Pre-Space/Pre-TN Tech
In 2024 the US election spelled disaster for the nation. Both candidates claimed victory, and with several critical state’s vote counts in dispute, and allegations of foreign influence being thrown out by both sides it became impossible to declare a winner. Riots broke out in cities across the nation, followed by counter-riots. The nation seethed as one side or the other was put down violently, depending on the political affiliation of the city’s government. More or less open militias began springing up across the country supporting one side or the other as the government largely failed to ensure the peace. The competing court cases arrived at the supreme court in short order, but before they could even begin to review the competing claims a justice was assassinated in their home, and the remaining justices were taken into protective custody. The challenger immediately claimed that the incumbent would use this custody to unduly influence the justices, darkly hinting that they would be forced to vote in favor of the current administration. Riots spread again, and the administration’s attempt to ram a staunch party supporter through congress as a replacement for the slain justice just made things worse.
The deadlock in American politics grew worse and lasted past the January date for the installation of the new president. Claiming that he wanted to ensure the continuity of government, the incumbent declared that he would remain in office until the election was resolved, which immediately divided the government, including law enforcement and the military. Although it did not quite come to the open civil was that so many had predicted, America was effectively paralyzed and the military began withdrawing troops and ships from across the world. Although many feared this was a preparation for a military coup, it was instead a recognition by the generals and admirals that their forces threatened to desert and mutiny if they were not allowed to return home in the face of the unrest that threatened all.
With the waning of American power across the globe, the golden age prophesied by so many American intellectuals failed to materialize. Instead, international order immediately disappeared. Many resistance groups (or terrorists, depending on your view), found to their horror that the Americans they hated for so long were actually the reason they were able to continue functioning. In many cases, the people they were fighting against found that they were no longer restrained by American sensibilities, and launched large scale campaigns to utterly wipe them out. Russia and China, freed of fear of American retribution, immediately invaded their neighbors, or dominated them with overwhelming force they had no hope of countering. Europe found itself isolated and under attack as the Russians encroached from the East and the Chinese took their export markets away.
For two years the world spiraled downwards, with America splintered and isolated, Europe paralyzed with indecision, and China and Russia, both initially successful, now suffering internal problems of their own as their economies faltered. And then everything changed. On August 17, 2027 the aliens arrived.
On that day dozens of large ships suddenly appeared in orbit. Given the state of the world the various governments still more or less in control of their nations responded poorly, all thinking they were under attack by a human enemy. No less than twenty-two anti-satellite interceptors rose into orbit seeking out the alien ships, launched by six different nations, the US included. None of them were intercepted, all hit their targets. In a stunning display of might the alien ships just ignored the human weapons and continued on hanging over the planet. Then the bombardment began. The alien ships dropped non-nuclear kinetic weapons at targets across the planet, targeting military bases, naval ships at sea, air bases, and communications and transportation hubs. Then the landings began. All over the planet the aliens began establishing beachheads, from which columns of troops began expanding out. It soon became clear that the aliens were not interested in establishing a permanent presence, instead they were taking everything that wasn’t nailed down, and much that was, including people. Hundreds of thousands of people disappeared into the alien camps, along with untold billions of dollars in equipment, raw materials, and finished goods. Hundreds of millions died of starvation and disease, as food transportation and medical networks, already stressed by years of war, broke down completely under alien assault. Earth militaries were decimated, as each time they tried to organize an attack on an alien landing their forces were mercilessly bombarded from orbit. Humanity still fought, but it was a one-sided battle and effective resistance was impossible. The Chinese did perhaps the best at resisting, at first, but as their losses mounted and more Chinese targets were bombed from orbit, their leaders, desperate to stop the attacks, resorted to using nuclear weapons on landings in and near China. The aliens shot down most of the missiles, but a few got through, destroying two landing sites. The alien retribution was terrible, and China was destroyed as a nation.
