Furscape MUCK

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====== A Brief Note. . . ======
//This article is intended to be a very simplified history for players granted permission to play [[human]] characters, or for playing other characters 'in the know' who interact with humans, such as [[belter]]s. It is provided to fill in some gaps in the MUCK's [[Master Timeline]] regarding Sol System, and give human players in Sol System some sense of history, but it is important to remember that these events happen concurrently with those of the Master Timeline.//
 
//- Hagalaz//
 
====== History of Humanity in Sol System's Asteroid Belt ======
//"We've been on Ceres five weeks and you're still arguing over what kind of spin-gravity habitat we should put in orbit. Fah! you want weight? Crawl back to Mars, and start begging. The statists might let you land before they put a bullet in your brain. Cole habitat or spin habitat, it doesn't matter. Build either one, and it's theme park Earth. When our kids go outside to work, sure as taxes, they'll screw up. Their reflexes won't be space-adapted, they'll be scared of a puncture or a blowout, and we'll never be able to compete. Face up, everyone: we made a mistake. Let's stop trying to create little Earths, and embrace the reality of our environment. We can adapt our unborn, try Katsuki's calcium hack. Tunnel into this rock, make it our home, and come to terms with microgravity. Once we've done it here, we can do it anywhere in the Belt, or beyond. Let the statists squat on Mars. //**Our**// children will inherit a greater domain, and call all of space their home."\\
- Outer Colonies leader Maya Payne, 2050// 

**2050-2053** - Asteroid mining operations are now underway on a large scale.  Harvest Ventures begins the first mining operations on Phobos, with fabulously lucrative results.  A "gold rush" mentality brings many humans and recoms into space

Two major colonies are founded:  New Philadelphia, a mining colony, on 253 [[Mathilde]], and Fenghuang Jidi (Chinese for 'Phoenix Base'), a base station for atmospheric dronescooping of Saturn, on [[Titan]].

**2065** - The [[history_introduction#the_Apocalypse_war|Apocalypse War]] begins on [[Earth]], starting with a joint Chinese and Pakistani invasion of India. Allied nations are soon dragged into the conflict on both sides. India is aided by Japan, the USA and the European Union. China is joined by Russia and unified Korea. At first the war is fought with conventional weapons, but NBC weapons of mass destruction make their debut late in 2066. 

**2067** - Gamma Dome is destroyed.  Widespread devastation is seen on Earth -- some humans return from space colonies to their home countries and families, but a good number of them on Titan and New Philadelphia opt to stay in space, desiring to have nothing to do with "those idiots fighting back on Earth".  Resupply missions from Earth are only a sporadic trickle.  Recoms revolt on [[Mars]] and establish a dictatorship under Marshal Redwolf.

**2070** - Emergency hydroponics programs ease the famine on Luna, but food and other supplies will be rationed for many years to follow.  The Luna Council adopts a new constitution based on full independence from Earth and equal rights for all sentient beings.  On Mars, Marshal Redwolf declares Earth under quarrantine:  in particular, no refugees will be accepted.  The MDF warship //Ares// fires upon and destroys a passenger ship arriving from Earth.  The Luna Council transmits a message to Mars, deploring the action.  Two NATO patrol ships defect to Luna.

**2070-2075** - Phoenix Base completes construction of a pair of [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Stanford_torus|Stanford torii]], populating these "farms" with animals raised from frozen embryos and food crops grown from seed that had originally been intended for a post-terraformed Titan.  Hearing of reports of contamination of Earth's biosphere, and fearing for their safety, both from contaminated Terrans and warmongering Martians, they enforce a strict quarantine of their own space, 'acquiring' a number of frigates for self-defense.  That threat, however likely, is a distant one, since transit time between the inner Solar System and Saturn is measured in months, and there would be advanced warning.
 
New Philadelphia completes a number of multi-level agricultural towers in an attempt to bolster their food supply.  Hydroponically-grown plants, as well as fish and small crustaceans become staples of the Belter diet.  Extensive ship construction and repair facilities are also built to support a growing asteroid prospecting operation.

**2075-2085** - The War Years.  The Martian government, hearing reports of a colony of humans living outside of Earth's atmosphere, declares war on the Outer Colonies with two goals, capture of the habitats for their own benefit and destruction of the humans who they believe to be guilty, by virtue of their species, of the destruction of Earth and the loss of its resources.
 
Working along parallel research tracks, both sides perfect the fusion drives required for rapid transit between planets, bringing them closer to the brink of war with each successful engineering trial.
 
Several very brief and very deadly skirmishes are fought, with Outer Colonies technology advances barely allowing them a level playing against the vaster numbers of the Martian Navy.  It is only a matter of time, however, before Luna, fearing for the survival of its citizens, throws in with Mars, tipping the balance of power. 
 
