Terran Empire

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What PoD do you think is most befetting for the rise of the Terran Empire, ala Stark Trek's mirror universe? According to cannon, I believe the PoD is that in Homer's Iliad, Achiles fails to show a single moment of humanity in his exploits, thus establishing forever that 'humanism' is weakness. Others?
 
Heart of Darkness said:
What PoD do you think is most befetting for the rise of the Terran Empire, ala Stark Trek's mirror universe? According to cannon, I believe the PoD is that in Homer's Iliad, Achiles fails to show a single moment of humanity in his exploits, thus establishing forever that 'humanism' is weakness. Others?

Suppose Christianity with it's ideals (not always pracited, mind), of mercy and justice never came into play? Suppose it was just the Old Testament god all the way?
 
If that were to happen, Judaism would be doomed to wither and die. Mercy and compassion are human qualities, and no culture can afford to deny them for any length of time.

But given that they are an English-speaking, non-racist but strongly species-discriminating civilisation, what about a POD in the 20th century? A stronger Christian influence, emphasising the faith as the unifying bond of all humanity, perhaps in reaction to Fascism or in competition to Communist Internationalism? and then first contact with a species completely alien and widely regarded as inferior?
 
carlton_bach said:
Mercy and compassion are human qualities, and no culture can afford to deny them for any length of time.

I think I'm gonna have to challenge that. Mercy and compassion have developed over the centuries as a desirable trait but survival always comes first. If mercy, compassion or anything else gets in the way of that, then goodbye to those traits.

ES
 
While PoD's based solely upon different developments in religion might be sufficient to explain the Mirror Universe, I think they might also be red herrings that prevent a consideration of other factors.

For instance, human in the Mirror Universe seem to conceptualize their history in terms of endless conflict, as opposised to the humans of the OTL that seem to conceptualize their history in terms of endless exploration. (This is based upon the different focus the Mirror Universe intro has, technological progress in warfare, as opposed to the regular intro, which focuses on technological progress in means of exploration) I.E., humans of the mirror universe view war and conquest not as the darkside of humanity, but rather the brightside of humanity, the face they wish to present to others and themselves.

But there is one fact to consider. In the Mirror Universe, Archer, who is among the first (or second at the most) generation to be exploring space comments that the 'Terran Empire' has endured for Centuries. Now how is that, as two centuries, at the least, would mean the Terran Empire existed in the 1950s?
 
Maybe it came from a strong outgrowth from an earlier league of nations with a reamalgamation of England and the US in some post WW1 affray? That would have created THE dominant world power.

Maybe he was just a little wrong?
 
An American-British Empire combo would be nigh unstoppable except against France, Germany, Russia, China and Japan working together. And that is just not gonna happen.

ES
 
Maybe it came from a strong outgrowth from an earlier league of nations with a reamalgamation of England and the US in some post WW1 affray? That would have created THE dominant world power.

That would be an interesting scenario. I think we could safely assume archer might be off by a decade or two in his pronouncement, meaning that the it could have been formed as late as the 1970s. (Nothing says he was a history major after all.) Centuries, of course, implies that it could be older than two centures, and thus have evolved anytime before 1950 as well.

Whatever it is, It probably traces its roots back to some European polity, calling itself the Terran Empire and all. Suppose some sort of North American / Trans-Atlantic Federation arose out of WWI or Even WWII? That might be a viable PoD

The fact that they speak English seems to limit it to some sort of triumphant / super powered England.
 
Caveat, I'm not a Trekkie so I'm just grabbing this from right here


Any possible "point of divergence" from the traditional Star Trek universe is not confirmed, though there have been different non-canon explanations. According to the FASA role-playing games and The Best of Trek, the mirror universe diverges from our own timeline around the Eugenics Wars, while DC Comics' The Mirror Universe Saga comics speculate the Earth-Romulan War was the point of divergence, with Earth having lost that war, and then embarking on a policy of conquest after overthrowing the Romulans (It is not known what kind of contact Sato's Empire had with the Romulans). Still other non-canon works, the novels of William Shatner's Star Trek: The Mirror Universe Trilogy (co-written with Judith and Garfield Reeves-Stevens) and the novelization of Star Trek: First Contact seem to indicate the time travel of the Borg to Zefram Cochrane's era might be responsible. Episode writers maintain that the mirror universe is not simply an alternate timeline, but instead a parallel universe where the patterns of events move in similar manners, but the intentions and characterizations are different, so the people of the mirror side will always remain (and always have been) skewed versions of their "normal" counterparts, so no true point of divergence can be traced, as the two realms move in a parallel manner. Dark Mirror, a Pocket TNG novel by Diane Duane, places the mirror universe as parallel since at least the end of Homer's Iliad, where the mirror universe Achilles kills old King Priam instead of showing one moment of humanity. After this there seems to be some sort of "moral inversion". For instance, according to Plato the perfect government is now one in which fear is meted out to the people in proper proportion by a wise ruler. Picard notes that the ending of Shakespeare's "Merchant of Venice" is drastically different: Shylock is awarded, and accepts, the owed pound of flesh. This universe is inconsistent with the others in that it was written before the DS9 mirror episodes, and references the Terran Empire as still being active in 2367.
 

