Printer-friendly version

Earth was where mankind was born. The Cradle of civilization. From the mud and stone of ancient Mesopotamia to the glass and steel of the 20th century, humans lived and died on the same blue ball circling the sun. It was the 21st century that started the land rush in the sky. After 2033, several nations had small “workshacks” in orbit. These small space stations paved the way for the huge colonies that would orbit the Earth and the Moon. The Moon was soon dotted with small colonies and factories to support them. By 2050 mankind had migrated to Mars, the Moon and Earth orbit being way stations. The asteroid belt was mined, nations and large corporations eyed the moons of Jupiter. The 21st century was supposed to bring a new era of cooperation, but old habits die hard.
The first recorded incidence of war in space occurred in December of 2060. A ship full of lunar and belter ore bound for the Martian colony of Sagan disappeared. Then several power relay satellites over Mars crashed for no apparent reason. In earth orbit, a workshack exploded and a microwave power relay failed, blacking out several cities. What these incidents had in common was that the owner of the ship and the satellites was a firm based in North America. The workshack and power relay were owned by a rival firm was based in Eurasia. As the Americans retaliated against what they perceived as an acts of sabotage, the Eurasians pleaded with United Nations to stop the Americans from using their bad luck to “take over the world”. What happened next was “World War VI” as the Earth Federation historians label it. As the acts of corporate sabotage stepped up, governments sent law enforcement to stem the tide. However when an American ambassador was lynched by Eurasian citizens, things looked grim.
The war cost over 1 million lives when a colony was destroyed by the famous Corbin-Komori reaction. Discovered by two researchers, one from Neo-Tokyo the other from New England, it was dismissed as impossible by Earth’s best scientists at the time. Simply put, a fusion reaction cannot explode, unless a fission reaction (with certain properties) occurs next to it. The reactor then explodes in a violent and unpredictable fashion. A “terrorist” group, in reality Eurasian government agents and mercenaries, attached a lunar mining charge to the main reactor at O’Neil 3. The attack came on May 1st, 2065. The explosion was so powerful that the EMP rendered orbital traffic blind for 14 hours. North America and eastern Eurasia were blacked out and orbital microwave power relays shutdown for two weeks. The debris from the explosion caused all non-essential space traffic to be grounded for six months. Falling debris hit fifteen cites on the Pacific Rim. The largest was over 16 metric tons, it landed on Hawaii, killing thousands.
O’Neil 3 fell seven months into the ”war”. The attack on the North American constructed O’Neil colony was backed by a Eurasian company and one of the Eurasian member states. Both paid a heavy price when the North Americans counterattacked with orbital bombardment. The Eurasians were going to counter by dropping O’Neil 2 on the Washington Arcology.
One month after the fall of O’Neil 3 and before the charges on O’Neil two could be placed, a truce was called. The death toll was one million three hundred forty thousand and fifty two lives directly from the war. Hundreds died when cites lost power. The development of the cancer vaccine was suspended for years due to the loss of data and supplies caused by blackouts and EMP. The events of 2065 would shape interstellar politics. Gone was the innocent utopia of space. The people of Earth would look up at the stars with dread for years. What was not noticed by Earth was that several independent “wildcat” settlements in the asteroid belt and on Mars were destroyed. Spacers have long held that the death toll from WW IV was closer to 3 million. It was over 300 years before Mars and the other colones would be without Earth troops.
The companies involved were broken up when it was learned the fraud and corruption caused them to start fighting in the first place. Government agents would be aboard any craft larger than ten tons. Colonists would guard their nuclear mining charges with their lives or dispose of them entirely. Firm control by the Earth governments would reign in errant companies or colonies. Then in 2070 a miracle happened that changed humanity forever.....

No one would find out for centuries who they were or why the ship crashed on Europa, but there it was. A working starship! Its drive systems were intact. Sadly the crew compartment was badly damaged. No one would ever discover the identity of the crew. That was not a concern of the Earth Federation however. Earth’s best minds poured everything they had, working day and night. Every company and government set aside their differences for the first time in history. It would take ten years to study it, five years to build a working starship and fifty for humanity to spread across the stars.......
