be supported for labor and trade.
2090 CE: Project Atlantis establishes the first undersea habitation on Earth. This fully self-sufficient base was located on the pacific basin, just north of the Solomon Isles. It is a major success, and houses over 25,000 people comfortably. Additional habitats are planed for the rest of the globe. By 2100 CE, over 60% of the world’s population lives below the surface of the ocean. Still, much of the ocean floor and water are contaminated from the Dark Age. Populations continue to stay stable around 1.5 billion people, most of whom are children. This begins to create a food crisis on Earth. The GCC beings to step up its efforts to find a solution to Earth’s problems.
2118 CE: The answer to the world’s problems would come from on high. The newly established Space Development Organization made a shocking discovery. At 02:15:12 GMT on June 6, 2068, the SDO discovered a stellar object approximately eight months away from possible impact with the Earth. About 62 km in diameter, this solid chunk of rock would pass within just a couple of thousand kilometers of the Earth. Damage estimates were such that they already weakened biosphere would be rendered uninhabitable by Human life. Two massive projects were launched. The first was to establish environmentally sealed colonies on Luna and Mars to insure that in a worst-case scenario some remnant of Humanity would survive. The second was to find some way of averting the disaster all together. It was determined that the combined remaining stockpile of Earth’s nuclear and conventional weapons would be insufficient to deviate the course of this rock, now dubbed Ragnarock. The entirety of the Earth’s scientific and industrial capacity was directed to solving both of these issues. Major investments in fusion technology were made for both plans. The results of this were twofold: first came the development of the first Atomic Fusion Engines, allowing a ship to make the journey to Mars in just two weeks. Second, new Fusion Torpedo weapons were developed which allowed the projection of an active nuclear reaction suspended inside of a decaying magnetic field, which was maintained by a small control module. These torpedoes would have their warhead supplied by a cache of deuterium on board the vessel, which excited it to a state of fusion in a specialized reactor before containment in it’s field mere micro seconds before launch. While the low mass of this weapon allowed it to have great speed and ammo capacity, it’s limited range made it unsuitable for use by an Earth based weapon for attack on Ragnarock. By the time the asteroid would be in range, it would be too late. Additionally, numerous problems with maintaining the stability of the torpedo field existed, causing the field to occasionally collapse prematurely.
Construction on two ships, Hope and Genesis, was started in orbit before the Fusion drive technology was even developed. So quickly were they built, that their construction scaffolds were actually completed two days after these vessels were ready for initial system tests. It took three months to complete and outfit both vessels, but on October 30, 2068 both the Hope and the Genesis left Earth orbit for their destinations.
Hope was set on course for Luna, where automated construction systems had been working for the last four months. After the initial population was deployed, it would return to Earth for continual ferrying of population to the new Luna base. New personnel on Luna would throw themselves into the construction process for their new home.
Genesis was a one-time use vessel. She was much larger than her sister ship, Hope. Her total passenger compliment was eight thousand; four times that of the Hope. Additionally, her hull was designed to be broken down for the initial colony base, making her journey a one-way trip.
Both ships performed remarkably well in their assigned duties. Neither had any major system failures, and completes their missions on time. All told, the Hope was able to move 12,000 people to the Luna Dome, and the Genesis was successfully disassembled into the Mars Dome 16 days after her launch.
In secret, the GCC had been playing a major gambit. In stationary orbit over the North Pole, the GCC had been working on a ship construction yard for the last year and a half. Designated Bifrost Station, it was originally designed to build long range probes and colony ships to the rest of the worlds in the Sol system for possible use in the rebuilding of Earth. Now, she had a different mission. Hoping for the best, the GCC decided to build a torpedo warship in Bifrost Station’s births. Designated the Guardian, this ship was specifically designed to get to Ragnarock and deliver as much weapons fire as possible in the hopes of diverting it’s path. Small by today’s standards, her crew of twenty-eight pledged to keep the asteroid from hitting Earth, or die trying. She was launched on November 21, 2068 at 20:04:00 GMT.
December 6, 2118 CE: The Guardian reaches her target at 02:16:31 GMT, and settles in for firing solution. Careful consideration is made as to the angle of attack. Unbeknownst to the Guardian’s crew, a flaw in the manufacturing process for the initial reaction catalyzer was not caught during manufacturing or instillation. When she goes to fire her first torpedo, the reaction refuses to start. A second torpedo is readied, again to the effect of just venting gas. The third attempt successfully created the torpedo, but lingering hydrogen gas in the initial reaction chamber causes the forming torpedo to be just a few degrees over the thermal threshold of it’s field generator. Immediately upon exiting the Guardian, the torpedo prematurely detonates. It is a miracle this did not destroy the ship outright, as no time had been allowed to provide her with combat rated armour, not that combat rated armour had been invented yet. While her internal systems were undamaged, the launch tube exit port was mangled too badly for further torpedoes to be fired.
