ArcBuilder Universe© Time Line Page

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2010 CE: Despite America's attempt to complete their return to the Moon initiative, the Chinese have too great of a head start. Their first manned landing on the Moon is achieved, and from the surface, in an unfiltered broadcast that reaches the entire globe, the taikonauts proclaim their nation's intent to create a surface outpost and, eventually, a colony on the Lunar surface. Widely considered to be the beginning of the Expansionist Period, this also ignites a new space race between the East and the West. India, long having had ambitions in space, soon after announces their intention to send a man into orbit, while Europe begins a program to do the same.	What's New September 17, 2006: The updates to this page continue, and are finally completed! August 31, 2006: The updates to this page continue. August 30, 2006: Continued the update to this page. August 28, 2006: Finally got back to working on this page. August 18, 2006: I've established this page.
2011 CE: For the first time in recorded memory, the Arctic Ocean fails to freeze in the winter time. In Antarctica, a record number of icebergs calve from the mainland glaciers. A new round of media and public near-hysteria about global warming begins, and though most experts agree that this is part of a natural climatic swing, leading to a greater warming period in the current interglacial, many interest groups begin to intensively lobby for the full development of non-emission technologies. In the meantime, ecological unrest in the far north is resulting, and there are the beginnings of minor population migrations southward.
2012 CE: Dancer Nanotech Industries (DNI) is founded. Their mandate is to begin efforts of practical engineering in the field of nanotechnology. Surprisingly, there is little public interest in the field, and though there is always the potential for disaster, those few opponents of nanotechnology are forced to admit that what DNI could achieve would only benefit Mankind. The company's founder, Dr. Wayne Dancer, is quoted as saying that, "The future of the world lies, not in the palm of your hand, but within the molecules of the palm of your hand."
2013 CE: America lands the first man on the Moon since the 1970's. While America did not win the race to the Moon, they did come with more scientific aspirations than the Chinese. A multitude of long term instrumentation is set up at the landing site, while first hand and remote observations are performed with the idea of setting up various manned and unmanned outposts across the Lunar surface.
2014 CE: The first orbital hotel is established by the Hilton company. While the accommodations are not all together comfortable, and arrival is via a small shuttle with a design lineage hearkening back to SpaceShipOne, the mere novelty of staying several nights in space at a relatively affordable rate (for the Upper Class) is enough to make the venture profitable. Further research and development is begun in the field, once the success of this first hotel, called the Hilton Station, becomes apparent.
2015 CE: The ExoMAP Array is launched and placed into a Solar orbit. A joint project between NASA and ESA, it is designed to detect planets around selected Sun-like stars, out to a distance of nearly 50 light years. This is achieved through advanced adaptive optics directly imaging the planets themselves. While details cannot be made out, the images will allow a determination of planetary mass and, to a degree, composition. This project will eventually lay the groundwork for Mankind's first steps out into the Local Neighborhood.
2017 CE: Representatives of Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism come together to found the New Church of the Ascendancy, a small organization that is meant to celebrate the freedom of people to worship any religion that they wish, without fear of prosecution. While only a small organization, it is a very vocal and public relations-savvy one, and easily drawn in members from around the world in the next few worlds. Tired of the bickering between the major and minor religions, as well as the divisiveness within even single religions, the New Church is seen as a new way to start for many, without the need to convert or to abandon their pre-existing religious beliefs. Hard-lined and fanatical groups condemn the New Church as a haven for heretics and blasphemers, but this has little affect on those who do subscribe to the New Church's Doctrine: "Mankind are the Children of God equally."
2018 CE: Remote Salvaging Systems (RSS) becomes the first company to operate solely in orbital space. Their purpose is to retrieve non-functioning or outmoded satellites, as well as to salvage other items of space junk. Initially operating with a fleet of two space tugs, their largest customers are the various national space agencies, whose primary concerns deal with dangerous space debris. Much alter, they expand their fleet and begin catering to other interests, such as Hilton, or even Earth-bound collectors.
2020 CE: The United States establishes the first permanently manned outpost on the Moon. It is located on Malapert Mountain on the rim of the south polar Shackleton Crater where long term sunlight (up to 80% of the time) provides abundant power, and the presence of water ice within the permanently shadowed region within the crater provides various other resources needed. The outpost will serve as a small scientific station for the most part, but over time it will be expanded upon and eventually move into the crater rim itself. By the time of the League, Shackleton City will extend throughout the entire crater, and to a depth of 500 meters beneath it.
