Earth (planet)

## Earth • Sol III

**Earth**, also known as *Terra* or *Sol III*, is the third planet of the Sol system, and one of its four terrestrial worlds. As the cradle of humanity, Earth is the greatest hub of human politics, and is officially the capital planet of humanity. It is home to the United Nations, which remains the dominant superpower of the system.

Though, in theory, these political representatives are democratically elected, in reality megacorps buy and own politicians as pawns in their own private wars. The real governance of the planet (and therefore the system) is by the largest, wealthiest corporations. The roots of capitalism still run deep, and the corporate structure has shaped Earth into a ruthless, cutthroat dystopia, burdened by the mistakes of the past and the failures of the present. Despite all that, many Terrans still possess a deep-seated patriotic pride in their planet nation, and an accompanying distrust of any and all outsiders, especially those that grew up elsewhere in the system. Earth must always come first, and any who have defied that creed have paid for it with nuclear fire.

## History

### Prehistoric to Modern Age

Earth formed about 4.6 billion years ago and gave rise to the first single-celled organisms about 3.9 billion years ago. About 437,000 years ago, the ancestors of modern humans, *Homo sapiens*, evolved in Africa and eventually spread across the entire planet. Humans, originally consisting of groups of hunter-gatherers, began to organize themselves into larger societies. More and more of these societies progressively became organized as imperial states, from the Dynasties of China to the Roman Empire, which grew by conquering other empires and civilisations.

For the better part of the post-classical age, the Islamic Golden Age made way for empires like the Mongol Empire which furthered transcontinental trade, becoming a driving factor for transcontinental colonisation. Empires of Portugal, Spain, Netherlands, France, England, and Russia emerged and fought amongst each other over the colonisation of most parts of the planet. With more products, available population and knowledge grew, enacting an infrastructure for a globalised planetary society.

### Post-Modern Ages

By the year 1914, much of the world was divided into two factions, the Triple Entente, or *Allies*: the United Kingdom, France, Russia, and later the United States of America, and the Triple Alliance, or *Central Powers*: the German Empire, Austria-Hungary, and other dependant states. The Central Powers were defeated at the end of World War I in 1918, resulting in a decade of prosperity and the rise of state socialism, followed by economic depression and the rise of Fascism in many countries. In 1939, another World War erupted, between the Allies (Britain, the Soviet Union, China, the USA, and many other nations) and the Axis (Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy, and the Empire of Japan). These times saw a historic climax in mass persecution and outright genocide.

In 1945, the Allies defeated the Axis. Later that year, the victorious nations, in an attempt to prevent more genocide, mass persecution, humanitarian plight and wars of any scale founded the United Nations, an international assembly of nations, whose goal was to settle international disputes peacefully and was the predecessor to the current, unified UN. It would be successful in this task

After World War II, humanity would lack war on that scale for over a century, although smaller wars and conflicts erupted, including the Korean War, Vietnam War, Cold War, and other prolonged conflicts in Southwest Asia. In the early 21st century, terrorism became a particular political hot-topic for governments on Earth and small wars broke out along with civil unrest in many countries.

With social movements like feminism and progressive socialism, universal suffrage increased and came to dominate politics. The time had come for societies to revolve around mass welfare and mass freedom enforced through democratic statehood. The centrepiece of this change was the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, specified through the two UN treaties of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

### Space Age

By 1957, humanity had finally successfully made their way into space through the use of unmanned probes and, by 1961, humans themselves. By1969, humanity had stepped for the first time on an extra-terrestrial surface - Earth's sole natural satellite, Luna. Over the next 40 or so years, space exploration continued to expand, and by 2024 a permanent settlement on Luna had been established. This settlement was declared a neutral scientific zone between all member nations of the UN, and would later grow into the full civilian infrastructure of modern times.

With space travel and infrastructure on the rise, the importance of the UN only grew, and space governance was introduced with treaties like the Outer Space Treaty and culminating in the Moon Treaty. By 2029, humanity had taken its first steps on Mars, followed quickly by efforts for colonisation and permanent settlement, which kicked off with the arrival of colony ships in 2043. This served to alleviate some of the pressure on Earth's resources, but with population levels still on the rise, tension between the planet's superpowers continued to escalate.

### Third World War

*Main article: World War III*
In 2084, tensions between China and India exploded into armed conflict, setting the stage for the Third World War. Things quickly escalated from here, with conflicts and proxy wars between the different states of the planet taking place all over the world. Initially refusing to explicitly enter the war, NATO and its allies spurred new legislation that empowered paramilitary corporations to disrupt enemy operations across borders, until they were finally forced into the war after the North Korean invasion of South Korea, and consequently the US bases situated there.