December 7, 2118 CE: Several attempts are made to push Ragnarock using the Guardian’s engines. They prove far too weak to make any kind of appreciable change in the asteroid’s vector. At 09:54:12 they send a simple message to Earth, “We give our lives for the lives of Humanity. May you all see better days.” Shortly there after, the Guardian explodes in a massive uncontrolled fusion reaction, consuming all of her torpedo and engine fuel in one cataclysmic blast.
January 4, 2119 CE: Ragnarock misses the Earth by 22,000 km. It’s vector sufficiently altered by the sacrifice of the Guardian and her crew, she angles past the Earth, and heads straight towards Venus. Upon reaching the shrouded planet, it skips right through the edge of Venus’s atmosphere. Its size, combined with its unusually high-density, drags a significant quantity of Venus’s atmosphere away from the planet, reducing the overall pressure to just five atmospheres. Ragnarock passes Venus, and dives straight into Sol. It is thereafter dubbed Prometheus.
2119 CE: Interplanetary trade begins in the Sol system. Moral is at a major high point due to the near miss by Prometheus. The celebrations on Earth last for more than a month straight. People find a renewed optimism in the future. The GCC, meanwhile, begins to turn its eye towards Venus. Bifrost Station beings to produce merchant ships, as well as creating two more Guardian class ships, just in case. Scientific efforts remain directed at space exploration and development.
2121 CE: The GCC decides to use Venus as a test bed for environmental engineering experiments. They reason that if they can make Venus habitable, then they can apply those same technologies and principles towards repair Earth’s biosphere. The Eden project is launched on July 12, 2121. One month later, the second generation of Fusion torpedo technology is created. These torpedoes and launchers have only a 0.0001% chance of failure, and include emergency venting technology to prevent a catastrophe in case of a major weapons failure.
2122 CE: The first independent mining colonies are established in the outer solar system. Additionally, independent asteroid mining bases begin to be constructed in the belt.
2134 CE: After years of expensive and exhaustive research, the Eden Project successfully makes a dent in Venus’s inhospitable environment. While it is a very small step, it is definite progress. Later this year, the merchant ship LaCroix goes missing. The SDO dispatches it’s two Guardian ships to investigate. No trace is of the missing ship is found.
2178 CE: On May 9, 2178 08:25:33 in the colonial medical center, Neo Delhi, Venus, Prerana Madujula is born. While not the first child born on Venus by this point, she will have a lasting mark on history.
2189 CE: Several decades of vigorous interplanetary trade had passed by this time. Trade routes were well established, and major colonies had been constructed on most of the major worlds in the Sol system. To date, five merchant ships had now disappeared. The LaCroix, Hounds Tooth, Gabrielle, Murmensk, and Yoshiro. Amidst building pressure from the GCC, the SDO conducts a covert operation to determine what is going on. Agents are specially trained and distributed among almost all of the merchant ships of the time. They make a startling discovery when their agent on board the LaSalle reports back that his ship is being boarded and captured by unknown assailants. The homing beacon their agent smuggled on board leads the SDO to a hidden asteroid base being used as a pirate outpost. Here they find not only two of the other missing ships, but a thriving black market. The pirates had rigged up a sort of magnetic rail cannon for their ships, allowing them to fire on other vessels. While significantly less powerful than a torpedo, these weapons allowed them to hit much more maneuverable and smaller targets than a torpedo-equipped ship was capable of handling, as well as a significant reduction in power requirements and greatly increased tactical engagement range. Realizing that their Guardian ships would be woefully inadequate in a battle against such ships, the SDO petitions the GCC have a fleet of six new ships be built. These ships would be based off of the original Guardian hull, but would sport two Rail Cannons and combat rated armour (which was deemed an unnecessary expense up until this point) rather than a torpedo launcher. Approval is given for this, and ten months later the first of these new Guardian ships coasts out of Bifrost Station.
2190 CE: The first battle between space faring ships in Human space occurs. Leading their force of eight ships, the SDO overwhelms the pirate asteroid. Their new ships engage the pirate ships with much success, while their two original torpedo ships pound the asteroid base to pieces. Disturbingly, however, there is a completely different compliment of ships present. Additionally, two of the new ships seem to be specifically designed for ship to ship battle and are armored with the new combat armour just developed. Fragmental evidence recovered later indicates that there may be as many as one hundred such bases scattered around the system. Two months after the assault, the pirates attack the mining colony on Titan. Most of the miners are killed trying to resist, and all of the ore present is stolen.
2192 CE: Amidst increasing pressure to secure its outer system bases, the GCC completes work on its aerospace fighter program. Cheap fighters are produced and delivered in large numbers to the outer colonies to aid in security. Pilots are trained from the available colony station employees. The pirates, ever resourceful, create their own fighters shortly there after. However, the GCC is able to produce both the fighters and the pilots much faster than the pirates. Order is established around the outer colonies.
2198 CE: After 77 years of continual work, Project Eden is declared a success. While Venus is nowhere near as pastoral as the project’s namesake, it is fully habitable by human life without environmental support domes. A massive effort to colonize Venus is begun. Large numbers of population leave Earth for the more habitable Venus in a mass exodus. The GCC relocates their headquarters to Venus, and beings an intensified effort to repair Earth.
