INOPS Universal Factbook [02] Historical information
INOPS Universal Factbook [02.2145.0007] Stellar Defense Initiative SDI
Founded in 1995 as military arm of the United Nations under the name United Nations Global Defense Initiative (GDI) the Initiative defended the civilized world against three attempts of the sect NOD to destroy humanity and turn earth into a wasteland. NODs third attempt in 2047 partly succeeded in forcing humanity to leave its home planet. NOD and their alien allies were defeated and GDI unified the remaining nation states and took the lead in colonizing the greater solar system. The lunar cities, numerous space stations including the iconic GDSS Philadelphia and later the Mars colony were created as refuges for humanity. In 2074 GDI was transformed into a private corporation to better handle the financial strain of large scale extraterrestrial development. In 2096 GDI took the lead in extrasolar colonization with colonies on Terra Nova, Eden, New Hampton, Bekenstein, Betelgeuse and the gigantic GDSS Arcturus. In 2100 GDI changed its name into the Stellar Defense Initiative (SDI) to reflect its broadened focus on protecting all of humanity everywhere in the Universe. During the Prime Insurrection in 2128 SDI proved its ability to preserve unity among humanity. Today SDI is leading humanity into its bright future in the stars.
INOPS Universal Factbook [02.2152.0014] Brotherhood of NOD
A religious sect known to the world since 1994 and lead by several deranged individuals posing as the same person, always known as Kane, self-proclaimed messiah of NOD. The goal of NOD was to destroy humanity with the mineral Tiberium. After three of the greatest conflicts in human history NOD finally succeeded in driving humanity off earth with the backing of extraterrestrials known as Scrin. During the human exodus NOD ceased all hostilities with GDI and launched at least six expeditions during the First Exodus. The fate of those expeditions is unclear. During the second exodus NOD established three colonies called New Mecca, Humberside and Canaan. The civil war on New Mecca from 2136 to 2152 left the colony in shambles. The INOPS department of economic analysis assumes that NOD has at least three additional colonies not connected to the relay network. It is also assumed that NOD has still access to Tiberium thanks to the artifact left behind on Earth by their alien overlords. NOD retains a presence with several cargo ships in SDI controlled space. Direct contact with NOD followers should be avoided or if unavoidable reported to the local INOPS office.
INOPS Universal Factbook [02.2131.0207] Earth
Earth, third planet from the sun, birthplace of mankind, once known as the blue planet. Today Earth is known as the green planet for nearly its whole surface is covered in green Tiberium crystals. The vast oceans are largely covered with a green Tiberium algae. The planet is ravaged by strong winds, nearly constant ion storms and frequent eruptions of liquid Tiberium. Once home to nearly 7.5 billion people, less than half a million remain on earth. Today huge automated mining and processing machines travel the land side. Several mutated or outright alien lifeforms have replaced all former wild and plant life. Since 2109 several times per year asteroids are guided towards and later dropped onto earth to harvest the included minerals. The largest permanent settlement on earth reside in Africa, former Kenya near the base of the Kenya space elevator. The second largest settlement and the second space elevator reside in south America, former Ecuador, near the city Quito.
INOPS Universal Factbook [02.2151.0314] Exodus
Since 2045 the conditions on earth deteriorated towards a point where human life was no longer possible. By 2056 one tenth of the human population lived on various space stations or in the lunar colonies. The terraforming of Mars began and the first domed cities were erected on the red planet. By 2074 half a billion people lived on Mars, over three billion by 2100. The discovery of element zero during the terraforming of Mars made interstellar spaceflight possible. Between 2082 and 2090 GDI sent 16 colony ships, NOD another 9, each carrying 400000 settlers to various close stars with known planetary bodies. The situation in the solar system was desperate enough to accept the fact that most of these expeditions would not find habitable planets at their destination. Only the Vega expedition was accounted for since the discovery of the mass relays. This discovery made the second wave of extrasolar colonization possible. Since 2096 18 star systems have been colonized. In 2122 the overall human population exceeded the post Tiberium population of earth. There are currently 11 billion people not counting the first wave colonists still unaccounted for. Over half of the human population resides outside of the solar system.
INOPS Universal Factbook [02.2104.0324] Tiberium
Tiberium is an extraterrestrial substance first encountered on earth in 1995. The radioactive and highly reactive Tiberium soaks up ground minerals and soil nutrients. This leads to the creation of the Tiberium crystals, rich in minerals and available for collection. Unfortunately prolonged exposure of living organisms leads either to severe mutations or more commonly death. While there are several forms of Tiberium these are basic characteristic they have in common. The GDI board of directors decided in 2071 to abandon all further research into different applications except efficient mining and processing. The transfer of Tiberium off earth is prohibited.