MasterChief096
2011-10-22, 04:31 PM
So I read the latest back-story update about humanity's resource wars and decided to type up a little something that goes further back into earth's history regarding the beginning of these wars. Far enough back in fact to be applicable to modern times. The story starts in 2046. Read it, and choose to accept it as early history of PlanetSide or not, but its completely for fun and its quite interesting (I think). I'm considering contacting SOE and seeing if they would be interested in publishing this on a wiki or on their website as canon in the future if they (and perhaps you) think its worthy.
The Beginning
The year 2046 marked a savage age for humankind. It was in this year that the last of the world’s fossil fuel reserves were on the brink of depletion. Skyrocketing fuel prices rendered nearly 900 million motorized vehicles worldwide useless. Energy companies failed to provide citizens around the globe with reliable power. Petro based fertilizers became non-existent and thus agricultural production plummeted. So-called “modern day” humans reverted to savagery, rioting, and looting.
The last of the world’s fuel reserves became top national interests. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea struck first. Around the globe, previous hegemons were struggling with holding their nations together, and preventing complete and total societal collapse. Even before the energy crisis, North Korea had suffered from daily countrywide blackouts. Seeing the communications breakdown in the United States and her allies, North Korea (secretly backed with Chinese supplies and material goods) preemptively struck its southern counterpart. The People’s Republic of China, with North Korean symbols painted on its aircraft, obliterated the DMZ with no warning. The United States withdrew its remaining forces to Japan and decided not to intervene in the DPRK’s conquest of South Korea.
The North Korean victory was, however, futile. As worldwide resources became ever rarer, their nation eventually collapsed into complete and total anarchy. The Kim regime had been the first targets, by both the military and the people. China decided to intervene and to stop the chaos and instituted a puppet government loyal to the People’s Republic. During the conflicts ravaging North Korea, China was fighting its own internal problems. The lack of fossil fuels globally meant that China could not sustain its massive population. Everyone deemed “unfit” was systematically executed. Over 350 million Chinese were killed, all foreigners extradited, and another 200 million forced to work in factories and labor zones at bare minimum nutrition.
Similar genocides happened elsewhere in the world. India dubbed its exterminations as “riot control”. Autocrats were rising to power even in traditionally democratic countries. The United States amended its constitution to allow for immediate presidential action, the people were in full support. Although no genocide happened within the USA, the actions the US government and military would commit around the globe were monstrous. Taking full advantage of global chaos, Islamic extremists managed to claim and detonate a 400Kt nuclear weapon in the heart of Israel. The Middle East became a stomping ground. Thousands flocked to the causes of extremists and thousands more to autocrats promising a better world.
Shortly after the outburst of unprecedented violence in the Middle East, the US, China, and the EU banned together and simultaneously invaded this entire region to secure oil and fossil fuel assets. Saudi Arabia was the staging ground for the EU and the USA, whereas China defeated Iran and used it as its primary base of operations. All three nations subjugated citizens of this area into forced labor, and killed millions more. Massive amounts of refugees fled into Africa and north toward Russia, which had re-occupied Central Asia for the limited fuel reserves there. The Russian Federation had decided to not join the other three powers and instead focus on reclaiming its former satellites with fossil fuel potential. Through legal means, Ukraine blended back into the Russian Federation, the benefit of which was mass genocide of the Ukrainian population with the survivors being forced to work its vast agricultural fields to feed the Russian population.
Africa was ironically doing the best in the world. Despite several nations being invaded by the second “Triple Alliance”, most rural Africans had been used to living without the need of petro-based products for centuries. Only the major African cities saw mass starvation and chaos, with the rural regions being largely undisturbed. Subsistence farming that had worked in the past, was working still. Former rebel groups and paramilitary organizations butchered and massacred any city folk that tried to make their way into the countryside to take part in subsistence agriculture. The massive resource cost of occupying the Middle East kept US, EU, and Chinese interference at bay. Religious extremism and disease were Africa’s greatest threats. With no modern medicinal treatments or organizations operating on the continent, millions more than previous were dying of disease. Extremist groups relocated to the African continent to escape eventual death at the hands of the second Triple Alliance.
With little technological progress happening at this stage, the end of humanity seemed inevitable. As resources became further depleted, the second Triple Alliance eventually crumbled. The United States had proposed a plan to invade the Russian Federation to the People’s Republic of China, though it was a ruse. When China had its forces mobilized to invade Russia through Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and its own border, the United States launched a surprise nuclear attack on Chinese military formations. US bombers launched the most massive air raid in human history from the island of Japan, which eviscerated Chinese industry and communications. With no other option, China withdrew everyone from the Middle East and returned home, eventually crumbling into anarchy. Millions more Chinese died from the coming starvation, rioting, and petty power squabbles. Simultaneously the United States had fabricated sufficient evidence to place blame for the nuclear attack on the European Union. The Russian Federation, being the biggest victim of the fallout, promptly invaded Eastern Europe. With the two powers locked in a struggle, the USA finally controlled all of the Middle East’s oil assets.