Alcuin

Banned
Heart of Darkness said:
What PoD do you think is most befetting for the rise of the Terran Empire, ala Stark Trek's mirror universe? According to cannon, I believe the PoD is that in Homer's Iliad, Achiles fails to show a single moment of humanity in his exploits, thus establishing forever that 'humanism' is weakness. Others?

How about, the White Ship doesn't sink, Stephen is never King of England, England develops much more quickly to the point where it is already overpopulated at the time of the Plague. Some poor soul discovers that mouldy bread, with certain kinds of mould, cures the Plague. The truth emerges that so-called "humanity" is not necessarily the kindest thing, because if all the peasants were well-fed, the efficacy of streptomycin would never have been discovered and the Plague might have wiped out much of Europe's population, holding technology back by three or four hundred years?
 
One moment - penicillin can cure the Plague? And even if yes: If you use mouldy bread, if you're lucky it contains some penicillin. If not, you only make it worse (ok, can't get much worse). Like Terry Pratchett said: During the centuries, there have been probably many experiments with mouldy meat, mouldy apples...
 

Raymann

Banned
Weeee...Timeline!



The alternate universe however is described as being somehow linked to our universe. Events change but people and places resist being ‘butterflied’ out, kinda like Turtledove’s novels. There is no POD here, this timeline has always been slightly divergent.

The “Mirror Universe” 1776 - April 5th, 2063

1776 – The Congress of America declares its independence from the British Empire.

1776-1781 – The newly formed United States of America wins its independence. Over 20,000 loyalists were killed or enslaved as they tried to flee the country. South Carolina tried to stay with Britain but their entire legislature was hanged as traitors and the colony was reincorporated with North Carolina. The government is similar to OTL but the President is much more powerful. America begins construction of a large army and navy.

1899-1817 – Napoleon bid his time and then led a coup to seize power in France. Over the next several years he consolidates his power in Western Europe. His folly’s in Egypt however show that he is not invincible and he is constantly at war with the rest of Europe. In 1803 he sells Louisiana to America and forms a formal alliance against Britain (In his farewell address, Washington states that independence must be maintained at any cost).

1812 – America declares war on Britain, by late 1813 Canada has been completely conquered with captured soldiers sold into slavery. A few Québécois talk about going back to France but they soon disappear. The British burn Washington DC completely to the ground and attack Baltimore although they are forced to withdraw when General Jackson’s army arrives. Betraying their alliance, America signs a treaty with Britain confident that they are no longer a threat to America’s survival.

(note – slavery and the slave trade stay legal although it is not limited by race)

1817 – With the vultures circling, Napoleon falls back to France proper an wages a defensive war. When the Prussian, Russian, and British armies converge on Paris; they burn the city although it was mostly evacuated. Napoleon is found outside the city, hanging from a tree.

1836 – With insistence from the US, Texas declares its independence and immediately asks to be annexed to the US. Although Britain wants to check American power, they are not going to war over Mexico. Although it takes some time, by 1839 American troops reached the UP border (United Provinces of Central America). History is fuzzy here but its estimated that over a million Mexicans died as any village or town that resisted was destroyed with the people still inside. The rest of Mexico quickly fell into line and eventually came to be just as ambitious as other states.

1860 – With the election of Abraham Lincoln, the American South succeeded from the Union and formed the Confederate States of America. (over taxes, but slavery was an issue) Called a confederacy, it was really loose union of almost completely independent states with their governors being virtual dictators. The left the Union for some of OTL’s reasons, the North wanted to end slavery and exploit the South (Mexico didn’t really care). The free labor movement didn’t care about the slaves, they just wanted them not to be enslaved as it depressed prices. In 1861 Lincoln declared martial law over the entire continent to quell (suspected) secessionists movements. The war was over by 1863 as the Confederacy split apart and everyone started looking after their own interests.

