Category:History of the Federation

In the middle of the 21st century the world was divided between many countries, with three major superpowers dominating the globe: The European Alliance, the Russo-Anglo-American Alliance, and the Chinese Hegemony. As time passed and resources of the Earth began to run dry – mainly oil, the superpowers warred with each other discretely, clashing other countries together – proxy wars. At one point, the fighting escalated, and open, worldwide war broke out. It saw the employment of many kinds of weaponry, including nuclear and biological – as a result, many casualties were taken by every side of the conflict.

While the war raged on, the civillians back home faced their own dangers, too. The biggest of them all was, of course, crime. Many gangs were spawned by the everlasting conflict, which was diverting all resources and attention of the government from the civillians. Bandits terrorized the cities, and seemingly nothing was able to stop them. However, at the same time, the Peace Treaty of New Delhi was signed, allowing war veterans to return home and witness the horrors themselves. It now was only a matter of time before the giant powder keg would explode.

In October 2064, a group of veterans in Aberdeen, Scotland, issued an ‘emergency measure’ – a call to arms, offering any and all who wanted to fight the gangs back to join them. The brave veterans quickly found support amidst the terrified civillians, and on October 19th, 2064, after a few days of bloody fighting, peace finally returned to the city. October 19th is since then celebrated as Federation Day, a state-wide holiday. However, European Alliance saw the victory of the rebels in a different light. The government officials believed it to be a riot against themselves, and quickly branded the brave militia traitors, launching a propaganda campaign against them. Upon realizing it was unsuccessful, they sent in the military and leveled the city with only a few survivors escaping the massacre. However, it did not achieve the results EA hoped for. Instead, it sparked a statewide rebellion, and within weeks, the Alliance collapsed, giving way to many impromptu militias formed after the success of Aberdeen’s people. Together, they formed the Federation.

In the span of several months, as a result of negotiations mixed with military threats, the Russo-Anglo-American alliance merged with the Federation. Over the course of the next ten years, all but a few smaller states and the Chinese Hegemony were incorporated into the Federation. However, even with all the military power the Federation has amassed, military solution was not an option; the people were tired of war and demanded peace, and the goverment decided to follow their call. The plan was to help the Chinese revolt willingly, and after some time, the opportunity presented itself. The Chinese Hegemony was already growing paranoid of civil unrest, looking for the enemies where there were none. The repressions against its own people were severe, the tension was building up as people suffered more and more, and on February 11, 2067, Py Yi Massacre took place in Bejing. It resulted in a swift, but bloody civil war with the Federation aiding the rebels with training, supplies and weaponry, which ultimately came out victorious. Immediately after, a memorial and a mausoleum was constructed on the site of Py Yi Massacre. With the fall of the Chinese Hegemony, the Earth was finally united under one banner - the dream of so many rulers that came before was finally achieved.

After the Federation was complete, it was time to look to the future. One of the first tasks the founders were presented with was securing their legacy and safely carrying it over to the future generations. The founders understood that neither dictatorship, nor democracy or any other form of government of the past will succeed. They believed the citizens are what endorses the Federation, and the only question was in defining the ‘citizen’. It was at this time that former colonel of the Russo-Anglo-American Alliance, Dmitri Petrov (Petrovich, as some sources claim), came up with a revolutionary suggestion – citizenship must involve non-mandatory military service. Those who were willing to become a citizen, would pass it, those who didn’t – would not. This suggestion quickly found its support and it was voted for by the Federal Council almost unanimously. However, there was still the question regarding those who took up arms on behalf of the Federation in the years prior, but were not veterans or part of active military units, and thus weren’t allowed to be citizens. This presented a potential crisis which quickly was averted – the Council declared anyone who fought for the Federation at any point a citizen. With that question out of their minds, the founders moved on to creating a new Federal Constitution, which was ratified on Jan 1st, 2071. The newly renamed Citizens’ Federation was now ready to move on.