Oil production had been on the decline since the beginning of the conflict in 2046. It was now the year 2052. The last of the Middle East’s reserves were pumped from the ground. Europe was ravaged by war. Estimated worldwide casualties not only from armed conflict, but from the plummet of agricultural production, and the depletion of the substance that provided modern society with a means of existing, was estimated at around 5 billion (from a total 7.2 billion in 2046). At this moment, the United States had decided to start pumping its own continental and Alaskan oil reserves (which it had been keeping a secret for decades). Seeing the potential for the end of modern civilization, the United States devised a plan to save it. The first step was population control in the US itself. A child policy was instituted that placed a one-child limit on every family with no children, and a zero child policy on every family with one or more children. A monthly electronic census was created. If the population exceeded expected projections, a no child period was put into effect immediately, until enough people died to once again allow for the previous policy.
The next step the US government took was to militarily evacuate any intellectuals left in the world regarding a varying range of scientific fields, primarily renewable energy. Since the start of global chaos in 2046, the USA had been forcefully kidnapping and evacuating the world’s brightest individuals and keeping them “prisoner” in the continental United States. Most of these people willingly went with the US, to be part of what was to be dubbed “Operation Resilience”. The population of the United States hovered at approximately 400 million. Refugees from several military conflicts south of the US were executed on sight. There was no food to feed extra mouths. The US military was ruthless in preventing excess population from entering the nation. The “Safeguarding” Act was passed allowing citizens to form paramilitary-type organizations that helped patrol the borders.
Over the next five years, the world population dropped to roughly 800 million globally. 400 million of which were in the US. Their existence was made possible by vicious US military action around the globe to seize vital natural resource deposits. Nearly 100% of the world’s scientific community was located in the US, seeking a fast solution to the energy crisis. Strict regulations were put into effect in the USA, which included food rations, and maximum factory production to not quickly deplete the remaining US oil reserves. Scientists worked non-stop to perfect a form of solar energy that utilized 150% more energy from the sun than current solar panels. Similar research was done in the fields of hydrogen and nuclear fusion. Had the world known that the depletion of oil was so near, perhaps it could have had time to switch to nuclear power and renewable energy to avoid such a calamity.
Two years later, the solar field saw its breakthrough. Another three and nuclear fusion became virtually completely safe and harmless. It was to usher in an age of rebuilding. This reconstruction of the world, spearheaded by the United States, was not to be free of American goals, however. Certain actions in the future would ultimately plunge humanity back into another resource war, one that would be just as severe if not even more deadly.
The Beginning
The year 2046 marked a savage age for humankind. It was in this year that the last of the world’s fossil fuel reserves were on the brink of depletion. Skyrocketing fuel prices rendered nearly 900 million motorized vehicles worldwide useless. Energy companies failed to provide citizens around the globe with reliable power. Petro based fertilizers became non-existent and thus agricultural production plummeted. So-called “modern day” humans reverted to savagery, rioting, and looting.
The last of the world’s fuel reserves became top national interests. The Democratic People’s Republic of Korea struck first. Around the globe, previous hegemons were struggling with holding their nations together, and preventing complete and total societal collapse. Even before the energy crisis, North Korea had suffered from daily countrywide blackouts. Seeing the communications breakdown in the United States and her allies, North Korea (secretly backed with Chinese supplies and material goods) preemptively struck its southern counterpart. The People’s Republic of China, with North Korean symbols painted on its aircraft, obliterated the DMZ with no warning. The United States withdrew its remaining forces to Japan and decided not to intervene in the DPRK’s conquest of South Korea.
The North Korean victory was, however, futile. As worldwide resources became ever rarer, their nation eventually collapsed into complete and total anarchy. The Kim regime had been the first targets, by both the military and the people. China decided to intervene and to stop the chaos and instituted a puppet government loyal to the People’s Republic. During the conflicts ravaging North Korea, China was fighting its own internal problems. The lack of fossil fuels globally meant that China could not sustain its massive population. Everyone deemed “unfit” was systematically executed. Over 350 million Chinese were killed, all foreigners extradited, and another 200 million forced to work in factories and labor zones at bare minimum nutrition.
Similar genocides happened elsewhere in the world. India dubbed its exterminations as “riot control”. Autocrats were rising to power even in traditionally democratic countries. The United States amended its constitution to allow for immediate presidential action, the people were in full support. Although no genocide happened within the USA, the actions the US government and military would commit around the globe were monstrous. Taking full advantage of global chaos, Islamic extremists managed to claim and detonate a 400Kt nuclear weapon in the heart of Israel. The Middle East became a stomping ground. Thousands flocked to the causes of extremists and thousands more to autocrats promising a better world.
