Terran history
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Terran history, and that of humanity as a whole, is long and fractured with strife.
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Overview
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Early HistoryEdit
Humans evolved on Earth, apparently without any interference from the xel'naga.[1]
During the 20th century, the development and exchange of technology and culture spread rapidly, the 21st century increasing that rate even further, new technologies allowing easy access to information to even Earth's most destitute nations. Meanwhile, with the eradication of communism from eastern nations, nuclear weapons became readily available. The international power structure, once defined by the acquisition of capital and military superiority, was blasted apart as third-world nations rose to challenge the economic and military might of the world's super-powers.[1]
One aspect of technological development was that of cybernetics, gene-splicing and cloning, these fields of research entering the public forum. Militant humanist and hardline religious groups challenged the rights of private interest corporations who benefited from genetic experimentation. People were being fitted with cybernetic implants while others were showing signs of mutation ranging from heightened senses to advanced telepathy. Widespread panic rippled throughout the humanist factions due to these changes within the human gene pool.[1]
Technology continued to evolve and spread over the centuries, but Earth, and humanity, lacked the ability to sustain it. Population rates soared (reaching 23 billion by 2301) despite the efforts of world leaders. Pollution and a lack of natural resources spurred the growing civil chaos and many international economic systems collapsed. Popular sentiment held that the world was heading for an inevitable catastrophe. Genetic alteration meanwhile continued to spread and the tensions between the humanist factions and corporate sector erupted into horrific acts of violence and terrorism. Police actions were equally heinous and irresponsible media coverage fueled the already rampant civil chaos. The world's power structure collapsed, and the chaos continued to spread.[1]
The United Powers LeagueEdit
On November 22, 2229, a new world government emerged in an attempt to turn mankind's course. Known as the United Powers League (UPL), it replaced the defunct United Nations to work as its reincarnation as defender of humanity, bringing 93% of Earth's population under its control. Only a few volatile South American countries remained outside its sphere of influence.[1]
The UPL claimed it was an "enlightened socialist" organization – one of its first acts was to attempt to end racial separation – but frequently resorted to fascist police actions to maintain the public order.[2] The Unitariate Commissions started attacking religions, banning many of them[2] in 2231.[3] The UPL united much of Earth under its power, essentially destroying racism by removing cultural differences of humans and imposing English as the primary world wide language, resulting to ban of many countries' native languages.[2]
Project PurificationEdit
While not a religious organization, the UPL embraced the philosophy of "the divinity of mankind". Actions of hard-line members of the UPL resulted in law being enforced which led to launch of Project Purification, its goal to remove mutations and unnecessary cybernetic prosthetics from the human population. The UPL sent troops around the world, imprisoning hackers, synthetics, the cybernetically enhanced, tech-pirates, and criminals of every kind in an act that came to be known as Project Purification. In the process, over 400 million people were killed. However, the UPL controlled the media to such an extent that the general population was not informed of these events.[2]
Despite its atrocious acts, the UPL successfully developed new advanced forms of technology. Many fields of science that had been largely ignored for centuries, such as space exploration, were reopened under the jurisdiction of UPL. The UPL developed warp drive and cryonic technologies, opening the frontiers of space; within forty years the UPL had founded colonies on moons and planets in the Solar System.[2]
The Long SleepEdit
Added by MecoDuring this period, a brilliant young scientist named Doran Routhe made plans to consolidate his power within the UPL. He had not been involved in Project Purification, as his passion lay in colonization of planets outside the Solar System. Routhe was convinced that vast hoards of minerals and other resources collected from outside the solar system would make him one of the most powerful men in the UPL. Thanks to his connections within UPL, and some good luck, Routhe managed to get thousands of people captured by UPL as specimens for his project. The prisoners were brought into Routhe's secret laboratories with him planning to use them in his project to colonize new planets.[2]
Routhe and his science team secretly prepared to put 56,000 prisoners in stasis for transport. But before this Routhe, having carefully signed up all genetic and cybernetic changes in the prisoners, fed the information to a supercomputer equipped with revolutionary artificial intelligence. This computer, named ATLAS, processed the data and by multiple tests estimated how many of the prisoners could survive the hardships of the long voyage in stasis; only 40,000 passed these tests. These 40,000 people were loaded into four supercarriers designated the Reagan, the Argo, the Sarengo, and the Nagglfar and loaded for a one year journey into deep space to Gantris VI, an outlying planet. Only the Nagglfar had a navigation system connected with the supercomputer ATLAS set aboard the ship.[2] As these ships were intended for colonization, they included technology such as frozen fertilized eggs and embryos, cloning technology, food processors, etc.[4]
ATLAS scanned the prisoners en route, and discovered something unusual about them; a small proportion (less than one percent of the prisoners) possessed a mutant strain which augmented psionic potential. While currently weak, it would manifest itself in only a few generations. This information was logged and sent back to Earth. Originally the voyage was supposed to last only one year, however, the guidance system of the Nagglfar connected with ATLAS failed and all data regarding Gantris VI's and Earth's location were lost.[2]
