Terrans are the name used by humans in the fictional
StarCraft universe to disinguish between them and real-life humans.
Their history had diverged from ours by the end of the twnty first century, and private firms developed cybertechnology and genetic manipulation techniques. As the human gene pool warped, fundamentalists and other conservative organizations clashed with these corporations and their results.
By the twenty third century, the human population had reached 23 billion and was still growing. As the huge population caused the implosion of many economies, the New Word Order, officially known as the United Powers League, was founded, on November 22, 2229. Replacing the defunct United Nations, it directly controlled 93% of Earth. Only a small number of Latin American countries remained outside it's sphere of influence.
The UPL claimed it was an "enlightened socialist" - one of it's first acts was to attempt to end racial separation - but frequently resorted to fascist tactics. It destroyed many old languages and religions, imposing English as the primary world wide language.
While not a religious organization, the UPL embraced the philosophy of "the divinity of mankind". Hard-line members of the UPL launched Project Purification to remove mutations and unneccessary cybernetic prosthetics from the human population.
The UPL sent troops around the world, collecting hackers, synthetics, the cybernetically enhanced, tech-pirates, and criminals of every kind to throw into prisons. In the process, 400 million people were killed. However, the UPL controlled the media to such an extent that the general population was not informed of these events.
The UPL also developed warp drive and cryonic technologies, opening the frontiers of space. It also founded colonies on moons and planets in the Solar System.
During this period, a brilliant young scientist named Doran Routhe made plans to consolidate his power within the UPL. It was very risky, but he had no problem with sending political prisoner lab rats to their deaths. Fifty six thousand prisoners were (secretly) prepared for transport, and of these forty thousand were loaded into four sleeper-ships designated the Reagan, the Argo, the Sarengo, and the Nagglfar and loaded for a 1 year journey into deep space to Gantris VI, an outlying planet. The Nagglfar, was also equipped with an artificial intelligence called ATLAS. Routhe believed they would set up a colony and mine new resources for the United Powers League.
ATLAS scanned the prisoners, and discovered something unusual about them - a high proportion of them had a mutation leading to psionic potential. While currently weak, it would manifest in only a few generations. This information was logged and sent back to Earth. This may explain how the United Powers League came to know of this experiment.
However, the guidance computer failed, and they traveled at faster than light speeds for 30 years, travelling 60 light years. Eventually the warp engines failed, and the ships emerged within a star system which contained a myriad of barren, if habitable, planets. This event would become known as the Long Sleep.
The Sarengo crashed on Umoja, killing 8,000 prisoners, the survivors of the Reagan founded the colony of Umoja, the survivors of the Argo founded the colony of Moria on a resource-rich world, and the survivors of the Nagglfar built what would become the main Terran colony in the sector: Tarsonis.
When they awoke, the survivors had no idea where they were or where Earth was: all hope of making contact again was lost.
As the Tarsonians had access to ATLAS, they had a technological head-start on their stellar neighbours. Even so, it took them sixty years to build second generation subwarp engines and explore the rest of the system, discovering the other two colonies.
Terrans at War
Tarsonis attempted to convince the other two colonies to join in a conglomerate government (they refused) even as it created a large number of new colonies. By the time of the Guild Wars, Tarsonis had founded seven other colonies within the star system, including Korhal, and was calling it's government an interstellar Terran Confederacy. Thus the Kel-Morian Combine was formed; a "pirate militia" which aided any of Moria's mining guilds that came into conflict with the Confederates. This led to a rise of tensions between Moria and the Terran Confederacy, leading to the Terran Guild Wars.
During the four-year war, the Morians used the Larscorp Goliath, which was well-suited to the constant urban warfare. Corporate information liberations stole the plans for the Goliath for the Confederate, who built them as well.
Space warfare was conducted between large battlecruisers and medium-sized gunships. The latter would be replaced by Wraith fighters at some point after the war.
After four years, the Confederates declared victory after "negotiating" peace with the Kel-Morian Combine. Moria was left independent, but it's supporting guilds were annexed. Since then, Moria has founded new mining colonies and provided the Terran Confederacy with so much money that they are effectively immune to Confederate laws.
As a response to the defeat of the Kel-Morian Combine, the Umojan government developed it's own "pirate militia", called the Umojan Protectorate.
Meanwhile Confederates prospectors founded many new colonies and Confederate enforcement agencies abused the colonists. Many rebel groups sprung up against the Confederates, such as the Colonial Liberation Army, but were rarely any match for the Confederates.
Rebellion of Korhal
Korhal, one of the oldest
Terran Confederate colonies, was a world of affluence. It's people, however, resented their affiliation with the corrupt Confederate senators.
Tensions arose between the colonists and the Confederates as the citizens began to revolt against the local Confederate militia. The Confederates imposed martial law, but the revolt refused to die out.
Korhalian Senator Angus Mengsk became a leader of the Korhalian revolt, issuing fiery statements declaring that the Confederacy no longer held any claim over the world of Korhal.
The revolt was successful enough to drive the Confederates from the planet, as the Confederacy decided on a new tactic. Three agents known as Ghosts killed him and most of his family in the capital city, Styrling, and his head was never found. This did much to weaken the revolt.
Arcturus Mengsk, Angus's son, a former Confederate Colonel and prospector, was embarrassed by his father's actions, and while aware of Confederate corruption, was generally uninterested in Koprulu Sector politics. However, he was outraged by the death of his family and returned to his home of Korhal to continued the rebellion. He rallied the militant groups that had followed his father and created an army which struck at varoius Confederate bases and installations. When he was gone to visit Umoja, an important rival of the Terran Confederacy, the Confederates fired 1000 Apocalypse-class nuclear missiles at the planet, wiping out all life on the surface.
Next: StarCraft Prequel
References
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
