Timeline/History:
In 2017, tensions in the Middle East have escalated to a near-breaking point. The US, China, and Russia are involved in proxy wars in the region - Iran/Saudi Arabia and Israel/Lebanon. Efforts to defuse tensions via diplomacy have failed and there have been frequent border clashes between combatants. The Doomsday Clock is set at one minute to midnight, a representation of how tense things are.
Things break open in February, 2018 when several small nuclear devices are detonated in Israel and Japan. Death tolls are upwards of 10 million, and both nations threaten to retaliate. Another nuclear device is detonated in Dnepropetrovsk, Ukraine, two days later, inflaming tensions between Ukraine and Russia. Things reach a breaking point when Israel and Iran bring out their limited nuclear arsenals, rendering portions of the Middle East uninhabited and killing another estimated 20-30 million. The following day, war is declared between Ukraine and Russia. The former calls on NATO support, resulting in Russia declaring war against both parties. NATO forces are mobilized and race to contain Soviet forces east of Kiev. By the following month the conflict has reached a stalemate outside of Kiev - a stalemate that ends when another nuclear device is detonated inside Kiev in early April, killing over a million more people. Russia, meanwhile, swings through Belarus, threatening Poland and northern Ukraine and forcing the NATO armed forces to redeploy quickly.
As all this has developed, a new war has opened up in Asia. Backed by the Chinese, the North Koreans advance against South Korea, quickly surrounding Seoul and demanding the surrender of the South. The city is besieged for several months.
On July 4, American Independence Day becomes bittersweet when nuclear devices are detonated in Chicago, St. Louis, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, and Cincinnati. Death tolls are over 5 million and much of the American Midwest is a radioactive wasteland. Two more weapons are detonated in St. Petersburg and Moscow a few days later. It is later learned (long after the conflict) that a terrorist organization operating within Russia had 'procured' over a dozen former-Soviet warheads, re-purposed them, and secretly redeployed them.
In early September, the North Koreans utilize their own nuclear arsenal in an effort to end the stalemate at Seoul, which has continued to hold out despite continued pressure by Chinese and North Korean troops. The usage of nuclear weapons in the conflict forces the US to respond in kind - not just striking at Pyongyang but also at China herself in a preemptive strike designed to prevent retaliation in kind.
By the end of 2017 the death toll stands at over 200 million. Casualties from the fallout and the famine and disease that follow will eventually kill over one billion and, for the first time in human history, the population growth rate will be in the negative.
The whole nightmare continues and, within thirty years, the world's population drops to below 5 billion. It is with this as a backdrop that the reorganized governments of the world convene a Global Congress in Australia in 2046 with the effort and intent to accomplish that which the League of Nations and the United Nations have failed to do: End the infighting among the population of Earth. The damage done to the planet will take many lifetimes to undo and continuing down the present path will only result in the eventual extinction of the human race.
The Global Congress is formed to establish the framework of a truly global government, one that incorporates aspects from many different philosophies. The next ten years are contentious at times, but progress is made and eventually a government is created - the United Earth Alliance. Led by the Global Congress, whose representatives are chosen at random from their respective populations every five years, the UEA's first priority is to choose a leader who will serve a life term - unless a 75% vote of the Congress every five years determines otherwise.
Jessica Erskine, one of the founding delegates of the Global Congress and an Australian, is chosen to be the first leader of the UEA. Her first priorities are definitely staggering - clean up the contaminated parts of the planet, provide aid and assistance to survivors and refugees, and work to restore regional governments in those areas.
It is a daunting task, as famine and fallout continue to kill an estimated 10-12 million people each year and the population growth rate remains in the negative. It will be 30 years more before the population growth rate becomes positive again. By that time the population of the planet is somewhere around 4 billion inhabitants.
Erskine passes away in 2078 at the age of 83 and her tenure as leader of the UEA is regarded very highly. The Congress chooses 37-year old Lucas Christensen, one of the members of the Danish government who had been instrumental in helping to aid in the rebuilding of Ukraine, as their next leader. Christensen continues the work of his predecessor.
In 2104, scientists make a breakthrough the likes of which have not been seen in history. Pedro Fernandes, a scientist in Brazil, makes the first discovery of "Trans-Newtonian" materials. These materials, whose properties transcend known Newtonian physics, usher in a renaissance almost overnight. Scientific breakthroughs come quickly in all fields and soon mankind is in the "New Renaissance". One of the most intriguing sets of breakthroughs is in the field of space travel and exploration - itself a field that has been neglected for over 75 years.
The year is now 2115. Mankind has launched it's first orbital shipyard but mourns the passing of Lucas Christensen, who dies on the eve of the launch at the age of 74. The Congress convenes and selects Sarah Faulkner, a 21-year old American prodigy, to lead the planet as it enters a new space age. The choice is unexpected in some regards but not in others - Faulkner is a recent graduate of Earth University, a global university that was founded under the tenure of Erskine. Her test scores are exceptionally high, and her youth makes her a good choice to lead the planet for a potentially long period of time. Some are uneasy at her youth and lack of experience, but all that will be quickly forgotten if she leads well.
Parameters
Conventional start (see Starting Tech section below)
1 Shipyard
75 research facilities
No missile bases
Random number of Sol jump points
Starting Tech (Given at start)
Trans-Newtonian Materials
Geological Survey Sensors
Duranium Armor
Replacement Battalion