2199 CE: This year shows a marked increase in pirate activates. They grow so bold as to repeatedly raid in the inner Sol system, and do so successfully. Intelligence suggests that a single individual may have united the majority of the pirate forces during this time.
2201 CE: The SDO, under continual strain to police the rising tide of piracy, pushes the GCC for a major increase in it’s military budget. The GCC agrees, and levies additional taxes on its colonies to pay for its military increase.
2203 CE: Three major increases of taxation later; there is only a marginal decrease in piracy in the inner solar system. Contact with the outer solar system is sporadic at best. Secure communications are hard to come by, and successful ship movements are even more rare. Every ship that the pirates take is converted into a vessel for their purposes. Compounding this problem, the continually increasing taxes drive more and more citizens to conduct illicit business in order to survive. On March 14, 2203, Luna and Mars both threaten to declare independence of the GCC. The GCC decides to negotiate, as the bulk of their military power is occupied with combating the pirate threat. A series of long and often loud meetings begin.
November 12, 2203 CE: The combined governments of the GCC, Luna Colony, and Mars Colony are not able to come to a mutual agreement. Rather than spark a devastating war that would undoubtedly lead to some kind of damage to Venus, the most habitable planet in Sol, Luna and Mars are granted full independence. They are also granted one quarter of the outer system colonies each.
2204 CE: The Eden project comes full circle, as Earth is deemed fully habitable again. While it will take several more decades for the biosphere to fully flesh itself out, Earth is overall more capable to support life than Venus due to its established history of life. Several individuals and families move back to Earth, including Prerana Madujula.
2204-2215 CE: Pirate incursions and inter world tensions continue to escalate. While none of the inner worlds have any direct grievances with each other, many of their outer system colonies do not get along. To better combat the threat of pirate and interplanetary fighter threats, the first coherent light beam weapons are developed. Officially to help defend ships against micrometeorites, the true purpose of this project is obvious. These weapons have a rather poor rate of fire, however, and are prone to overheating very easily. Never the less, pirate activity is pushed out of the inner solar system due to a combined effort by Luna, Mars, and the GCC.
2216 CE: Working independently, Dr. Prerana Medujula and her team makes what is perhaps the most important technological breakthrough in the history of humanity. On August 20, 2216, at 05:34:54 SST (Sol Standard Time), Humanity’s first tachyon drive comes online. The prototype vessel breaches the speed of light at precisely 05:42:12 SST. Humanity would never be the same. When asked which corporation owned the development rights of the new tachyon drive, Dr. Medujula declared that no one corporation owned the rights to it. Instead, she claimed that it belonged to all of Humanity. To reinforce her statement, she and her team release the full plans and scientific theory behind the jump drive to the public web, and every media station that would accept it. This creates an immediate scandal. All inventions are the property of the corporation that owns the employee that invented it. To have an inventor declare that their invention is not the property of any one corporation is unheard of, let alone such a groundbreaking device. Immediately a formal inquiry and trial follow. It is determined that Dr. Medujula worked for most of the major corporate interests present to amass a combined wealth with which she and her team researched and built the tachyon drive. It was the therefore the judgment of the corporate courts that jump drive technology indeed does not belong to any one corporation. It is also decided that Dr. Prerana Medujula was guilty of high treason against her corporate owner or owners, and on December 22, 2216 at 12:00:00 SST she is executed.
Immediately a race to manufacture and market the new drive technology is launched.
2217 CE: The Taroke Corporation introduces the first inertial dampers. These devices counteract the effects of sudden changes of velocity on the crew of a ship. As a side effect, the internal stability of a starship is reinforced by the reduction in inertial stresses. Inertial damper technology is properly registered and licensed to sub-manufacturers for inclusion in spacecraft design and construction. A side effect of this technology is the creation of a stable artificial gravity field inside of the ship it is mounted on. This technology becomes one of the cornerstones for future ship design. Later this year, the GCC, Luna, and Mars launch the first interstellar colony ships, bound for Alpha Centauri. They successfully establish colonies three months later.
2218 CE: In a daring raid, a large and very well equipped pirate fleet attacks assets around Earth. All orbital instillations are destroyed. Additionally, it is found that the GCC fighters were ineffective against the pirates due to a new coherent light beam system that the pirates were employing. Evidently, the pirates had discovered a new materials process that would allow them to build coherent light beam weapons that had a much faster and more reliable cool down cycle. It was later discovered that the pirate fleet was actually a coalition of at least six pirate clans. The inner system worlds are outraged. An all out military campaign against the pirate threat is called for by a unanimous vote by the GCC, Mars, and Luna. Each government had been suffering devastating losses to the pirate fleets in recent months. The willingness of the pirates to unify against a high threat target shifts the balance of power away from the inner worlds. Additionally, there is the new threat of possibly being cut off from their new interstellar colonies.