2021 CE The American Technologies (Amtech) company is founded. Based out of New Jersey, its stated goal is to research and develop technology for the procurement of off-world resources. While asteroids are a likely source for eventual exploitation, the more immediate area of interest is Lunar in nature. The audacity of such goals drive the value of this company's stock high relatively quickly, and inroads made by their R&D department early on promise lucrative results. The ExoMAP Array is shut down as its systems, aging rapidly in the solar environment, begin to fail. By the time that it is taken offline, however, it will have detected nearly all worlds within 50 light years, down to a mass of 0.5 that of Earth, which orbit select Sun-like stars.
2022 CE: China establishes its own manned outpost on the Moon as it once again proves that it can maintain the pace of the space race that it had initiated years before. This base is located at the Lunar north pole, on the rim of Peary Crater. Like its south polar counterpart, this location receives sunlight for nearly the entire year, and is next to ice deposits within the crater itself. The base is dubbed Da-luo-tian, after the highest Taoist heaven, and it is publicized as a scientific research base. In truth, it is to be the new center of Chinese genetic research.
2025 CE: Finding themselves falling behind the United States and China, Russia and the European Union enter into a joint venture and establish a manned outpost on the Moon. The outpost is established within Grimaldi Crater, in the Oceanus Procellarum, a location chosen due to the relatively high instances of Helium-3 and oxygen-bearing minerals. Named the Tempest Outpost, it is a large base, with a primary interest in the mining of Helium-3 and expanding their holdings. True prosperity, however, will not occur until resources from off the Moon can be procured.
2027 CE: Amtech is granted the rights for Lunar colonization, and immediately begins working on transporting needed equipment to the moon via unmanned transports. They will establish a major mining base, the Procellarum Base, is located at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains, which separates Procellarum from Mare Imbrium. Over time, this outpost will grow to a major center of Inner System commerce, and will honeycomb the nearby slopes of the Carpathians. However, by the time that Amtech moves on to asteroid resources, Procellarum will be largely abandoned.
2028 CE: An observatory at Shackleton Outpost detects the asteroid Brost, located in an intra-Mercury orbit. It is the first discovered Vulcanian asteroid, a class of bodies that have unique mineralogical properties due to billions of years of intense solar radiation and heating. Almost immediately, spectroscopic readings indicate that it is quite rich in exotic and non-exotic minerals, spurring on talk about the possibility of mining on such worlds. Further discoveries will be made over the next few years of other Vulcanian asteroids, but their total population will be found to be relatively low.
2030 CE: Project Ares is launched with the departure of the Ares Prime, the first manned mission to Mars. This will be a brief mission, relatively speaking, quite comparable to the old Apollo Program that first brought Men to the Moon. The mission hardware is based off of the most recent incarnations of the Mars Direct program by NASA, but is implemented by the United States and ESA. The exploratory crew make their landing at Meridiani Planum, where they perform several weeks worth of geological and biological research. They also go to the final resting place of the Opportunity rover, where they leave behind various items for the future construction of a self-sufficient manned outpost.
2035 CE: By this point in time travel between the Earth and Moon (CisLunar space) becomes routine for civilians, with private citizens and tourists embarking on several flights per year. Governmental and industrial flights only add to the traffic. Because of this constant influx, the various Lunar outposts have slowly been expanding their holdings, and are typically known as colonies now. Several new transportation companies have since come into being to facilitate these flights as well, and the commercial spaceflight industry is a booming one. Off-world resident numbers are beginning to swell as well, as many people find the regulated, predictable Lunar lifestyle a vast improvement over the ever-growing restlessness of Earth's climate.
2038 CE: Remote Salvaging Systems is contracted by various governments with interests in space to initiate a wide-sweeping program of orbital cleanup. Decades worth of space junk has begun to pose a serious hazard to manned travel in Earth orbit, and the only solution is the removal of the objects, and the strict regulation of particle emissions.
2040 CE: Years of climatic extremes in certain parts of the world finally come to a head when a severe economic depression strikes various nations of the world. With the failing of crops and widespread famine and disease, social stresses increase as well, and in this year at least three minor wars erupt over resources. While the United Nations manages to deal with these problems, it becomes clear that the Earth's climate is swiftly beginning to change, as evidenced of further temperature extremes for the year.
