Around the 2190s, paranormal enthusiasts noted a substantial increase in UFO sightings, up from 241 in 2185, to 6,617 in 2195. The rise in numbers was one thing, but even more interesting was that the reports all described the same thing: round, shiny, roughly 200 meters across, and emitting a loud, low hum. Alien fever spread across the world as more people saw these mysterious objects, fearing an invasion, but for the most part, the sightings were regarded as mass hysteria by the scientific community. Until one was spotted over Shanghai, and seen by millions, in the early morning of June 6 2204.
On September 5th 2205, the United Nations called an emergency session, because it had been confirmed that over 6,000 UFOs were in orbit around Earth, and that a transmission from them had been deciphered. The Aliens were called the N'athak Empire, a fungoid species of aliens originating from the Aquila Constellation, that, for the last 600 years, had been colonizing dozens of solar systems, forging an empire uniting five species: The N'athak, the mushroom-like ruling class; The Ngunana, Mammalian aliens resembling the centaurs of old myth, but more feline than equine, including the front part; The Sheshath, ambulatory plants with vine-like tentacles and compound eyes; The Xaxanax, reptilian aliens resembling anthropomorphic crocodilians; and the Paruu, feathered humanoids that look like large flightless parrots. The N'athak wanted Humans to become the sixth "Brother Race", and were offered to become a new autonomous prefecture of the Empire.
For thousands of years Humans believed they were the supreme lifeforms, that all life was lesser than them, and they and they alone would shape the future. Being faced with four new species that were technologically superior and just as intelligent as them shattered this illusion and provoked a negative reaction, the humans rejected the proposal, insulted at the prospect of sharing their world with non-humans.
The N'athak responded with firepower, if the humans wouldn't come by choice, they would come by force. A N'athak neutron bomb was detonated in the Sahara as a warning shot. That was more than enough to convince the humans to reconsider. On October 1, 2205, Representatives of the ten most powerful nations on Earth, acting as ambassadors for the whole species, signed a treaty with N'athak Prime Minister Xu'ala Mxolt', officially joining Earth into the N'athak Empire, as the Prefecture of Terra.
For the next 250 years, N'athak rule on Earth was largely benevolent. Humans were given equal rights to the other species of the Empire, and enjoyed many of the technological advancements the Empire brought, such as medical technology that made long-feared diseases such as Ebola and AIDS a thing of the past. However, despite the fairly comfortable life of humans under the N'athak and the propaganda of the "Brother Races", there was no illusion that the N'athak were the ruling class. Non-N'athak rarely had the opportunity to gain meaningful jobs in government or the military outside of local positions, and when they did, it was usually from tokenism rather than any merit.
The first real conflict came in 2215, just ten years after the union, when the N'athak demanded that human leaders allow the other five species to settle on Earth. There were riots, and frequent attacks on alien colonists (colloquially referred to as "Exos"), until the 2260s, when most people had simply accepted that this was life under the empire. However, the alien colonist debates started up a small movement calling for Earth to leave the empire, the largest organization, the Terran Liberation Front was founded in 2235, calling for peaceful separation of Earth, although it radicalized over the following years. The N'athak didn't seem to care or notice, as the TLF was never persecuted or suppressed.
In 2456, Emperor Kagshthash IV and his heir, crown prince Zhupp, died in a massive earthquake on the N'athak homeworld, plunging the empire into a succession crisis as different factions across the 16 systems under N'athak rule struggled for power. The Earth separatists saw this as their time to strike, and with sympathetic Exos on their side, managed to launch a revolt. The N'athak warlord, Gere'utal, stationed around Mars at the time and loyal to Zhupp's brother and the eventual victor of the succession war, Feres, began to retaliate against Earth. For decades, missile strikes were arranged against power plants, dams, roads, ports, railroads, and airstrips to destroy any infrastructure the rebels could use, and high powered neutron bomb strikes were launched on tens of thousands of cities. Despite this, the rebellion continued for almost 50 years until 2501, when Feres, victorious in his struggle, conceded defeat and ordered Yu'u'te, Gere'utal's successor, to return to the nearest N'athak ruled system. The Sol system was abandoned, and Humans were free of alien rule for the first time in nearly 300 years.
But the victory came at a grave cost. Before the revolt, there were about 12 billion humans and 800 million Exos on earth. At the time that Yu'u'te left, there were 2.4 Billion humans and 20 Million Exos left alive, a total population drop of 81%.
Human traveller Martin Hendricks wrote of the carnage in the ruins of Tokyo, one of the first cities to be hit, visiting a month after it was bombed, which had gone from a population of nearly 15 million to only around 300. "You would think the metropolis had been abandoned, if it weren't for the ocean of skeletons that fill the streets. The buildings stand as empty shells of what once was, frozen in time from the moment the bomb hit. I imagine that most inhabitants had seen Gere'utal's warship above the city and had come out into the streets to see it, not knowing that in only a few seconds, they would be dead as high radiation scorched the flesh off their bones." Steven Myxriw, a Xaxanax who had lived in Boston, was a witness to one of the bombings, and wrote in his memoirs, published in 2540 "I was young when the rebellion started. We didn't think much of it, really. My grandfather had seen the riots of the 2200s when he came to this world, and we figured it would be like that, that it would die down soon enough and things would go back to normal. We were out of town that day, a family reunion at my uncle's home on a hill a few miles away. We could see Boston from there, the massive city looked small from so far away. Then we saw the ship descend. I had never seen a N'athak ship myself, so it was exciting, but I knew something was wrong when I noticed how worried all the adults were. I watched the cargo bay of the ship open up, revealing a red and white striped bomb, it reminded me of the Christmas Canes that my human friends at school had shown me. Then it fell, and Boston was drowned in blinding light. My aunt rushed us all inside, and we didn't leave the basement until a week later. I still live in my Uncle's house. I see the Shell of Boston every day, but I know I can't ever go there, I wouldn't be able to handle what I would see."
