<div align="center"><span class="bbc_size" style="font-size: 24pt;"><strong>Gundam 0422</strong></span></div><br/><div align="center">(http://i.imgur.com/fs2rFTM.gif)</div><br/><em>The year is 0422UC.  Centuries have passed since mankind's mass exodus from Mother Earth to orbiting space colonies, and the wars of the first century have become the stuff of legends.  In the three hundred years since the fall of the Principality of Zeon, humanity's reach has extended beyond the Earth Sphere and established colonies on Mars and orbiting Jupiter.  Spacenoids and Earthers have enjoyed decades of peace and prosperity, but threats both new and old threaten to disturb that peace and ignite the human race in war once more.</em><br/><br/>This game takes place in the future of the core Gundam timeline, Universal Century (i.e. the original timeline with Amuro and Char (https://youtu.be/Mn0KBNsyCJg)).  We're jumping forward a few hundred years to give us some freedom with continuity, and allows us to determine how some decisions depicted in the anime pay off.  And although the setting is firmly in the UC timeline, with all the history therein, it also incorporates elements from the other timelines into a lore-friendly amalgam of sorts.<br/><br/>If you want more background, here are the basics:<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Nerdy Gundam History 101</div><div class="spoiler_body"><ul class="bbc_list"><li>The Earth became so overpopulated that 9 billion people had to be relocated to orbiting space colonies (leaving 3 billion privileged people remaining on the planet).</li><li>They expect the Earth to require several centuries free of mankind to heal itself before humanity can return.</li><li>A major technological discovery, Minovsky Particles, created nearly limitless clean energy, but also had the side-effect of rendering all radar, radio, and similar equipment useless.  This drastically changed the face of warfare -- no more radar tracking or radio communications.  Soldiers and pilots can only fire at what they can see.</li><li>The "Mobile Suit", giant robot mecha with human pilots, becomes the primary weapon of war.  Their humanoid shapes make it easier to track targets in the 360-degree environment of space as well as fire weapons via iron sights.</li><li>After generations living in space, evolution in humans is accelerated.  This gives rise to "newtypes" -- humans adapted for life in space.  Common traits among newtypes include heightened reflexes, a type of psychic danger sense, and the ability to sense the presence of other newtypes nearby.  Other, far more rare, newtypes could also speak telepathically, use astral projection, see into the future, and even psychokinetically project their emotions into their mobile suits.</li><li>One of the colonies declared themselves the "Principality of Zeon" and attempted to secede from the Earth Federation.  This sparked the "One Year War".</li><li>Between the use of nuclear weapons and Zeon pushing a colony out of orbit to drop on Sydney, Australia, more than six billion human lives are lost in the first month of hostilities.</li><li>The Earth Federation and Zeon sign The Alaska Accords and set how wars are to be fought in this new era of space colonies.  Both sides agree to ban all use of nuclear weapons.  Additionally, Zeon agrees to outlaw Colony Drops and the Federation agrees to not use space colonies for military R&amp;D.</li><li>The Earth Federation creates powerful mobile suits called "Gundams" to fight Zeon.</li><li>In brief, there are a series of wars and conflicts but by the end of the First Century UC the Earth Federation is victorious.</li></ul><br/>Those are the basic traits of the Universal Century timeline.  Gundam has been running in one form or another since 1979, and over the decades has created other timelines for their stories.  For the sake of simplicity, think of each timeline as a completely separate reality with no connections to each other.  There are similarities (themes, powerful mobile suits called Gundam, etc), but do not share any of the same characters or history.  For example, the most popular Gundam story in the West is Gundam Wing (https://youtu.be/ImR8f701y_Q).  This story takes place in the After Colony timeline and is wholly separate from the Universal Century timeline.  Likewise for the Cosmic Era timeline (Gundam SEED (https://youtu.be/xuveD0juESE)), Post Disaster timeline (Iron Blooded Orphans (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jP9PASx3bgA), the series currently airing), etc.<br/></div></div><br/>And here is some background for the setting of this game.  Three hundred years later, some things have changed for Earth...<br/><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Life in 0422UC</div><div class="spoiler_body">There are no more "Newtypes" and "Oldtypes".  