April 10, 2218 at 13:00:00 SST (Sol Standard Time), the United Galactic Trade Organization is officially formed. Its initial charter is to provide “a common defense for the interests of Humanity across the Galaxy”. The ruling council is made up of representatives of Mars, Luna, and the GCC. Provisions are made for the inclusion of other members in the future. This council would be called the Senate. All military assets of each member are unified and put under the direct command of the UGTO. Additionally, a provision is made that “in times of war there will be voted into being an individual who would hold the title of Grand Chancellor.” This individual is to coordinate and direct all military activities from a central voice, allowing for fast and decisive decisions to be made.
April 21, 2218 CE: Through shrewd manipulation and maneuvering, Westley Whitworth is elected the first Grand Chancellor, to “deal with the pirate threat”.
2218-2224 CE: The UGTO prosecutes its war against the pirates with much success. While he is accused of being a bit…heavy handed, Chancellor Whitworth proves he is a man who can get things done. Venus, the Jupiter Alliance, and the Saturn Mining Interests each join the UGTO during this tumultuous time. The war is furious and violent. The pirates are well equipped, with battle-hardened troops. The UGTO has superior resources and technology. In the middle of the fracas are caught the normal people. Several corporations do a brisk business in selling jump capable ships to people who want to get away from the war and start anew in a different system. These ships are very cheaply available, primarily because the corporations that manufacture and sell them require their owners to sign a contract giving the selling corporation ownership of any colony they establish. The vast majority of the colonists never notice this clause. They just want to get as far from the UGTO, pirates, and the Sol system as possible.
October 13, 2224, at 22:41:16 SST, a baby is found on the doorstep of the Red River Orphanage, Exathra. Attached to his bundle is a note identifying the child as Shi Jie Sheng.
January 15, 2228 CE: The last pirate base is destroyed in the Sol system, and the First Stellar War comes to an end. The people of Sol celebrate, but only briefly. The UGTO senate declares the office of Grand Chancellor to be no longer necessary. Chancellor Whitworth disagrees, pointing out that the pirate threat still exists, it has merely moved beyond the Sol system. It is decided that a general election should be held for the continuation of the office of Grand Chancellor. Having been taxed and re-taxed to pay for the campaign, and having suffered under the oppressive police state that Chancellor Whitworth choose to make the UGTO, the people vote down the office almost unanimously. Chancellor Whitworth declares the vote illegal, and claims that no provision for it is made in the UGTO charter. Tensions continue to rise between the Senate and the Chancellor, and a divisive war looks inevitable.
March 18, 2228 CE: In what is labeled a “freak accident”, Grand Chancellor Westly Whitworth dies by being flushed out an airlock. A cursory and hurried investigation declares that the Grand Chancellor “must have been sleepwalking, and accidentally triggered the airlock release.” The fact that the Grand Chancellor wasn’t known to sleepwalk, was on a rented transport ship without explanation or body guards, and appeared to have suffered some kind of projectile trauma before being flushed is barely noticed by the public, and promptly ignored.
2228 CE: The UGTO charter is revised, creating limitations in the powers and term for the Grand Chancellor.
June 7, 2228 a new Grand Chancellor is elected to help safeguard the UGTO interests outside Sol from pirate influence. Miniya Keiji becomes the second Chancellor of the UGTO. She proved to be a competent if not powerful ruler. She mostly stayed out of the business of the government so long as the Senate gave her lip service as ruler and passed the occasional measure put forth by her office. Of note is the fact that she was able to sneak in some important social and economic reforms, including the Worker Emancipation Act, which prevented corporations from being able to own employees that are full UGTO citizens, and the Tax Code Ceiling Reform, which put a limit on the maximum percentage of a citizen’s taxes based on each citizens personal income. It could also be said that the declaration of a colony as a full member was hamstrung by this last measure, because colonists are not citizens until their world is a full member in the UGTO Senate. Since they are not citizens, there is no law to stop the UGTO government from levying as severe of taxes on its colonies as the Senate deems fit.
2229 CE: Rather than dieing out, the majority of pirate interests had, in fact, moved outside the Sol system. Whitworth was successful in damaging them, and he did also show them that the military might of the Sol system was not something to trifle with. Even with the election of a weakened Grand Chancellor, the pirate fleets were not eager to work in Sol for a while. However out here in the colonies military patrols were rare if they existed at all. So, to keep their coffers full, the pirates began preying on worlds outside of Sol. Worlds that were outside of claimed UGTO space were particularly attractive, as the UGTO fleet would not come out that far.
August 15, 2229 CE: Sick of being preyed upon by the pirates and not receiving protection from the UGTO, the outer colonies call a meeting on the world Exathra. Exathra had long been considered a sort of de-facto ruling center for the outer colonies, due to it’s high habitability, and because it formed one end of the Colonial-Sol trade route. They decide to create a mutual defense pact, named the Farstars. Each world would come to the aid of its neighbors in a crisis, and would share with each other any important discoveries that are made. This alliance is very informal, with most of it created verbally. One of the most important practices instituted by the Farstars is the capturing and recommissioning of pirate vessels. This allows the Farstars fleet to grow rapidly, even if it’s not of the best quality.
