Terran Unification Wars

#### *See Also - Planet Earth, 2551, Quadrants of the Earth*

The Terran Unification Wars was a series of wars spanning approximately 300 years. This period saw the fall of the United States of America, the Rise and Fall of the American Empire, and the rise of The Democratic Republic of Terra. These wars saw the Earth turn from a vibrant green and blue world into the industrialized toxic wasteland it is today.

## **The Fall of The United States**

The nation known as the United States of America fell in 2142 AD when political infighting led to a full-scale war. The political infighting stemmed from five years prior, the United States had annexed Canada. The added territory was such a strain on the political system it caused the whole federal government to unravel; thus, anarchy reigned.

## **The Great American Empire and *Pax Americana***

        In 2162 AD, Maxwell Fairweather, an Indiana Warlord, started his campaign to reunite America. With aid from the Russo-Euro Federation and the Republic of China, Fairweather initiated a series of aggressive military operations against the various factions throughout North America and successfully reunited the nation (included previously annexed Canada) in 2175 AD. Shortly afterwards, on July 4th, 2176 AD, against China's and Russo-Europe's wishes, Fairweather Established the American Empire and crowned himself Emperor Maxwell Fairweather I. The fledgling Empire started an aggressive campaign of expansion soon after its conception, conquering Europe, much of Africa and the Middle-East, Asia, and significant portions of Central and Latin America all within a time period of just over 3 decades. The period of growth was known as *Pax Americana* which saw approximately 200 years of “peace.” This part of Terra’s history saw many wars for resources and territory, resulting in the American Empire controlling three-fourths of the Earth's surface.

## **Imperial Implosion**

#### **The Conquered Fight Back**

In 2320 AD, Emperor William Fairweather IV suddenly died with no clear successor. Infighting ensued with no Crown Princess or Prince, resulting in complete imperial collapse and the Empire's eventual downfall. Taking advantage of the internal chaos, the former Pan-Indo Republics began liberating most of Asia, merging into a coalition against American Imperialism. At the same time, former Arabic countries along with the former Israel aligned together to form the Arabi Sovereignty and began a slow but steady campaign of expelling American Imperial forces from the Middle-East and Africa. In 2341 AD, remnants of the former Russo-Euro Federation banded together and launched a surprise attack on the Imperial Naval Shipyards at Sevastopol in the Crimean Peninsula, marking the beginning of their campaign to liberate the entire European continent from American rule. This was successfully completed in the summer of 2349 AD, when Russo-Euro forces crossed the English Channel unopposed and marched into the abandoned American Imperial stronghold of London by the hundreds of thousands.

#### ***Pax Aeterna* and the End of the Empire**

Despite major territorial losses however, the American Imperial Military remained a formidable force that contained respectable numbers and was committed to fighting till the bitter end. Imperial military officials soon reigned in and realigned their remaining subordinate forces, and on New Year's Day, 2350 AD, the American Empire launched a sudden massive counteroffensive, code-named *Pax Aeterna* (Latin for "Eternal Peace"), against Russo-Euro, Pan-Indo, and Arabi forces. Similar in nature to the historical Battle of the Bulge, *Pax Aeterna* was intended to recapture former centers of American Imperial political, strategic, and economic significance in London, Berlin, Istanbul, Doha, Singapore, Delhi, Kabul, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Osaka. However, American Imperial military leadership severely underestimated the sophistication and resolve of the combined forces of the Pan-Indo Coalition, Arabi Sovereignty, and Russo-Euro Federation, and the next 5 years saw the opposing militaries locked in a bloody stalemate, waiting to see who would finally strike a fatal blow. The wait ended on December 9th, 2355 AD, when Pan-Indo Coalition ground forces invaded Continental America from the annexed Canada and the Imperial Capital of Indianapolis was subsequently bombarded by thermonuclear strikes courtesy of Pan-Indo and Russo-Euro jets and ICBMs. In the months that followed, battlefronts around the globe fell in favor of non-American forces and the Empire’s heartlands (with the exception of Texas, Tennessee, Ohio, and Florida) were seized by the Pan-Indo Coalition. By the end of summer in 2356 AD, an interim government had been established in San Francisco, California, and the American Empire formally ceased to exist.

