Prologue
In the years prior to the end of civilization as we know it, humans had all but given up on living in peace. In 2050, laser technology had become overwhelmingly common and mostly weaponized by the various armies of Earth's superpowers. By this time the political rift in the world had divided most countries into the major continents of power. Canada, the US, Mexico, and all South America banded together under President Harrow of the US to form the Continental American Alliance. All countries belonging to Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Middle East formed The United Coalition of Eurasia. And Africa became the Imperial African Conciliate. By this time the United Nations had been dissolved and rather, each continent had selected a delegate to discuss alliances, treaties and other politics. This they called the World Court. 2072 brought with it a war the likes which the world has ever seen. For years the Imperial African Conciliate had been at odds with the United Coalition of Eurasia over the integration of the continent of Australia. The Conciliate had long argued that the continent either deserved to have a seat within the World Court, or that they should have the right to integrate the smaller almost defenseless continent. In a fiery argument during a session of World Court, an Imperial African Conciliate spy took a shot that was meant to kill the United Coalition of Eurasia delegate. He missed however and instead killed the delegate next to her, Madame Speaker Jocelyn DeLeon. She was the wife of General DeLeon, Senior Defense Commander for the Continental American Alliance. Retaliation was swift and ruthless. Both the United Coalition of Eurasia and the newly founded Australian General Assembly, denounced this retaliatory attack, condemning both sides for overreacting. But the damage was done, and the lines drawn. The Imperial African Conciliate had the numbers due to their mandatory draft at age 16, but the Continental American Alliance had the tech. The United Coalition of Eurasia sided with the Continental American Alliance, but the Australian General Assembly decided to fight with its strongest supporter and sided with the Imperial African Conciliate. The war raged on for years with both sides taking heavy losses. In 2099, the United Coalitions of Eurasia pulled out of the war. Citing that their economy could no longer support it. With the numbers even more heavily favored towards the Imperial African Conciliate side, the Continental American Alliance launched a final disparate attack. In 2095, the President of the Continental American Alliance authorized the launch of all nuclear warheads into the heart of Imperial African Conciliate territory. With a backup plan in motion they began to load the designated survivors onto a transport ship bound for the once American owned International Space Station. The Continental American Alliance had converted it into a survival outpost as a backup plan in case a nuclear war ever did erupt. Little did President Harrow know; the other countries had known about the converted station and had been prepped for such an occasion. As hundreds on nuclear warheads rained down upon the surface of Earth, a new battle had begun far above in the stars.
The battle that had been waged upon the surface of Earth ended abruptly with the launch of hundreds of nuclear warheads. Out of the 7.8 billion people on the planet, only about 1500 survived. The last 1500 members of the human race now fought for a measly 400 places onboard the ISS, now dubbed Salvation. With no weapons and no way to land on the station without starting a whole new war, each escape craft from each continent sat at a stalemate for months. In what was later called "The Darkest Days," it was the United Coalition of Eurasia that finally called upon diplomacy to solve the problem. After days of negotiation and deliberation, it was decided that each continent would send their best 100 people to the station and the rest would be left to either float away into space to die, or they could elect to set their respective escape craft to self-destruct, a quick and painless death. The rioting that would follow is said to have been the worst since the days of old when there were hundreds of countries littering Earth and the Great Pandemic that forced the continents to unite. When the fighting settled, an exhausting 2 weeks later, the Continental American Alliance had 54 people left alive to send, the United Coalition of Eurasia managed their full 100, the Imperial African Conciliate had merely 20 people, and the newly founded Australian General Assembly sent their full 100, totaling out at 274 people left of the human race. The only two craft to self-destruct with people still onboard, the Australian General Assembly and the United Coalition of Eurasia. The only thing aboard the other two continent's escape craft was dead bodies and haunting memories of a time long past. With heavy hearts and minds, the last survivors or Earth boarded the Salvation and began anew. Hoping to one day find a new home to start over.