2230 CE: Receiving stiffer and stiffer resistance from the Farstars, the pirates begin to raid in Farstars and UGTO space more or less equally.
2232 CE: Oringo Louis Zozia is elected the third UGTO Grand Chancellor on an anti-piracy platform. Overall, he was successful in his endeavors. However, this did involve an increase in taxation for colonial worlds, which caused several small protest outbreaks. These were quelled quietly and totally with the quickest means possible.
2232-2238 CE: The Farstars continue to build their fleets. Their early successes behind them, they settle into a sort of parity with the pirate fleets. However, rivalries begin to appear between worlds. It isn’t clear exactly when it started, but at some point in this period worlds began a habit of not coming to the aid of other worlds that “didn’t deal fairly with them.” This caused a good deal of divisiveness to creep into the Farstars.
February 6, 2235 CE: Ocotat becomes the first fully habitable world to join the UGTO from outside the Sol system.
2238 CE: Adrian Yukio becomes the fourth UGTO Grand Chancellor. Mr. Yukio was an imperialist. He believed that the UGTO should rule all human worlds absolutely and without question, and that as Grand Chancellor, it was his duty to rule that UGTO. The return of pirate activities allowed Chancellor Yukio to begin building up the UGTO fleet. In order to do this, new and oppressive taxes were levied on the colony worlds. Resentment for UGTO rule began to grow rapidly.
2240 CE: Because of this oppression and taxation, an underground organization called the Stellar Freedom Alliance was born. Organized in cells, the SFA was a revolutionary civilian group dedicated to bringing about change in the UGTO government. The SFA started its career with simple protests and minor acts of civil disobedience. The Grand Chancellor would brook no opposition to his absolute unquestioned rule. He had the leaders of the SFA hunted down and assassinated. Into this power void, a new and more violent group of individuals stepped. The SFA under this new leadership became a tool for terrorism and violence, dedicated to the utter collapse of the UGTO government. Bombings of government and loyalist businesses started to occur. Chancellor Yukio was delighted. Here was the excuse for the massive buildup of military personnel and material that he desired.
2241 CE: The new Bifrost Fleet Foundry is completed on the site of the original ship docks. This shipyard is build modularly, so that it can be easily expanded to accommodate larger and more powerful vessels in the future. This remains the primary ship construction facility for the UGTO to this day.
Suffering losses to the large and well-organized military of the UGTO, the pirate fleets find the divisive environment of the Farstars much more to their liking. The Farstars find themselves so bogged down by internal bickering that they cannot properly defend their population centers, let alone trade routes.
2242 CE: Gagarin Naval Academy is completed in Earth orbit. This station is the largest inhabited station built to this point, and houses over twelve thousand personnel, crew, and passengers. All naval fleet training and zero-g training is conducted through this station.
Robin McCormic forges an alliance of pirate fleets. The Pirate Lord McCormic the proceeds to start seizing Farstars worlds and carving out an empire for himself. This greatly alarms the members of the Farstars alliance. They decide to temporarily combine their forces against this new threat. Their fleet jumps into pirate space, and proceeds to loose battle after battle due to it’s disorganized and fractious nature. Finally, a young Lieutenant Shi Jie Sheng aboard the destroyer CSS Vanguard seizes command after the rest of the command crew is killed in a near bridge hit, and orders all remaining ships to retreat to a point near Caranie Aa. While he is not nearly the most senior officer present, his cool and clear command cuts through the pandemonium and saves the Farstars fleet from complete annihilation. Lieutenant Sheng is given a promotion to Captain for his wise command, and given command of the CSS Vanguard.
2244 CE: The UGTO navy launches its one hundredth active ship. Near the end of his term, some of the shady double dealings conducted by Grand Chancellor Yukio leak to the public. This does not have much of an effect on the general populous, however. Vice Chancellor Renaldo Messinia becomes the sixth Grand Chancellor.
Captain Sheng keeps at bay and defeats a fleet of four pirate cruisers with the CSS Vanguard while defending Argrea alone. During the action, the Vanguard is damaged so badly that it is considered unsalvageable. For his valorous efforts, he is promoted to the rank of Rear Admiral, and given command of the Cruiser CSS Paladin, along with the 3rd battle group. The CSS Paladin is a state of the art UGTO cruiser purchased from the black market through the Stellar Freedom Alliance. While she was striped of weapons and engines by the SFA, her hull was a solid design, and she accepted Farstars weapons as well as any ship. Captain Sheng immediately set out with his new battle group against the pirate fleets.
2245 CE: The Stellar Freedom Alliance starts to get impatient. Ever since Grand Chancellor Messinia took office, their covert support from the UGTO had dried up. They begin to escalate their activities, to bring across the message to the new Grand Chancellor that they are not a group to be trifled with. For his part, Grand Chancellor Messinia had no real understanding of the dealings that his predecessor had engaged in.
