E2150 - United Civilized States - UCS: Difference between revisions

But after the empty champagne bottles had all been cleared away and the hangovers subsided, the first rumblings started. First came the crash on ''Wall Street'' . Stocks plummmeted to levels which made the 1930s look good. As irrational exuberance gave way to incurable pessimism, one international corporation after another simply dissolved, factories closed their doors, and pictures of millions of unemployed wandering around desolate city centers in the vain hope of finding something to eat came to symbolize the plight of the 21st century.

The crisis brought about some dramatic social and political changes in the US. To focus attention away from the miserable economic situation, those in power pushed for a "guns instead of butter" policy. Defense outlays were dramatically increased and a siege mentality created among the population. For 30 long years, Americans were made to believe the entire world had become an enemy, and that foreign armies were just waiting for the right moment to attack. Under these tense circumstances there was little to prevent a relatively minor incident with ''Greater Russia'' in the 2040s from escalating into a largescale conflict. In the ensuing war of 2048 all ''European'' and ''Asian'' powers were completely destroyed. Since the ''US'' had invested early in a top-rate missile defense system, it suffered less damage than the others. But the war left its mark. Not one single nation managed to emerge unscathed. The only result of the bitter conflict - global anarchy.

Slowly and painfully, the ''North American'' continent began reconstruction. '''Twelve states in the former USA formed a federation called the ''United Civilized States'' ''' , with a provisional government. But people had long ago lost faith in politicians, who were seen as selfinterested and greedy. A new movement led by ''Richard Bowman'' stepped into this power vacuum. Bowman's theory was radical if not particularly original - power corrupts and since those who seek it are usually motivated by the lowest personal interests, the best government is the one that doesn't exist. To his critics, who pointed out that somebody must govern, he repeatedly claimed to have a plan already worked out.

Despite some opposition from conservatives, this strange form of government was installed and given the name '' "Stochocracy." '' . At first it was difficult getting newly chosen politicians trained in their new positions. But after a few years government ran smoothly. Occasionally a new lottery "winner" was reluctant to take up a position, but these were rare cases. Most citizens saw it as their patriotic duty to carry out the tasks of government - at least for a short time. Fortunately the greenhorn politicians could rely on highly specialized computer systems to assist them in day-to-day matters of state. In fact, they began depending so much on these so-called "advisors" that, after a while, it became clear that the systems were fully capable of running the government without their human overseers.

In 2074, the physicist ''Mark Springer'' became head of state. During his short one-year reign he was able to secure financing for a large scientific research program. Back then there were quite a few research institutes, Stanford Laboratory being the best known. Springer also led expeditions into some of the regions destroyed by the war. One of these was known as ''Area 51'' , formerly a secret military base. While digging nearby, ''Springer'' 's crew unearthed a mysterious wreck, which turned out to be the remains of '''an alien space ship''' . Scientists began thorough investigations into the strange find to see tpto what use it could be put.

The steady stream of scientific breakthroughs, inventions and discoveries had a great influence on the daily lives of ''UCS'' citizens. Soon CPU-controls were everywhere. Automated factories needed little attention. Robots did all the household chores. There was little work to be done, and everyone lived quite comfortably. Computer systems assumed de facto control over running the country, since the human rulers by now hardly ever felt confident enough to reject their "advice," which now covered every decision imaginable.

This situation changed in 2134 when ''Jonathan Swamp'' became ''Defense Minister''. A highly skilled programmer, Swamp was for many years in charge of the main government computer systems. This experience made him the only person in the country capable of using their total potential. As Defense Minister he was granted unlimited access to the military administration processor, known as '''''GOLAN''''' .

While in office, he made some radical changes to the system, allowing him to run computer simulations of military battles all over the planet. But by changing GOLAN's delicately balanced program structure, ''Swamp'' created unforeseen glitches throughout the system. As a result, over the next few years incorrect data led ''GOLAN'' to make some fatal miscalculations. The worst of these was the order issued to send a large army to the former ''British Isles'' . The [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] rulers of the territory naturally saw this as a declaration of war.

The resulting war lasted ten years and was fought on all continents. The intelligence of the ''GOLAN'' system went up against the courage and experience of the [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] leader. Employing some new tactics, the [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] at first had the upper hand, until ''GOLAN'' calculated the right counter-measures. The battlefield was in a state of constant flux. For a while the [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] Army occupied part of North America, until the ''UCS'' deployed units equipped with the most modern arsenal. By 2148 the [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] was in full retreat before the ''UCS'' onslaught from the south. While crossing the North Pole towards Siberia the [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] shot off nuclear weapons to stop the advancing ''UCS'' units. This turned out to be the turning point - but not as intended by the [[E2150 - Eurasian Dynasty - ED|''ED'']] commanders who ordered the launch. The power of the explosions literally knocked the Earth out of its orbit.

In January of 2150 the ''UCS'' scientists proved beyond any doubt that in only a few years a major cosmic catastrophe was inevitable. ''GOLAN'' was clearly unable to deal with this new information and completely shut down. A new government was quickly chosen to deal with the situation. The solution they came up with was most human in its simplicity - build a space station and evacuate the population. To work out the details they rolled out their new cyber-leader: '''''GOLAN II''''' . This state-of-the-art CPU quickly started issuing orders for new factories to produce the necessary parts. Through computer simulations, it became clear that such a process would require massive amounts of ore and other raw material. So ''GOLAN II'' issued another order, this time directly to the ''UCS'' ''Defense Minister'' - "must immediately call out army... secure all identified sources of raw material." The final war had begun...