January 1st, 2105. It had been a little more than 5 years since the first humans began their lives anew onboard the ISS Salvation and the first few years had not been easy. Upon arriving on the Salvation, all continents agreed that there was no longer a reason to be divided and agreed to dissolve their individual semblances of "government" to create a singular, peaceful government. The now newly formed United Nations of Earth agreed that without a single person to take charge of the station, things could get out of hand quickly. They proposed an election for a Grand Chancellor to rule over all people, now nicknamed Terrans. President Harrow was 56 at the time of the elections but was assassinated before he could be nominated for the position of Chancellor. Most suspected former loyalists belonging to the prior continent of the Imperial African Conciliate, but no proof was ever found supporting that claim. On the 3rd of March in the year 2105, the first ever chancellor was elected to rule the Terrans. Chancellor Erin Greenwich, formerly from the United Coalition of Eurasia was elected in a landslide. The era of peace that followed was desperately needed and the huge leaps in technology and civics that followed were largely attributed to her passion for science. Chancellor Greenwich led the United Nations of Earth faithfully until she passed of old age on August 15th, 2181. After her passing Chancellor Marco Martini, born and raised on the Salvation took the mantle of leader of the last humans in the known universe. It was up to Chancellor Martini to continue to search for a new home for his people. And search he would. Little did they all know a new age was dawning and within the next 20 years, life as they knew it would once again change. For better or for worse? Only time would tell.
In the year 2201 everything changed for the United Nations of Terra. Chancellor Martini still ruled over the ISS Salvation and unit cohesion was at an all-time high. On May 15th, 2201, the first ever exploratory ship was finally completed, and preparations were made for the first manned expedition outside of the Milky Way. The Chancellor had dubbed this undertaking "Project Phoenix" as he had always dreamt that humanity would once again overcome overwhelming odds to thrive amongst the stars. For the last 20 years the team of scientists onboard the Salvation had spent every waking hour surveying the Milky Way for possible habitable planets. And for 20 years they had seen nothing but barren rocks, devoid of life or breathable atmosphere. At the same time that the scientists were busy looking for a new home, Chancellor Martini commissioned an engineering team to slowly begin deconstructing portions of the Salvation and reconstructing the parts into a spacecraft capable of carrying an small team of scientists into the unknown in search of a planet to colonize. Population was down half since Chancellor Martini had taken over in 2181. The rigors of life in space and limited resources including food and water had left much of the population decimated. At the time of the completion of Project Phoenix, the human population was counted at no more than 200 personnel and people were getting desperate. With little culture to fall back on for comfort and no one left alive who had set foot on their former planet of Earth, moral was at an all-time low. But at last good news had finally arrived! The team of scientists had discovered a route past the Milky Way and off into a distant star system nearby. The moment Chancellor Martini received the news, he immediately gathered his select science team and began mission preparations. On July 10th, 2201, The TSS Glory launched from the docking bay of the Salvation and began its journey to the distant star system.
It was nearly 10 months before the TSS Glory returned home from their voyage and much had changed since they left. Chancellor Martini had fallen gravely ill and his son Marco Jr. had taken his responsibilities during the absence. Marco Jr. was the Commander of the Terran Strike Force, which was just a group of 20 or so armed men with little knowledge of actual combat and zero combat experience. The acting Chancellor wished to keep the return of the Glory private until the team could debrief with details of their travels but news travels quickly and soon the entire Terran populace was gathered in the assembly hall awaiting an announcement from the acting chancellor. The science team spent hours behind the closed doors of the War Room and the anxiety in the assembly hall was palpable. Finally, acting Chancellor Marco Martini Jr. entered the hall to deliver the news. The science team had in fact found a whole new star system and barely scraped the surface of what existed inside. They had, however, returned to the Salvation immediately upon discovery of the first human habitable planet since Earth. A planet the team had taken upon themselves to name Sol, after the Roman sun god from their ancient Roman ancestors. Marco Jr. used his temporary power as Chancellor to redirect all resources to making sure the ISS Salvation could make the journey to this new star system and colonization efforts could be made. Sadly, just a week after the news of a new planet had been broken, Chancellor Marco Martini Senior died, finally succumbing to the illness he had been battling for months. The Terran population agreed that considering the recent news, Marco Jr. would hold the position of Chancellor until the colonization of Sol was complete and a real election could be held. And thus, the human race awoke once more, determined to overcome certain extinction.
The United Nations of Terra finally put their feet on the soil of Sol on January 1st, 2221, over 20 years after the discovery of its existence. It took no more than 24 hours to shuttle each group of people from the Salvation to the ground and each group had a special role. When the final Terrans finally touched down on Sol, a small village was beginning to take shape and a small semblance of government was beginning to form. For all the struggles humanity had been through, there was finally a light at the end of the tunnel. The Terrans were home.