Shi Jie Sheng rises quickly through the military ranks, attaining the rank of Admiral in one year of service. He is granted control of the entire Farstars fleet command. His tactics are solid, and his command of strategy is brilliant. By the end of the year, he has been able to force McCormic to surrender his pirate empire. The remaining pirate ships flee into uncharted space, to lick their wounds.
Immediately upon victory, the Farstars being to return to their status quo of internal bickering. It would appear that Admiral Sheng had been expecting this. In his forces, he had fostered a fatherly relationship with his troops and crew. Not only would his people live for him, but they would also willingly go to their deaths for him. They all knew the stories of how he would personally risk himself for the lives of his crew or other ships. Most of them had lived some of these same stories with him. He ordered the entire Farstars fleet to Exathra. Once there, he blockaded the entire CD system, with all the Farstars diplomats present. He then calmly and coolly stated that there would be a new order. This was not a request, but more of an order. The politicians balked at this thought. He simply informed them that if they did not wish to see the creation of his order, he would be more than willing to end their existences right there. None doubted the sincerity of his words…
Admiral Shi Jie Sheng’s new order would be ruled on Exathra. All member worlds would send two Representatives to help govern in the council. Each representative was voted into power by popular vote of the people whose planet he or she would represent. The council would be lead by a High Councilor who was voted to rank from with the council by popular vote of the people from all the worlds in this new government. Each Representative was required to put forth at least four years of military service to their government before seeking a position in politics. Terms would be limited to six years per Representative, and ten years for the High Councilor. The High Councilor would have direct command of the military, and the military would no longer be the property of individual worlds. This new government would be known as the Interstellar Cultures Confederation.
Shi Jie Sheng is elected almost unanimously as the first High Councilor of the ICC. He maintains a disciplined and orderly military.
September 18, 2248 CE: The SFA gets fed up, and hijacks ten freighters, six patrol frigates, and two passenger liners while they are in port at Redemption station orbiting Ocotat. They put forth several demands, including the release of several political prisoners and a very large sum of money. Grand Chancellor Messinia decides to confer with his security council and the senate before acting on this threat. The time this requires only serves to anger the SFA, who detonate two of the patrol frigates with all hands on board. This infuriates the Grand Chancellor, who sends the first, fourth, and sixth fleets all after the fleeing SFA. A massive campaign is launched by the UGTO against the SFA and any worlds that supported them.
May 2, 2250 CE: The last world holding out in support for the SFA falls. The Second Stellar War has raged across 7 systems including Sol. However, the UGTO was able to maintain a crushing weight of military power behind their efforts. Grand Chancellor Messinia’s last act in office is to declare the war over.
2250 CE: Trahern Nahima is elected the Seventh Grand Chancellor in the closest vote to date. Grand Chancellor Nahima was different from his predecessors. Rather than conduct his office as a military post, he chooses to operate it more as a civic project. He began to make it his business to deal with the colony worlds differently than his predecessors. Among his new policies is a plan to expend massive resources to rebuild lost colonial assets during the pirate conflicts, and to stimulate colonial growth with tax breaks.
October 7, 2251 CE: Future Ship Technologies Inc, based on Demaret, develops the first practical reactive shield systems. The UGTO professes interest in this new technology for its next generation of warships. However, Grand Chancellor Nahima vetoes the additional expenditure that would be required in order to refit the fleet with shield capable systems. To recover the massive expenditure that was required for development, Future Ship Technologies offers their new device to merchant ship owners. The actual cost of maintaining a reactive shield system turns out to be less than maintaining an armour system, and it proves adequate for defense against space dust, micrometeorites, and pirates. As a further incentive, Future Ship Technologies offers to split the cost of refitting a ship with shields for the first one thousand shield systems. This proves to be a great financial success.
2255 CE: High Councilor Sheng’s term of office comes up for termination. The populous, and particularly the military, have been very prosperous under the High Councilor’s watchful eye. People have never been so prosperous or secure so far out from Sol. They felt that they were in fact more secure than the UGTO, due to their ability to avoid entanglements with the SFA. So pleased is the public and military that they pressure High Councilor Sheng to remain in office for another term. The military even proposes that he should be High Councilor for life. Shi Jie Sheng refuses, and steps down from office in an orderly fashion. When asked why, all he stated was “I did not form the ICC to become an Emperor. I formed the ICC to let the people be unified and safe under leaders of their own choosing.” Shi Jie Sheng reclaims his rank of Admiral. Mombola Fredrickson becomes the second High Councilor for the ICC. He begins his term by continuing the process of building a strong fleet to help insure safe interstellar trade. A key action he performs is to sign a purchasing contract with Future Ship Technologies for large quantities of shield systems. While not as strong as armour, reactive shields continue to be shown to require less maintenance than armour, and their higher recharge rate gives them a greater aggregate strength in combat.
2256 CE: Trahern Nahima’s stint as Grand Chancellor may have been peaceful, but it was not without its problems. The central worlds to the UGTO became resentful of what they saw as favoritism towards the colony worlds. They felt that worlds that had a long-standing membership in the UGTO should be given preferential treatment. Additionally, this period of relative peace had let the UGTO fleet fall seriously behind technologically.