Instead there are simply Earthers (who live on the surface of Earth and Mars -- although they prefer "Martian") and Spacenoids (the overwhelming majority of humanity who live in orbiting space colonies).  The basic traits that set newtypes apart from oldtypes in the first century are now commonplace and assumed in all spacenoids.  This includes heightened spatial awareness, psychically sensing the presence of fellow spacenoids and a keen danger sense.  However, the more fantastical abilities of first century newtypes (telepathy, precognition, astral projection, etc) are considered the stuff of legends and found only in the imaginations of children and over-the-top holovids.<br/><br/>Only about 1% of humanity lives on the surface of Earth, with the majority residing in colonies orbiting Earth and Jupiter.  Officially, those living on Earth fall into one of three categories: ecological scientists, those servicing the tourism industry, and fugitives hiding on the surface illegally.  Federation scientists have recently announced that they expect recolonization of Earth to begin within a few years.  This news is largely ignored by a population that has come to view life in space colonies as the norm and think of Earthers as "old fashioned", or in a similar light to how modern people may look at the Amish.  Many spacenoids also revere the Earth as a religious symbol that should not be tainted by mankind ever again -- some of whom resort to fanatical terrorist tactics to hinder the recolonization of their blue and pure world.<br/><br/>Entertainment in 0422 UC is much as it was in the first century, save for an increase in Earth tourism.  Also, over the last decade a new sport has taken the colonies by storm -- Build Fighters (https://youtu.be/XKMwhn7hFhc).  Build Fighter is a gladiator-style combat game where competitors build and customize 1/144 scale models of mobile suits and then pilot them in holographic simulated battles.  Tournaments often are one-on-one or teams of three, with an under 18 junior division and over 18 senior division.<br/><br/>Genetic manipulation has become commonplace.  Virtually all children have some manner of adjustment made to their DNA that grants immunity to most diseases, as well as cosmetic changes -- brightly chromatic hair colors are especially popular.  There are certain restrictions enforced by the government (altering ethnicity, human-animal hybrids, increasing physical and mental capabilities beyond what is considered natural, etc)  However, underground and highly illegal "Body Shops" will provide some of these services for a hefty fee.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Factions in 0422UC</div><div class="spoiler_body"><strong>EARTH SPHERE -- The Earth Federation</strong><br/>The Earth Federation (and its military arm the EFSF) is still the dominant government in 0422.  Federation territory includes the Earth, moon, all colonies orbiting Earth, and the Mars Sphere (although they mostly leave the martians to govern themselves).  In the centuries since the One Year War, more and more of the Federation's citizens have voluntarily left the planet for life in the colonies.  The capital has been moved to Londenion (a space colony at Side 1), and today spacenoids are governed by fellow spacenoids.  <br/><br/>The Federation is the most stable of the factions, having enjoyed several decades of peace they are mostly content.  However there are a few issues currently being debated among the people and senate of Earth:<br/><ul class="bbc_list"><li>Munzo (the capital space colony of Side 3) is due to be decommissioned, an act that has brought criticism from the conservative members of the government who feel it should be treated as a historic monument with respects paid as the birthplace and capital of the Principality of Zeon.  The younger citizens of the Federation in particular embrace their Zeon heritage and consider it a point of pride to be descended from its members.  Zeon is also viewed as a tragic story about the importance of fighting for your beliefs no matter the sacrifice or consequences.</li><li>The Earth is expected to be open to recolonization soon.  There are ongoing debates regarding if humanity should recolonize Earth, who should be permitted to, and how should a growing Earther population be governed.  There are also fears of violence and terrorism from fanatical religious orders that oppose polluting Gaia with the taint of humanity.</li><li>Relations with ZAFT are peaceful, but tense.  The two major factions are in a cold war state with propaganda being the only weapon openly used.  Although the Earth Federation vastly outnumbers ZAFT, the Zodiac Alliance controls all trade from Jupiter and has pulled ahead in technology.  The two factions are also competing for Saturn's resources.</li></ul><br/><br/><strong>MARS SPHERE</strong><br/>Although technically an Earth Federation Territory, Mars is mostly left to itself.  