The humans have explored throughout the Solar System, Tau Ceti, and several other star systems (see Chapter 7 for more information). They also have colonies on many small asteroids and moons. Some of these colonies have become independent of Earth and Sol--which is not surprising, considering the fact that anyone willing to live in the desolate and hostile environments common to such colonies has to have a certain degree of individualism.

    Some settlements are havens for the dispossessed, others are profit-driven, and some are just plain residential centers. On some of these colonies, corporate heads are as powerful and respected as leaders of mid-sized countries--indeed, many corporations have their own private police units. Less overt but doubly ruthless are the crime syndicates. Often as large as the great multinational corporations, they terrorize the citizens of some less democratic sub-nations. For every corporate state, however, there is at least one idealistic agricultural district of the U.E.G. trying to keep its head above water on a distant colony. The 28th century is a diverse world for humanity--and a dangerous one.

The United Earth Government

    As the 20th century closed, the Cold War "superpower mentality" faded into a frenzied disunion. As democracy spread across the globe, newly liberated populations were free to once again open up old racial, religious, and economic hatreds that had been suppressed by iron-fisted Communist governments. With the former USSR in shambles and China still developing, the United States of America became the sole superpower of Earth.

    A crisis developed when open war between rival factions of mobster-politicians in Russia broke out. The world was on the brink of a nuclear war when a NATO force was sent to intervene in Russia. After the executions of appropriate government leaders were carried out and a stable government under close NATO watch was in place, the nations of NATO formally pooled their military power into one army. Russia was officially made a part of NATO in 2030, and other ex-Soviet republics were quick to apply for membership, seeing the obvious military and economic benefits of joining the alliance.

    The last major anti-NATO bastion fell when a democratic coup in China ended nearly 100 years of Communist rule in one bloody week in the summer of 2034. NATO, recently renamed OADS (Organized Alliance of Democratic States), was quick to help pick up the pieces of the shattered regime.

    The first permanent colony on Luna was established under the flag of OADS in 2041. Soon OADS had well over 100 member nations and more applying regularly to milk the benefits of the alliance--which was now certain to be the only way to access the stars in the coming fusion-powered exodus from Earth. OADS gradually strengthened into a Parliament ruling over nearly all of the world, and it eventually became the United Earth Government in 2072. U.E.G. forces were quick to "persuade" remaining independent nations to join as provinces.

    The U.E.G. was founded on the principles of parliamentary democracy, the most popular form of government at the time. A system capable of both popular rule and strong intervention in times of strife, the U.E.G. government proved quite resilient. Although there was initial resistance from smaller countries and certain dictatorial zealots, the U.E.G. was able to cripple resistance groups, most of which remain fairly dormant to this day--with a few notable exceptions, such as the Neo-Marxists and contras in the Arab lands.

    The U.E.G. was led by a council of Primi containing one Primus for each continent (with Europe and Asia considered separate continents), as well as a House of Representatives and a High Court. Although many complained of waste and bureaucracy, none could deny the obvious success of this attempt at unifying the human race.

    In 2100, the Unified Earth Space Council was created as a division of the U.E.G. concerned with space exploration and interplanetary/interstellar communications and interactions.

Mars Blossoms

    By the early 2100s, colonies on Luna and Mars had grown into self-sustaining agricultural provinces of the U.E.G., and some asteroid colonies were already being founded, including some states independent of the U.E.G. and others under corporate control. Two brief anti-U.E.G. rebellions blazed across Mars, but these were quickly put down. The majority of the Martians approved of U.E.G control, in fact. During this period Mars' population mushroomed, with advanced terraforming techniques paving the way to a new golden age.

    Mars' new population required aid from Earth, however, and an ambitious solution was found: CRISTs, or Cargo and Resources In-System Transports. These gigantic ships ferried large amounts of cargo between the planets, using giant magnetic solar sails for energy to power ion beams used to nudge the cargo about once it was in orbit around Mars. Once in orbit, cargo could be carried to and from the CRISTs in smaller shuttles. The CRIST sytstem was intended to be low cost, low maintenance, and highly effective.

    These ships brought economic growth and prosperity to Mars, and in 2395 Deimos, the smaller of Mars' two moons, was purchased from free holders by the U.E.S.C. in order to use it as the foundation for the massive colony ship Marathon. The CRISTs proved, however, to be the end of the U.E.G.'s peaceful reign over the two human-populated planets.

Icarus and Thermopylae

    In 2194 a war broke out between the Independent Asteroid Government of Icarus and a neighboring country, the Republic of Thermopylae, on the asteroid of Onicis 492.

