Contact (Alpha)

This scenario was the original for Contact!

2009

 * January: Barack Obama is sworn in as the 44th President of the United States.

2010

 * A series of EMP detonations occure in Low Earth Orbit, crashing the global communications networks, within 5 hours a series of drop ships from orbit land around the world in every major city between of the two 45th parallels. By the time the world's militaries are able to respond a series of kinetic bombardments decimate every military installation on Earth. Within 48 hours the world's militaries are broken and unable to effectively counter the enemy forces.
 * A kinetic energy weapon (aimed at biological life) destroys the Washington Mall. Only half of the US Congress is confirmed dead, however, as many had left to campaign for their re-elections.
 * Queen Elizabeth of the UK is killed, along with most of the British Government in another kinetic bombardment on Central London. Prime Minister David Cameron, who survived the attack, establishes a provisional capital in Birmingham and vows to fight back against the Alien attackers.
 * Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg declares that the European Continent must unite or face certain destruction. In an emergency vote, the member states of the European Union pass the Treaty of Stockholm, solidifying the remnants of the European continent as a single parlamentary democracy, and inviting any other European nation to join.

2011

 * President Obama breaks, what is later revealed as a military forced silence on the Presidency, and declares that any and all people currently on the American Continents should make their way north, as it has now become clear that the aliens are quite seceptable to cold temperatures. He goes on to grant amnesty to any and all immagrants that may dwell in the US as well.
 * US military forces are ordered to fall back and hold the 47th Parallel.
 * President Putin orders the Russian Armed Forces to annex Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine to make way for the millions of refugees fleeing the ruins of Moscow and the Western cities.
 * Canadian General Rick Hiller defects to the US when the Canadian Government refuses to aide in the war against the aliens.
 * The European Federation moves it's capital to London, as most of the refugees fleeing wartorn Southern Europe have fled to Britain and Scandinavia. Most of France, Italy and Spain have fallen to the alien war machine.

2012

 * General Hiller is given command of all former Canadian forces that defect to the US.
 * The Maple Revolution beings in Canada. With floods of refugees on the border, President Obama sends what forces can be spared to aid in the revolution and annex Canada. Following this annexation, what is left of the US Congress passes a series of amendments to smooth the transition of Canadian citizens into American life.
 * 28th Amendment:Forces Congress to ballance the budget, with the exception of a time of war or economic crisis.
 * 29th Amendment:Garuntees every US citizen free and universal healthcare.
 * 30th Amendment:Gives the President the right to run for an additional term during a time of war as declared by Congress, but provides that he can be removed from office by a vote of no confidence from any branch of government as well as popular vote.
 * The People's Republic of China fractures and much of the population is driven to Mongolia or flee into the highest mountains of the Himimlayas, where it is too cold for Dirge to live.

2013

 * General David Petreaus is found in Russia with the remaining US forces from the Middle East. Russian forces deliver him and the US troops to Alaska to meet with President Obama. Petreaus is given the rank of General of the Army and is named Supreme Commander of US Forces. General Hiller is also promoted to five stars.
 * Battle of Denver begins; it is a crushing defeat for the US as they are forced to abandon their southern most city, and retreat further north into the new Canadian states.
 * A group of college students from Arizona manage to escape Denver just before it is taken by the enemy. Their leader is Theo Bell, having joined and been promoted to Lieutenant in the US Air Force, though he is somewhat forced to serve in the Army due to the destruction of US air bases. Bell is presently one of the most experienced combatants aginst the aliens, and has learned some of their language. He is transferred to the US Provisional Capital at Anchorage, Alaska, where he explains how he and his forces have been able to survive as long as they have so deep in occupied territory. He states that the US needs to immediately stop all construction of bomber aircraft, and must scrap most of their hardware. He is made the chief adviser to the US Defense Secretary Clark.
 * Word of Lieutenant Bell's forces and their victories as a guerrilla force in Arizona reach the masses. They instantly become known as the "The Knights of Sedona."
 * Now a Captain, Bell convinces General Clark and the President to begin a massive overhaul of the US military. This includes the eventual global standardization of firearms and ammunition, advanced armor, and the systematic scrapping of most of the US Air Force. The first project is the creation of two new assault rifles; the Standard Infantry Rifle, what would become the M-19 Ripper, and the much more powerful Special Forces Rifle-soon to become the HM-13 Butcher-for the new powered armor units.

