Earth Government Colonial Alliance

“

EarthGov: Good things are happening!

”

The Earth Government Colonial Alliance, commonly known as EarthGov or E-Gov, is the governing body of Earth and its colonies, founded in 2314 as the successor to the former Sovereign Colonies administration.^[1]^[2]^[3]

EarthGov is an Earth-centric^[4] and highly centralized, corporate-style regime.^[5]^[6] Its military is the Earth Defense Force (EDF), responsible for enforcing its orders.^[1]

History[]

Main article: History of Earth and the colonies

Formation[]

"Early in humanity's off-world expansion, colonial administration was handled by a body known as the Sovereign Colonies, but the pressures of the Resource Wars and a powerful secessionist faction eventually saw the collapse of the Sovereign Colonies and the founding of an Earth-centric government in its place in 2314."

—Official description^[1]

0024 ovp logoscaf02b ca.tg4h — The Sovereign Colonies was the predecessor to the Earth Government Colonial Alliance.^[1]

In the 23rd century, after a string of global social calamities caused by armed conflicts, resource shortage, and environmental catastrophes, a unified Earth under the banner of the Sovereign Colonies government finally turned to the stars and began to rapidly settle new worlds, led by bold pioneers and incentivized by wealthy corporations.^[7] Without the use of ShockPoint Drives, space travel was limited and required large investments of money and materials as well as military supervision by the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces.^[2]^[3]

In the early 2300s, public dissatisfaction with the Sovereign Colonies - compounded by the deepening resource crisis and Resource Wars that had erupted over humanity's territories^[1] - led to the Secession War, a civil war that pitted the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces against Secessionists who sought to dissolve the administration and replace it with an Earth-centric regime. The Sovereign Colonies' covert expedition to Tau Volantis in 2311 was a last-ditch attempt to resolve the resource crisis and end the conflict by securing the limitless energy of the Markers, which the government had been studying ever since the discovery of the Black Marker on Earth in 2214.^[8]^[9] However, this expedition proved to be a disaster and, in 2314, the Sovereign Colonies Council invoked Scenario Five: the destruction of all research and personnel related to the Marker program. The extent of these purges led to the collapse of the Sovereign Colonies, the victory of the Secessionists and the founding of the new regime in its place: Earth Government Colonial Alliance, also known as EarthGov.^[10]

With Scenario Five kept confidential and most of its evidence destroyed, the accepted explanation in military circles was that the Sovereign Colonies leaders were implementing scorched earth tactics, preferring to scuttle their fleet rather than hand it over to the victors.^[11]^[12]

United Spacefaring[]

"We Are Earth: EarthGov puts Earth and its citizens above all else. We Are Power: EarthGov generates more than 90% of Earth's power. We Are Ideas: EarthGov created the technology that mines space. We Are One: EarthGov connects our Solar System and beyond."

—EarthGov propaganda posters^[4]

Earthgov poster9 — An EarthGov propaganda poster with the government's slogan: *"Good things are happening!"*

The 24th and 25th centuries saw efforts by the new EarthGov regime to further colonize space and alleviate the pressures on Earth's resources. Although ShockPoint Drives were still in their infancy, civilian space travel became more accessible with the creation of the United Spacefaring Guild (USG), which administered all non-government traffic,^[13] while EarthGov's military handled defense and trade oversight.^[1] In the 2440s, the colonization of the moons of the Sol System's gas giants led to the invention of the revolutionary planet cracking process of mining by the Concordance Extraction Corporation, fueling mankind's thirst for resources.^[14]

EarthGov Titan supply — EarthGov support ships delivering supplies to Titan Station orbiting Saturn, the waystation for planet cracking activities.

Despite the reprieve brought about by the planet cracking industry in the 25th century, the shadow of the past loomed large: having inherited the legacy of the Sovereign Colonies, EarthGov was able to recover government records regarding the Sovereign Colonies-era experiments with the Markers,^[1] notably pointing to Marker 3A's presence in the long-restricted Aegis System, although they were unable to determine its location until the CEC stumbled upon the lost artifact in 2508 during an illegal mining operation on Aegis VII.^[15]

T Env Prop Sgn Ch09 StarsAreOurs 01 E PACKED 0 — An EarthGov propaganda poster featuring their Marines.