Now that the Disorders were over, it was time to deal with the consequences. Nonstop wars raging for years left most of the planet ravaged and poisoned. The population fell under two billion. Hunger, illnesses, lack of employment and health care did not make matters better. All of that was to be dealt with by the Federation. First of all, the government poured immense resources of many nations combined into science, and as a result, new methods of hydroponic and closed-system agriculture were found. This helped to contain the hunger while the scientists searched for better answers. Massive governmental housing and employment programmes were instituted, ensuring everyone had roof over their heads and a job to earn money from. Next, the most massive social programme to date began its implementation – Project Schweitzer, named after a doctor who lived before the Disorders. This project aimed to provide health care access to every human being on the planet; hand in hand with it came the massive education initiative with the goal of entitling everyone to education. During that time, the issue of language barriers rose its head. However, that was quickly dealt with as English was declared the official language of the Federation. From that point forward, all schoolchildren were required to learn English, and access to Federation services, while strictly speaking still available to anyone, was all but impossible to receive without some degree of proficiency in English.

In a matter of just a few years, Earth changed drastically. Poisoned and diseased planet became a near-utopia with all but one problems solved: overpopulation. It was during that time the limitation on reproduction was enacted. Families were restricted to two children per family, and this policy has lived on to current date. However, this and the rationing of food were merely patches, not real solutions, and thus the Federation was forced to find new means of obtaining food. The answers were to be found, of course, in space.

The return to space was not easy. To achieve that goal, the Federation consolidated all the remaining space programmes and assets in a single massive facility in Kazakhstan and created a single agency to support them, the Federal Stellar Authority. FSA’s first project was to estabilish a permanent colony on the planet’s moon Luna. In just a few years, numerous rockets ferrying cargo were launched toward the Luna, with the first manned vessel, Galileo, following them shortly. It gathered the cargo left by the previous launches and landed in the Sea of Tranquility, where the Lunar Base would soon be constructed - barebones of the immense facility the moon houses today.

Shortly after, the Federation had another reason to celebrate. Olympus Base, the first human installation on Mars, went online. Mars proved everything the FSA hoped it to be, a mineral rich planet - but no primitive lifeforms that could be harvested for food were found, much to the scientists’ disappointment. Mars also proved an excellent stopover point for space vessels, and thus the FSA commissioned the construction of an orbital station above the planet, between the orbits of Phobos and Deimos. Crimson Base, as it was called afterwards, would act as a repair and refueling depot for FSA ships, aswell as the last line of defense in case of intruders ever threatening the Earth.

However, the food crisis was still looming over the Federation, and all failed efforts to locate its source were making the scientists nervous. Thus, in just under a year after Olympus Base went online, a research ship was sent towards Europa in hopes of finding a way to feed the Earth there. As everyone in the Federation now knows, the mission was successful. A vast, rich ecosystem of subarctic plant life, and nutrient-rich rivers were located. The very moment the news reached the Earth, FEDNET made sure to spread it among the people. The Federal Council immediately ordered a construction of the colony there as soon as it would be possible. Europa remains the Earth’s breadbasket since then, and all prognoses show it will continue to perform in that role for a very long time to come. Another thing to note is that albeit it was small, primitive and unintelligent, the first alien life was discovered on Europa - another breakthrough achieved by the brave FSA pioneers.

With its morale high after every single colonization mission’s success, FSA bravely moved on and constructed a mining facility on Io, Jupiter’s moon. McManus Base, as it was christened in honor of one of the founders of the Federation, John C. McManus, was devoted to harvesting the gases and extracting the energy to be used elsewhere in the Federation. The working conditions were very harsh, but it was not unknown to anyone recruited to work there – not to mention the compensation for service there was extremely high. However, for some civillians stationed there, it was not enough.

