Ulysses impact event

The **Ulysses impact event** took place from 3 July to 22 July 1999 and was the result of the fragmentation of **Ulysses 1994X04F**, an approximately 1.6 kilometer (1 mile) wide asteroid, following the destabilization of its orbit in the main asteroid belt due to gravitational perturbation by Jupiter seven years prior in 1992.

Ulysses was first identified by a team from the International Astronomical Union (IAU) at Seals Bridge University in the Federation of Central Usea (FCU) as it passed the orbit of Mars on 16 October 1994. Significant concern was raised amongst scientific circles as the initial IAU observations suggested a high probability of impact with Earth by August 1996; additional research by the Comona Space Agency later found the probability of a direct collision to be negligible, but determined a high risk of Ulysses passing through a gravitational keyhole on its approach, which would guarantee a future impact event in July 1999 with a predicted "path of risk" spanning the Usean continent. Fearing widespread panic, the FCU government imposed a news embargo, but leaks to *The Oured Times* and *The Comberth Standard* forced it to publicly reveal the predictions on 20 April 1996. Global responses were swift; Usean nations led by the Usean Treaty Organization organized the Spaceguard Initiative, whose efforts would would result in the construction of the Stonehenge railgun system, while other states and international organizations collectively earmarked a total of $1.006 trillion OFD (in 2023 dollars) for humanitarian aid and future reconstruction. In 1998, the estimated impact area was expanded to cover most of the Anean continent, prompting Emmeria and Estovakia to independently construct large underground shelters and the Chandelier railgun respectively, though the latter remained incomplete by the time Ulysses made planetfall.

As predicted, Ulysses passed through Earth's Roche limit on 3 July 1999 and broke apart into thousands of fragments over the next five days, with the largest being approximately 350 meters (1148.3 feet) in diameter. Ulysses fragments made planetfall by 8 July and would continue to impact the planet over the next two weeks, with the last impacts occurring by 22 July. More than 500,000 people were directly killed by the impacts, while at least another 500,000 others died in the weeks following due to shortages of food, water, and medical assistance. On the Usean continent, a humanitarian disaster quickly unfolded as at least 2.5 million were displaced from their homes and found themselves stateless in the midst of a diplomatic crisis over Erusea's refusal to accept refugees from the rest of Usea. In response to crippling economic sanctions imposed by the other Usean states, Erusea launched the Continental War in 2003, invading and occupying the entirety of the continent until their defeat in 2005. On the Anean continent, Estovakia was particularly devastated by the impact event while neighboring Emmeria and Nordennavic were relatively unharmed. Estovakia fell into a civil war from 2007 to 2013 as a direct consequence of Ulysses; the ultimately victorious military junta invaded Emmeria in 2015, beginning the Emmerian-Estovakian War, which ended in Estovakia's defeat in 2016.