In 2018 Earth was struck by the remnants of a fragmented comet. For several hours a hail of rocky debris, ranging in size from a few centimetres to half a kilometre, bombarded the planet. Destruction was almost total across most of Eastern and Southern Asia, the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.
The only areas of the world to survive relatively intact were Western Europe and Japan, which suffered only minor impacts and some coastal damage from tsunami. Once order was restored within their own borders, the major European powers devoted all their resources to rescue operation across the globe, dividing responsibilities based on geographical convenience and historical ties. The United Kingdom dispatched most of its forces to North America, except for one long-range expedition to Australia and New Zealand, Spain mobilised to aid South and Central America, France and Italy sent relief expeditions across Africa and the Middle East while Germany concentrated on Eastern Europe and Russia.
Due to the total lack of any functioning governments in the devastated areas, the relief expeditions were accompanied by military forces to provide protection and establish safe food distribution centres. Over time, these distribution centres grew into small cities, as more survivors were located and additional relief workers arrived, and new centres were established further into the devastated zones. In effect, the Western European powers were creating their own territorial enclaves and gradually expanding them. While this was carried out primarily for humanitarian reasons, the unintended result was a new age of colonialism.
All the powers that dispatched relief operations met some resistance from survivors unwilling to be rescued. This was generally less of an issue for the United Kingdom in North America and Australia where the few surviving indigenous military forces cooperated with the humanitarian effort. When the UK did encounter resistance, mainly from within the ruins of major cities, its armed forces withdrew from the area and established checkpoints around the perimeter. With the global temperature suffering a significant drop due to huge amount of dust in the atmosphere and the winters being extremely severe for several years after the Fall, the city-based resistance groups found themselves in dire straits once their stores of food ran out.
In Africa, the French and Italians encountered significant resistance. While the Italians took a similar approach to the British, the French ruthlessly crushed any threat to their deliveries of aid. With casualties mounting on both sides, this prompted a political crisis in France similar to that of 1958. Angered by the posturing of some French politicians, the leaders of the Armée d’Afrique staged a successful coup and installed Jean Christophe Napoléon, great-great-great-grandnephew of Emperor Napoleon I, as the head of the French Third Empire. With the troublesome politicians no longer an issue and the army firmly behind the new Emperor, France's policy in Africa changed from relief operations to outright conquest.
The Spanish adopted a different strategy to the other powers in their operations in South America. As the continent was 80% catholic before the Fall and the Fall itself was viewed by many of the survivors as a punishment from God, the Spanish decided their relief mission would be officially headed by the Church. While the military was involved in protecting the refugee camps and aid distribution centres, it did so as an armed wing of the Church rather than as the Spanish Army. In fact, some of the Spanish military units began to adopt unofficial nomenclature similar to that of medieval Knightly orders. At first this was purely as a source of amusement but as those units built up a successful record in the devastated lands of South America, the adopted names became a source of pride. In general, this religious-led effort proved remarkably successful. However, there were worrying incidents where over-zealous clergy refused aid to those who would not recognise the authority of the Church. Because of their work in the Americas and particularly because of the gratitude and devotion of the survivors, the influence of the Church in Spain rapidly increased until it was the dominant force in Spanish politics. Finally, at the 'request' of Cardinal Juan Antonio Aragon, who was supported by the majority of the population and more importantly the 'Knightly Orders', King Felipe dissolved the Cortes Generales and handed total power to the Church.
German relief operations were directed eastwards. The gratitude of the survivors in Eastern Europe was tempered by the sight of German troops. Despite the fact that more than seventy years had passed since the end of World War Two, there were still many who did not welcome their benefactors. Even so, the Germans carried out their task with relentless efficiency and those who offered resistance were dealt with swiftly. As the first expeditions reached former Russian and Ukrainian territory, the German military became engaged with a number of warlords who had carved out small territories of their own in the months since the Fall using fragmented Russian forces under their command. German operations changed from the protection of humanitarian aid to the elimination of the warlords before they became a wider problem. Once more, German soldiers were gaining their combat experience on the Russian steppes.
Prior to the fall, Japan had become increasingly concerned at the rising power of China and the growing capability of its military. A right-wing government had recently been elected on a platform of increased military spending. Despite the extent of global devastation, with vast swaths of the planet completely depopulated, there were some within Japanese who saw the Fall as a modern version of the Divine Wind that swept away the Mongol invasions of the 13th century. After the Fall, Japan had the only functioning government in the Pacific region. While an element of Japan's subsequent operations remained humanitarian, their primary purpose was the establishment of Japanese rule over a vast area. Within a few years, Japan had reverted to its pre-1947 title of the Empire of Japan and the military was the dominant force in Japanese politics.
