Earth

Earth
Dominant Race	Human Asmodeus' race (imprisoned)
Affiliation	Earth Alliance Interstellar Alliance
Capital City	Geneva, Switzerland
Population	12 billion (Circa 2258) none/evacuated (Circa 1002262)
Habitability	Before 2761: Temperate climate, Oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere, 1 standard gravity, After 2301 (Possible future): Tainted atmosphere with particulate matter After 2762: Contaminated hydrosphere, Poluted atmosphere, Massive portions of land radioactive, Ecossystem colapsed After 1002262: Dead world/destroyed
Satellites	Luna
Star	Sol
Star System	Sol System
Sector	Sector 100

Earth is the homeworld of the human race, and the capital planet of the Earth Alliance. It is currently one of the most influential worlds in its region of the galaxy.

Overview

Located in Sector 100 by 17 by 3, Earth was the third planet in the Sol system, between the orbits of Venus and Mars. During the Third Age Earth possessed a thick oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere and a 1g gravitational pull. About 71 percent of the surface was covered with salt water oceans, with the remainder consisting of seven continents and diverse environments ranging from frozen ice caps and barren deserts, to forests, grasslands, and swamps, to urbanized regions. Collectively, these environments were part of a rich and diverse biosphere. The planet had an orbital period slightly over 365 planetary rotations (days), each lasting about 24 hours. Earth was itself orbited by Luna, its only natural satellite, with an orbital period of a little over 27 days.

Notable Locations

Nation States

• Altai Federation: Central Asian state bordering on the Russian Consortium, the UIN region of Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The region had formerly been part of the historical Russian Federation. In 2208 Psi Corps cadets Bester, Montoya, Nhan and Vetsch were dropped into the remote plains of the Altai Federation for their final grade field test that took the form of a blip hunt. The group picked up the trail of their blip, eventually tracking him to the small town of Tuula.

• Amazonia: Amazonia was made up of portions, or all, of South America. In 2148 Amazonia joined with New Zealand, Japan and the Indonesian Consortium in a threat to pull out of the EA if President Robinson continued to push for a universal Metasensory Regulation Authority.

• American State: The American State was made up of the major nations in the North American continent, including the United States of America and Canada. The official currency of the American state is the "Northam dollar".

• Antarctica: Not actually a member state; Earth's southern most continent has, since the late twentieth century, been designated international territory with every major country operating a base, if not a colony, in Antarctica.

• Australia: The Australian State was made up of portions, or all, of the Australian continent, located in the Pacific ocean, south of the Indonesian Consortium.

• Central African Bloc: The Central African Bloc was made up of portions, or all, of the central African continent. Birthplace of famed humanitarian Morobuto.

• Chinese State: The Chinese State was made up of portions, or all, of the what was once called the People's Republic of China.

• Eastern Bloc: The Eastern Bloc was made up of portions of the Asian continent. In 2212 President Kyoshi of the Eastern Bloc was assassinated only three days after the end of the War of the Shining Star, by a soldier who had fought on the other side.

• England: A region of the British Isles, off the west coast of the European continent.

European continent as seen from orbit

• France: A western region in the European continent. Dr. Lillian Hobbs did her advanced medical studies at the Institute Pasteur, in Paris. In 2271, the French President Michel Chambert, unsuccessfully attempted to have the war criminal Alfred Bester tried in his country, arguing that Bester had been apprehended on French soil.

• Japan: An island nation state located off the east coast of the Asian continent. In 2148 Japan joined with New Zealand, the Indonesian Consortium and Amazonia in a threat to pull out of the EA if President Robinson continued to push for a universal Metasensory Regulation Authority.

• Indian Consortium: The Indian Consortium was made up of what had historically been India in the 20th century and 21st century. Dr. Lillian Hobbs received her medical degree at the Tagore Medical School in Bangalore.

• Indonesian Consortium: The Indonesian Consortium was made up of what had historically been Indonesia in the late 20th century and 21st century. In 2148 the Indonesian Consortium joined with New Zealand, Japan and Amazonia in a threat to pull out of the EA if President Robinson continued to push for a universal Metasensory Regulation Authority. In 2258 Pol Quat of the Indonesian Consortium attended an Earth Senate hearing about the cost of the Earth Alliance's presence in space, asking why less affluent nations pay an equal share of the cost when they do not receive an equal share of the benefits.

• Malaysia: A nation state located in south east Asia. In the 2130s, Malaysia was for a time under the control of the Indonesian Consortium, during which time they forcibly resettled people from Sarawak and Kalimantan to the Malaysian peninsula. This lead to the formation of the Orang Ash revolutionary movement.