2041 CE: Because of the large amount of orbital and CisLunar traffic, including a new surge in such traffic as industries and private citizens attempt to flee the deteriorating planet, the United Nations commissions the International Astronomical Commission (IAC). Its duty is to regulate all corporate, private, and governmental activities in space. The very nature of these duties gives the IAC large and sweeping powers, and the organization is almost immediately recognized as an international regulatory force with as much clout as the United Nations itself.
2042 CE The Sagan Project goes online. It is an astronomical array designed to take direct images of extrasolar worlds, down to less than half the size of Earth. A list of targets is selected. Visual and spectroscopic observations via the Sagan Project of the Alpha Centauri environment reveal, for the first time, unequivocal evidence of a planet in possession of a thriving biosphere. Oxygen, chlorophyll, and other elements are detected which point to the presence of animal and plant life. One of the first images shows a world that has the unmistakable appearance of an Earth-like planet. The discover revives the field of xenobiological research, as well as various SETI-style programs, despite the flagging national budgets available for purely scientific research. It also fires the initial speculations for a Human colony beyond the Solar System.
2045 CE On Earth, the summer sees major melting and high temperatures in both Greenland and Antarctica. As a result of this literal melting of the poles, major weather disruptions begin to be felt around the world. It is generally believed that this is a long term effect, and one which will cause much more chaos in the years to come. By the end of this year, the average global temperature will have risen by 1.4º C degrees. Acting with a haste borne from the deteriorating conditions on Earth, the first manned outpost is established on Mars. Controlled by an international coalition, it is located in Meridiani Planum, and build around the final resting place of the Opportunity Rover, which dates back to the beginning of the century. The outpost's primary purpose is to perform extensive hands-on investigations of the Martian environment in an attempt to learn whether or not a future, more extensive Human presence is viable. If so, it is believed that Mars might act as a safe haven for large populations currently being displaced on Earth.
2047 CE Amtech begins a program of unmanned probes to near-Earth asteroids, in order to scout for resources. The program is run from Earth, and though its primary goal is to find resources for the flailing Earth, it will also greatly increase Human understanding of the near Earth environment. Their long-term plans for mining these asteroids does raise concerns, especially with the IAC, when it is revealed that promising asteroids will be diverted into Earth or Lunar orbit for processing. The New Church, ever growing in popularity, becomes highly celebrated when it releases a public announcement that soundly condemns various world-wide Luddite groups. These groups, typically protesting, often violently, against such innovative technologies as nanotechnology and genetic research, claim to work for Humanity and top preserve civilization. The New Church leaders, however, berate these groups for attempting to block the rise of Humanity and for condemning millions to death, millions that would otherwise be saved by these developing technologies in the face of a collapsing world.
2049 CE: The first practical and economic fusion reactor is brought online by Morris Laboratories, a company whose main goal is the development of cheap and clean energy for Earth. The reactor will be the first of many first models, all precursors to new technologies, and a boon for a planet in desperate need of cheap and clean energy. Travel in CisLunar space, as well as between the Earth and Mars, will be reduced from days and months, to mere days and weeks.
2050 CE: Illegal immigration from various points in Indonesia into Australia finally culminates in an armed conflict between Australia and various such nations. A desperate United Nations, already beset by dozens of international crises of varying degrees, for the first time utilizes the New Church as a mediation tool in this latest conflict. The Church will broker a highly successful deal and cement their place in the international arena as a force to be both listened to, and reckoned with.
2053 CE Massive increases in the need for oil, as well as the rise of many hard-line fundamentalist Islam factions, has been causing problems in the Middle East for several years now. Finally the tensions erupt after several Middle Eastern countries cut off their oil exports, precipitating an energy crisis throughout much of the world. In response, several major nations initiate military strikes throughout the region, beginning the Pan-Arabian War. Several of these nations, most notably the European Union and Russia, will turn their arms against each other as they scramble to secure oil fields and reserves for themselves. The Sagan Project is taken offline. Budgeted repairs are cancelled in the light of more pressing concerns around the world, and while astronomers lament the device's loss, they still have literally decades worth of data to investigate.
2054 CE: United States forces stationed in Kuwait are fired on by Russian forces, forcing them to retreat from occupied oil fields. These fields, under US protection, now fall to the Russians and their allies, even as Kuwait condemns both nations for their presumptions in the area.
2055 CE: Amtech, with a great amount of public fanfare and ceremony, reveals the designs for a new type of spacecraft. Interplanetary in nature and powered by a fusion engine, it is specifically designed for travel in the close Solar neighborhood, and will be used to explore the Vulcanian asteroids in the region, and to determine their potential resource values.