The social and religious impact would take too long to list here. Consult Daye & Foster’s “Theology of the Galaxy”, “Heaven and Spaceflight” or Kanly’s “God, Man and the Great Beyond”. To this day, anyone born on a planet says prayers or chants that date back to those heady first years of interstellar spaceflight.
The first craft to voyage beyond Earth’s sun were robot ships. Using the most advanced AI, these ships discovered worlds that were habitable, or could be with considerable effort. Governments reacted by building colony ships, self-contained ships that would set up colonies on the distant worlds. The first pioneers were explorers, drawn from corporate and military ranks. Then came the dissidents and prisoners, cheap labor to repair the machines that terra formed planets or built floating cities in space. Then the ordinary people came. Farmers, factory workers (for the newly built factories), the service industries and the bureaucrats and lawmakers. In the mean time, almost all of Earth governments had joined in what would become a federation. The first one world government. Some nations rebelled, but they were brought in by elections, bribery or force.
Founded in 2070 as a successor to the United Nations of the 20th century, the Earth Federation was a reaction to the power of corporations. It sought to develop the Sol system and then the off-world colonies for all of humanity. Its goal was to prevent another war, regulate international affairs and disarm all corporations. On Earth, the fledgling Federation was faced with two problems: population pressure and over-industrialization. Two many people and too few resources. In stepped the multi-nationals, corporations that spanned many nations on Earth and in some case several planets in the Sol System. They proposed to ship, for free, as many people as they could. Provided that the companies would never see a tax bill ever again. They would run the colonies as they saw fit, sending raw materials back to Earth to fuel the economy. This outlandish deal was agreed to because the Federation could get colonies built and paid for by the corporations without having to impose and taxes or fees. However, the Federation’s legal mind wanted restrictions put in place to prevent another war. The Federation managed to get the multi-nationals to “contract” for military and orbital police services. Law enforcement in the colonies would be up to the sponsoring corporation.
And the corporations were all to eager to provide these services. On one colony even the government was “private”, administrators were paid to run the colony. Colonists would vote on hiring a new Administrator every two years. Soon military, police, medical care were all provided by multi-national and soon multi-solar corporations as they bargained with the Federation for more power. Earth took it all in stride. Now goods and raw materials were pouring in. Nations began to apply trade tariffs and taxes to protect their industries. The colonies, raw worlds in the making, appealed thru their sponsor corporations, against these rules. The Federation mediated disputes as best it could, not wanting to interfere in the business of its member states or the corporations. On the colonies themselves, resentment was brewing over how the Earth was treating the colonies. Colonists needed the trade, either they could not make many items (fusion reactors for one) that they needed or their sponsor corporation made agreements to only produce one type of product (mostly ores and petrochemicals).
Several dissident groups pooled their resources and started to attack the corporations. They used sabotage, terrorism and demonstrations to try and disrupt day to day operations. They were not successful at first. However, as time went by, the Earth based corporations started to treat the colonies as vassal states, pushing them to meet quotas. The goal of disarming corporations failed as many were richer than nations on Earth. They need to deal with rivals, terrorists, sabotage and raiders. Corruption spread. Many colonies wanted to be released from their contracts and become independent. The Free Mars movement being grandfather of all the independence movements.
Formed in 2073, as a response to a mining disaster and the cover-up by the Earth-based owners of the mine, it flourished for years, some members having fought in World War VI. The group’s biggest coup against the federation was killing Earth President Sara Finnston in 2081. When the off world colones were established, the residents of Marsdomes 2, 9 and 77 were all arrested and shipped to the L-1 colony “Botany Bay” orbiting Alpha Centauri IV (The flights were know as the “Bateaux des Larmes” or “Ships of Tears”). Alpha Centauri IV became known as Freedom. Soon, many repeat offenders, political dissidents and several deserters from the Federation’s police force made their homes on Freedom. The Federation agreed to drop all charges if the “Colonists” would stay.