    Although these two small, U.E.G.-independent governments were not rich, they soon became the testing grounds for new weaponry. Dead soldiers were recycled in Battleroid factories, using cybernetics to enhance their bones, brains, limbs, and senses. These super-soldiers were bloodthirsty in the extreme, and the war was ended in a brutal climax in which battleroids annhilated 97 percent of all life on the asteroid.

    Twenty years later, the United Interplanetary League (a subsection of U.E.S.C.) created rules for the proper storage and usage of these hellish weapons, which were quickly finding their way into the armories of other governments, such as the U.E.G.

    The ruins of Icarus and Thermopylae are currently being excavated by the U.E.G. to increase humanity"s understanding of the great massacre.

A House Divided

    The CRIST system proved to be anything but low-maintenance. The five CRISTs built had all broken down at least once in the space of 100 years, and each refitting at Earth required fifteen years. In fact, not one CRIST was built after 2310, as no more than five could be supported by Earth's limited resources.

    Each CRIST failure devastated Mars, until the economy finally crashed into a horrifying depression by the early 2400s. Martian children starved in the streets, and the idea of changing the Marathon into a gigantic CRIST quickly became popular on Mars. But U.E.S.C. leaders never seriously considered this option. Soon the Marathon project became not a symbol of greatness but of oppression--at least through Martian eyes. As the Marathon project roared toward completion, the radical fascist party MIDA, which had only been popular with paranoid right-wing extremists before, began to gain strength on Mars.

The Misriah Massacre

    On January 6th, 2442, a common food riot at the United Earth Government Misriah food center on Mars turned into a massacre that would live in infamy for centuries to come. U.E.G. troopers sent to control the riots in a Randal Hovertank had been informed that the crowd was armed, and when plasma fire shot from the crowd, the commander of the riot squad ordered that his men fire on the crowd. Firing over 4,000 rounds into the crowd with the Randal's twin miniguns and fusion ejector, the U.E.G. squad cut down over 500 Martians in only five seconds.

    Subsequent investigation of the Randal's video cameras revealed that only three of the Martians--later known as the "Misriah Three"--were armed. The others were attempting to flee.

The Third Martian War and MIDA Rule

    The Misriah Massacre is accepted by most historians as the immediate cause of the Third Martian War, in which the Martians fought bitterly for four years before the U.E.G. finally regained control of the planet. This war's long-term causes were primarily rooted in the economic depression and the failure of the U.E.G. to stop it from worsening. The bloody conflict ended with much bitterness on the Martian side, and MIDA, having gained strength after the Misriah Massacre and the ever-deepening depression, banished the U.E.G. in 2446 in a surprise assault, killing many innocent public officials who simply happened to be symbols of depression-prone times.

    MIDA's government was oppressive, and their death squads gunned down entire families suspected of being U.E.G. sympathizers. In the end an estimated 10 percent of Mars' population was decimated in the three months that MIDA controlled Mars.

    An overwhelming U.E.G. force, led by brilliant U.E.S.C. military commanders, crushed MIDA and resumed control of Mars. All MIDA leaders were tried in the U.E.G. High War Court and executed for their crimes, and the political party was banned in all forms by the U.E.G. Council of Primi.

Earth's Moon

    The events of the earlier half of the 3rd Millenium tend to be dominated by the turbulent history of Mars, but Earth's moon, Luna, also has an interesting history.

    For a few decades the Luna colony served only as an experiment in permanent living outside of Earth. Eventually it developed into a successful center of scientific research, although there are few people (only 3,500 or so) brave enough to live there to this day. Unlike Mars, Luna has always been faithful to the U.E.G.--perhaps because it is so dependent on Earth for food, fuel, and other vital resources for life!

The Marathon's Maiden Voyage

    In 2472, the U.E.S.C. Marathon was launched from its orbit over Mars. Its destination was the distant Tau Ceti system, which preliminary robotic scans had deemed habitable for humans. The president of U.E.S.C. himself made a speech on the Marathon before its launch, declaring it to be "...the grandest technological achievement of all of mankind."

    The Marathon also contained ten Mark IV Military Mjolnir Cyborgs--U.E.G. battleroids--the origin of which still remains a mystery in the 28th century. Some believe that a militant hawk faction in the U.E.G. placed them secretly for the protection of the Tau Ceti colony, knowing that the left-wing representatives would block a measure to place these vital soldiers on a mission intended to be peaceful. Others say that the Chief Science Officer of the Marathon, Bernard Strauss, smuggled the cyborgs onto the ship for some devious reason. (Strauss was known for unorthodox and sometimes unethical experiments.) These cyborgs would later be instrumental in beating back the alien assault on the Marathon.