2056 CE: Despite UN and IAC concerns, Amtech begins its first mining operations on various small Near-Earth asteroids. These early efforts are largely unmanned packages, with robotics and simple nanotech designed to construct both Human habitats and the mining facilities themselves. Targets chosen are those which have relatively short periods; plans to move these bodies are largely dropped as the efficiency and speed of fusion-powered ships is demonstrated. Of immediate benefit are the growing Lunar populations, although the Earth also buys much of the resources.
2058 CE: The first intra-Mercury Amtech vessel, the AMT Dutchmann, is sent on its maiden mission to the Vulcanian Belt, where it will rendezvous with the asteroid Brost. It is largely a proving trip, both for the technology being used and for the personnel involved. However, the mission comes to an abrupt and tragic end when the ship's solar shielding suffers a catastrophic failure. The crew, despite heroic efforts, fails to redirect the Dutchmann, and they perish. The ship itself, left on automatic, brings itself to an orbit about Brost. Within a few months it will touch down on the surface, where it will spend the next several centuries degrading under the immense amounts of Solar radiation. Public support and confidence in Amtech's ability to explore and utilize the extreme Inner Solar System is shattered.
2062 CE: Morris Laboratories, having had great success both economically and politically since its release of the first model of fusion reactor, now sends the first manned mission to Mercury. Playing off of both the recent failure of Amtech to do so, and the support of the IAC, Morris Laboratories plays this mission as an attempt to establish a foothold on a planet that could well provide easement for all of the Earth's energy problems. The public, weary of the Pan-Arabian War and the massive energy costs that it has caused, supports this effort. The ship, the MLS Hermes Pathfinder, will indeed establish the technology and the procedures for Human habitation of the closest planet to the Sun.
2065 CE Having lost the race to claim and utilize the Inner Solar System, Amtech moves in a new direction and expands its operations outward towards the Asteroid Belt. Utilizing a new model of fusion-powered ship which possesses ore collection facilities and equipment, as well as several support craft to aid in the procurement of this ore, Amtech will become the premiere source of resources craved by both those living on Luna and in CisLunar space, as well as the war-torn nations on Earth. A new scientific investigation and research group is founded. Named the Exploration Society, this group will swiftly become the forefront of all Human scientific efforts, and will become as respected by the public, worldwide, as was the older and now rather decrepit National Geographic Society.
2066 CE: The asteroid 22 Kalliope is visited by an unmanned Amtech probe. The probe, typical of all such Amtech missions, sends down a series of landers and surface penetrating drones, while the mother craft settles into a tight orbit. Kalliope's moon, Linus, is also likewise explored. In the end, Kalliope will be cited as a suitable target for mining and other resource exploitation.
2068 CE: Morris Laboratories establishes a manned outpost within an ice-rich crater of Mercury's north pole. The outpost, named simply Morris Outpost, will itself be largely subsurface, and will utilize the local ice from the crater, as well as other nearby craters, for life support systems as well as fuel for internal systems. Morris Outpost will eventually grow to become the center of intense Mercurian activity.
2070 CE: Morris Laboratories, quite established on Mercury, announces the beginning of a program for the development of alternate power sources. Two of the largest areas of research will be the creation of a solar power satellite network, and the development of safe and economical antimatter reactors.
2071 CE: The United States completes the world's first orbital tower. Centered on Howard Island, some 48 miles north of the equator, its design is a simple tether, often called a beanstalk. However, it opens up movement into space so that cargo and people can now be placed in orbit for a fraction of the cost of more traditional methods. It is a boon to the flagging US economy as the nation caters to many international concerns, and the arrival of non-Terrestrial resources is made even easier than before. After decades of trouble due to environmental and political concerns, the US is building up to become a major superpower once again.
2072 CE: Amtech, its operations in the Belt growing year by year, establishes an administration outpost on Phobos. The location is chosen because of the minor gravity well and the resulting ease of vessel arrival and departure, and the ease with which the outpost can be constructed. Phobos, filled with subsurface fractures and caverns from the ancient Stickney impact, is the perfect location for subsurface habitats. The IAC, however, is somewhat put out by this, as it places the very heart of Amtech well beyond its regulatory reach.