• New Zealand: An island nation state located off the east coast of the Australian continent. In 2148 New Zealand (who at that time did not even have an extradition treaty with the EA) joined with Japan, the Indonesian Consortium and Amazonia in a threat to pull out of the EA if President Robinson continued to push for a universal Metasensory Regulation Authority. In 2222, Psi Cop Alfred Bester ran down a group of blips operating in New Zealand.

• Russian Consortium: The Russian Consortium was made up of what had historically been the Russian Federation in the late 20th century and 21st century.

• Switzerland: A central region in the European continent. Historically considered a neutral location, it's city of Geneva became the seat of the Earth Alliance Central Government.

• United Islamic Nations: The UIN was made up of what had historically been the Middle East as well as central Asian regions such as Kazakhstan. In 2189 Senator Khalid Ahmed was the Earth Senate representative from the UIN. In 2204 a major Telepath Resistance cell was located in Kazakhstan and raided by MetaPol.

Cities

Earthdome, Geneva.

• Geneva: Capital of the Earth Alliance and the location of Earthdome.
• New York City: A Major Earth city located on the North American eastern seaboard.
• Paris: Capital city of France.
• San Diego: Once a city on the west coast of North America, San Diego was destroyed by an act of nuclear terrorism on July 17, 2150.
• St. Petersburg: A Major city in the Russian Consortium. Birthplace of Anla'Shok Na Susan Ivanova.

Orbital Facilities

• Station Prime: Earth's primary space travel transit hub, in use since the 22nd Century. The station is located a significant distance from Earth, near the Jovian moon Io, for security purposes.
• Gagarin Station: Used by KarmaTech to manufacture the Kestrel Class Atmospheric Shuttle and by M'Gede Technologies to construct smaller passenger liners.

• New Kobe Orbital Shipyard: Used by Mitchell-Hyundyne as the primary centre for producing SA-23 Mitchell-Hyundyne Starfurys and even the massive Explorer class ship. Earth Senator Hidoshi's grandfather worked in the spacedocks on New Kobe.

• Neue Hanse Orbital Shipyard: Used by Rocketdyne to construct Omega class destroyers and by KarmaTech to produce Hyperion class heavy cruisers and Maintenance Bots.

History

The First Age

The planet that would eventually become known as Earth was first formed around 4.5 billion years before the Third Age with life first forming about a billion or so years later. After aeons of massive changes, great upheavals and numerous mass extinctions, Earth eventually bore a race of bipedal primates that would become the ancestors of the human race, some 3 million years before the Third Age, a period that would later become known as the First Age of Mankind.

The Vorlons visited a thousand worlds.

It was around this time that the Vorlons, an ancient race of First Ones were exploring this region of space when they discovered this species and, like they have done on many other worlds, begin to manipulate the young race to see them as "beings of light". After another one and a half million years they returned to take away samples and individuals from the pre-human species later known as Homo erectus with which to create their "Nephilim", the templates from which they would harvest the telepath gene.

Around this time the First Ones banished a group of incorporeal entities from their midst, casting them down to primitive Earth where they were bound so that they could never escape. Over the centuries however, they start taking possession of corporeal bodies and their tales of exile would eventually lay the foundations of many Human myths and religions as well as being the origin of the so-called "demonic possession".

The Second Age

After many hundreds of thousands of years of social evolution, the Second Age of Mankind dawned around the year 5000 B.C. with the rise of the first known human civilisation. The city-state/Empire of Babylon, founded in the area known as Mesopotamia between the banks of the Tigris and the Euphrates rivers would become widely considered by human scholars to be the cradle of civilisation.

During the 6th Century Owain Ddantgwyn, a Welsh prince adopts the battle name of Arthur and unites the Kingdoms of Gwynedd and Powys before he is ultimately slain at the Battle of Camlann. Very few records of these events survive yet the "Arthurian legends" that would grow up in the following centuries left a deep impression on human culture and civilisation, well into the 23rd century. One such legend states that Arthur and his sword Excalibur would one day return in Earth's greatest hour of need.

In 1412, a peasant girl named Jeanne d'Arc is born in the village of Domrémy in northeastern France, a nation that was currently embroil in a conflict later dubbed "The Hundred Years War". In 1424, at the age of twelve Jeanne claimed to have begun hearing "voices from God" that told her to rid her country of the occupying English forces. By 1429, Jeanne still just a girl and with no military training successfully lead her nation's armies against the invading English. She was eventually captured and burnt to death by the church for heresy, though by the early 20th Century she was to be posthumously canonised and declared a holy martyr.

In 1456 a lone Drakh called Drak'hul took up residence in the region of Wallachia to study the local humans and implanting several with keepers. The story of his activities pervaded in human culture for centuries afterwards before becoming merged with those of Vlad Tepes, a cruel and brutal Prince of Wallachia who came to power during the same period.

