Earth in 2514.
- "The only planets we ever found in all of space are dead; Earth was a fluke."
- —Colin Barrow
Earth was the human homeworld and the center of all human activities in colonized space, in addition to being the most populated planet in the settled galaxy.
History[]
Summary[]
The Bering Sea conflict between the US and the Soviet Union in 2045-2050.
The 21st century on Earth was marked by the commencement of an energy crisis across the globe, alongside armed conflicts such as the Battle of the Bering Sea between the United States and the Soviet Union, as well as the establishment of the first permanent colony on the Moon: the New Horizons colony, constructed in 2045 as a Sino-US joint mining base.[1]
.png){kind=link}
The polluted surface of the Earth.
By the 23rd century, Earth was divided into numerous semi-independent nation-states called Sectors, united by a global Earth government known as the Sovereign Colonies. It was at this time that, in order to escape the environmental collapse and deprivations of a resource-starved Earth, many bold pioneers and wealthy corporations turned to the stars and began to settle new worlds under military supervision.[2][3]
Footage of the Black Marker being pulled to the surface above the Chicxulub crater in 2214.
In 2214, the Gulf of Mexico on Earth was found to be the location of the Black Marker: an alien artifact which landed on the planet approximately 65 million years ago, causing the mass extinction of the dinosaurs. The artifact was quite likely responsible for influencing humanity's evolution into an intelligent species.[4][5][6]
The Black Marker's existence was revealed to the world at large by Michael Altman in 2215, a geophysicist canonized as the founder of Unitology.[7][8]
.png){kind=link}
Earth's resources are depleted.
Ultimately, space exploration did not provide a reprieve: Earth and its colonies were consuming new resources faster than they could be mined, and bloody interstellar conflicts known as the Resource Wars soon erupted over the remaining scraps, bringing the threat of extinction even closer to a race already on the brink.
After the efforts of the Sovereign Colonies to harness the Markers' energy collapsed, and following efforts by the new EarthGov administration to alleviate the pressures on Earth's resources, the Resource Wars came to an end when the revolutionary mining process of Planet Cracking was developed in the 25th century by the Concordance Extraction Corporation.[2]
Environmental Collapse[]
An advertisement of a toy series called "Extinct Animal Friends" on Titan Station, showing the various Earth species that have gone extinct by the 26th century.
- Main article: Global Warming Epidemic
Ever since the 20th to 21st centuries, in the midst of technological advancement and industrial modernization, environmental problems have struck the polluted Earth mercilessly. A systematic, worldwide environmental emergency known as the "Global Warming Epidemic" materialized through consistent flooding of once quintessential cultural, national and economic hubs of activity (situated on the shores of oceans and seas) like New York City and Venice, leading to a massive surge of migration to inland cities and furthering pollution levels and resulting natural calamities.[1][9]
World Government[]
- Main articles: Sovereign Colonies, Secession War, and Earth Government Colonial Alliance
The Sovereign Colonies was the government of Earth and its off-world territories in the 23rd century.
EarthGov was formed after the dissolution of the Sovereign Colonies in 2314.
The Secession War was a pivotal Earth civil war that occurred amidst the aforementioned Resource Wars during the early era of humanity's space expansion, and which resulted in the dissolution of the Sovereign Colonies world government and its replacement with the Earth Government Colonial Alliance (EarthGov) in 2314.[10]
Occurring in the early 24th century, the Secession War was fueled by public dissatisfaction with the Sovereign Colonies administration and resource shortages, paving the way for a Secessionist faction to emerge with the goal of dissolving the Sovereign Colonies and replacing it with an entirely Earth-centric regime.[11][12] By 2311, suffering from dwindling resources and public support, the Sovereign Colonies Council launched a covert expedition to Tau Volantis in the hopes of harnessing the energy of the Markers.
This expedition became the death knell of the Sovereign Colonies, as the discoveries made on Tau Volantis forced the Council to invoke Scenario Five across all human space, purging all material and personnel related to the Markers and eventually resulting in the total collapse of the government.[13] The Secessionists seized power in the resulting vacuum, establishing the Earth Government Colonial Alliance, also known as EarthGov - a centralized regime with Earth at the core.
EarthGov ships delivering supplies to Titan Station, a metropolis on Saturn's largest moon.
EarthGov's reign saw further space expansion and, eventually, the end of the Resource Wars with the aforementioned invention of the Planet Cracking process by the CEC in the mid-25th century.[2] However, in the early 26th century, EarthGov would attempt to restart efforts to safely harness the limitless energy of the Markers following the USG Ishimura incident on Aegis VII, which saw the rediscovery of a long-buried Sovereign Colonies-era Red Marker.
Mars Unrest[]
Overview of Mars.
- Main article: Mars independence riots
The Mars independence riots were a series of failed but violent struggles initiated in Mars' capital city, Mars Capita, by independence movements calling for Mars to secede from EarthGov in the late 25th century.[14]
Unitologist Uprising[]
- Main article: Unitologist Uprising
The logo of the Circle.
In the aftermath of the Titan Station incident in 2511, EarthGov experienced significant turmoil within its infrastructure. In the following three years, the efforts of the followers of Unitology to weaken EarthGov's military and favor among the public doubled.
The Circle, a Unitologist group led by Jacob Danik, played a significant part in a more extreme insurrectionist campaign (and to an extent, crusade) against EarthGov for experimenting on the Markers, which he viewed as an unforgivable heresy. The Circle caused multiple colonies to 'go dark', presumably overrun by Necromorphs after successful Circle terror attacks breached the Marker Shroud facilities. The ending cutscene of Awakened depicts Earth as not being able to respond to repeated hails by Isaac and Carver. Their inability to hail Earth could be the work of the Circle seizing and destroying any communications equipment in order to hamper any coherent human resistance to the approaching Brethren Moons.
Brethren Moon Invasion[]
- "The Earth draws near. Even now we can feel it. Teeming with life. Teeming with Markers."
- —The Brethren Moons.[15]
The Brethren Moons invade Earth in 2514.
In 2514, after Isaac Clarke and John Carver destroyed the Tau Volantis Moon, a large number of Brethren Moons arrived in Earth orbit in order to necromorphize the human race and trigger a Convergence Event to continue their cycle of extinction. No authority on Earth or its moon were apparently capable of answering the CMS Terra Nova's hails as it entered the system, with Isaac and Carver hearing only gurgles and snarls over the radio, suggesting that Earth's population was in the process of being massacred.[16]
Notable Locations[]
Confirmed Natives[]
Trivia[]
Gallery[] A topographic map of Earth, ravaged by climate issues.  Present view of the flooded Manhattan.  A flooded city on Earth.  The Kara Sea Hostage Crisis in 2045 between the US and the Soviet Union.  The New Horizons Lunar Colony in 2045 as a Sino-US joint mining base.  The final oil well on Earth is depleted.  The Gulf of Mexico in 2214, where the Black Marker was discovered. Sources[]
|