2075 CE: The UN begins work with Amtech and Morris Laboratories, as well as the major world nations, for the construction of at least one, and hopefully many more orbital habitats. Environmental pressures are such that these habitats are seen as a viable, and indeed a necessary plan for the relocation of world flood refugees, and other populations that the Earth can no longer sustain. The first habitat, named the Caprion Station, will be of a Stanford Torus design, and will eventually become the center of all political and migratory activity in CisLunar Space. Many other habitats will follow, of varying designs, some of which will actually be constructed beyond the Earth. However, collectively, these habitats will be known as the Stations.
2076 CE: The Exploration Society announces its first major project the the UN, the colonization effort of Alpha Centauri. Initially named the Alpha Centauri Project, it is presented to a highly skeptical world public. Nevertheless, the sheer scope of the project promises employment for millions, and will utilize almost entirely off-world resources. Detractors claim that it is nothing more than a vain attempt to escape the sinking ship that is Earth, but the Society replies that it will not only be the crowning achievement of mankind, but that it will also ensure Humanity's survival.
2081 CE Station Caprion begins accepting residents. For the most part, they will be the families of workers and administrators, but as the years continue, the station grown more and more complete, and its population increases. Indeed, the station will continue to be expanded on for centuries. The Exploration Society, in conjunction with Amtech as its resource base, publicly presents the first serious plans for the terraforming of Mars. This project, like the ongoing Alpha Centauri Project, is in response to the ever decreasing standard of living on Earth. Movement into space and even other worlds is swiftly becoming the popular "swift and easy" solution to problems on Earth, and Mars is now being seen as another viable option.
2083 CE: Russia completes its orbital tower. A somewhat more advanced version of the USA tower, this one, based on a massive floating platform in the Pacific, provides the first serious competition to the USA in world economics in the past decade. Habitats located at intervals along the length of the tower will also be an answer to the desire of Russian citizens to migrate off-world. The bottom fifteen kilometers of the tower are designed to take the frequent hurricanes of the region into account, and the design is heralded as the most advanced engineering project Humans have ever completed.
2086 CE: The Mercurian Solar Power Grid Network is brought online. In orbit of Mercury and administered by Morris Laboratories, this network transforms abundant local Solar energy to a transferable beam and sends it to receiving stations in Earth orbit. From there it is distributed to terrestrial receiving stations on Earth's surface. Other clients include the Lunar colonies and the new Martian outposts, as well as several of the Stations, still being constructed. A net result of this booming business is the rapid expansion of Morris Laboratories holdings and facilities on Mercury. The Morris Outpost itself sees a boom in population and size as people from Earth, and even some Station populations migrate to this new world of seeming prosperity, and will eventually becoming a thriving population center, with extensive surface and subsurface facilities. The colony will eventually be renamed Icarus City.
2090 CE: In an isolated, subsurface facility near the equatorial region of Mercury, Morris Laboratories brings the first energy and economically viable antimatter reactor online. The reactor is operating at a low level, being simply a test model, but it opens the door for massive amounts of energy at a relatively cheap cost. Morris Laboratories soon becomes a powerful political and economic player on the international scene, even more so than they were before. For the first time, Amtech is faced with a serious competitor in the area of Solar System resource provisions.
2092 CE: Developed by Amtech and various Earth-based technological corporation, a small fleet of unmanned and manned vessels begin mining carbon dioxide and nitrogen from Venus' atmosphere. Transferred in tankers, these elements will be injected into Mars' atmosphere, the first major steps of the Exploration Society's plan to terraform that world.
2094 CE: After less than a decade in operation, Morris Laboratories takes the Solar Power Grid off-line. The popularity of the ever increasingly efficient fusion reactors, as well as the tremendous promise that antimatter power represents, has made the operation and upkeep of the solar power satellites economically prohibitive. The satellites will be stripped of usable materials and then pushed into the Sun. One, however, named Grid One, will be preserved as a monument by Morris Laboratories, documenting the movement of Mankind into the Solar System and his ability to utilize its resources for the betterment of the species.
2095 CE India completes the infrastructure of a mew major orbital tower, located just south of the subcontinent on an artificial island. The tower is the largest one of all, and constructed so that much of its length will eventually be able to house occupants. Because of this newest tower, traffic into orbital and CisLunar space will explode, overwhelming the IAC's ability to effectively regulate spaceflight. A scientific study on the net effect of Venusian atmospheric mining spurs the creation of a multinational and multicorporate coalition, dedicated to the investigation of terraforming Venus. Called the Aphrodite Commission, it is separate from the Exploration Society, or any other scientific body. As such, it is less concerned with creating a new world for displaced Earth-born Humans, and is more interested in the pure exercise of Venusian terraforming.