New Philadelphia Colony, populated primarily (and most visibly) by belter recoms, declares itself a neutral power, offering the services of its shipyards in return for the promise of a several-thousand-kilometer no-fire zone surrounding it.  Their residents refuse to participate in the anti-human witchhunt, their leaders dryly noting to Inner Planets representatives that "it's a long walk back to Mars, and it'll seem even longer in a damaged spacecraft that can't hold atmosphere."  Additionally, their shipyards refuse to install or repair weapons systems on ships involved in the war, a tradition that continues to present day.
 
The residents of Phoenix Base, feeling the threat of imminent conquest, begin the radical step of converting their two orbital habitats into giant spacecraft.  The resulting structures are massive and have poor handling, and will rely on fighter pods and other spacecraft for protection.  
 
Other craft are built, relying on [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Mass_driver#Spacecraft-based_mass_drivers|mass-driver engines]].  Built on modified Old Earth frigate hulls, these 'impact drive assembly'-powered spacecraft are capable of slow but 'stealthy' propulsion when compared with their fusion-drive cousins.  These craft are sent out into the asteroid belt with the intention of building small beehive colonies, each one small but self-sustaining, deep in the heart of its host asteroid.
 
A large group of //Manticore//-class medium transports are reported missing at this time.  Witnesses will note that a number of them were on minimum-energy courses for a number of trans-Neptunian objects in Sol System, such as Sedna and Eris, effectively placing them beyond the reach of the Inner Planets.
 
**2085** - The Inner Planets fleet arrives at Saturn.  A furious firefight erupts, with the defense fleet of Phoenix Base fighting a holding action while the habitat ships' drives power up.  //Habitat One// is destroyed when a salvo of enemy missiles - intended for the defense pickets positioned between the hostile ship and the habitat - lose their guidance tracking and strike the much-larger habitat,  scoring multiple hits on the drive system.  The ship responsible, a Lunar defense force cruiser, immediately leaves the field of battle, its crew horrified at the loss of life.  The remaining capital ship, the MDFS //Ares//, breaks off its attack when //Habitat Two//'s drives finally come online, destroying a cluster of MDF fighter pods caught in the exhaust wake.
 
The escape of //Habitat Two// is cut short, however, when its drive explodes.  Other ships in the area register a massive energy spike immediately prior to the explosion and believe a drive malfunction is responsible.  Following mop-up of the remaining Phoenix Base ships, and orbital bombardment of the colony on Titan's surface, they return to the inner system.
 
The destruction of Phoenix Base sparks a massive outcry among the population of the Inner Planets.  While Luna and Mars are forced to cooperate for the good of both worlds, diplomatic relations are best described as "strained", something that continues to this day.  Marshal Redwolf's standing in unofficial polls never recovers, in spite of aggressive spin control.  The official position of the Martian government regarding the destruction of Phoenix Base is similar to the position of 20th-century China's government regarding the [[https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/wiki/Tiananmen_Square_protests_of_1989#Continuing_issues|Tienanmen Square Massacre]]: it never happened.
 
**2090** - The asteroid habitats populated by the remaining Phoenix Base personnel continue to eke out a harsh but stable existence.  Mass-driver engines allow human ships to move stealthily through the asteroid belt, gaining access to resources necessary for new projects and their continued survival.
 
**2111** - First Contact:  The message from extrasolar space, once decrypted, proves to be working plans for a hyperspace jumpgate.  Human engineers are stymied, however.  How do they build a jumpgate to allow escape from Sol System without announcing their presence to the Inner Planets worlds?
 
**2125** - Engineers, studying scans from the recom jumpgate, gain insight into how the realspace/hyperspace barrier works, and believe they can build a functional, single-use jumpgate.  After several months, Project Exodus is announced:  A fleet of ships will depart Sol System with the last of humanity as its cargo, provided the untested jumpgate actually functions.
 
**2130** - The human 'mothership' departs Sol System, taking with it the vast majority of the human population, and has not been heard from since.  A small handful of humans refuse to concede what they feel would be defeat, and elect to stay in Sol System.  
 
The burnt-out remanant of the human jumpgate is left behind, and is gone over thoroughly by amazed Space Defense Force technical personnel before being disposed of in Jupiter's atmosphere.
 
**2130-????** - The group of humans remaining in Sol System have managed to remain hidden for the better part of a century, but vigorously defend their few remaining habitats from interlopers, giving rise to a number of reported incidents that are later written off as acts of piracy or as orphaned autonomous kill vehicle (AKV) attacks.
 
While the few remaining human colonies have retained use of some advanced technologies, including medical nanotechnology and genetic engineering, they have suffered from a lack of Terran-specific resources in the same way Luna and Mars did, and much like Luna and Mars, have experienced a similar technological backslide in the years following the Apocalypse War.  Most humans have taken advantage of several gengineering techniques, such as Katsuki's microgravity tolerance genemod and the 'Tennin' physiological genemod, enabling their offspring to live anywhere in space without suffering debilitating effects.
 
The ultimate fate of the 'Lost Fleet' that departed for trans-Neptunian space is currently unknown.  If they arrived at their destinations, they are, for all intents and purposes, beyond the reach of the rest of Sol System, barring advances in starship propulsion or other technologies.