Earth


 * The following article is about the current status of Earth in the Gateway RP. For information on Vor, click here.



Earth is one of the latest planets to join the IPC and is home to the fleshy but resilient human race. We don't need to tell you that much about them, do we? Earth is one of the many locations in Oltair.

Inhabitants
In two hundred years, humanity hasn't changed much. So far, no one has developed super powers. Mutants aren't running rampage over the face of the planet. The biggest change to humanity is that people are starting to mix in with aliens a bit. Some IPC aliens are beginning to move to Earth as permanent residents. Earth inhabitants are taking trips to alien planets for study, research, or diplomatic missions. IPC technology is the largest difference. Many formerly debilitating diseases, such as cancer, AIDS, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's, Lou Gehrig's Disease, and many more are now easily curable and simple to avoid. Transportation is quick and clean powered by magnetic roads being constructed or, for the common man, hydrogen-powered cars that emit no exhaust other than pure water.

Animals have been able to be more quickly protected when on endangered status, as well. There are many more national parks and reserved areas. Humans remain, however, the only native sentient species of Earth.

Human beings are strong--especially emotionally. What would ordinarily kill a being might be suffered by a human through sheer willpower. They are entirely unpredictable in behavior and demeanor. Perhaps compared to many other species, they are fragile physically, but what they lack in raw strength they make up for in cleverness and adaptability. In short, humans more than many other species represent potential.

Culture
Earth's culture is widely varied based on location and parentage, but for the most part, human cultures revolve around a variety of religious-based cultures. There are a growing number of humans who refuse to believe in any sort of religion and instead put their faith in science and reason. Most humans rely heavily on their emotions in acting and reacting to the world around them. They enjoy the arts, especially music.

Although Earth's government was mostly fractured, with multiple countries warring against one another, the IPC's arrival has virtually eliminated all war. Earth is currently at peace save the struggle of the IPC against the Glorbal Alliance. The governments of Earth are still many, but they are all parts of a great United Nations, which attempts to resolve conflicts peacefully through diplomatic and representative-democratic means.

History
For Earth's history from 2012 and earlier, see your nearest history textbook.

The IPC
Technology on Earth progressed at a much slower pace beyond the early 2000's. By 2100, technological and scientific progress had reached a significant, but no longer growing, peak. Several major wars broke out during this period, as nations fought for control over the world's concentration of power.

Then, in the twenty-third century, the United Nations (which had continued its broken record of slapping wrists and threatening embargoes that did nothing to quench the worldwide conflict) received an encoded message on December 22, 2219 at 1:00 PM Eastern Time. Though the original contents of the message have been kept classified, it appeared as though this message were one hailing planet Earth from afar. UN officials kept the message under wraps, but when the message was repeated--an identical message, sent every day at the same time for a month straight--word leaked out and people instantly panicked. Naturally, there was the small group of people who insisted it was aliens. But most other people either passed it off as an elaborate prank or something the terrorists were cooking up. Everyone thought it would pass, forgotten by society in the ensuing months.

But then one more message passed to the UN, in a similar manner as before. However, this one was lengthy, and this time in three languages: English, Spanish, and Aramaic. It came from a group of sentient beings that called themselves the Intergalactic Peace Corps. They insisted they had received Earth's varied attempts to contact them, but had found the messages undecipherable except as markers to pinpoint the location of the messages' origins. The IPC was able to trace the messages back to Earth and, once discovering the planet was populated by similarly sentient beings, sent a message to invite Earth to join their corps.

The UN was being invited into a galactic UN made up of aliens of an unbelievable amount and variety. And while the people of Earth debated what to do, the aliens came.

They appeared right in the middle of a UN meeting, greeting the delegates in the same three languages. Naturally everyone was flabbergasted as aliens of all different types strolled into the room, completely calm, completely serene. Needless to say, this sped up the delegations as to how to respond. They inducted Earth into their peace corps and subsequently began to share their amazing advanced technology with us.

When the IPC aliens shared their technology with Earth, our science and tech experienced a boom like no other. Flying cars, hovering roadways, no more traffic. Space travel was quick and easy with new hyper-light speed engines on our space ships. We built interspace bases around all the other planets of the IPC, to serve as ambassador headquarters rather than war bases. There was no war in the galaxy around us; all the aliens in the IPC were living at peace with one another, and they were sending out ships to hunt for more and more beings to join them in their harmonious coexistence.

The EAAA
But naturally, the skeptics remained. There was always some who felt it was all too good to be true. The secret organization, known as the E-Triple-A: Earth Against Alien Aggression, was founded in 2222. Built on mostly discarded United States weaponry and military equipment (and, in some cases, personnel), EAAA was built on varied premises. Some people believed that all aliens were a plague on humanity. Some simply believed that most of the IPC really was well-intentioned, but that someone, somewhere, was going to take a dislike to humans. It was a precautionary measure, to the point of being obsession. It is unknown how the IPC would have reacted to the underground organization, as their founding and growth has been kept a secret even to this day. Slowly, the EAAA slowly gathered troops, weapons, armor, anything and everything they figured they needed to protect the human race. And for decades, they waited and watched.

It is currently unknown if the EAAA is still in effect, but for those who know of the underground organization, they are firm believers that the EAAA is alive and well today.

The Savant
More recently (in the year 2285, to be precise), the IPC has been investigating the galactic core. Strange phenomena examined near the Milky Way's center has been recorded by their instruments. As a result, the IPC-RV Savant was summoned and crewed in order to explore the reaches of the galactic core. Only a select few scientists, engineers, and soldiers from Earth were selected to be a part of the journey, in addition to the many other IPC representatives.

Locations

 * Earth
 * Moon Colonies
 * Mars Colony