A Colony Seen from a Docking Shuttle: As emigration to space colonies became a full-scale initiative, there was an overall shortage in rockets and shuttles. Due to air pollution problems, emigrants were sent up into space via linear catapults to satellite orbit, shuttles and freighters arrive and depart from the transit space stations, and transports are available to designated colonies. At the completed colonies, dozens of ships crowded the harbor daily.

UNIVERSAL CENTURY

U.C.0040: Space development is on track. A lunar-based mining city, constructed in the early days, acts as a mass driver, launching mineral resources into space to supply building materials for the colonies. Solar power satellites hung in Earth orbit, providing a vast amount of electrical power via microwave transmission to compensate for fuel shortages. From a linear catapult built in the Himalayas, shuttles were launched to send migrants to the colonies under construction at the Lagrange Points. The space emigration program was progressing smoothly, with the number of colonies growing, and roughly 5 billion people, or 40% of the total population, beginning their lives as citizens of outer space.

U.C.0041: Meteorites containing large amounts of metal deposits were discovered in the asteroid belt and collected as materials for colony construction. With the development of thermonuclear engines, it was possible to move asteroids tens of kilometers in diameter, and so movement work on the asteroid Juno was started.

U.C.0044: Half of the entire population resides in space. Those living in enclosed spaces recognized the importance of Mother Earth. From this, the belief that the Earth is a sacred place, the source of life itself spread, and Ere-ism (the idea that Earth should be protected as a holy place and humanity should live in space) arose.

U.C.0045: Transport of the asteroid Juno is complete. Placed in a fixed orbit around the moon, mining of materials for colony construction begins.

U.C.0046: The Earth Federation’s immigration policy was also starting to be imbalanced towards emigrating non-privileged classes of people into space rather than the protection of the planet. That rationale resulted in the colonies being treated like a colony. Zeon Deikun, a talented politician, advocated Contolism (Side nationalism) and began criticizing Federation policies. The space immigrants accepted this ideology, and the mindset of Ere-ism and Contolism melding together flourished among them.

Suppression of the People’s Assembly: Even if they tried to pass their discontent towards the Federation on to the Assembly, opinions would be quashed by the Federation’s puppet government. Rises in movements demanding democratization were only natural. However, whenever those movements showed any momentum, the forces stationed there always intervened under the pretext of maintaining security.

U.C.0050: Nine billion out of the total population of 11 billion have already emigrated to space and are living in colonies and the lunar surface. With Spacenoids (those living in space) growing increasingly dissatisfied with the Earth Federation, demonstrations took place in various locations, and oppression by the Federation’s colony occupational forces started intensifying. Officially, the proper number of colonies had been completed, and in theory, each Side retained its own autonomy. They were still, however, under the control of the Federation.

U.C.0052: Zeon Deikun migrated to Side 3 to put Contolism into practice. Around this time, Contolism came to be known as Zeonism by the Spacenoids. The Earth Federation failed to notice such a movement on Side 3, which sits in an unfavorable position for supplies and communication aspects on the opposite side of the moon. It seems that there was a safeguard that Sides could not be independent without resources from Earth.

Savior: Zeon Deikun preached his ideals to the populace of Side 3. The residents of Side 3, who live in the most inconvenient place, were highly self-reliant, and Deikun’s speeches were rousingly supported.

U.C.0058: Zeon Deikun declared independence to the Earth Federation and became diplomatically at odds with them when he established the Republic of Zeon. Side 3, which was cut off from supplies from Earth, had started their own diplomacy. It would seem that the Zabi family was active behind the scenes to move asteroids to acquire mineral resources on their own and to secure rare metals on the Earth’s surface. What’s more, Zeon Deikun went around to each of the Sides, and actively moved sympathizers to his cause to Side 3. As such, The Republic of Zeon had come to gather talented people. Side 3, which was forced to add more colonies due to population growth, took steps to accommodate a population twice as much as an average colony by remodeling to a closed-type. Because of this, independence movements in the other Sides fell drastically. The Earth Federation decided on a policy to build up its armaments to prevent a second Side 3 from occurring. As a result, the power of the military faction was becoming increasingly influential politically.

Securing Resources: Having declared their independence, the Republic of Zeon seemed to exhaust their resources following economic blockades by the Federation. In spite of this, Degwin Zabi, one of Daikun’s right-hand man who predicted the situation, secretly continued diplomatic negotiations and secured mineral resources from the Earth through illegal means.

U.C.0065: Discord over policy started becoming apparent between Zeon Deikun and his right-hand man, Degwin Zabi. It was around this time that the power struggle with the Zabi family, who seized control over the military, came to light. Degwin Zabi, unable to wait for the reformation of man praised by Deikun, planned to suppress the people by force. On the surface, it was an episode that showcased a glimpse of Zeon Deikun’s political abilities, which made him feel speculation from Degwin, who was acting in concert with him. Meanwhile, the Earth Federation Forces Armament Reinforcement Plan is launched, and the asteroid Juno is moved to the other side of the Moon, where it becomes a crucial base known as Luna II. This is in part because special steel mined from its center has military value. What’s more, large-scale construction of space battleships was started because of the need to secure absolute control of outer space as an anti-Zeon measure.

Spaceship Construction: Due to a need to restrain the movements of the Republic of Zeon, the Earth Federation expanded its armaments and began large-scale construction of space battleships with Luna II as a massive base. The completed ships were then deployed to each of the Sides and used to monitor the Spacenoids.

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