Decades of military advancements were field tested along side the newest cybernetics and artificial intelligence. The blanket of dark energy radiation over the surface caused mutations and unexplained phenomena. Reports of special abilities and miracles were constant, but often exaggerated. Terrorism and guerilla tactics became a staple of poor or losing states, targets including civilian spaceports aiding an exodus. Still, most nations denied refugee visas, even to their own citizens, forcing their populations to remain on-world.
After the first fifty years, the war became known as Apocalypse Eternal. Yearlong breaks between major battles didn't halt the bloodshed in communities or along the borders. When new troops, resources, and technology arrived from the outer system, the major battles simply resumed as if they'd never stopped. While Venusian birthrates were low, new soldiers, politicians, and heroes were born and raised amidst the chaos, chiseling their own names into history.
As kingdoms drained their off-world coffers, corporations went bankrupt, and full nations were absorbed, the field of eighty participants fell to sixty, then forty. By 3270, only a dozen major powers remained in the war, three of them being neutral states:
- The United Martian Federation (The modern hub of civilization)
- Jensen-Almay (Ground headquarters of the destroyed colony)
- Union Aphrodite (Last surviving Venusian-born government)
- Gloria Heavy Industries (An orbit-based corporation)
- Ganymede (A Jovian Dictatorship with strong alliances)
- The Canadian Corporate Conglomerate (Headquartered in Vancouver)
- Io (A Jovian Kingdom that is universally despised)
- Rhodes Inc. (Owner of Australia and much of Venus' Ishtar Terra)
- The West American Alliance (Brazil, Peru and Chile)
- Anatali Corporation (Neutral powerhouse, based on Mars and Alaska)
- Republic of Europa (Neutral, highly developed Jovian moon)
- People's Country of Green Revolution (Neutral state under Europa's wing)
Of these states, Io, the Martian Federation, and Anatali Corp had emerged as the figureheads of their respective alliances and ideologies. Aggressive Io claimed new territories and resources by the year. The Martian Federation had united dozens of nations into cease-fires and counterattacks. Anatali's defense-only stance had put much less strain on their time and resources as they continued to develop their technology.
The final year of Apocalypse Eternal was marked by the most ferocious ground fighting, urban terrorism, and air/sub-orbital battles yet. While new alliances formed, the carnage became more focused and infinitely more devastating. With the Jensen-Almay data long lost, the point of the war had vanished as well. The first orbital battle between Io and Ganymede threatened to evolve the Venusian war to a system-wide holocaust. Already, the militaries of Jovian and Martian colonies rattled their swords back home.
On Venus' surface, the new alliance of Martian and Earth states demanded Anatali's support or face a unified invasion. The formerly neutral Europa and Green Revolution had already bent to the conditions. With a new gravity-fortress days from completion in Alaska, Anatali denied the request and reinforced their Venusian borders.
On May 30, 3275, the united force compressed on Anatali's borders, shattering the resistance and marching towards the capital. In orbit, the flagships of Io and Ganymede vanished with a quarter of their fleets. In their place, the orbital colony, Jensen Almay, shimmered into existence at its last known coordinates. Brief scans showed nothing but a temporal and multi-dimensional displacement.
Seconds after its arrival, Jensen-Almay omitted a massive dark energy pulse into Venus' atmosphere. Regardless of bunker, energy-fields, species, or abilities, every living organism on the planet fell dead without external injury. Thirteen seconds after it appeared, the station faded back into the void, leaving millions dead on the surface and millions unharmed in orbit.
Continue to Part 3: The Aftermath
Articles
- Anatali Academy — The largest university on Anatali Station.
- Anatali Corp — The history behind the future's most influential superpower.
- Anatali Station — Humanity's first Exodus-class Star Station.
- Apocalypse Eternal — This popular VR game hosts four million subscribers.
- Dark Energy Theory — The science that altered modern history.
- Gangs of Anatali — Background on Anatali's most infamous vigilantes.
- Mortality Shock — The end of immortality.
- Jensen-Almay Disaster — Part 1, Lead-up to Apocalypse Eternal. *new*
- Apocalypse Eternal (war) — Part 2, Humanity's most deadly war. *new*
- AE Aftermath — Part 3, how the war impacted the future. *new*
Coming Soon
- Dethism, the religion
- Politics in the future
- Science and technology