Matters would quickly come to a head in 2089, with a full strategic exchange sparked by the desperate Chinese government, which was under assault from all sides and foreseeing defeat. Despite most advanced nations having anti-nuclear defence systems, many strikes were successful, leaving entire areas of land devastated by nuclear fire. These would later become known as ‘Hot Zones’. By the end of the year, China had surrendered under continued bombardment. An armistice was signed in December, bringing an end to the war.

In the wake of the war, the UN acquired even further influence over its member states, and eventually became the *de facto* government of Earth, and by extension its planetary colonies. Many nations were strictly demilitarised in favour of a planetwide military force governed by the UN. Earth was split into administrative trade zones, all of which signed a unification pact, finally turning Earth into a single nation.

### Interplanetary Colonisation

During the war, many refugees from Earth had fled to the growing settlements on Luna and Mars. This influx of settlers would not slow, and by 2188 Mars had reached a population of 100 million people and rising. With the resources and infrastructure to become self-sustaining, the colony would declare independence from the UN in 2196, founding the Martian Congressional Republic. The UN, reticent to cede their control over the colony, declared this as treason against the unified front of humanity, refusing to recognise Mars as its own sovereign entity.

Shortly thereafter, in 2199, Operation: Broken Sky would take place. Deimos, the Martian moon and an important military base, was destroyed in a first strike by the UN and two UNN fleets blockaded Mars and its nearest dependencies, bombing several key ports and naval bases from orbit. All supply and trade lines to Martian ports were closed, and the MCR navy was destroyed in its infancy. Mars swiftly surrendered, and leading members of congress were subsequently executed for treason. The Martian Colonial Congress was then established in place of the short-lived republic, with tighter restrictions and increased direct governance by the UN.

### New Frontiers

The next great leap in human technology would come with the invention of the Exo Drive in 2203, by the Earth-based corporation: Exoscience. With the drive allowing for feasible expansion to Mars in a matter of days, and beyond within human life frames, the exodus of people from Earth exploded. By 2236, immigrants from Earth had ballooned the population of Mars to 4 billion. Mining stations, scientific outposts, and eventually fully blown ring cities in the asteroid belt (such as Medea Station), became commonplace.

By 2261, permanent manned facilities had been established on several of the Jovian Moons: Ganymede, Europa, Io, and Callisto to name a few. Ganymede in particular would see the construction of massive agricultural domes in 2264, generating food for billions across the system and becoming one of the safest stations in the outer planets.

Manned expeditions continued, with landings on Titan by 2312, and the other moons of Saturn shortly afterwards. By 2326, relatively recent history, research stations had even grown on Titania, the largest of the moons of Uranus, marking the furthest colonisation from Earth that humanity has thus far achieved.

## Geography

### Trade Zones

As part of the transfer of power from sovereign nations to the UN, the old nation-states of Earth no longer exist. Instead, the UN divided the planet into administrative trade zones. These regional zones are determined by the "common interests" shared by the people living within them, and include:

* Common European Trade Zone
* North American Trade Zone
* New Mexican Administrative Zone
* South American Trade Zone
* West African Shared Interest Zone
* South African Shared Interest Zone
* North African Administrative Region
* Persian Gulf Interest Zone
* Pashwiri Autonomous Area
* Greater Russia Administrative Zone
* Indian Communal Interest Zone
* East Asian Trade Zone
* Far East Administrative Area
* Southeast Asian Administrative Zone
* Oceania Common Interest Zone

With such a high population, most of Earth’s citizens congregate in its teeming cities, which sprawl across much of the planet’s surface. Today, most cities have a central commercial district, filled with skyscrapers housing corporate offices and luxury residential apartments for the wealthy. Basic and minimal-income housing neighbourhoods ring the commercial districts and stretch for miles, making up the largest proportion of real estate in most cities. Even with this much area, space is at a premium. Basic housing is crowded, and government apartment blocks are often old, underfunded, and derelict.

Shared accommodations are usually mandated, and extended families inhabit squalid living spaces designed for half as many people. Low-income homes are an improvement over basic housing, consisting of either simple apartments or small, mass-produced, single-story houses on tiny plots of land. Their key distinction is that their residents pay rent or mortgages for them, and thus get some say over their condition and location. Finally, on the outskirts of the cities sit the orderly grids of middle-income suburbs and strip malls. The roads linking the various city districts together incorporate an electric network that powers and directs vehicles, from private cars to public transit such as the free automated bus service provided in most urban centres. Streets are invariably crowded with an automated traffic and the packed throngs of people, either those with jobs traveling to and from work at shift change, or the aimless masses of those on Basic, wandering the streets and searching for some meaning in their small, dismal lives.

What habitable open land remains outside Earth’s sprawling urban centres is dedicated mostly to automated industrial farming, where machines labour to produce the food and other organics to sustain not only Earth’s population but much of the solar system as well. Private land ownership is rare outside the ranks of the ultra-wealthy, though small family farms do persist in some areas, contributing their own tiny share to the planet’s total food production.

