The cradle of humanity, Earth is the planet on which humanity--the only known sentient life form in the universe--originated. For millenia, Earth stood at the center or human civilization, and served as the focal point for human politics, economics, art and culture until its destruction in 2689.
History
The Dark Ages
By 2039, the Earth was divided between two superpowers: the United States of Euro-Africa, and the Northern Coalition. Eventually, these two great nations went to war, unleashing devastating nuclear weapons upon the planet's surface. Within a few weeks, all of the major cities and industrial centers on the planet had been destroyed. It was mutual-destruction. For the 90 years following the war, humanity experienced a second 'dark age.' Disease, poverty and lawlessness were rampant. Numerous small nations and city-states were created and destroyed in this period.
The Earth Unity Government
The Earth Unity Government was founded in 2129, when the many fragmented nations of the devastated Earth banded together to work in common cause.
By the mid-22nd century, the EUG had succeeded in rebuilding the social, industrial and economic infrastucture of Earth, ushering in a golden age of prosperity for all of humankind.
In the mid-24th century, the EUG began exploring options for interstellar travel. In 2253, the EUG launched a massive colony ship toward Sol's nearest star, Alpha Centauri, 4.37 light years beyond the Earth's own star. The colony ship was swallowed up in the black abyss between stars, never to be heard from again. In 2360, EUG researchers developed Warp drive. Early warp technology had dangerous side-effects for female passnegers, often resulting in infertility, but the technology was finally perfected by 2391. The EUG begins exploring nearby star systems.
In 2402, a habitable planet is discovered in orit of the Canopus star. Many other habitable planets are discovered afterwards, bringing about a new era of interstellar colonization. The EUG establishes a "Navigation Safety Department," later called the Department of Public Safety, to oversee colonization and commerce between the colonies.
By the late 27th century, the political dominance of the Humanity Congress began to wane. Dissatisfied with unfair congressional represntation, a number of colonies rebelled against the Earth Unity Government, led by the charismatic revolutionary Carl Palgrem. The dominant force in opposition of the EUG was the Sirius colony, and the rebels quickly adopted the name Sirius Revolutionary Congress, and declare themselves independent from the EUG, thus instigating the Earth-Sirius War.
In 2689, the Earth Unity Government's Department of Public Safety launches an invasion of the Sirius starzone, occupying the colony on Sirius VI, Rondolina. The occupation army is extremely undisciplined, resulting in a brutal occupation, eventually culminating in a massacre of thousands of civilians in Rondolina's capital city, Laglane.
By 2689, the Sirius Revolutionary Congress succeeds in liberating Rondolina after winning a series of astonishing victories against the undisciplined forces of the EUG's Department of Public Safety. After driving the EUG navy from Sirius, Carl Palgrem's Black Fleet procedes to Earth itself, initiating a two-month-long blockade of the planet. Weakened and starving from the blockade, the Earth Unity Government was unable to defend itself when the Black Fleet descened on the planet, bombarding the Earth from orbit with nuclear weapons. The planet's crust is destroyed and the Earth is rendered uninhabitable: the entire population is killed, effectively annihilating the Earth Unity Government.
The Era of Warring States
The Sirius Revolutionary Congress fell apart soon after the destruction of Earth. The various colony worlds all formed their own nation-states and attempted to unify the scatter human settlements, with little success. After nearly a century of on-again-off-again warfare, the colony world of Theoria, located in the Aldebaraan Starzone, managed to unite humanity in a second hegemony. They declared themselves the United Stars of the Galaxy, or USG, and instituted a new Space Era calendar to mark a new begining in human history--a new era where Earth was no longer the focal point of humanity.
Little more than an irradiated hunk, the Earth was essentially ignored throughout the duration of the USG. At some point after Rudolph von Goldenbaum established the Galactic Empire, scattered settlements began to appear on Earth, typical underground in mountainous regions where leftover radiation was weakest. It is unknown whether or not these settlements were founded by survivors of the Earth-Sirius War, or by later immigrants, but it was in these settlements that a new quasi-religious doctrine, called Terraism, first appeared.
The Earth Cult
Terraism was essentially an Earth-centric doctrine, preaching the superiority of Earth and the inferiority of the former colony worlds. As a religion, Terraism quickly spread throughout the Galactic Empire, but never achieved sufficient size to be considered a direct threat by the reigning Goldenbaum Dynasty. This religion--the Earth Cult--managed to infiltrate every level of Imperial society, and accumulated a great deal of money and influence. The Earth Cult was largely responsible for the creation of Phezzan as an autonomous state, and worked to perpetuate the FPA-Imperial War. The Earth Cult hoped to manipulate the conflict in order to dramatically weaken both the Galactic Empire and Free Planets Alliance so that they could then usurp control of the galaxy.
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