Led by a gas mining technician Alfred LaRocque, a small group of dissidents formed. They carried out their meetings in secret, slowly gaining power. Finally, they dubbed their organization Free Io, and made a move. The group stormed the base’s armories, and herded all the civillians into vast, unused dormitory complex left over from the first days of Io’s colonization. They then flashed a set of demands to the Federation, including higher wages, nationhood for Io, abolition of the citzen franchise. In return, Io would continue to provide the Federation with energy and resources. In response to these demands, a group of diplomats engaged in negotiations with the rebels, and a military mission was dispatched to Io to prevent the rebellion from spreading – however, the use of force was only allowed as a last resort. While the military ships were on their way, negotiations suffered a failure. Upon detecting the mission’s arrival into orbit, the dissidents waited no more, and minutes after, a series of explosions ripped the base apart, leaving only a smoking crater in its stead. More than 17000 lives were lost on that day, April 21, 2078 – the greatest loss of life due to violence since the Federation came to power.

With the expansion of the Citizens’ Federation to Europa and Io, the FSA had reached its limits. The technology was simply outdated, at that time, Europa took weeks to reach. Titan was too far, and Venus’ atmosphere was so thick, that merely standing on it subjected the human to the pressure found half a mile or deeper beneath the surface of an Earth ocean. FSA informed a disappointed Federal Council of the news – without technological leaps, the humanity’s expansion in the foreseeable future has come to an end. This setback gave the Council time, however, to expand and reorganize the laws to make sure no incidents like Io would repeat themselves in the future. Alas, once it was done, the Council was once again facing the technological limits of the humanity, ones the government could not break.

Fortunately, deep inside the Kazakhstan compound worked a man named Pavel Cherenkov. He was a soft-spoken man with an interesting hobby – he studied every theory, however unlikely, ever made regarding faster than light travel. One morning, while he was walking to his lab from the quarters, he was suddenly struck by a revelation. He saw the lines of connection between all the theories he knew, leading him to one inescapable breakthrough. Once in the laboratory, he began work on his inspiration – work that nearly had him terminated by the FSA as his own work timelapse assigned to him was forgotten. After a week of tireless, nearly sleepless work, he worked out a computer model of his new engine design. After he presented him to his superiors in the FSA, his employment was assured. Immediately, an unmanned vessel dubbed Einstein was constructed, housing the first prototype of the engine Cherenkov modeled. The Einstein was towed away into deeper space, past the orbit of Mars, as some scientists who were doubting Cherenkov’s theory predicted potential disasters the engine’d cause. With fingers crossed, researchers aboard the observation vessel activated the engine. The Einstein disappeared, and reappeared once more less than a minute later, seemingly unharmed. It was evident the engine was a success, though dozens of tests followed.

At first, Cherenkov was objecting to the engine being named the Cherenkov drive; he asked to name it after his hero, Sir Isaac Newton. By then, it was too late, as FEDNET had spread the word of a hero scientist. The Federal Council has immediately granted Cherenkov the status of a citizen, the first time it was bestowed upon someone who was not a veteran – the man’s contribution to the Federation was undisputed.

Thus, a new day dawned in human exploration. With the food crisis effectively solved, the FSA has been directed to turn toward the stars. The first star system to be explored was Alpha Centauri. After a two year long mission, the Magellan returned to Earth with the data gathered. Two potential candidates were identified – Hesperus and Hod. The colonization of Hesperus, which came first, seemed cursed from the start: material failure, suicides among the workers, equipment malfunctions, illnesses all threatened the project. After five long years and over a billion pounds, the colony was finished. However, the troubles were not solved. Humanity’s first meeting with alien life, algae found on Europa, was a pleasant event. The second, however, was far too worse. In what was later known as the Hesperus Incident, an alien ship entered the system two years after the Hesperus colony went online. The ship was superior to any human technology, and destroyed one of the battleships, the Sun Tzu. Only the heroic sacrifice of the crew of Reynolds, the second battleship, which detonated its power core as the aliens boarded, stopped the onslaught with both ships destroyed by the explosion.

When the news reached Earth, it struck the population like a blow to the face. The government of the United Citizens’ Federation declared a day of mourning, then set out with a purpose to prepare for war against this new foe. Ultimately, the original purpose of those preparations was in vain, as no ship remotely like the alien vessel at Hesperus has ever been seen again. However, the incident sent ripples throughout the Federation, instigating changes that exist to this day.