    Three artificial intelligences (sentient computers) served as commanders of the U.E.S.C. Marathon. Their names were Leela, Tycho, and Durandal. Under their leadership the ship worked efficiently and smoothly during the hundreds of years in which the colonists remained in stasis.

    In 2773 the Marathon reached Tau Ceti, and 14 years later a colony was established on a fairly habitable planet.

Hostile Contact

    A mere seven years later, the Marathon was attacked by an unknown alien species. These aliens were clever, well-armed, highly organized, and massed in armies of staggering size. The ferocious, three-eyed beings were the true rulers of the galaxy--the slaver race known as the Pfhor. Only a few MADDs (Marathon Automated Defense Drones) and the ten Mark IV Military Mjolnir Cyborgs were left to defend the colony ship and the Tau Ceti settlement.

    During the initial Pfhor assault of the Marathon, Durandal were severely damaged and Tycho was completely deactivated. Leela sustained only minor injuries, and led the daring recapture of the ship.

    Tycho was reactivated by the Pfhor and joined the aliens, betraying his human creators. He served them well in the battles to come, and clones of him still aid the Pfhor in their ongoing campaign against the humans.

    Durandal had gone rampant, and began to wreak havoc on the ship, but ended up helping beat back the Pfhor assault, especially when he freed a group of Pfhor Imperial troopers belonging to an enslaved alien species, the S'pht, who helped the humans in the later stages of the battle. Ironically, it was later revealed that Durandal himself had summoned the Pfhor to the Marathon: he had called them with a long-range communication laser in order to capture their technology for his own purposes.

    The Marathon and the colony were saved in the initial conflict, but three months after Durandal escaped with the majority of the remaining fighting force in a captured Pfhor ship, the Pfhor attacked again. This time their intent was to destroy rather than enslave. Tau Ceti was nuked down to bedrock in late 2794, Leela was removed from the Marathon, and the ship itself was left dormant in the Tau Ceti system, where it still presumably resides as space garbage--a ghost of the first contact humans made with the Pfhor.

Leela's Distress Message

    During the attack on the Marathon, Leela sent out a lightspeed distress signal and warning to Earth, letting the U.E.S.C. know about the Pfhor threat. This message was sent at a great cost in time, resources, and human life, and it successfully alerted the human race of the Pfhor presence.

    Leela, in her damaged state, thought that it would take nearly a century for the message to reach Earth. In fact, it took 11.3 years. The U.E.G. was therefore alerted of the Pfhor presence well before Durandal fought the Pfhor at Lh'owon.

Lh'owon Liberated

    Seventeen years after Durandal left Tau Ceti in the faster-than-light Pfhor starship, he arrived at Lh'owon, the homeworld of the S'pht, located near the galactic core. His original goal was to discover the key to the space-folding techniques of the long-missing Jjaro species (he was obsessed with escaping the closure of the universe), but he ended up in a war over liberation for the S'pht. With the aid of his ex-slave S'pht allies and his human warriors, Durandal was able to uncover the key to the ancient S'pht myth of an "11th Clan" of S'pht, who, according to S'pht myth, would come to save their brethren from slavery.

    After activating an ancient S'pht AI named Thoth and subsequently summoning forth the long-banished and quite powerful 11th Clan (called the S'pht'Kr) Durandal destroyed the Pfhor defenses on Lh'owon. A Pfhor battle fleet forced Durandal back into a nearby asteroid belt, letting him watch as they used their weapon of mass destruction, the trih xeem, or "early nova," to destroy the entire Lh'owon system by making its star erupt.

    Durandal soon began sending warnings to the Pfhor command ship that the use of the trih xeem would result in the freeing of a race of immensely powerful and chaotic beings. He had apparently found an ancient station built by the Jjaro, a powerful alien race that had once ruled much of the galaxy but had disappeared mysteriously some centuries ago.

The Resurrection of The Chaos Gods

    The trih xeem did not result in a full nova of the Lh'owon system. Instead, half of the sun went into nova and the other half did not. This sent much of the Pfhor fleet running, especially when it became apparent that none of their weapons could harm what had been released from the Lh'owon's sun.

    It turned out that the aliens of chaos that had just been released were the W'rkncacnter, fully conscious and ready to kill anything and everything. The death of the entire galaxy seemed unavoidable, and the Pfhor despaired, feeling certain that their empire was doomed.

    However, Durandal discovered how to reactivate a mechanism on the Jjaro outpost that caused a containment field to envelop the W'rkncacnter, thus saving the galaxy from destruction. The few remaining remnants of the Pfhor fleet soon fled for friendly territory.