On January 7, 1610, the Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei first of observed what will eventually become known as the moons Io, Europa, Ganymede and Callisto in orbit around Jupiter. In 1772, the Italian born mathematician and astronomer Joseph Louis Lagrange discovers the stationary solutions of the circular restricted Three-body problem which become known as the Lagrangian points. In 1882, Frederic W.H. Myers the founder of the Society for Psychical Research in London first coins the term "Telepathy".

In November 1888, the Vorlons return to Earth once more and find a man known as Mr. Sebastian in London, England. Sebastian had committed what would become a notorious string of mysterious murders in the East End district of Whitechapel. Deciding that this human could serve them, the Vorlons take him away, show him the error of his ways and preserve him to serve as an inquisitor. For the humans left behind the murders and the identity of the killer would remain an unsolved mystery, though nobody would remember the name of Sebastian, in the centuries to come, there were few who would not heard of 'Jack The Ripper'.

In 2085 the Earth Alliance was founded by the countries of Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, Ireland, The Netherlands, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, and the United States in the aftermath of World War III. The founding nations also made great gains in colonizing space by founding colonies and bases on Luna and Mars by 2090. A small number of sub-light sleeper ships were sent into interstellar space.

On April 7, 2156 the first official first contact between Earth and an alien race occurred when a ship from the Centauri Republic came across remote world and decided to open up trade with its eccentric pre-interstellar civilisation. As the Sol System had no jumpgate of its own the Centauri rented the use of their own gates and for a price would even ferry Earth ships aboard their transports. Before long though, the Centauri sold the Earth Alliance the technology to build their own gates as well as jump capable ships.

Humanity quickly made use of faster-than-light travel, assimilated technology, explored space, and made contact with other species, thus establishing itself in the interstellar community. Its location in a relative unimportant, unused region of space gave the Earth Alliance the opportunity to expand its territory rapidly and establish many colonies in less than a century.

After almost a century as an interstellar power, Earth came perilously close to being conquered following the disastrous first contact with the Minbari that precipitated the Earth-Minbari War which saw Earthforce beaten back all they way to the homeworld. At the final Battle of the Line the overwhelming Minbari fleet short before totally annihilating Earth's population and devastating the planet suddenly ceased fire and the Minbari Federation offered their surrender.

The Third Age

Earth's orbital defence grid

In the following decades Earth slowly turned inward as the psychological scars left by humanity's near extinction turned to paranoia and xenophobia. In 2259 EA President Morgan Clark took office following the assassination of his predecessor and pushed Earth further down this path, fostering fear and hatred of aliens and eventually declaring martial law, creating an oppressive police state in the name of planetary security. The regime's hold on power was eventually broken following a civil war initiated by the late General William Hague during the military coup of 2260 and finished with the liberation of Earth in November 2261.

After Clark's suicide, acting EA President Susanna Luchenko agreed to join the new Interstellar Alliance, founded by Delenn and John Sheridan who had lead the renegade liberation fleet against Clark's forces.

Earth is infected by the Drakh plague

In 2266 the Drakh Entire attempted to destroy Earth in the fifth anniversary of the Alliance, first by launching a left-over Shadow Death Cloud and then when it was destroyed by dumping a bio-genetic nano-virus dubbed the "Drakh plague" into the upper atmosphere. A planetary quarantine was immediately put into effect to prevent the plague from spreading, at least until a cure could be found. To that end the Interstellar Alliance lent Earth the use of its most advanced starship; the Excalibur, outfitted with the very best equipment and facilities and tasked the Anla'Shok to assist the Excalibur and it's crew in hunting down any leads that might yield a cure.

By 2271 the plague was gone though a limited quarantine was still in effect to guard against another contagion infecting the biosphere following tenfold increase in travel to ancient and little-known worlds in the wake of the Excalibur's explorations.

In 2762 several isolationist nations on Earth, intent on breaking away from the Interstellar Alliance precipitated a civil war against the loyalist nations and the off-world colonies. The result of which was "The Great Burn", a global cataclysm that devastated the entire surface of the planet. By 3262, the descendents of the survivors lived in a pre-industrial society, having long abandoned the ancient machines, blaming science and technology for the Great Burn. In the midst of all of this the Anla'Shok returned to Earth in secret and slowly, over the course of centuries, helped the planet rebuild and rediscover all that was lost before returning to the stars.

In the year 1,002,261, an unknown force causes Sol to prematurely go nova, annihilating Earth. By that time, humanity had settled the old Vorlon homeworld and had dubbed it New Earth.