Earth

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Earth is the homeworld of humanity and was once home to millions of species. It has since suffered ecological devastation after being bombarded from orbit a century ago.

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A rare photograph of the remains of Stuttgart, Germany in the European Habitable Zone. This region is governed by a centuries old rump state of the German government, which has persisted in spite of near-total destruction of Earth.

Star System: Sol System

Development level: Low; Ecological and Societal Ruins; Kessler Syndrome prevents orbital development

Capital: None

Terrestrial Population (est.): 750,000,000 - 1,000,000,000

Spacer Population (est.): 40,000 members of orbital blockade, mostly based on Luna

Earth is the third planet out from Sol. Today, Earth is considered little more than an irrelevant backwater by a majority of humanity. Earth was originally a Garden world, harboring millions of unique species of flora and fauna. It possessed extremely diverse ecosystems, with huge deserts, sprawling tundra, massive mountain ranges, rolling grasslands, and thick swaths of tropical rain forest. 71% of the Earth’s surface was covered in salt water, although massive lakes of fresh water within continental areas. It was a temperate world before it was devastated by Kinetic Kill Vehicles (KKVs). In the modern age, Earth is mostly uninhabitable, with only a few areas having been terraformed and shielded from the rest of the irradiated geosphere.

As humanity's homeworld, Earth bore witness to tens of thousands of years of human history and development, from the harnessing of fire and simple tools to humanity's rapid colonization of the stars. As the planet entered the 20th and 21st centuries, it's ecology suffered as a result of haphazard development, industrial accidents and population booms. As natural resources dried up, humanity was forced into the stars. Overtime, Earth came to consume a massive amount of extrasolar resources in order to support it's billion of citizens.

Earth's demise came during the second Sol Alliance civil war, when KKVs were fired on the planet is retaliation of attacks against the Inner colonies. In an instant, entire landmasses were leveled, flora and fauna were vaporized and billions of people were obliterated.

Today, Earth is home to between 750 million and a billion humans (although the exact number is extremely difficult to determine), living in advanced 'preservation domes', underground disaster shelters and on the few surfaces still able to support some degree of life. The planet suffers from Kessler's Syndrome, making orbital development nearly impossible. The Alliance maintains a blockade around the planet, regulating a steady stream of supplies and aid to some settlements. The blockade maintains an emigration quota, allowing only 10,000 individuals a year to legally leave the planet. Travel to the planet, outside of military channels, is tightly controlled, but a lucrative (and dangerous) business of smuggling has been steadily growing.

Earth has one moon, Luna, which managed to avoid most of the damage dealt to Earth.