(note – since slavery was never seen in racial terms, there was little discrimination against freed blacks even though there were most of the slaves. Escaped slaves were always local heroes where they arrived as they demonstrated strength and courage, values American worshipped)

1863 – Lincoln has every state level and higher office holder in the former Confederacy publicly hanged. Jefferson Davis is tortured to death on the Mall in Washington. As he is whipping the horses that are about to draw Davis, John Wilkes Booth, a Confederate mercenary shoots Lincoln for having his brother executed for treason. Booth is shot right away, Congress is happy martial law is lifted by his successor.

1864 – During his campaign, Andrew Johnson is found murdered on his train car. William Seward is elected President on an expansionist platform. He signs an alliance with Russia and buys Alaska.

1865-1872 – Over his next two terms, all of Latin America and most of Northern South America is conquered by the United States. By 1870, American ironclad battleships can be seen around the globe and America surpassed Britain in economic production. Prussia conquers the rest of Germany and although it can’t crack Austria, France falls easily and loses a lot of territory.

1873-1877 - William Tecumseh Sherman is elected President of the United States over his popularity in crushing the Columbian insurrection. His now famous pre-campaign quote is “If nominated I will win, if elected I will conquer!” The rest of South America falls by the end of his term and as a celebration he commissions a contest to redesign the flag. The winner designed a red flag to represent the blood spilled to come this far with a outline of the globe centered on the Western Hemisphere. As a personal touch, Sherman adds a sword going through the planet which he privately stated was, “a sign of things to come.”

1881 – The United States participates in the dividing up of Africa (there was no Liberia). Small nations are excluded the only colonial powers are the US, Great Britain, Germany, and Italy. Italy just gets Libya, Germany gets East Africa from Tanzania south to South Africa and all of Central Africa south of the Congo. Britain gets most of North Africa south to Kenya and America gets the entire west coast and east until Central Africa. Ethiopia sees the writing on the wall and quickly grabs Somalia and Eritrea before the other powers move in.

1898 – President Theodore Roosevelt declares war on Spain for refusing to sell Cuba and its remaining Caribbean territories. By 1900 Spain has lost its entire colonial empire to America and surrenders before they can invade Spain itself. The Philippians lose almost half their population including nearly every muslim. When this becames public, Roosevelt simply stated, “Terror must be maintained.”

1902 – Roosevelt’s popularity is soaring, on the day he was supposed to announce his reelection campaign, he instead announced that he is dissolving the United States and replacing it with the American Empire. Troops appear and with the Senators and Representatives surrounded, they confirm the changes and dissolve themselves. Roosevelt lets them live as a testament to his legality but whenever he hears some grumbling, some of them disappear. Over the next several years, he completely reforms the government. A puppet legislature is placed and any court ruling can be overruled by Roosevelt. A new Constitution is written which ensures the same rights (in theory) but in practice only lip service is paid to it. The Supreme Court can be overruled by the Senate (of course all the Senators are appointed by Roosevelt). In 1903 Roosevelt declares himself Emperor but makes sure the position isn’t heredity to maintain the illusion that anyone can become emperor.

1904 – The Russo-Japanese War starts. In the interest of showing the world how the Empire isn’t a threat to them, Roosevelt meets with representatives of Japan and Russia in Los Angeles. Upon learning of the strategic situation however, the Empire immediately abrogates its treaty with Russia (it didn’t mean much) and makes a deal with Japan, they get Korea and as many Chinese ports they can take while the US get all Russian territories it can take. Russia finally throws in the towel when it hears Imperial soldiers are fishing on Lake Baikal. Half of Siberia is annexed by the Empire and Korea goes to Japan who immediately began to cleanse the peninsula of anyone who doesn’t convert to Japanese culture.


there shall be more...the other half is somehwere on my computer
 

Alcuin

Banned
Plague cures.

Max Sinister said:
One moment - penicillin can cure the Plague?

No, streptomycin can cure the Plague in the early stages, not penicillin. Yes, I was allowing a great deal of serendipity.
 

Raymann

Banned
Here's the other half, I forgot I burned it to a backup cd I had. :)



1912 - Thomas Woodrow Wilson, stages a coup against Roosevelt, he has a small loyal military unit ambush his hunting party in Africa. Wilson seizes power in Washington and tells the public Roosevelt was killed by a lion. Nobody believes him but that’s as close to a peaceful transition of power as they’re going to get.

(note – the people here are citizens, not subjects. Roosevelt and Wilson set presidents of Emperors behaving like Presidents, not Royalty. There are no other ‘royal’ positions and as said earlier, no one inherits the office)

1914 – Archduke Ferdinand is…blah blah blah…you know the drill. The main difference here is that the Empire sides with Germany and Austria. Britain has always been a thorn in the Empire’s side and there had been low level skirmishing in Africa for years. As a provocation (Wilson though he needed one) the Empire sent a lone grain freighter on its way to Germany. Of course Britain sinks it and America declares war on the Alliance.