This rediscovery of the Markers in 2508 allowed EarthGov to repeat the mistakes of their predecessors.^[16]^[17] Once they learned of the Ishimura's discovery of Marker 3A, EarthGov dispatched the warship USM Valor to the Aegis System to assist their agent Kendra Daniels in retrieving the Marker.^[15] Although this retrieval failed, EarthGov captured Aegis VII survivor Isaac Clarke, and subsequently used his Marker-affected brain to build new Marker copies across the colonies for study.^[18]^[19] The most notable of EarthGov's new Red Markers was the Site 12 Marker created as part of Project Telomere on Titan Station.

Unitologist Uprising[]

"EarthGov officials yesterday denied rumors that the government was no longer able to contain the widespread violence that has gripped the colonies in recent weeks. The violence began 16 days ago on Uxor following a year-long campaign by the Church of Unitology. Five colonies have gone dark since the Unitology riots began. There have been rumors of bombings at government laboratories and eyewitness accounts of brutal killings following shortly after."

—Excerpt from "An End to EarthGov?" in 2514.^[20]

EarthGov vandilized posters — Vandalized EarthGov posters on the New Horizons Lunar Colony.

In the aftermath of the Titan Station incident in 2511 following EarthGov's disastrous Project Telomere, EarthGov experienced significant turmoil within its infrastructure.^[21] 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 militant group of Unitologist extremists led by Jacob Arthur Danik, played a significant part in the insurrectionist campaign against EarthGov.

DS3 Dead EarthGov Security Guard — An EarthGov Security officer executed by Unitologist rebels.

The Unitologists' belief was that EarthGov's experiments on Markers were sacrilegious; with the apparent end of human existence at hand, the Circle began to attack EarthGov Marker test sites by the year 2514. EarthGov's inability to curb the Unitologist efforts became apparent to the public. At least five colonies, including Uxor,^[22] fell dark over a period of sixteen days with EarthGov refusing to admit the severity of the situation.^[20] The next colony attacked was New Horizons on Luna.^[20]

Following these attacks, EarthGov's structure was evidently failing; their status among the public had begun to falter, with anti-EarthGov graffiti coating the walls of even the closest of colonies. Though they continued to hold the majority of planets and stations, including Earth, that continued to support the government establishment, most of the population had become noticeably and concerningly opposed to EarthGov rule.^[21]

Military[]

Main article: Earth Defense Force

Logo of the Earth Defense Force.

The Earth Defense Force is the military of EarthGov, enforcing its orders and protecting Earth and her colonies. The EDF Navy uses the ship prefix "USM" ("United Spacefaring Military"^[23]) and its warships defend key EarthGov locations and patrol outlying systems; its Marines are widely known to be ruthless in their handling of pirates and other rogue elements.^[1]

EarthGov also employs security forces - such as the Titan Station Security Force and the New Horizons Security Force - which serve as localized gendarmeries and are part of the EDF.^[24] These security forces can make use of conscription,^[25] and violent crackdowns on demonstrations appears to be standard procedure.^[26]

Practices[]

Colonial Policy[]

"One goal. One gov."

—EarthGov propaganda poster.^[5]

DS2 EarthGov High Rank Uniform — EarthGov official uniforms.

EarthGov is deeply entrenched in the affairs of colonial politics and business, its government always prioritizing the concerns of Earth and its citizens,^[4] and possessing complete executive control over all local governments.^[6] It holds the power to control travel throughout colonial space and, if required, to police, establish curfews and restrict traffic in certain areas, as well as dispatch its military forces to remove elements believed to ignore or threaten its orders.^[15]

Black Operations[]

"EarthGov is often accused of conducting espionage or secret experiments. True, EarthGov controls many uncharted or restricted worlds, some with research facilities that have been off-limits since the time of the Sovereign Colonies, but the full truth might never be known."

—Official description^[1]

Hans DS2 — A vandalized poster accusing EarthGov of lying.