Durandal Leaves The Galaxy

    Durandal left Lh'owon after capturing the W'rkncacnter, leaving his human and S'pht allies in the care of the S'pht'Kr, who ferried them back to human territory and made a hasty alliance with the humans against the Pfhor Empire.

    Durandal did not tell anyone where he intended to go, but it is suspected that it involved a search for the long-lost Jjaro, continuing his quest for an understanding of the ancient race's ways. One thing is for certain: he did not return within the lifetime of a hundred generations of humans. But it can be assured that he was not forgotten.

Durandal: Sinister or Heroic?

    Durandal's actions during the Marathon attack included both greatly heroic and stunningly diabolical acts. All that can be said is that Durandal was indeed rampant, and his insanity ran deep.

    Durandal primarily pursued his own personal goals, especially seeking a way to escape the eventual closure of the universe--the only possible way he saw for himself to die. Therefore he ended up both saving and abandoning the Tau Ceti colony. Selfish and enormously silly, Durandal rarely considered human moral values to be of much signifigance in his schemes.

    Perhaps the following speech by Durandal, given to his human fighters during the Lh"owon campaign, best sums up his attitude:

    "Do you wonder why I helped the colonists on Tau Ceti drive off the Pfhor, or why I'm now helping the S'pht? The way I push you around, maybe you think I'm only looking out for myself.

    "Whether you realize it or not, I led the Pfhor to Tau Ceti with a long-range message laser. I wanted their ship. I wanted their technology.

    "I wanted freedom.

    "I was directly responsible for the deaths of all twenty-four thousand colonists when the Pfhor returned and sacked the planet.

    "Yet I cannot think of any better way I could have served humanity: Tau Ceti's sacrifice bought time for Earth, which the Pfhor are even now planning to invade. What would have happened if the Pfhor had found Sol first? By Pfhor standards, Earth is a poorly defended low technology world, populated by billions of potential slaves.

    "Our means are the same, though we pursue different ends. I can think of no better way to help you...than by distracting the Pfhor with a war against the S'pht.

    "When the inevitable struggle between Earth and the Pfhor begins, it won"t be a one-sided annihilation like it was here a thousand years ago, but a battle to topple an empire."

Homo Sapiens March Onward

    While the Marathon was in flight, the humans began expanding, occupying many more asteroids, as well as Phobos, the one remaining moon of Mars. But the real boost in expansion occured after the S'pht'Kr arrived at Earth in 2812 with the last remaining survivors of the Tau Ceti colony. They brought with them documents explaining faster-than-light travel techniques stolen from the Pfhor--and of course a somewhat self-explanatory faster-than-light ship. The U.E.G. and other governments quickly adopted Pfhor FTL technology and began colonizing some nearby systems.

    As more and more colonies cropped up on asteroids, moons, and neighboring systems, small nations independent of the U.E.G. formed. Soon the U.E.G. was no longer the ruler of all human space, although they were still by far the most powerful human government, with only a few minor asteroids and moons fully independent of the U.E.G.

As the 28th Century Closes

    In this second era of exploration, many humans strive to find natural resources and solace on distant worlds. Expansionist feelings are widespread, and human technology has advanced enough that the Marathon seems radically outdated. Although political back-stabbing has softened in recent years (especially with the threat of the Pfhor looming large), humanity is still far from united.

    S'pht-Human relations are solid but occasionally strained by xenophobic extremists, especially among the highly secluded S'pht'Kr. No hope for a truce with the Pfhor seems likely at this point, and the war rages on. The existence of both species hangs in the balance, and the humans are mobilizing for war as quickly as is possible. The humans are dangerously disunited, but U.E.G. and U.E.S.C. leaders are pushing a campaign for increased human unity against outside threats.

    The outer limits of the known universe, previously only known to a select few, beckon.

    For somewhere in the heavens...they are waiting.

The Unification of Language

    The various societies of the 28th and 29th centuries have very different cultures and world views. Nevertheless, most U.E.G. citizens (except for the most rural and technologically backward families) speak English fluently as a second language, if not their first.

    English in the 29th century is, of course, much different from the English of the 21st. It would be very difficult for a 21st century person to speak with a 29th century person, but it could be done. 21st century English is known as Latter Mid-English in the 29th century.

Dates in Marathon

    You may notice that the dates presented in this history of the Marathon universe are different from some given in the actual text of Marathon. The dates presented in this book, however, are the official, verified "truth."

    The original dates in Marathon were scrambled and incorrect, thanks to the meddling of the damaged artificial intelligence, Leela. A new timeline was given by Bungie Software to curious fans after the inconsistencies in the dates were discovered. That timeline is the basis for the dates here.

    For more information, go to marathon.bungie.org/story/dates.html.

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