Over a century has passed since the Great Terran Revolt ended, and civilization has begun to rebuild. In what was once Southwestern Britain, small states fight for supremacy as bands of raiders haunt the no-man's land that now makes up much of the world. In the remains of Neutron-bombed cities, known as shells, small scavenger communes gather anything they can find from the ruins and travel across the wastes, selling what they find to whoever is willing to buy.
The Cornish Republic, a small democratic republic, is at the very end of a peninsula, keeping it a safe distance away from potential enemies that could attack it. To the immediate east is the Devonian Union and the Union of North Devon and Lundy, two nations with similar names, but very different. The largely human northern nation is constantly on the brink of civil war between pro-exo and anti-exo factions, but the southern one is stable and thriving thanks to it's pacifism keeping it out of conflicts. The next human nations to the east are the Kingdoms of Wight and Wessex, with the long-term goals of uniting the entire Island under their rule. Wight is ruled by the House of Windsor, who ruled Britain from 1910 to 2205, and even stayed as vassal rulers under the N'athak to the present. Wessex is ruled by an anti-exo warlord who proclaimed himself king, and is Wight's chief rival. To the north in what was once Wales, another pair of human nations, the Principality of Wales, which is isolated and secretive, and the Pembroke People's Republic, a staunchly anti-exo state that follows a largely forgotten old human ideology known as "communism".
There are also a handful of exo-ruled nations in the region.The N'athak Republic of Portland is entirely N'athak, and still loyal to the empire. They want to wipe out the other species and return Erath to N'athak rule, but their disorganization and infighting keeps them from making much progress. Just to their north is the Technate of Dorchester, ruled by a council of Paruu scientists and engineers, who have helped keep Portsmouth in check when it looks like they're getting too strong. To the Northeast of them is the Union of the A-4, named after the old road it stretches along, a small merchant republic of connected towns inhabited mostly by Xaxanax. Just north of that is the United Duchies of the Cotswolds, a Paruu state, an isolationist, pacifist society that is deeply wary of outsiders, especially if they aren't Paruu. And then, roughly halfway between Wales and Pembroke is the Ngunana Duchy of Gower, small, wealthy, and pacifist.
Not all states in the region are dominated by one-species though, there are some that are heavily mixed. The United Nations of Wessex is a major one, seeking to destroy the Kingdom of Wessex and spread interspecies harmony, the two fight frequently, but the UN has the upper hand thanks to support from Wight. The Commune of Milton Keynes is another such example, a dictatorship run by a triumvirate representing it's three species, one consul each for the Humans, the Shesath, and the Ngunana. between Dorchester and the two Wessexes is the Republic of Yeovil, a small, pacifist, agricultural republic that mostly trades with caravans from the shells, and not much else. Finally, there's the Union of Newbury, which little is known about due to it's borders being fiercely protected by a multispecies militia.
Out in the rest of the region, the no-man's land dotted with the abandoned husks of towns, there are six known groups. One of them is the Terran Liberation Front, a far cry from the peaceful seperatists of old, now violent human supremacists who not only murder any exo they find, but proudly display their bodies by tying them to posts in their territory as a warning, especially near their base, Camp Gaia. between Cornwall and a small TLF exclave at Launceston is the Hospital, a three-town network of multispecies volunteers that give medical care to any who come, regardless of faction, everyone accepts it as a neutral zone, and even a TLF fighter and a N'athak supremacist will put aside their differences while in their care. from the ruins of a town named Okehampton is the base for the Mad Dogs, a sadistic gang of raiders that launch attacks against whoever or whatever they can find, even the nearby Exeter Shell, even though shells are almost always treated with coutersy by the other factions. The Mad Dogs are also mercenaries for hire, and even though many members are exos, are frequently hired by the Kingdom of Wessex. Near the border with North Devon is the town of Barnstaple, the stronghold of the Libararians, an order that seeks to preserve pre-revolt culture, history, and technology by buying books and artifacts from the shell caravans. Largely cutting off Milton Keynes from the rest of the region is the Brotherhood of the New Dawn, a cult that emerged in the last few decades, claiming that the destruction of the revolt is an opportunity for a new start. They're fairly peaceful, but will kill anyone who doesn't follow their prophet's word to the exact letter. Finally, there is the Knights of Glyndwr in the area between Pembroke and Gower. They embrace the lifestyle and dress of knights from Earth history over 1000 years ago, and seem silly to most observers, but, they can be hired as assassins, and despite their bulky suits of armor and lack of modern weapons, have a body count that in the thousands.