1915-1919 – The ‘Empire’ war begins in the Atlantic and Africa. The world’s two strongest empires ignore the other belligerents and go at each others throats. Almost every week for two years there was a sailors body that washed ashore in Massachusetts. The Empire wasn’t able to send many reinforcements to Africa but most people there were already assimilated and it was run separately (The British ran a mostly OTL colonial plan and the occasional genocide didn’t help). By 1917 the British Navy was defeated and an Imperial invasion force landed on Great Britain. General George ‘Black Death’ Pershing razed most of Wales before the rest of the country surrendered. In 1919, Germany had finally conquered France who never surrendered (I’m pretty sure that’s not an ASB, but who knows ). Russia lost a good deal of its territory as well and Italy (who joined Germany) got some of the Balkans. The Ottoman empire still collapsed with its constituent parts becoming independent. Germany was the big winner, during the war it took control of Austria which could barely feed itself. After the war, they annexed it along with most of Europe. The Kaiser declared the Kaiser of all Europe and renamed it the European Empire. The American Empire conquered Ireland and all British territories except South Africa and Australia who become completely independent (and some land in Africa that Germany got to first). In Britain itself, anyone who had a royal title was executed along with most of Parliament, much the same happened across Europe. Russia was a shell of its former self, the Empire though didn’t have the troops the send to Siberia and neither did Russia so the border didn’t change there. Over the next several years, Russia will fall into the European sphere of interest. Former French territories go to Europe except for their possessions in the Americas which of course Germans lets the Empire have.

(a note on democracy, it still exist on the local level in America although anyone claiming a party is arrested as a traitor. Its vanished or simply never appeared anywhere else)

1925 – Most remaining world territory by this time is divided up by the major world powers. Japan evacuates the small enclaves of China as its becoming untenable (they grab some former British territories in the Far East and Taiwan). China, with an unbroken dynastic regime, grabs Tibet and some more territory in the west. Europe gets much of the Middle East except Turkey and the Arabia Peninsula (goes to the American Empire). The Persian Empire which reformed after the war gets a few of the surrounding ‘stans’.

1925-1945 – Known as the “time of peace” as most powers consolidate their gains. Despite the name, millions are killed in forced population movements, exterminations, and assimilations. Basic international institutions pop up mostly in the form of trade pacts. The only independent nations left are: Sweden, Norway, Denmark, The American Empire, The European Empire, The Chinese Empire, The Japanese Empire, The Persian Empire, The Union of South Africa, and the Australian Republic, the latter two run by dictators. Also important is a revitalization of interest in classical literature and thought. The term ‘terran’ is beginning to outpace ‘human’ when speaking of all the people of Earth. First and foremost still, people are loyal to their governments. Emperors during this period include Huey Long, J, Edgar Hoover, and Joseph McCarthy in America. Fredrick II and Adolf Hitler (coup) in Germany, and just Hirohito in Japan.

1945 – Dissatisfied over Scandinavia’s reluctance to integrate further with Europe, the European Empire ‘all of a sudden’ declares war and invades with other two million troops. The only reason the war took four months was because of guerilla resistance in the mountains.

1946 – fearful over Europe’s power, Russia and Persia sign a formal alliance. It won’t do much to slow Europe down if they wanted to invade but America made it clear it wouldn’t be too happy if war came.

1951 – The American Empire secretly detonates a nuclear bomb in the Mojave desert. After seeing footage, Emperor Patton decides to keep it a secret but continue development.

1955 – Weary over America’s probing in Tibet (part of China) and Kuwait (part of Persia), the two form another alliance focused on the Empire. Emperor Patton is somewhat concerned with this although the two weren’t really a threat to him. America forms the World Trade Organization, a cooperative venture with Japan and Europe to patrol the worlds oceans protecting trade from ‘pirates’ (more for surveillance).

1960 – Emperor John Kennedy seizes power from the weak (and brief) reign of Emperor Adlai Ewing Stevenson II. He was most famous for saying, “Let every nation know, whether it wishes us ill will or not, that we are not friends, we will crush all those that oppose us or get in our way. This nation does not have friends, we only have allies and only as long as they are useful.” Kennedy uses the increased animosity to start a space race and he commissions the Apollo program.

1967 – Martin Luther King has Kennedy assassinated and he takes the throne. King rehauls much of the American social system and ends what few private charity organizations are left saying, “if they have the money to give it away, they might as well use it to support their country.” He taxes them out of existence.