2014

 * The United Nations meets for the first time since the war began in Nord, Greenland. They begin coordinating efforts to strike back against the aliens who have now begun to be known as the Dirge.
 * Battle of Portland. Captain Bell leads the first of the re-armed forces to retake Portland Oregon and halt the advancement of Dirge troops. The Battle eventually forces Bell to detonate a Concrete Nuke (a nuclear weapon encased in concrete to avoid detection by Dirge orbital cannons. The bomb destroys all Dirge forces in Portland, and is the first "victory" for the humans.
 * Tibetan Revolution: With half of China living under the Dali Lama, it comes as little surprise when Tibetan Chinese declare independence from the PRC, and with China directing all of their efforts just to maintain in Mongolia, there is little they can do to stop the revolt.

2015

 * Battle of Paris begins.
 * Battle of Tibet begins.
 * St, Petersburg is obliterated by a kinetic weapon, forcing the Russian Government to flee deep into Siberia and set up a capital at Omsk.
 * President Putin dedicates all forces to defending Minsk, the last major Russian city east of the Urals.
 * The US deploys the first high energy laser to the field during the Siege of Hartford. The laser disables multiple enemy tanks and aircraft but is eventually overwhelmed by Dirge forces.
 * The EU deploys the liquid nitrogen gun to the field.
 * British and Norwegian forces launch Operation Caribou, destroying the huge Gibraltar Dam the Dirge were building to dam the Mediterranean. The dam is obliterated with several Russian vacuum bombs, and the victorious British-Norwegian forces return to their bases in Northern Europe.

2016

 * President Obama is given emergency powers to run for a third term.
 * Tibet holds off Dirge forces.
 * Tibet retakes Nepal
 * European guerrilla forces detonate a nuclear weapon in Paris, Dirge forces are pushed back to southern France and Italy.
 * Battle of New York. US forces are pushed back when Manhattan Island is devastated by an orbital cannon, and the largest city in the United States is left abandoned.

2017

 * Operation Kratos. UN forces launch a surprise attack on the Dirge orbital vesseles by sending eleven metamateraila coated space planes into orbit to plant a series of strategic nuclear weapons on the enemy ships. The bomb attack cripples the Dirge command structure, destroying any further threat of an orbital attack on the northern cities.
 * A Dirge Warren is discovered beneath Paris, forcing European forces to blow up the Channel Tunnel to prevent any attack onto the British Isles.

2018

 * The Dirge forces are discovered to be preparing for a massive attack on the Human controlled territory. Human forces prepare for the massive attack by building a series of defenses that stretch across continents, most are giant trenches, though the Chinese and Europeans built huge defensive walls.
 * To Prepare for the possibility of Human forces being overrun, Much of the civilian populous is moved further north by the subterranean highways to the much safer Arctic Vaults.

2019

 * Battle of Earth: What is remembered as the largest single military engagement in written history, the collective forces of every human nation engage the combined force of the Dirge. The battle last for over a month, and ends with the nuking of Boise, Chicago, Denver, Calgary, Beijing, Bonn, Pyongyang, and Kiev. When the battle is over, the casualties are in the millions on both sides, but in a decisive victory for humanity.

2020

 * Humanity begins taking back lost territory.
 * Dirge Warrens are discovered beneath almost every major city south of the 50th Parallel. While they are filled with a bounty of pure gold, iron, titanium, petroleum, etc.; they make re-inhabiting of recovered cities impossible, unless the whole city above the Warren is destroyed, and a new one is built with the foundation extending within the Warren. Many cities begin to simply collapse when soldiers renter them from the top.
 * A handful of Japanese Natives are discovered on the island of Hokkaido. Most are the Ainu people and have survived by living in beneath the glaciers of the Island's mountain.