The first change was the addition of a mandatory contingent of troopers on every ship in the fleet, trained to fight off the boarders who had overwhelmed the unprepared crew of the Reynolds. The second change introduced nuclear torpedoes to the ships’ arsenal. The largest and most important change was to the fleet itself. The Federal Council was no longer willing to let the FSA handle the ships, and brought it under its own control. The Strategically Integrated Coalition of Nations was created, a new and mighty arm of the Federation which had complete control over all its military force. Mobile Infantry was created by SICON, and new training regimes were instituted that have made the UCF military the most highly trained and capable military force in human history.

In the first years after the Hesperus Incident, the watchword for Federation expansion was caution. However, as time went on and, despite the very best efforts SICON could muster, the unknown attackers were not found, the Federal Council concluded it was time to continue the work of staking humanity’s claim in the galaxy. Many of the worlds the Federation scouted and eventually settled already had some form of life on them. For example, Iskander had a thriving ecosystem when the Federation arrived in Proxima system but was devoid of any kind of intelligent life. In other places, like Karrus, the Federation discovered evidence of intelligent life but it had died out long before the first survey ships arrived. There were a few encounters with spacefaring alien races over the course of the first several years after the Hesperus Incident but none of them led to first contact. Either the alien vessels would flee before the approach of the SICON ships, or they would only be a tiny glimmer on the edges of sensor range, gone and vanished into the blackness of space before any attempts at communication could begin. Eventually, the fears brought on by the Hesperus Incident were forgotten and the Federation went busily about its work of claiming the galaxy for humanity.

Though there was a great deal of scientific research done during this time of peace, it was also a time in which little happened that was of dramatic import to the Federation as a whole. Most historians that study this period restrict their study to the stellar colonies, places where humanity was taming new worlds and facing new challenges in its march to fulfill its destiny. The expansion of humanity into the galaxy following the founding of the first stellar colonies was marked by excitement and tranquility, an era of peace, expansion and scientific advancement that served to further strengthen and unite the human race. Spreading ever farther, the Federation had established colonies as far-flung as the Trio and Fomalhaut when evidence of a new alien race was discovered. Upon the discovery of the new and obviously very advanced alien race colloquially known as the Skinnies, SICON tried repeatedly to make contact but each time the alien ships would turn and flee before SICON could establish communications. This pattern went on for more many years, with SICON constantly reaching out to the Skinnies only to be rebuffed each time. Eventually, SICON scientists came to the conclusion that the Skinnies were a pacifist and perhaps xenophobic race and opted to wait to see if the Skinnies would come to humanity. The Skinnies did indeed come, but not as SICON had hoped. Beginning with a series of raids against unofficial colonies outside Federation space, the Skinnies finally showed their true colours. Repeated attempts to establish communication with the Skinnies still met with failure, as the strange aliens continued their raids that seemed aimed not at destruction or death but at capture of all the humans they could seize, in an ongoing conflict known through FedNet as the Skinnie Incursions.

Convinced at last that all attempts to reach a peaceful negotiation with the Skinnies were doomed to fail once their raids began to target official Federation territory, SICON began plans for a massive military strike against the alien threat. Operation Clean Sweep was to be a multi-pronged, progressive campaign that would leapfrog its way into Skinny space and bring the menace to an end once and for all. Before it could be implemented, however, a new discovery was made. Deep beneath the surface of Pluto, the outermost planet of the Sol system and a valuable resource world for the Federation, a new species of life was discovered. This species was a race of giant insects, which SICON scientists named the Arachnids. In the destruction and devastation that followed, the Federation learned three things. First, the Arachnids are not interested in diplomacy. Second, they are not a native species of Pluto. Third and most importantly, they are intelligent, though not in the way humanity tends to define it – possessed of a hive mind but not individual intellect. Operation Clean Sweep was put on hold as the Federation began to consider what to do about this new problem. The Arachnids made that decision for the Federation and SICON, however, launching a brutal attack against Earth itself by dropping an asteroid from space onto the city of Buenos Aires.

Now, for the first time since taming the Earth and uniting humanity, the Federation must go to war.