Earth colonized Mars in the 3rd century UC. Following a quick rush, the planet was stripped clean of its few resources and swiftly abandoned in favor of the more profitable Jupiter.<br/><br/>Today Mars (https://youtu.be/IzjRm-z894Q) is terraformed with a breathable atmosphere, Earth-like gravity, and desert-like climate.  It's also considered to be a lawless land.  It has an old west vibe... a wretched hive of scum and villainy.  There is only one station in orbit over the planet which serves as a Federation garrison and inspects all transports entering and leaving Mars space.  Rumor persists of a secret Federation military lab hidden in the deserts of Mars, and of a subterranean alien race, but so far these rumors remain unfounded.<br/><br/>Iron is the planet's only export of note, and is generally considered a planet that's not worth the effort and resources needed to keep populated.<br/><br/><br/><strong>JUPITER SPHERE -- The Zodiac Alliance for Fair Trade (ZAFT)</strong><br/>Following the collapse of the Jupiter Empire in the early 0140s, Earth megacorporations established orbital PLANT-type colonies around Jupiter to mine the gas giant.  Soon conflicts broke out over trade disputes, mining rights, and blockades preventing competitors from transporting goods to and from Earth. This led to decades of conflict and ultimately all-out war between the orbital colonies and the Earth corporations which owned them. In the end, the twelve Jovian Colonies (each named after astrological symbols) united together to fight back against their corporate overlords. They formed a new government upon the remains of the old Jupiter Empire known as the Zodiac Alliance for Fair Trade (or ZAFT), and secured their independence from Earth. Now, decades later, they control all trade between Earth and Jupiter.<br/><br/>Life in the ZAFT colonies is very similar to that of the Earth Federation, although the culture is more focused on work and advancement.  They often view the citizens of the Federation as soft and lazy, and will accept victory at any cost.   It is openly acknowledged that ZAFT scientists are experimenting with genetic augmentation and artificially accelerating human evolution -- a prospect that has raised concerns in the Federation.<br/><br/>ZAFT's control of Jupiter's abundant resources also gives them economic leverage over the Earth Federation.<br/><br/><br/><strong>SATURN SPHERE</strong><br/>Recent scientific discoveries suggest that liquid metallic hydrogen, found in abundance in Saturn, could have far-reaching applications and be the biggest technological breakthrough since the discovery of Minovsky Particles.  The Earth Federation and ZAFT have both begun exploring the planet in hopes of establishing permanent outposts, or even full-fledged colonies to mine the planet.  <br/><br/>The first step to a long-term presence in the Saturn Sphere would be colonizing Titan.  Although neither has established a permanent settlement on the moon, both the Federation and ZAFT claim ownership.<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Technology in 0422UC</div><div class="spoiler_body">Most of the technological advancements since the first century have been in the area of space flight, transport and interstellar communications.  Once free from a planet's gravity well, modern starships reach a cruising speed of over 1,000,000 mph (.0015c).  A standard trip between the Earth and Mars takes roughly a day and a half each way (15 days to Jupiter).<br/><br/>Minovsky drives remain the primary source of energy for starships, colonies and mobile suits.  And Minovsky interference continues to disrupt radar, radio, communications and most forms of active sensors.<br/><br/>Mobile Suits continue to be the main weapon of war, but true Gundams have not seen the field since the second century.  The moon has long since been stripped of every source of lunar titanium (the key material used to armor Gundam-class mobile suits), and salvaging usable lunar titanium alloy from the wreckage of first century Gundams has been fruitless.  The last few surviving Gundams are nothing but museum pieces in 0422.<br/><br/>Similarly, some technology that was dependent on first century newtype pilots are no longer in use.  This includes features such as funnels and psychoframes.  The mobile suits currently deployed by both the Earth Federation and ZAFT bear a closer resemblance to "grunt suits" such as the Jegan (https://youtu.be/ttpmR2lGOjs), Jesta (https://youtu.be/ttpmR2lGOjs?t=50s), and ReZEL (https://youtu.be/ttpmR2lGOjs?t=1m21s) than the flashier (and more powerful) Gundam-types (including Zeon equivalents like the Sazabi and Sinanju).</div></div><br/><em>TL;DR Giant space robots go pew, pew, pew Ka-BOOOM!</em><br/><br/><div align="center">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~</div><br/>OOC Thread (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=257697.0)