1969 – Apollo 11 lands on the moon. According the Buzz Aldrin, Neil Armstrong died when his head hit the bulkhead during the landing in the lunar module. Aldrin is the first man to step foot on the moon and his first words are, “I claim this moon in the name of the American Empire”. Naturally other countries protest.

1970 – in response to America claiming the Moon, Australia claims Antarctica. The Moon was a political move but most of the Empire’s had based in Antarctica and Australia just told them to get out. With his reorganization, Emperor King had almost a million soldiers in the Philippians and a major navel base at Subic Bay. In a lighting strike, Sydney is annihilated in a mushroom cloud and resistance on the mainland goes downhill from there. Amazingly enough, some resistance holds out another year on Tasmania but is soon snuffed out. Antarctica is divided up on the Empire’s terms after that. Within the next 10 years; Japan, Europe, China, and Russia all development nuclear weapons but America is still two generations ahead of them, they already have ballistic submarines on patrol.

1980 – Emperor King becomes to first Emperor to actually retire without dying in office or being assassinated. His chooses Jimmy Carter to replace him. Before he ascends to office however, reports surface that he shot two people snooping around his peanut farm. Normally this would not be a problem as most Emperors did some killing but these turned out to be just kids. Ronald Regan used this to his advantage and ascended to Emperor.

1982 – Regan highly publicizes South African atrocities in their concentration camps for political prisoners. South African dictator Nelson Mandela fires back that America does the same (it does but in the middle of the desert). Regain finally invades although Europe (still in East Africa) protests because of the strategic importance of the cape.

1985 – Regan’s rhetoric reaches unprecedented heights, almost declaring war on the entire planet in every speech. Japan abrogates the WTO pack and allies with China (they both realize their borders aren’t going to change much). This new “Eastern Coalition” realizes it might have the makings of something import and invites Russia and Turkey to join (they do in ’91).

1990 – Regan dies of what the CIA doctors call a heart attack. CIA director William Jefferson Clinton assumes the title of Emperor soon after. It is curious to note the previous CIA director, George H.W. Bush died the same way.

1994 – In response to the forming of the Eastern Coalition, the American and European Empires form the Western Alliance. Cold Wars are nothing new but this one takes the cake.

1995-2053 – The ‘Undeclared War’ quietly rages across the globe. Over the decades, technology explodes across the globe. Space is a constant battlefield and military science repeats the process of measure/counter-measure over and over again. Each side supplies weapons and armaments to rebel groups within the others borders but all these are harshly crushed. In 2006, Emperor Vicente Fox sparks a major rebellion in Eastern Turkey which spreads to Persia. Russia soon annexes both areas although they are partially administered by the Coalition. In 2025, Emperor Bobby Jindal manages to bribe several European military figures into launching a coup. After Jindal grabs power, he purges most of the European political establishment and solidifies loyalty. The Russian Empire (the new leader of the Coalition) does much the same in China and Japan although the people are afraid enough to simply let it happen.

2053 – Emperor Adrik Thorsen orders the assault team of space platform to seize a new advanced satellite launched by the Coalition. The Coalition responds by destroying the space platform. A few hours later nuclear missiles are launched and the world plunges into nuclear war. The Alliance had a good anti-missile system but several nukes still got though destroying several major cities and military bases. The Coalition didn’t has as good a system and the Alliance used advanced stealth technology on their missiles. The exchange ended soon after with the Eastern Coalition completely destroyed, over 1.2 Billion deal. The Alliance ‘won’ the war but collapsed all the same. A government still existed but it was severely weakened and over the next several years, several areas formed their own associations while still claiming allegiance to the Emperor.

April 5th, 2063 – Physicist Zefram Cochrane (later Emperor) launched a converted nuclear missile and made humanity’s first faster-then-light journey. He had to first take control of most of Eastern Montana to secure materials/money and ruled from Bozeman. Later that evening an alien spacecraft landed outside of the town and an alien came out and used a strange gesture in greeting, he also said, “live long and prosper”. As a scientist Cochrane was curious and tried to imitate it but couldn’t. He then realized he was standing in front of an alien spacecraft that made his look primitive so he pulled out his shotgun and fire at the alien. His bodyguard knew what he was thinking and yelled, “Board their ship, take everything you can!”
 
POD 4th July 1776 - America lost the revolutionary war, meaning it never went independent making it become part of the British Empire, which was then not only the largest but the most powerful country to ever exist this means that the Empire didn't fall in WWII and they eventually went on to conquer the entire world and eventually it became known as the Terran Empire. Every one is evil because in the Mirror Universe everyone has the opposite personality, but intelligent people are still intelligent and strong people are still strong etc..
 
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