The public announcement of the massacre on the USG Ishimura provides evidence into EarthGov's consistent cover-up policies, the cause of the numerous deaths on the ship and the Aegis VII Colony having been pinned on a "terrorist attack".^[27]

EarthGov's black operations are not restricted to scientific development; its control extends deep within commercial contracts with private corporations such as the GUMMC whose documents can, at any time, be manipulated. As in the case of Isaac Clarke's father, Poul Clarke, the government regarded his work as ship architect with wary eyes and classified most of his service record for reasons never revealed.^[28]

Combined with numerous black ops, the government apparently also hires field agents, or spies, to gather information on activities it is not privy to at certain times. One such agent, Kendra Daniels, was assigned to infiltrate the team of the USG Kellion sent to respond to the crisis on the Ishimura and retrieve the compromised Marker 3A for the government, with the USM Valor being deployed to assist her.^[15]^[29]

EarthGov's secretive Oracle Program deploys specialized field agents known as Oracles to deal with operations of the highest importance. Dressed in white uniforms and possessing finger rings with Stasis abilities, these agents are implied to have been designed by the government to assess the threat of the Necromorphs.^[30]

Marker Research[]

"CEC vessel USG Ishimura in breach of EarthGov system isolation order. Believed to have recovered Marker 3A. Special Ops has confirmed the system but unable to provide planet location. [...] OBJECTIVES: Secure Marker 3A. If infection is present, initiate sterilization protocol 'EURYDICE'. If infection is not present, initiate containment protocol 'APOLLO'. All personnel must, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, submit to full psychological examination during debriefing."

—EarthGov's orders to the USM Valor.^[15]

0099 sgn ch10antechambertemp01 ca.tg4h — Logo of EarthGov's Project Telomere on Titan Station.

Among EarthGov's activities are numerous black or secret operations projects intended to hide, from popular scrutiny, several of its sensitive initiatives, such as their research into the Markers in the 26th century: the Marker Ops program.^[31]

In the 23rd century, the Sovereign Colonies spearheaded research into replicating the Black Marker, an artifact of alien origin found on Earth.^[32] The replicas of the Black Marker, the Red Markers, were hidden in restricted-traffic star systems such as Aegis VII in order to cover up the resulting horrors from public eyes. The efforts of the Sovereign Colonies to bury all research after the Tau Volantis incident prevented their successors at EarthGov from making substantial strides into Markers for nearly two centuries.^[10]

GovSec Laser Room — A Red Marker being constructed as part of Project Telomere in 2511.

Despite its awareness of a Red Marker's danger and of the previous failed attempts to control it by the Sovereign Colonies administration, EarthGov restarted the Marker program in 2508 following the accidental uncovering of the Aegis VII Marker site by the CEC, using the replication blueprints implanted in Isaac Clarke's mind.^[18]^[19] According to Director Hans Tiedemann, EarthGov officials had reached the consensus that planet cracking could no longer sustain humanity and that research to safely harness the Markers' energy was necessary to save our species.^[17]

Dead Space 3 Screenshot 2023.09.16 - 23.38.19.26 — The shroud covering the Luna Marker on the New Horizons Lunar Colony.

Despite the disastrous Titan Station incident, EarthGov continued to build and study Red Markers in test labs scattered around its territory for the following years. By this point, they appeared to have somewhat improved their safety techniques, covering the Markers with shrouds that were more successful in blocking their signals than what was observed with the Site 12 Marker. These shrouds were subsequently destroyed during terrorist attacks by the Circle led by Jacob Arthur Danik, unleashing the Marker signal across several EarthGov colonies.^[33]

Notable Members[]

Agent Kendra Daniels
Marine Commander F. Cadigan
Special Ops Sergeant John Carver
Special Ops Captain Robert Norton
Security Sergeant Gabe Weller
Defense Secretary David Chang
Director of Operations Hans Tiedemann
The Overseer
Dr. Foster Edgars
Dr. Nolan Stross
Data-Archaeologist Damara Carver
Engineer Austin Buckell
Technician Jennifer Santos

Trivia[]

EarthGov has several traits of a totalitarian state, with complete control over all colonies, prioritization of Earth natives over all others,^[4] surveillance and restriction of freedom of speech^[34] (though some citizens believe they are in a free and open society^[35]), restriction of religion (as seen in EarthGov's efforts to neutralize Unitology,^[36]^[37] although Unitology is still influential enough to push for the separation of church and state^[38]), and, finally, an apparent lack of democratically elected leaders, given that Director Hans Tiedemann stated his family ran Titan Station for generations.
- In The Art of Dead Space, EarthGov is described as "a sinister corporate entity that has managed to gain executive control over many terrestrial governments".