In the decades following the Fall relations between the six major powers were surprisingly good. Despite concerns raised about the conduct of the French and Japanese Empires in their newly acquired territories, there was little reason for conflict. The global population had fallen to less than a quarter of its previous level, mainly due to the Fall itself but also as a result of the subsequent temperature fall and widespread outbreaks of disease, so there was no population pressure. Even those powers such as the UK and Germany who had primarily humanitarian motives eventually moved to an official policy of annexation and re-colonisation of the devastated territories.
The United Kingdom offered citizenship and voting rights to all of the survivors within its sphere of influence. Initially, this included the former territory of the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand and eventually parts of the Indian subcontinent. These overseas territories were referred to as the Commonwealth, as all of them except the United States had been part of the Commonwealth of Nations prior to the Fall. By the latter half of the 21st Century, the Commonwealth had become the term in general usage for all British territory, including the British Isles.
By 2070, Germany had consolidated its hold on Eastern Europe and European Russia, controlling all territory west of the Ural Mountains and as far south as the Caucuses. While there were still some isolated pockets of resistance, the area known as Greater Germany was generally peaceful. German colonies had been established throughout the region and while those survivors who had not been granted Germans citizenship could not vote, which caused some resentment, they were otherwise treated as equals.
The French conquest of Africa was drawn and out and bloody and the administration of the conquered territories was harsh. Even in the 2070s there were still areas of significant rebellion. While the French had became extremely adept at crushing such resistance, new rebellions sprung up constantly. Attacks on the French civilian population continued to grow, especially from the Islamic resistance groups in North Africa. Italy also had African territories, much smaller than those of France, but the Italian expansion had been slower and primarily peaceful, mainly from a result of successful humanitarian aid missions. There had been some conflict but on a much smaller scale. Because of the more tolerant Italian administration, there was a steady flow of refugees from French to Italian territory which caused tension between the two European neighbours. France needed the indigenous population to provide the workforce for the numerous industrial sites established in the African territory and was determined to prevent the exodus. Miles of barbed wire and even minefields stretched across Africa, dotted by watchtowers and small fortifications.
With no opposing powers in the Pacific, except for the Commonwealth in the far South and in the Hawaiian Islands, Japan expanded quickly, eventually annexing all of China, Southeast Asia, Indonesia, the Philippines and the Russian Far East. Like their French counterparts, the Japanese occupying forces faced frequent rebellions. The standard tactic of the Imperial Japanese Army was to deliver large amounts of firepower, regardless of any collateral damage, until the problem went away. While less precise than the French approach, it proved to be an effective method of suppression.
The Spanish Church managed its territory through religion, instituting strict controls on the acceptable behaviour of the population. All the Spanish intelligence services were brought together under the Holy Office of the Inquisition. Anyone speaking out against the Church or the Crown was accused of heresy and dealt with severely. Through its extensive network of spies and informers, the Inquisition proved to be extremely capable at dealing with the seeds of rebellion and the Knightly Orders were seldom employed on anything but small scale operations.
In 2082, a small force led by pro-French Army officers launched a coup against the Italian government, taking key buildings and installations within the first few hours. Well aware of the timing of the coup, the Armée d’Afrique launched an all-out assault against the Italian territories in the Middle East and Africa. Facing with overwhelming military might and total confusion in Rome, the Italian forces fell back in disarray. Germany and the Commonwealth both sent strong diplomatic protests and demanded the immediate withdrawal of French forces. In contrast, Spain recognised the new Italian government. After consolidating their hold on the reins of power, the coup plotters ordered the Italian armed forces to cease combat operations and allow the free movement of French forces. Some units continued to fight but the resistance was fragmented and ended within days. Shortly thereafter, the French Emperor announced that Italy and all its territories would be incorporated within the Third French Empire. Within a month, the Commonwealth and Germany announced the formation of a alliance to prevent further French aggression. France announced its own alliance with Spain. Japan remained aloof from what it regarded as the squabbling of the European powers.
In the late 2080s all five powers began intensive research into a new area of science - Trans Newtonian Physics - and breakthroughs were made in all countries within a period of several months. Conversion of industry was carried out and the new technology enabled the construction of spacecraft capable of deep space travel. Given the tension between the European powers, it was not surprising that initial construction concentrated on warships. As Earth's resources were gradually depleted, attention turned to securing new sources of Trans Newtonian minerals and every power designed its own geological survey ships. By 2100 the race into space was well underway.
Earth's major powers are the Third French Empire and the Empire of Japan, both of which have a population of one point two billion. Germany and the Commonwealth are allied and each has a population of eight hundred million. Spain, which is allied to France, has a population of six hundred million. The countries within the two alliances, Germany/Commonwealth and France/Spain, have military and trade agreements with each other. Each nation begins with 200,000 research points and 30 research labs plus industry and shipyards based on its population.