2021

 * The Dirge War ends when the last Dirge is killed on the steps of the Taj Mahal. By the end of the war, over four billion humans are dead, and close to two billion Dirge soldiers due to combat or suicide, no survivors on the enemy's side.
 * President Obama resigns as is required by the 30th Amendment, in his farewell address he proclaims that, "as we begin to rebuild from the ashes of the most bloody and terrible war in history, we must go forward with a new sense of unity and hope for the future, and we must never forget those that have fallen for our freedom." President Obama died shortly after leaving office. He is remembered as the Greatest President in American History.
 * Vice President Richardson is sworn in as the 45th President of the United States after winning the election.

2023

 * US Recon Teams arrive at what was once the Amazon Rainforest, not one tree stands. Great lumber yards are discovered all across the Great Amazon Desert, along with massive stores of raw cellulose and sugar harvested from the foliage.
 * The UN passes the Gia Resolution, an act that calls for the re-wilding of every scrap of Earth damaged by the war. DNA from the lumber mills play a key role for the Eventual re-wilding of the Amazon.
 * The US Fish and Wild Life Service reports a total absence of all sea life below the "Bloody Line." (The buffer zone between human and Dirge occupied territory.
 * Europe is horrified to see the Mediterranean has been drained, and devoid of life.
 * Tibet is unable to find one tree in what is left of India.

2027

 * Seattle becomes the most populous city in the United States of North America.
 * The European Capitol Remains in London.
 * Russia completes the reconstruction of Moscow.
 * The UN completes salvage operations of all large Low Earth Orbit debris. Small scale debris are still present, but most of it has been absorbed by the hulking wrecks of the Dirge Fleet.
 * The United Nations Space Corps is established. The first task of the new multinational defense corps is to establish the remains of the Dirge fleet's super weapons as an orbital defense system.

2030

 * The UNSC Fort Worth is completed as the humanity's first interplanetary warship.
 * After an extensive examination of former Dirge held territory, it is confirmed that everything south of 30 degrees latitude has been harvested for all usable natural resources, and while the raw materials are easily accessible, it means very little to a world now forced to live on a dead planet.

2035

 * General Bell is given full command of the UNSC Fleet. It currently has eight ships, the Fort Worth, the Moscow, the Denver, the Vatican, the Bonn, the Beijing, the Jerusalem, and the Mecca. The ships are named for all the cities that were destroyed by the Dirge.
 * Washington D.C. completes construction of the Dirge War Memorial. It rests on the Washington Mall directly in fron of the capitol on the sight of the old Capitol Reflection pool, and depicts a soldier kneeling over the bones and ashes of an American city and covering one hand over his forehead. In his hand is the M-19 Ripper, the standard rifle of the world militaries. His armor is cracked and dirty, and on the plaque of the memorial reads, "On that dark day eleven years ago, the world witnessed the terror of a enemy far more powerful than we could ever have imagined; and in our darkest hour, we refused to relinquish ourselves to the ashes. For all those who have fallen, we shall never forget your sacrifice." -Barack Obama, 2021.

2039

 * Los Angeles becomes the southern most inhabited city on Earth.
 * The Portland Class orbital defense ships are completed.
 * SETI completes the Charon Radio Observatory. It is specifically designed to detect alien signals, particularly the Dirge. After 18 years since the war ended there have been no communications, no evidence, not the slightest inkling as to where or why the Dirge came to Earth.

2043

 * On a routine run outside the solar system to look for Dirge drones, General Bell's flagship, the UNSC Nightfall, makes contact with another alien vessle, one not of the Dirge. The species call themselves the Scynallie, they too suffered an invasion from the Dirge, which they call the Storm. Their world was almost completely decimated, only 30,000 of their species survived to rebuild from the ashes. While they did defeat the Dirge, it was not until their planet had been rendered barren that they were able to achieve a victory.

2044

 * After months of contact and discussion the two species are both saddened to find out that neither of them had discovered the location of the Dirge.

2062

 * The Barack Obama Monument is completed in Washington D.C. It is located on the Washington Mall's 7th and 9th Street Block. The Monument is thirty feet high.
 * Dr. Marisa Rodriguez completes the Hawking Drive, the first FTL drive.
 * The last lost city is reclaimed in Melbourne, Australia, by the People's Republic of Tibet.

2065

 * The UNSC Lionheart is completed, it is the first military ship capable of FTL.
 * The HM-13 is retired from service. It is replaced by the M-65 Cyclops; the first laser rifle in history.
 * The PA-49d powered armor enters service. It is the first armor to be equipped with a mini-arc reactor giving it a limitless power supply.