Marik Falcia becomes the Eighth Grand Chancellor of the UGTO. He runs on a platform of renewed industrial expansion and increased space exploration. As one of his first acts in office, he creates the Colonial Restoration Tax. This tax was officially levied to recuperate the resources expended by the core worlds on rebuilding the colony systems. This infuriates the colonial governments, who begin to feel that tax breaks would only last long enough to pay off their debits, only to have new debits created immediately afterward by new tax increases. Several colonies decide to secede from the UGTO and form their own independent governments. This does not please the UGTO core worlds, who need the trade for resources that the colonies posses. To counter this maneuver, the UGTO dispatches its fleet to enforce order in colonial space.
2258 CE: Tired of having to deal with the UGTO occupation force, the Cygnus system applies for membership in the ICC. While the ICC sees this as a risky maneuver, they also see the large number of resources in the Cygnus system as a valuable asset. The ICC decides that it is worth the risk, and dispatches the 4th and 5th fleets to secure the system. The UGTO occupation forces refuse to withdraw at first, but after launching an attack on the ICC ships they realize that discretion is the better part of valor. Not only does the ICC have more ships in the Cygnus system, but their constant efforts to keep their fleet up to date has provided them with a technologically superior force than the UGTO, who has continued to let training and technology lag. Word of this event reaches the Sol system in short time.
July 23, 2258 CE: The UGTO Senate lead by Grand Chancellor Falica declares war on the ICC, citing piracy as its reasons. The ICC, under the leadership of High Councilor Fredrickson, had been preparing for an inevitable conflict with another stellar power.
January 4, 2259 CE: The 1st ICC fleet under Admiral Sheng takes the Ross 248 system.
September 12, 2259 CE: The 2nd ICC fleet under Admiral Cosgrove takes the Epsilon Ind system.
February 16, 2260 CE: The 1st and 6th ICC fleets engage the 2nd, 4th, and 7th UGTO fleets in Luyten. While outnumbered by more than two to one, the ICC fleet triumphs over the UGTO fleet assets. The ICC looses the bulk of the 6th fleet, including Admiral Thompson. The remaining ships are folded into the 1st fleet under Admiral Sheng. The UGTO has only five ships survive, and losses all of its commanders over Captain rank. This is the most devastating loss the UGTO has suffered to date.
May 12, 2260 CE: The UGTO successfully sues the ICC for peace. Territory lost by the UGTO is seceded to the ICC. This more than doubles the amount of space under ICC rule. The UGTO senate, outraged at what they call administrative bungling, suspends Grand Chancellor Falicia and places Vice Chancellor Margret Cooper as interim Grand Chancellor. The Third Stellar War comes to an end.
Immediately, Grand Chancellor Cooper beings to overhaul the UGTO military. Two new training facilities are constructed for ship crews around Ocotat and Venus, as well as a large number of marine training facilities on any planet that can support them. Gagarin Naval Academy is rededicated with a new mission to be an elite officer training school. It is still the most prestigious officer training school in UGTO space.
The UGTO fleet is slated for mass mothballing, and replacement by ships that incorporate many of the new technological advances over the last several decades. Practically overnight, new technologies like Proton Torpedoes, Particle Cannons, and Charged Armour are incorporated into radically new ship designs. These new ships begin to roll out of every available shipyard as fast as they can be purchased.
2262 CE: Margret Cooper is elected the ninth UGTO Grand Chancellor amid allegations of a fixed election. This scandal does not seem to weaken her popularity with the core worlds, however, which see her progressive military stance as the proper route to take in regards to the ICC.
2262-2265 CE: The ICC continues to shore up its worlds. Trade routes are established and secured. The ICC notices the buildup of UGTO military forces, and begins to research some advanced technologies of its own.
Grand Chancellor Cooper realizes that the UGTO requires more money than it current has available in order to complete its military buildup. Rather than levy yet another tax, the Chancellor begins an aggressive campaign to route out waste and corruption in the current UGTO government. This makes her no end of enemies, but any who too vigorously oppose her tend to come to some kind of premature end, either politically or entirely.
2265 CE: James Takari becomes the third ICC High Councilor. His platform consisted of continual buildup of the ICC fleet. While he makes good on this promise, he also starts to run the ICC into bankruptcy. To counter this, new taxes on trade are levied. This angers many of the ICC worlds, particularly the worlds newly gained from the UGTO.
2266 CE: Admiral Lucy Chao, in command of the 3rd UGTO expeditionary force, is conduction a survey and exploration mission of Sirius. At 08:22:21 SST all communication with the 3rd fleet is lost. Investigation reveals a large field of wreckage; as well as evidence that at least one member of her fleet had crashed into the surface of Sag Hothha. Suspicion is that the ICC had launched a surprise attack on the exploration mission.