Much to everyone’s surprise they agreed. Freedom was earthlike, but with twenty-five continents. The largest land mass was the size of North America. Eight tenths of the planet was water, including a shallow sea the size of North America. The most advanced forms of life were large seagoing reptiles and a sharklike fish that tasted like honey. The climate was tropical all year long. Needless to say, many wealthy prisoners arranged passage to Freedom. Despite the anger over prisoners spending their time on millions of kilometers of white sandy beaches, politicians began to see the value of off world colonies. Mining, manufacturing were slowly killing Earth despite years of environmental restrictions. The popular sentiment of the time was to ship all problems , prisoners and dissidents, to the “up and out”. Many people dreamed of life on a far away planet.
However, many of these colonies were not on planets at all. Many orbited around stars too young or planets too dangerous for life to exist. Habitable planets were only colonized by people loyal to Earth. Political prisoners and criminals were sent to the huge orbiting O’Neil colonies far from Earth, orbiting non-habitable worlds, or planets that needed to be terra-formed. Latter generations would go voluntarily because of the freedom these colonies provided. Of course, some O’Neil colonies became as strict as Earth, due to their legacy as prisons, just as some planets became very liberal as dissidents went up and out.
The phrase up and out is of indeterminate origin. Some credit pop stars of that era, others say a politician’s slip of the tongue coined the phrase. To anyone planet side, the phrase meant the great beyond, the vastness of space. The people of Earth had always projected their hopes and fears to the stars. That expression began to betray a divide between Spacers (those living and working in space) and those planetside. Of course at first they were called Earthers or Terrans. However as colonies on other planets were established, the term “Dirtsider” was born. A dirtsider was a spacer living on a planet. A term of endearment or an insult, depending on context. Calling any colonist an Earther or Terran was asking for trouble.
Some groups genuinely feared space. Strange new diseases, ecological disaster, the balance of trade and even contact with hostile aliens were the fears motivating anti-space movements. These were popular in poorer nations that could only afford a minimal involvement in space travel. In the course of a few decades, these countries started to lose population to the colonies. Most were fleeing the corruption and poverty of these “third world” nations, as they were called. By 2130, Earth had a population of five billion and falling. Declining birth rates and immigration started to gnaw at Earth’s population. Only the North American Federation and the Eurasian Collective, had managed to stabilize their populations. By 2250, Earth’s population would be three billion.
The other force that shapes our galaxy is money. Firms like Proxima Chemical, Centauri Metals, Sun Moon Star and ICI and other mulit-nats would become household names. However there were many more smaller companies. Orbital Services Corporation, provider of security forces. Star-Temps, the big three providers of workers. Corporations were bought, sold, merged, broken up and taken over. Many owned more than one colony, and many colonies were owned by more than one corporations. While the rule of law prevailed on Earth, corporate interests were law outside the solar system. Soon corporate “wars”, contests of negations and legal finesse became real wars. Mercenaries and spies were the solders fighting in these wars, since corporate military forces were mostly paramilitary police. When negotiations broke down, or the profit margins were at stake, multi-nats used their own secret military and para-military forces. There were (and still are) the rules to these “bloodmoney” wars. Don’t damage the property (too much), don’t kill (too many) and keep Earth out of the loop (very important). The side effect of these wars was the rebirth of the independent operator.
After 2095 there were no independent settlements in the Sol system. The Earth governments and later the Federation, used laws, embargoes and outright force to bring all settlements in the Sol system under the control of Earth. Corporations ruled their colonies outside of Sol. However several mulit-nats took a “hands-off” approach, as long they turned a profit. But in the up and out, if you could find it, were places that corporations would not go, out of reach of Earth. Some colonies even bought their independence. The independent operations, owner operators, wildcats, whatever they were called they chased their dreams of freedom and wealth in systems that were overlooked by the mulit-nats.
