User:EDFan12345/Bizzaro/Ulysses Disaster

The Ulysses Disaster was a catastrophic impact event between the Earth and numerous meteor fragments taking place in July 1999. The disaster was caused by the collision of the 1986VG1 Ulysses and Polyphemus asteroids around Jupiter's orbit forming tens of thousands of fragments on a collision course with the Earth. The event was a major loss of life across every continent, and was the source of political and economic stability throughout the world.

Background
The 1986VG1 asteroid was discovered in Jupiter's orbit in 1986 by a Frankterran astronomer, who catalogued it and gave it the name "Ulysses." Sometime between its discovery and 1993, a rogue asteroid later named Polyphemus entered Jupiter's orbit and struck Ulysses, shattering the two into thousands of a fragments in orbit with the sun. This collision was noticed by astronomers in 1994, with continued observations of the asteroid's trajectory and velocity eventually revealed that it had a high likelihood of impacting Earth

Preparation and Defense

 * Main article: 

After the initial worldwide panic caused by Ulysses' announcement, the world's nations developed asteroid interceptor weapon systems capable of shielding themselves from the falling fragments. The main defenders from Ulysses were the two Stonehenge railgun networks located in the United States and UnitedTerra, the Excaliber laser array located in Alemania, and a single railgun in northern Zhou. Rusca, not having the financial capability to construct such a defense weapon due to the end of the Cold War, repurposed a large ICBM base from which anti-asteroid missiles were launched. While it is estimated over 80% of Rusca's non-nuclear ICBMs were launched during the disaster, these missiles were not designed for such a task, and many of the asteroids simply fragmented further and impacted a wider range.

Planetfall
On July 3, 1999, the first Ulysses fragments passed the Earth's Roche Limit and made planetfall, causing an incredible loss of life and untold billions in infrastructure damage. This would continue for several days, with the largest fragments targeted by the earth defense weapons in order to prevent extinction-level impacts. Not every nation was fortunate enough to be located under the umbrella of such weapons; much of Oceania and South America remained virtually unprotected while the near-entirety of Europe and North America were covered by the superweapons constructed. Of course, these defense systems were not impenetrable - several large asteroids impacted northern Polaris and Calada, and the UnitedTerran Stonehenge site itself was directly hit by a small asteroid.

Effects on the World
The world's economies suffered a major collapse following the disaster due to the damage caused to each country's infrastructure. The greatest economic impact occurred on the continents of Asia and South America, where most of the impacts took place. Europe, while suffering few major impacts, was heavily affected by the economic turmoil due to their dependence on Asian markets. To prevent total collapse, nations on these continents formed regional federations. These federations severely cut their military spending in favor of rebuilding and medical services. By 2015, military spending made up a meager 4% of the international economy.

The breakup of Ulysses fragments around Earth's orbit created a field of space debris, making space launches next to impossible. Recent attempts to clear these fragments using orbital laser weaponry have been met with moderate success while also drawing criticism for their potential use as anti-satellite weapons.

The Post-Ulysses World
In several countries most affected by Ulysses, so-called "Special Economic Zones" were established by the as semi-autonomous regions in order to accommodate refugees and survivors of the disaster. Iyuli, located around Varoneshki Oblast in Rusca, was the largest of these zones in terms of land area. Many of these zones, especially Iyuli due to its size, ultimately became breeding grounds for extremist groups in the post-Ulysses world. was initially one such zone, later becoming an autonomous territory of the United States after being allowed to self-govern after accusations that disaster relief in the region were mishandled.

As nations redirected their military funds to reconstruction efforts, this led to the rise of private military contractors and mercenaries throughout the world, especially under the jurisdiction of the.

In 2019, members of various groups and nations throughout Eurasia joined together to form the, a supranational organization founded on the notion that the CN had supposedly mishandled the aftermath of the disaster and allowed heavily affected countries to fail. STINC stretches from Ucrying in the west to North Joseon in the east, and almost every country in between. While several countries openly stated their support for this federation, several smaller or more Western-aligned nations were overthrown in favor of more STINC friendly governments. In many ways the STINC Federation operates as a single entity much like the European Union, although much more centralized with most member states having little say in the Federation's governing. Several countries in South America that were heavily affected by Ulysses have shown pro-STINC views, but none have joined the Federation out of fear of a military response.

Locations Impacted
Only major impact locations shown below. Nearly every nation in the northern hemisphere was impacted by meteorites to some degree, the vast majority of which were smaller or struck less populated areas.

Africa

 * Kalgeria
 * Libberano
 * Magonia
 * Stacy
 * UnitedTerra

Asia

 * Finipines
 * Frozantium
 * Hanjuria
 * Hindia
 * Japaland
 * Nexon
 * Zhou
 * Zhou Minguo

Europe

 * Castilla
 * South Liguria
 * Puffarus
 * Puffarus



North America

 * Atlantic Ocean
 * Off the coast of the
 * Off the coast of Calada and the United States


 * Calada
 * Albirda
 * Northeast Territories


 * Caltexico
 * Western states
 * Northern Polaris
 * Northern Polaris

Oceania

 * Austiceia
 * New East Orcas
 * Southern Austiceia
 * Vinktoria
 * West Austiceia

South America

 * Beru
 * Bolifin
 * Cordovisa
 * Nutzil