Formation of an Empire

The Formation of an Empire:

During the latter years of the 22nd Century the first realistic FTL drive allowed the colonisation of the Terran system by the major world powers. It was fortuitous, some might say, that the invention of the drive came just ten years after Britain launched its first space mission.

Up to that point, none of the world super-powers had ventured much beyond the protective cradle of Earth's atmosphere. America, once the greatest power in the world, had fallen in to an isolationist stupor. China had colonised the moon, but later abandoned the base after a series of catastrophic explosions wiped out half of the population there.

Early US attempts to colonise Mars had suffered a similar fate. Mars Colony Lander 1 was destroyed en-route to the red planet in 2083; fortunately, she was an unmanned supply ship, but the accident was a serious blow to the already financially insolvent NASA. A power failure on board the incomplete International Space Telescope Array was the final straw. The agency was closed down one year later and future space flight was brought under the preview US military, ending American dominance in space and leaving Mars un-colonised.

For the next 20 years the ISTA languished in orbit, her construction never completed. She was taken over in 2107 by a cooperative formed from the ESA and the Russian Federal Air and Space Agency, or FASA, and practically rebuilt from scratch over a period of three years.

Sadly, the re-christened Dawnstar Observation Station never became operational. An American extremist terrorist group calling themselves Free America managed to smuggle a bomb onboard the station, claiming to have proof that the ESA was using the Dawnstar to spy on "free Americans." The US government, attempting to prove it was still a capable major world power, swiftly retaliated against the Free America group with a tactical nuclear strike against the group's suspected base of operations. The unprecedented attack sparked a civil war that lasted for the next ten years, and eventually led to the formation of the New Federal States of America, centered on Texas, as many states seceded from the Union.

The United States, economically exhausted by the war, sued for peace in 2118. The NFSA, searching for a use for its huge arsenal, later annexed Mexico and attempted to invade Nicaragua, only stopping when a series of earthquakes cut off their army.

Europe too suffered because of the war, as the US deterrent to several mid-eastern and African states collapsed, taking NATO with it. Terrorists repeatedly bombed Paris, ostensibly in revenge for French nuclear testing. London, Berlin and several other capitals were targeted as well for their association with the European Union.

In the year 2133, the European Parliament passed the European Unification Act in a move, it was claimed, to create a better means of defending the EU from terrorist attacks. In reality the act removed the last vestiges of sovereignty retained by EU member states, and created the United States of Europe.

Turkey and Denmark immediately announced their secession from the USE, only to be invaded and "re-integrated" in to the federal structure. The invasion prompted several other "outsider" sates to declare their independence. Sweden, Norway and England, always wary of the Brussels parliament, formed a their own United Commonwealth and threatened retaliation against the USE if they were attacked in any way. Scotland later followed and joined the Commonwealth, which later became known as the United Kingdoms Commonwealth as pro-monarchist elements in all four nations proclaimed theirs as a viable alternative form of government.

The USE, burned by the loss of three major states, took on a more conciliatory role in world politics, brokering a peace agreement between the NFSA and Nicaragua.

In 2160, mankind once again turned to the stars. The newly invigorated USA began their second space program, reconstituting NASA as a branch of the military. The NFSA, not wanting to be outdone by its northern cousin, started its own space program from the former Nasa and JPL research labs. Federal America's program was entirely military, intended for the sole purpose of putting weapons in space.

Other nations, recalling the benefits reaped by the former US in times past, started their own programs. Japan, with years of theoretical experience under her belt, launched a series of moon missions between 2163 and 2168, finally establishing a small permanent base there in 2169.

China, attempted to return to their own moonbase and rebuild it with contemporary materials and technology, hoping to improve safety there. It is sadly notable that the Chinese were the first country in history to bury their dead on the moon. Upon their return, they shipped a single corpse back to earth for a ceremonial burial. The rest were interred in a cemetery near the old Apollo 12 landing site.

The USE launched their first manned mission in late 2170 but, due to a severe recession were unable to afford more missions.

Russia had never really stopped their low-orbit program, fielding hundreds of satellites and at least three space stations by this time. But, as always, they seemed to lack the funds to progress further. They eventually formed a cooperative with the USE.

Britain, heading up the UKC, was the last major power to start a program. Other nations were industriously exploiting space, mining the moon and drawing huge amounts of cheap solar/microwave power. Britain barely launched their first ship in 2173. They soon caught up. The UKC, desperate to regain equality with the other space-faring nations, skipped most of the low-orbit testing and travelled straight to the moon in 2174. Eight months later they launched a mission to Mars; an unmanned probe. Mars Lander One.

In 2182, a major breakthrough was announced. A Swedish team of scientists, after over two decades of research in Brazil, announced they were about to launch the worlds first non-relativistic FTL capable ship. The unmanned probe was launched from Cape Canaveral, with the cooperation of the NFSA, that very year and subsequently made a trip to Jupiter in six minutes and 11 seconds.