Shortly after the outburst of unprecedented violence in the Middle East, the US, China, and the EU banned together and simultaneously invaded this entire region to secure oil and fossil fuel assets. Saudi Arabia was the staging ground for the EU and the USA, whereas China defeated Iran and used it as its primary base of operations. All three nations subjugated citizens of this area into forced labor, and killed millions more. Massive amounts of refugees fled into Africa and north toward Russia, which had re-occupied Central Asia for the limited fuel reserves there. The Russian Federation had decided to not join the other three powers and instead focus on reclaiming its former satellites with fossil fuel potential. Through legal means, Ukraine blended back into the Russian Federation, the benefit of which was mass genocide of the Ukrainian population with the survivors being forced to work its vast agricultural fields to feed the Russian population.
Africa was ironically doing the best in the world. Despite several nations being invaded by the second “Triple Alliance”, most rural Africans had been used to living without the need of petro-based products for centuries. Only the major African cities saw mass starvation and chaos, with the rural regions being largely undisturbed. Subsistence farming that had worked in the past, was working still. Former rebel groups and paramilitary organizations butchered and massacred any city folk that tried to make their way into the countryside to take part in subsistence agriculture. The massive resource cost of occupying the Middle East kept US, EU, and Chinese interference at bay. Religious extremism and disease were Africa’s greatest threats. With no modern medicinal treatments or organizations operating on the continent, millions more than previous were dying of disease. Extremist groups relocated to the African continent to escape eventual death at the hands of the second Triple Alliance.
With little technological progress happening at this stage, the end of humanity seemed inevitable. As resources became further depleted, the second Triple Alliance eventually crumbled. The United States had proposed a plan to invade the Russian Federation to the People’s Republic of China, though it was a ruse. When China had its forces mobilized to invade Russia through Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and its own border, the United States launched a surprise nuclear attack on Chinese military formations. US bombers launched the most massive air raid in human history from the island of Japan, which eviscerated Chinese industry and communications. With no other option, China withdrew everyone from the Middle East and returned home, eventually crumbling into anarchy. Millions more Chinese died from the coming starvation, rioting, and petty power squabbles. Simultaneously the United States had fabricated sufficient evidence to place blame for the nuclear attack on the European Union. The Russian Federation, being the biggest victim of the fallout, promptly invaded Eastern Europe. With the two powers locked in a struggle, the USA finally controlled all of the Middle East’s oil assets.
Oil production had been on the decline since the beginning of the conflict in 2046. It was now the year 2052. The last of the Middle East’s reserves were pumped from the ground. Europe was ravaged by war. Estimated worldwide casualties not only from armed conflict, but from the plummet of agricultural production, and the depletion of the substance that provided modern society with a means of existing, was estimated at around 5 billion (from a total 7.2 billion in 2046). At this moment, the United States had decided to start pumping its own continental and Alaskan oil reserves (which it had been keeping a secret for decades). Seeing the potential for the end of modern civilization, the United States devised a plan to save it. The first step was population control in the US itself. A child policy was instituted that placed a one-child limit on every family with no children, and a zero child policy on every family with one or more children. A monthly electronic census was created. If the population exceeded expected projections, a no child period was put into effect immediately, until enough people died to once again allow for the previous policy.
The next step the US government took was to militarily evacuate any intellectuals left in the world regarding a varying range of scientific fields, primarily renewable energy. Since the start of global chaos in 2046, the USA had been forcefully kidnapping and evacuating the world’s brightest individuals and keeping them “prisoner” in the continental United States. Most of these people willingly went with the US, to be part of what was to be dubbed “Operation Resilience”. The population of the United States hovered at approximately 400 million. Refugees from several military conflicts south of the US were executed on sight. There was no food to feed extra mouths. The US military was ruthless in preventing excess population from entering the nation. The “Safeguarding” Act was passed allowing citizens to form paramilitary-type organizations that helped patrol the borders.
Over the next five years, the world population dropped to roughly 800 million globally. 400 million of which were in the US. Their existence was made possible by vicious US military action around the globe to seize vital natural resource deposits. Nearly 100% of the world’s scientific community was located in the US, seeking a fast solution to the energy crisis. Strict regulations were put into effect in the USA, which included food rations, and maximum factory production to not quickly deplete the remaining US oil reserves. Scientists worked non-stop to perfect a form of solar energy that utilized 150% more energy from the sun than current solar panels. Similar research was done in the fields of hydrogen and nuclear fusion. Had the world known that the depletion of oil was so near, perhaps it could have had time to switch to nuclear power and renewable energy to avoid such a calamity.
Two years later, the solar field saw its breakthrough. Another three and nuclear fusion became virtually completely safe and harmless. It was to usher in an age of rebuilding. This reconstruction of the world, spearheaded by the United States, was not to be free of American goals, however. Certain actions in the future would ultimately plunge humanity back into another resource war, one that would be just as severe if not even more deadly.