Doran Routhe's experiments had become known by this time; when the ships traveled past Gantris VI, his reputation was destroyed and he was himself driven to ruin.[5]
The ships traveled at faster-than-light speeds in hyperspace for nearly thirty years without destination. This event would become known as the Long Sleep.[2]
Eventually the warp engines of the ship reached critical levels, and after traveling 60,000 light years (across the galaxy)[6] and 28 years at warp speed,[2] the ships returned to normal space in 2259.[7] Soon the ships' engines failed and their life support system batteries were exhausted.[2] Working with their emergency programs, the ships began to descend on the nearest planets in the Koprulu Sector that could support human life.[2]
Reagan landed on Umoja, Argo on Moria, and Nagglfar on Tarsonis. Sarengo suffered heavy damage during atmospheric descent on Umoja and crashed, killing 8000 prisoners and creating the Sarengo Canyon. Direct access to ATLAS and data on the flight remained only on Nagglfar. Regardless, the supercarriers were no longer spaceworthy and the survivors had no choice but to colonize each "New World". The shipwrecks were cannibalized.[2]
The colonial populations grew quickly during the first 30 years. For the first five or six generations there was social pressure to have as many children as possible. They also used reproductive assistance technology carried by the supercarriers, but this began to break down after 50 years since the equipment to maintain it was unavailable.[4]
The Confederacy and the New WorldEdit
The colonists became known as "terrans". There was no interplanetary communications for the first few decades. Each world became prosperous in isolation, but it was Tarsonis that became the largest and most technologically advanced. The Tarsonians developed second generation sub-warp engines, and discovered the other terran worlds through space exploration. While Umoja and Moria welcomed the beneficial trade and commerce links, they resisted Tarsonian proposals to join a conglomerate government.[2]
Tarsonian military power rapidly expanded through the colonization of seven other worlds, including Korhal.[2] In 2323,[7] the Tarsonian colonies founded the Terran Confederacy.[2]
Terrans at WarEdit
The Morians, who benefited from the Sector's richest mining operations, feared a rising Confederacy would encroach on their business. In response, they formed the Kel-Morian Combine, a corporate partnership to militarily aid Morian mining guilds threatened by the Confederacy.[2] The threat or use of Confederate force to steal Kel-Morian mining claims, like in the Paladino Belt and on Sonyan, only raised tensions further. Open war finally erupted in 2485 after a Confederate attempt to capture a Kel-Morian Noranda Glacier vespene mine.[8]
The Guild Wars lasted four years.[2] During the latter stages, the Confederacy and Kel-Morian Combine clashed on worlds such as Char.[9] The Confederacy emerged victorious. By a "negotiated" peace, the Combine remained autonomous, but surrendered all of its supporting guilds[2] and some territory, including Mar Sara, to the Confederacy.[10]
The Combine remained autonomous and founded new colonies. The alleged flow of Kel-Morian resources to the Confederacy made the Combine immune to Confederate legal prosecution. To the Umojans, the war demonstrated that Confederate power could not be trusted; in response that colony reorganized its defenses as the Umojan Protectorate.[2]
The Rebellion of Korhal, and the AftermathEdit
- Main article: The Rebellion of Korhal
The Confederate colony of Korhal IV was one of the most prosperous colonies, but Senator Angus Mengsk, seeing injustices committed by the Confederacy, fomented dissent. In addition to these open views, he and the Umojan government began a secret rebellion against the Confederacy in 2478, killing hundreds of Confederate troops. By the end of the Guild Wars in 2489, Mengsk declared Korhal independent.[8]
Rioting ensued that quickly devolved into skirmishes with Confederate militia. Martial law was imposed but did little to stem the revolt. Only the assassination of Senator Mengsk and his family by ghosts brought the situation back under control.[2] The Umojan Protectorate was formed, in part because of this attack.[8]
The reprieve was to prove temporary. At the time Arcturus Mengsk, the senator's son, was a Confederate prospector and embarrassed by his father's actions. However, he was sufficiently outraged by the murder of his father and family to continue the rebellion in his father's stead.[2]
Two years later, while Arcturus Mengsk was visiting Umoja, the Confederacy unleashed a devastating nuclear missile barrage against Korhal, exterminating the population. Mengsk and his surviving supporters pledged to bring down the Confederacy. The Sons of Korhal was formed.[2]
- Main article: Sons of Korhal, StarCraft: Uprising
Early efforts by the Sons met with a disappointing lack of success and public recognition. The media, under Confederate censorship, downplayed the group's efforts, if they happened to be mentioned at all. Nonetheless, the Sons persisted in their determination to strike a huge blow against the Confederacy.[11]
Eventually the Sons resolved to assault the Fujita Facility on Vyctor 5. The installation was located within a complex weather system known as the Fujita Pinnacle. The combination of hazardous meteorology and active defenses had thus far prevented illicit access to the facility. With the battlecruiser Hyperion and a small strike force, Mengsk succeeded in infiltrating the installation. Inside Fujita they stumbled upon elements of the Confederacy's top secret zerg research program and a ghost, Sarah Kerrigan, who was participating in the research. Kerrigan was a poignant find for Mengsk, as he had been searching for her for reasons unknown even to his allies. Not knowing what to make of it, the Sons killed the zerg specimens and took the scientists and Kerrigan with them.[11]
Shortly afterward, Mengsk, Kerrigan, and a Sons assault group attacked the primary Ghost Academy on Tarsonis. The operation was a disaster and most of the Sons were killed, though Mengsk and Kerrigan escaped.[11]
| The next article in this series is StarCraft Prequel#Infestation. |
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