### Badlands

The Third World War very swiftly escalated to nuclear bombardment, leaving behind large swathes of nigh uninhabitable sectors outside the major cities. These areas, known as Badlands or Hot Zones, are rife with radiation, chemical spills, and acid rain from massive pollution. All of this guarantees nothing natural will grow here anytime soon, perhaps ever. Instead, large portions of the land nearest to the cities are taken up by automated power plants, factories, protein farms, and greenhouses, while the remainder is a derelict wasteland of deserts, plains, and ruins.

High-speed rail lines, well-protected against the radiation, cross these sectors to connect major cities to one another, and vast solar-powered cargo vessels carry humanity’s trade across Earth’s polluted oceans to circumvent them.

### Notable Locations

* **New York City:** The capital city of the United Nations, and by extension Earth itself. One of the largest metropolises in the world that emerged from the Third World War surprisingly unscathed. Now houses most of the key administrative offices of the system at large, including many corporate headquarters.

## Society

### Population

Earth's society is highly stratified. With nearly 30 billion inhabitants, resources are scarce and there are simply not enough jobs for everyone on the planet. Although many Earth corporations and the United Nations itself are extremely wealthy, much of the planet’s population lives in severe poverty. Broadly, Earth’s citizens can be divided into two groups: those with jobs and those on Basic Assistance. The employed drive the economy, both with their purchasing power and their surplus production, which supports the rest of the planet’s population. The simple fact that they have currency is a mark of both status and social class.

Nevertheless, there are still sharp divisions among the employed based on just how much money they have. The extremely wealthy live and shop in their own enclaves, and private security ensures they never have to mingle with low or middle-income earners, much less anyone else. Those with jobs have access to high-quality food and medical care, the ability to purchase land and property, and the right to have children, provided they can afford the license and taxes to do so. Instituted by the United Nations in an attempt to curb Earth’s overpopulation, the so-called “baby tax” is prohibitively expensive, so it is not unheard of for groups of people to form civil unions or family co-ops where multiple parents share the tax burden (and even DNA) for one child. It is, of course, possible to have children without paying the baby tax, though only if one relies on the black market and unlicensed doctors, or wins one of the few opportunities for exemption each year.

Anyone who cannot apply for a job has the option of either enrolling in a governmental educational institution, or living off of the UN welfare system (known as Basic Assistance). Over half of Earth's population lives on Basic. When an individual applies to a government educational institution, that individual is required to have a minimum of one year's worth of work credits in order to apply. This is mandatory to ensure that classroom space is not wasted on individuals without work discipline and lack of ambition. The only other option is the Lottery, a planet-wide random selection, which provides a rare few with a Corp-sponsored route to employment. For most people, life on Basic is the only one they will ever know, the news feeds, dramas, and pornography on their terminal screens their only escape from the boredom of their existence.

Other people, though not many, choose to live outside this system entirely. Known as Badlanders, these people make their homes in the large swathes of nigh uninhabitable sectors left behind by nuclear bombardment during the Third World War. Often escaping poverty and homelessness in the cities, these people become nomads, travelling from place to place in ragtag fleets of cars, vans, busses, and RV’s, looking for supplies and spare parts in the places where society no longer exists. The cancer meds might be expensive, but there’s a lot of pre-war relics in the wastes that collectors pay a lot of bank for.

### Government & Politics

The government of Earth is the United Nations (UN), which is the centralized political body of Earth and the system at large. It was originally founded from the merger of Earth's sovereign nations, overriding the original system of having separate governments for each country. The UN wields authoritative power over Earth, and by extension the rest of the solar system, however it is still heavily compartmentalised, comprised of numerous autonomously-acting states and sub-governments, such as the Martian Colonial Congress.

As a democratic parliamentary republic, the UN's government is divided into three branches. The Secretary-General of the United Nations is the principal executive leader, serving as head of state, head of government and *de jure* commander-in-chief of the United Nations Navy. The office heads the government cabinet and the United Nations Security Council, is directly elected, and in total comprises the core of the executive branch, along with the Secretariat. The United Nations General Assembly serves as the legislative branch, and the Interplanetary Court of Justice as the independent judiciary. The Security Council, Secretariat, and General Assembly are seated in New York City, while the Court of Justice is located in New Hague on Luna.

The United Nations directly governs both Earth and its satellites, including Luna and hundreds of orbital stations. It also has control of the rest of the system, from its primary colony on Mars, to all the other stations and colonies in the Belt and outer planets.

### Language

Though the roots of many of Earth's original cultures still exist, globalisation has long since led to those cultures become intermingled and barely distinct. Some people hold tightly to their traditions, while others fully embrace the future and borrow bits and pieces from everywhere. English is the most broadly spoken language on Earth, and by extension throughout the system; though many Earthers know other languages as well, such as Hindi, Spanish, Mandarin, or any number of other languages related to their cultural roots, of which an average person can have multiple.