## **New World Order and the Rise of EXOGEN**

#### **Corrupt and Inconceivable**

In 2364 AD, spearheaded by efforts from the Pan-Indo Republics, the global community restructured into a brand-new international governmental alliance known today as The Democratic Republic of Terra. Under this all-encompassing political order, all pre-Pax Americana national borders were eradicated and Earth's land territories were divided into 5 main areas of responsibility dubbed "Quadrants": the Far-Western Quadrant, the Upper-Middle Quadrant, the Lower-Middle Quadrant, the Lower-Southern Quadrant, and the Far-Eastern Quadrant. In addition, each Quadrant was further broken down into multiple provinces.

The political hierarchy of the Democratic Republic of Terra began with popularly-elected Representatives each presiding over a specific province; each Representative answered directly to their respective Quadrant Chancellor. The 5 Quadrant Chancellors were elected by Representatives and served for life, barring any unanimous votes from provincial Representatives within one's Quadrant calling for their Revocation (removal from power). They were also members of a council known as the Will of Terra, which had the final ruling on all matters concerning Terran Global Law. There were no provincial-level or quadrant-level congresses, parliaments, or official political parties. The new government was quite weak, and imposed essentially little-to-no regulation on the influence of interest-groups, corporations, and other non-government organizations; elections were rarely secure from tampering, and more often than not money and resources spoke the loudest. The rising EXOGEN Corporation, among others, frequently exploited such weakness, rigging elections (even through acts of violence, when necessary) and buying out politicians one-by-one. By 2400 AD there was not a single Representative in Terra who wasn't taking some form of compensation from EXOGEN, and all 5 Quadrant Chancellors were either EXOGEN executives or major stakeholders in the corporation.

#### **Resource Exhaustion, *Period of Warring Provinces*, Turbinium, and the EXOGEN Monopoly**

The most significant consequence which stemmed from the Terran Government's lack of regulation were never-before-seen levels of global industrialization and urbanization. Eager to rebuild after nearly 300 years of armed conflict and with free reign to operate in whatever manner they pleased, corporations around the globe began expanding in every direction within every industry imaginable. In the process, many natural habitats were done away with in favor of sprawling urban complexes and Earth's resources were siphoned in record-level amounts. By 2444 AD less than a tenth of all land contained some form of plant life or green vegetation, and in 2451 AD the last reserves of coal, oil, and natural gas were emptied. Running out of options and unable to come up with solutions, individual Provinces began waging wars against one another over supplies of non-renewable resources. Quadrant Chancellors were unable to reason with their subordinate representatives and powerless to stop them; provincial leaders were commanders-in-chief of all military and armed militia forces within their jurisdictions, and all of them had the mindset of survival at all costs. Once again, the world found itself engulfed in bloody and arduous conflict. The *Period of Warring Provinces*, as it was later coined, would last until the end of the 25th century. In 2500 AD, scientists at EXOGEN would reach a massive breakthrough with the creation of an alternative fuel source originating from synthetically created self-replicating bacterial cells. Named "Turbinium", the new fuel could be created without the need for non-renewable resources and easily mass-produced in order to power the entirety of the Democratic Republic of Terra. Through persuasion from Quadrant Chancellors and the promise of assets and investment from EXOGEN, Province Representatives formally ceased hostilities with each other and embraced the new innovation with open arms. With success of Turbinium and the reestablishment of political order, EXOGEN was finally able to possess a monopoly over the entire Republic and effectively established itself as the single-most influential organization in the world. As long as the global community needed fuel to power their everyday lives, they would continue to seek out EXOGEN.