So it is not surprising that many colonies felt that Earth was no longer needed. There were no threats, no Nations to war with. The one alien incursion into Earth space was fought off. The invaders dying of a disease created by Earth and Colonial scientists. The Earth Government on the other hand, felt that the colonies needed to be guided. Ask an Earther, and she would say the Colonials had it easy. They all had jobs working so that everyone could live in paradise. Earth would bring back the culture of the last 200,000 years to the impoverished colonies. They would provide the materials for humanity to expand all over the universe. The Colonies saw this as oppression. The Colonials believed that Earth was so wealthy that they could live without the colonies. They paid taxes and sent materials to Earth. In return they saw little from Earth. Books, movies, programs, advertising and the garrison of Earth Soldiers were what most colonials thought of when you mentioned Earth. Some colonists had struck it out on their own. When that turned bad, they took to raiding or piracy in order to make ends meet. Some were very good at it. So good that they were hired by corporations to sabotage rival colonies.
The truth was about to hit everyone in the face. Unemployment in the colonies soared. The market forces most Earthers read about in school affected a Colonial’s life in every way. Earth was so dependent on it’s colonies that when raiders began to attack shipping lines, the entire Federation Navy was ordered to destroy any unregistered ship on sight. Of course many independent colonial ships were never registered, since that cost an owner/operator money.
Population pressure, economic necessity and political unrest were the forces driving the creation of the colonies that fed Earth’s economy for over two centuries. Now those forces were hitting the colonies hard. In contrast, Earth became a virtual paradise as all but a few counties had eradicated poverty by the early 22rd century. Some even spoke of turning Earth into a giant nature preserve. Up and out however, all was not well. The recession of 2120's put millions out of work. Space station colonies balked as birthrates soared. Many sociologists believed that Earth simply exported the poor to the colonies. The colonies were chafing under Earth control as corporate forces were replaced by Federation troops, the “bloodmoney” wars making Earth nervous. To maintain control of the colonies and suppress corporate warefare, several law-enforcement corporations were being driven out of business or heavily regulated. Earth no longer trusted the mulit-nats or the colonies, especially when they lobbied for less Federation control over extra-solar affairs. Out of this climate grew a movement.
The Alliance Of Independent Suns (or the Alliance as members called it) wished to break away from Earth control. It was a group of colonies that opposed any Federation involvement it colonial affairs. They began to trade amongst themselves. They had developed a culture unique to space. Earth had become a paradise, no pollution, very little crime. Poverty was eliminated by various means as soon as governments could build ships to send people “up and out”. The colonies did not like being used to create this new world order, as they were starting to see pollution and overcrowding.
The Alliance was far from a “proletarian” movement. It was started by a group of Colonial investors in 2207. They wanted to take over an ailing Earth based refining company. Laws prevented them from doing that directly. So they hired raiders harass its ships and some radicals to stir up public sentiment against the target company. By 2220, the movement had spread to dozens of Colonies. Amazingly, when actual radicals and dissentients offered to join the movement, they were welcomed. Both sides thought they were using each other for their own gains. Fueled by the success of the takeover and flush with cash, the Alliance began targeting Earth-based corporations and mulit-nats closely aligned with Earth. Federation garrisons found protestors at their doors. Federation offices were vandalized. Corporate and federation property was destroyed, sabotaged or stolen.
Earth took these developments with doubt, then shock, then horror. Troops were sent in. Spies were everywhere. Many feared that supplies to Earth would be cut off any second. One corporation suddenly went bankrupt, the president dying in an “accident” on his private liner. Several university professors were found dead. Suddenly a corporate scam became serious business. This was the time Colonials called THE TERROR, Earth Federation officials referred to it as Operation Eternal Vigil or OP-EV. By the time those in power were brought to justice for their crimes against the colonies, it was too late. The Alliance was now determined to remove Earth Forces from their member colonies by any means necessary.