August 4, 2267 CE: Diplomatic relations between the UGTO and ICC are further strained amidst allegations of lightning raids on ICC merchant ships by some form of new UGTO warship. Debates are held to try and settle each government’s differences. Instead tensions rise even higher, culminating in both diplomats walking out of the negotiations.
2267 CE: Each nation had been accusing the other of using a form of cloaking technology to attack the other. The similarity of these reports prompted the ICC and UGTO military perform an unprecedented sharing of information. Top military leaders from each nation met in the Epsilon Ind system to discuss the matter and to share intelligence. It was the determination of this meeting that the ICC and UGTO were each being preyed upon by a third unknown nation. On the brink of the Fourth Stellar War, the ICC and UGTO militaries decided to launch a joint operation back to Sirius to try and get at the heart of the matter. Participation of such a mission would be considered treasonous by either nation, but there were questions the military needed answered.
February 21, 2268 CE: The joint ICC and UGTO task force arrives in Sirius to start an investigation into their mysterious enemy. They get their answers much sooner than expected. Almost immediately a third party sets upon both fleets. The ICC and UGTO fleets were expecting trouble from each other, and so were already on a high state of alert. A vicious battle ensued, which cost the ICC and UGTO at least half of their forces before they each withdrew. However, during the fracas an elite UGTO marine force was able to board and capture one of these new unknown vessels.
2268 CE: The UGTO fleet escorted their captured ship to an undisclosed location for analysis. It was discovered that this new enemy was not even Human. Known as the K’Luth, this race hailed from an unknown area of space nearby. It was also discovered that these K’Luth were refugees from a war with an as yet unidentified enemy. Much of the information gained was leaked to the ICC in the hopes of pitting the ICC against them. Despite the good intentions of their military leaders, political events tend to take on a life of their own. The UGTO Senate and ICC Representatives continue to push their states towards open hostility with each other. Blockades and ship patrols along the border become more common.
Dobry Mato becomes the tenth UGTO Grand Chancellor. Grand Chancellor Mato is an unknown, even today. While he has experience in political bureaucracy he has no real history of jobs that involve leadership positions. The UGTO senate hopes that they can manipulate him into being their pawn.
March 7, 2268: An ambassador from a government known as the K’Luth Tribal Council appears. Named Shall’kar Yin’Gadark, he begins to approach individual worlds in the ICC and corporations in the UGTO seeking diplomatic relations. It is apparent that the K’Luth recognize humanity to be made up of smaller semi-independent groups rather than two major governments. This begins to cause power bases in the ICC and UGTO to start to decentralize, as smaller groups within these governments begin to negotiate independent treaties with the K’Luth and with each other. Shall’kar Yin’Gadark identifies the purpose of the K’Luth in human space to be an attempt to set up a refugee base. He claims that the initial attacks were accidents, due to the K’Luth confusing us with an enemy they identify as Kraddax. This unknown enemy is still under investigation, but as a testament to their strength the information we have uncovered indicates that this race has taken over the K’Luth home world of Keja. The only other place this name appears in K’Luth society is in reference to a mythological hundred-headed guardian of their underworld. The ambassador also indicates that any treaties with the tribe he represents do not apply to any other K’Luth tribes. He also indicates that there are many K’Luth tribes that feel that conquering all of Humanity would be in the best interests for both our races. Both the ICC and UGTO being extensive espionage probing into space claimed by the K’Luth Tribal Council.
September 23, 2268: Up until about August, the ICC and UGTO enjoyed incredible success with their espionage activities against the K’Luth. It becomes obvious that the K’Luth have absolutely no experience in espionage and spying. This seems to stem from their inability to keep secrets from each other. Because of this peculiarity in the physiology, their society never developed the concept of secrecy and the things that come with it. However, near the beginning of August the success of intelligence against the K’Luth beings to dry up. On this day in September, the reason for the increasing difficulty in espionage is discovered. The K’Luth fully realize that they lack the capacity to truly understand espionage. While they are certain they could develop this capacity in time, they also feel that they do not have much time to spare before their enemy tracks them down. Being clever beings, they see that Humanity has a keen mastery of the concepts of secrecy and espionage. They also easily discern that there are many Humans who value things such as precious metals, comfort, and the promise of potential genetic tailoring. So, the K’Luth form an espionage division, run almost entirely by Humans whom they have employed. This makes the ICC and UGTO espionage strong in one aspect, as they can infiltrate this organization easier than a K’Luth run organization, but it also puts the ICC and UGTO in a precarious position, as these Human defectors can infiltrate the ICC and UGTO easier than a K’Luth could. Additionally, several of the defectors were members in some part of the UGTO or ICC intelligence communities, lured by the promise of genetic enhancement. While currently the K’Luth cannot modify genetics based on any ecosystem that is foreign to their home world, they are applying a very large number of resources towards this end. Of particular interest to the K’Luth seems to be the ability to modify Human genetics.
[ This Message was edited by: Tael on 2005-04-26 15:48 ]
_________________
...and lo, He looked upon His creation, and said, "Fo shizzle."
|
English
Deutsch
Nederlands
)