2097 CE: The Centauri Traveler is launched towards Alpha Centauri, attaining a top speed of 0.36c. Data from the Traveler will pave the way for successful colonization of this system, and the probes themselves will serve as a base template for future probes to other star systems.
2100 CE: Average global temperatures have risen by 6.4º C degrees, bringing about large scale droughts around the world. Severe storms and mass population migrations are becoming the norm, as is coastal flooding due to oceans levels having risen by 6 meters. Third world regions are being devastated by outbreaks of diseases such as malaria, although peripheral effects of these are felt in first world countries as well. World nations begin to move away from space-based industries as they increasingly need their resources to maintain surface industries and populations.
2101 CE The Alpha Centauri Project is launched towards the nearest star system to Sol. Powered by antimatter-fusion engines, the three colonial ships and a veritable flotilla of unmanned cargo craft are sent on their way at the tremendous speed of 0.13c. The unmanned craft actually travel faster, at 0.16c, and will arrive into a parking orbit above the respective target worlds well before the colonists themselves arrive. The colonists, for the most part, will be in a state of genetic hibernation, with skeleton crews working in three month shifts of wakefulness. Many critics continue to label the Project the Great Experiment, and decry this use of resources while the Earth is in increasingly dire straits. Construction is begun in high orbit of Venus on a huge sunshade. It will shield the planet from most of the incoming solar energy, thereby slowly reducing the world's temperature. This first step in the terraforming of Venus is largely ignored by those on Earth, with more pressing concerns. But the ever-growing interplanetary community hails the step as a victory, and many organizations promise their support.
2103 CE In recent years the UN has been increasing its authority over spaceflight, and as a result all movement in space must now first be registered with the IAC authority. However, in direct violation of this protocol, Amtech launches the first manned mission to Jupiter. Setting out from Martian orbit, and well beyond the reach of any direct intervention by the IAC, Amtech announces the mission as an attempt to search out further resources for the ailing Earth. The IAC condemns the mission as unlawful and an act of sedition against the international community. It is, however, wildly popular with the public. Morris Laboratories begins construction on great fields of solar panels on Mercury's surface. Each panel is a separate unit, linked together to a primary computational center, and will collect vast amounts of solar energy. By the time the project is complete, the entire surface of Mercury will be covered, save for an equatorial strip and the polar regions. The panels are constructed from surface materials by carefully programmed nanotech, a move that brings sharp criticism from the United Nations, but which is applauded by the scientific community.
2106 CE: Even as Amtech announces a new program of ice mining in the Jovian system, the IAC issues a resolution banning all resource development beyond the Belt. Officially, this is meant to curtail any sort of present resource squandering, but many believe it is simply a political play to lessen the ever-growing power of Amtech as an international force. For its part, Amtech ignores the resolution.
2107 CE: Icarus City on Mercury switches to the first antimatter reactor designed to power a major population center. With the activation of the reactor and its successful running, Morris Laboratories opens the door for long running, cheap energy. Buyers from Luna, Earth, and even Mars are soon making their orders.
2112 CE: As more nitrogen and carbon dioxide is removed from Venus than can be used by the Martian terraforming efforts, a reserve for these elements is established in a high Venusian polar orbit. These elements will be sold by the Aphrodite Commission for profit, an aid in keeping the Venus terraforming project online.
2118 CE: The Equatorial Antimatter Collider construction is completed on Mercury. Stretching around nearly the entire circumference of Mercury, this construction neatly bisects the planet visually, although most of the infrastructure is below the surface. The collider will produce antimatter in record quantities, opening up a market for it. However, Morris Laboratories will remain the sole producer of the material, giving them a major monopoly for energy production in the Inner Solar System.
2120 CE: Bolstered by its tremendous net worth and the socio-political power that it now employs because of it, Morris Laboratories declares its holdings on Mercury as independent of any nation, and renames itself the Independent State of Hermes. Empowered by their economic success and their relative isolation from other inhabited regions of the Inner Solar System, this move is seen as the first step in a movement that will grip many former dependent colonies. In response, Amtech itself declares itself independent, legitimizing its long defiance of both the United Nations and the IAC.