2155

 * After over a century of search mankind finally discovers the home world of the Dirge. The planet is one giant city, barren, and devoid of any life other than the Dirge. General Bell, preserved after decades in cold sleep, orders contact be made with their ancient enemy. They respond with surface fire. US President Eddie Jackson orders the destruction of the planet, and his fellow leaders agree. A huge military fleet is built at shipyards in Australia and Siberia, ready for the oncoming galactic conflict.

2156

 * After a year of examination it is confirmed that the Dirge have only lived on one world, though they have moved from world to world to harvest it of its resources regardless of the presence of life. Their is little remorse felt by anyone once they are killed. It is also confirmed that they rendered their world devoid of natural resources some two thousand years ago, and have exterminated over 100 civilizations throughout the Galaxy. The American President Heather Kennedy, a direct descendent from Robert Kennedy, asks that the UNSC begin an examination of the worlds destroyed by the Dirge.
 * Humanity reaches a population of 12 billion. Currently Caucasians and Tibetans are the world's largest ethnic groups, followed by Chinese and Hispanics. The last people of African descent are in Europe and America, along with the last Arabs. The United States of America Controls both American Continents; The Russian Federation controls all of the Former Soviet Union, along with the Middle East, excluding Turkey, Pakistan, and Afghanistan; The People's Republic of Tibet controls Southern China, India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, South East Asia, and Australia, The United Federation of China Controls Mongolia, Japan, Korea, and Northern China; The European Union Controls all of Europe except Russia, and all of Africa.

2179

 * General Bell dies on Earth, he is given a full military burial at Arlington Cemetery with full presence by all world leaders. President Cruise proclaims that he will be given his own memorial in the Capitol for all he had done for humanity during and after the war. He is remembered as the Man who Slayed the Dirge.

2187

 * After a popular referendum the US Congress is reformed into an Administrative Branch with all legislative powered moved completely into the hands of the people. The President and Supreme Court become almost honorary positions with little real power. President Barret signs the new Amendment into law on the Constitution's 400th Anniversary.

2295

 * A Dirge ship enters into human contolled space. It makes no contact, it simply drifts towards the Earth and stops in orbit. After two hundred Alliance Marines board the vessel they discover a Dirge they have never known, they are completely pacified and show now desire to attack the Humans. The ship's commander greets the Marines with a single sentence "What you saw was just a taste of what we are truly capable of" before teleporting out. President Markins orders all forces to remain on their guard, as a Second Dirge War is about to begin. The CIA (by now focusing on Galactic intelligence) had been warning for years of an unknown fleet amassing

2300

 * The first battle in the Second Dirge War takes place on the US State of Obama. The USS Artemis is the first ship to fall of many in this war.
 * President Hussein orders a top secret military program be made active. It is the consciousness of General Bell, preserved in the memory banks of the National Archives by the US Military shortly before becoming brain dead. Bell is given a new body and made Supreme Commander of Alliance Forces. He immediately orders every Alliance world be put on military lockdown.
 * The Battle of New London begins in the Britannia System. Alliance forces manage to protect the second largest city of the Alliance from destruction.

2590

 * After nearly 300 years of fighting and countless death's the Dirge are finally vanquished. Evidence from captured ships indicates that the Dirge that humanity faced in the 21st Century were simple minded drones positioned in the Milky Way Galaxy to feed the true Dirge Homeworld in the Cygnus Arm of the Milky Way, which humanity finally destroyed, along with every other Dirge colony in the Milky Way. They are confirmed to be one of the first sentient civilizations of the Galaxy, and have exterminated all but 83 species in the Milky Way, the Orion arm is actually the most natural section of the Milky Way left. General Bell elects to go back into cold storage, "Just in case."

3044

 * A millenia since the first Dirge War, humanity and the Synndan have colonized most of the Cygnus Arm, and have explored the galaxy through the employment of "Monolith" Nano Probes.
 * Humanity has established the United Republic of Sol, with it's capital being Earth, with now only a population of 8 billion people. With the Synndan, they vow to protect the immediate cosmos from any future Dirge remnants.