The war started by raider and terrorist actions. Bombings, sabotage and assassinations
became the order of the day. Ships would explode killing helpless passengers. Factories would be destroyed. At first the movement was very unsuccessful, they killed more Colonials than Federation troops. But each attack brought more restrictions, more troops and more interference in local politics by the Federation. As freedoms were restricted and ships were grounded, more people joined the Alliance. Two events sealed the fate of the Earth Federation.

The Massacre of Bernard’s Star

The Massacre of Bernard’s Star in 2251 was a response to the destruction of a shipyard by the Killing Doves one year prior. They were a terrorist group made of university students, ex-Colonial Militia and their colonial overseers. They destroyed the Aurora Shipyards in a surprise attack. For its time, it was the largest shipbuilding and repair center in low Earth orbit. The bombers placed a mining charge on the shipyards fusion reactor. The explosion was another Corbin-Komori reaction. The pulse generated from the blast managed to black out Europe and North America for two days. The yards fell from the sky landing in the Atlantic ocean. A big chunk landed near Canada, killing 20,000.
The reaction was swift and harsh. Several Federation politicians called for the immediate take over of all colonies. Operation Eternal Vigil II began in December of 2251 as a punitive expedition to hunt down the Killing Doves. Accounts were seized. Suspects from all over the Federation were thrown in jail. The government of Bernard VI, the Doves’ homeworld, was overthrown outright. Despite the fact that the Killing Doves were themselves killed in the explosion, Earth Forces hunted for more of their members. Over 3000 colonists were arrested, of those 500 were tried and convicted in the six months afterward (some were tried by secret courts). Over two hundred died in custody, the cause was listed as a “prison riot”. A group of family members holding a candle-light vigil outside of the military prison was fired upon by military police. Another 83 colonists were killed. Seeing a colony world under military control after so many deaths on both sides, nearly half of the colonies worlds voted to join the Alliance.

The Battle of Cavendish’s Star, 2267 C.E.

The Battle of Cavendish’s Star was three years the making. The Alliance had only fought small engagements, never any big battles. They had the ships, Colonial firms did most of the construction of the merchant ships Earth used. They had the manpower, now that the population among the colonies was now larger than Earth’s. What they did not have was a strategy. While Alliance Council was divided, one member of a militant group came forward with a proposal. He drew up a plan involving a base they seldom used; Cavendish’s Star.
Cavendish’s Star was one of the “First 50". So-called because of the fifty colonies humanity started back in the 22nd century, only thirty survived to see second wave of colonists. Now it was a good sized colony with over 300,000 people. Light industry and, amazingly, no significant Earth presence. It was too far away to be of use to either side. So the Alliance council decided to trick Earth Intelligence into believe that the far flung colony was a major staging area. A two year plan was drawn up. Several attacks and hit and run assaults on Federation targets took place for the first year and a half. Then the Alliance began a major push through Earth controlled space to draw the Federation Navy. The attacks so enraged the Earth Federation that they were drawn to Cavendish’s Star like moths to a flame. Task force Crimson was one hundred and twenty ships strong, half of the fleet. They carried the fleet admiral of the Earth Federation Navy and the Speaker of the Federation Parliament.

Despite heavy losses on the ground and increased insurgent attacks on shipping and factories, the Federation could sense victory. They believed that they had the insurgents boxed in. Numerous intelligence sources stated that Cavendish’s Star [HD 172051] was being used as a forward base. Small ships, carriers, fighters, raiders and even their few capital ships were being sent there for repairs. They were even training an army on the planet’s surface. The plan was to destroy all enemy forces in the area and use Cavenish III as a base to attack the Alliance. The fleet expected to be home in time for New Years’s. Instead of a victory, the Earth fleet was destroyed. The battle cost the Alliance half of their eighty ships, but they defeated Earth’s navy. They also destroyed or stranded ninety percent of the Federation Army and Marines. The flagship, EFSS Eden, was destroyed, killing Speaker Charles Winston-Vega and Fleet Admiral Alice Not-Afraid. Only twenty ships managed to limp back to Earth held space. The Alliance had the run of the galaxy. The Earth Federation fell five years after its stinging defeat.