2123 CE: Following the examples of Hermes and Amtech and the wealth that seems to have given them, the Chinese Lunar colony of Da-luo-tian declares its independence, announcing that it and the majority of the north polar region of the Moon are now a sovereign nation. China is infuriated by the move, and announces that it will retake the colony by force. The IAC forbids such a militaristic move into space, but the Chinese government blatantly defies the interdiction and sends a small fleet of ten ships filled with military personnel. However, these troops are placed at several locations throughout the Lunar surface, occupying other colonies which are known to have strong economical ties with Da-luo-tian. In response, a brief shooting war erupts as those other colonies attempt to dislodge the invaders. In the end, the Chinese colony is retaken, but Chinese troops suffer large casualties in their attempted occupations. Many more are taken into custody upon the arrival of troops from various Earth nations, and the Chinese government itself is placed under severe economic sanctions.
2124 CE: The United Nations, fearing a repeat of the Chinese invasion of the Moon, as well as the impending possibilities of further moves towards independence by colonies non-terrestrial colonies, moves that could cripple the fragile economy of Earth, charters the International Military Police Force. Based in New York, the IMPF will be given the ability to operate in orbit, CisLunar Space, and on the surface of the Moon. Certain circumstances will allow their operation on Earth's surface as well. Its task will be to maintain colonial authority, as well as to enforce future IAC resolutions. The vote to create the IMPF is almost unanimous, with the only major nation voting against it being China.
2125 CE: Because of Security concerns, as well as degrading conditions resulting from flooding and continuing climate change, the United Nations moves its center of operations to Caprion Station. The IMPF moves to this location as well, in order to better establish their non-Terrestrial authority. The move is highly criticized, with many saying that the UN is abandoning the Earth in the hour of its greatest need, as the environment threatens to collapse many societies. The UN responds by announcing that it can aid the world the most if it does not need to worry about its own safety in the face of environmental disasters.
2128 CE: The MPS Shiloh, the prototype of the Shiloh-class, is brought into service as the first spacecraft for IMPF use. Designed to operate solely within the CisLunar region, this class of vessel will greatly solidify the powers of law enforcement granted to that group by the United Nations.
2130 CE: The Stations, long used as way-points and population attractors for emigrants from Earth, begin to campaign for independence from the nations which have essentially been using them as dumping grounds for refugees. These campaigns are made possible by resources and power supplied by both Amtech and Hermes. Both of these nations have far more to gain from independent Stations than they do from Stations under the thumb of restrictive Earth-bound governments. Largely ignored by the Earth nations at first, these campaigns will swiftly become hot and divisive political topics.
2133 CE: Because of ever growing tensions between Hermes, Amtech, and the primary nations of Earth, the United Nations declares sanctions against those two off-world countries, and returns to purely Terrestrial energy sources. Amtech and Hermes, however, continue to defy those nations by supplying power to the Stations. The final result is a cold war, which causes major economic stresses throughout the inhabited Solar System as the nations initiate blockades and economic sanctions against one another.
2135 CE: A major step in Venusian terraforming is taken as the first bio-engineered microbes are introduced into that world's atmosphere. With an exponential speed of reproduction, and a tolerance for the hostile conditions in the upper to mid-cloud decks of Venus, these microbes will begin the process of breaking down carbon dioxide and other components, reducing both the atmospheric pressure and the greenhouse effect that is present.
2136 CE: The ACP Jamestown arrives in orbit of Ghellhonus, in the Alpha Centauri System. Shortly thereafter, the colonization of the planet is begun.
2142 CE: In a blatantly defiant move against Earth and the other Inner System governments, Amtech declares that the space between 1.45 and 4.20 AU, 45 degrees above and below the plane of the ecliptic, is sovereign territory under its own jurisdiction. Further, they declare Mars and all asteroidal bodies within the Belt as Amtech territory. This sparks outrage among the other nations, and the United Nations issues a resolution forbidding any Amtech vessels or citizens travel within the 1.45 AU limit. The only exceptions will be those few remaining legally contracted resource shipments. Beyond that, and because of their shift towards terrestrial resources, the UN response carries little impact with Amtech. Also, clandestine business deals continue to be made and acted upon between Amtech, Hermes, and the Stations and Lunar Colonies.