The aliens raided at will for three months, causing near incalculable damage, and then disappeared as suddenly as they came. Humanity was left to pick up the pieces, alone again. It didn’t last. Nineteen months after the first alien race left a second appeared in orbit and began its own raids. This was clearly an entirely different race, as the first had been somewhat humanoid, while this one appeared to be some sort of ambulatory mushroom. The raids this time were sporadic and only lasted for a month, then these aliens also disappeared. Over the next three years there were more raids, none as devastating as the first but each damaging and setting back humanity’s recovery.
The final raid came five years after the first. Humanity’s defenders had noted that the raids had been becoming smaller and more sporadic. While the first raid was conducted with military precision, the last few had been haphazard and amateurish, mere smash and grabs. Plans were made, and when the last set of raiders appeared, the plans were put in motion. The limited amount of alien equipment captured during the prior raids was issued to attack teams, who were stationed at pre-prepared raid targets, sites created to appear as tempting raid targets for anyone looking down from orbit. The strategy worked. The last set of raiders came in fat dumb and happy, and instead of coming down from orbit they actually landed their ships near the targets. When they sent out troops to attack the nearby towns, the defense teams rushed the ships and took two of the three from their owners. Their only failure came when the targeted ship self-destructed. The raid teams from the ships were then wiped out as they returned to their home bases. Humanity now possessed alien tech.
It would take thirty-three years to unite humanity and completely decipher the basis for their technology, which, it turned out, was an entirely new order of matter that had been previously undetected. The researchers quickly came to call it Trans-Newtonian material, based on its demonstrated properties, and it turned out that Earth was rich in these materials, buried deep within the crust. Fortunately, new mining techniques, discovered consequent to the discovery of the TN material, meant that it was relatively easy to mine this material, particularly with the new techniques being developed. Mankind could now go to the stars.
While their technology was decipherable, very little was learned about the motivation for the raids. The aliens never tried to communicate, just killed and looted. A top-level panel convened to study the alien’s actions was unable to come to a conclusion about what motivated at least ten different species to attack humanity in the different raids, but several interesting theories were developed. None gained a majority of support amongst the panelists, but one theory did prove popular with the public. A historian attached to the panel theorized that the raids were similar to various periods of history where indigenous people were forced to flee their homes by invasions or encroachment from other civilizations, causing a knock-on effect where people displaced by an invasion displaced other peoples, who then went on to displace others, and so on. These events could be stimulated by the collapse of civilizations, or the rise of warlords, or widespread wars. While the theory had no evidence to back it up, it did explain the raids, particularly in light of the fact that humanity had been alone for its entire existence, and then suddenly wasn’t. That could be explained by the existence of a large interstellar government that discouraged expansion, for some reason, which then fell, unleashing chaos. This theory caught on with the public and stimulated their imagination. Suddenly, as things got back to normal, entertainment centered around the fall of galactic empires became popular. It also stimulated their fear.
Nearly every human government had collapsed during the raids, and surviving military organizations stepped into the gap to provide continuity and a semi-organized resistance to the ongoing alien attacks. After the last raid and the seizure of the alien ships and equipment, it became clear that humanity would have to be united to survive, and so a world government was formed. Because the new generation was born into a world of death and hardship, the new government reflected their attitudes and beliefs.
It was called many things in different languages, but it meant the same thing in all of them. The Terran Empire was going to the stars, and it would bring war and death to the aliens that had devastated Earth.
Terran Empire, 2095
Population: Four Billion
Tech: Just unlocked TN Tech
Industry: 3200 conventional industry, 2500 financial centers, fifteen ground force construction complexes
R&D Establishment:80
Military:
Two divisions of Imperial Guards.
31,720 Imperial Guardsmen (Light armor, Imp Pers Weapons)
1,340 GEV (light vehicles, light vehicle armor, med autocannon)
800 AT Guardsman (Light armor, Light AT weapon)
800 Hvy Weaps Guardsman (Light armor, Crew Served AP Weapons)
309 HQ and Log