2150 CE: A point is reached in the process of global warming where the planet can no longer handle the extreme temperatures and climatic effects. Called the Climatic Red Line (or CRL), it is marked by the sudden and catastrophic collapse of the polar ice caps, and their subsequent melting and release into the oceans. Within the next couple of years, sea levels will rise by 80 meters, completely inundating many inland regions and all coastal areas. Secondary effects include large scale climate shifts, major storms, and the resultant crippling or even destruction of various nations. The superpowers themselves are severely crippled, and all off world concerns are dropped as the surviving nations must deal with wave upon wave of displaced immigrants, new wars over resources and land, and a world economy that has all but collapsed. For all intents and purposes, then, the Earth is completely cut off from space. In many nations, the UN and the IMPF take over governmental duties, effectively commanding much of the planet.
2153 CE: As the world continues to flood, hundreds of millions of refugees are themselves flooding the inland regions, escaping the rising waters and increased seasonal storms. Millions more are dying. In response, the UN decides to begin shipping these refugees off-world by the thousands. In order to facilitate this, the orbital towers are taken over by various military powers, and work in concert with the IMPF, in Earth orbit. The IMPF itself begins to take control over the Stations, which will bear the brunt of the masses of displaced humanity. The Stations, already quite crowded from decades of immigrants, resist these attempts, and various incidents of armed conflict occur within a period of several days. In response, the IMPF declares all Stations to be under the authority of the UN, while the Stations themselves declare themselves independent from any Earth nation, and begin to resist with deadly force. The Station Wars are begun.
2155 CE: Despite having been aware of such movements for over a decade, the IMPF has never before had the technological capability to effectively stop illegal Amtech movements inward of the 1.45 AU limit. However, recent advances in ship design and technology leads to the first IMPF interception of an Amtech vessel illegally passing beyond the 1.45 AU limit. The ship is boarded, the crew arrested, and the cargo impounded. In response, Amtech begins to have their cargo vessels escorted by their own military vessels. The revelation of this Red Fleet is a shock to the UN, which had only before heard rumors of cargo ships retrofitted with weapons, manned by a militia of sorts. The Red Fleet, however, is a very cohesive, very advanced, and very effective military force, and they do not have qualms about using force to keep their cargo ship wards safe. In a statement later in the year, the UN formerly declares that a state of war exists between Amtech and the nations of Earth, despite the fact that only the IMPF has the capability - or the inclination - to take up arms against them.
2156 CE: A vessel outbound from Earth, delivering nearly 3,000 refugees to a Lunar outpost, is hijacked at diverted towards a Hermes station in a Solar orbit, position at 0.647 AU. Hermes allows the vessel to dock, and grants the refugees citizenship, being more than capable of absorbing an increase in their population on Mercury. In response, the UN brands Hermes a nation of kidnappers and subversionists, and declares war on them. This does little to stop hordes of other refugee ships from making the same attempt at escape to Hermes. Ironically, on Earth, few take notice, being far more concerned with dealing with a disintegrating standard of living.
2157 CE: An IMPF vessel is attacked by Station Harappa as the ship approaches, intent on blocking it from receiving Amtech aid. The ship responds, and a misfire destroys the entire station. The news of this destruction, and the loss of tens of thousands of lives, brings the Station Wars to a screeching halt. The United Nations withdraws its forces from the various fronts, and has the IMPF concentrate on maintaining order on the Earth itself. The Stations are thus granted independence, and Amtech is free to legally supply them with much needed resources. As the various Solar System colonies and Stations go about the business of recovering from the Wars, the Earth remains locked within its own conflicts. However, no off-world national is allowed to descend to the Earth as the UN uses the IMPF to secure its hold over the planet. These attempts, however, lead to only more tensions and minor wars.
2159 CE: A limited nuclear war erupts between the United States and the Middle East regions, while Europe launches its own against China. In both cases, the weapons are launched in response to direct attempts at resource theft and other acts of aggression. The IMPF launches two weapons of its own, eliminating two major threat centers. The One Day War, as it is called, brings about a complete change to the political systems of the Earth. The American space tower is collapsed in the War, and the United Nations collapses completely. The IMPF itself becomes a major ruling force on the planet, with the IAC as its major subdivision for authority extending to low orbital space, as well as all air traffic. The only other remaining independent nations are the United States, the European Union, and China, although each of these have been severely weakened by the War. No nation, not even the IMPF, is considered a superpower any longer, but it is clear that the IMPF has the military capability to retain the rest of the planet under their control.
2160 CE: The New Church is invited to begin mediating the many conflicts that still wrack the Earth and colonized space. A long period of recovery begins, and slowly a new stability will emerge from the ashes of the recent wars. It is to be a long road, but the turbulence of the past century is slowly being repaired.