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EarthGov: Good things are happening!

The Earth Government Colonial Alliance, commonly known as EarthGov, is the governing body of Earth and its colonies, founded in 2314 as the successor to the former Sovereign Colonies administration.[1][2]

In addition to its administrative, policing, and trade oversight, EarthGov's military arm, the Earth Defense Force (EDF), is responsible for defense and traffic control operations.[1]

History[]

Main article: History of Earth and the colonies

Formation[]

"Early in humanity's off-world expansion, colonial administration was handled by a body known as the Sovereign Colonies, but the pressures of the Resource Wars and a powerful secessionist faction eventually saw the collapse of the Sovereign Colonies and the founding of an Earth-centric government in its place in 2314."
—Official description[1]
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The Sovereign Colonies administration was the predecessor to the Earth Government Colonial Alliance.[1]

In the 23rd century, after a string of global social calamities caused by armed conflicts, resource shortage, and environmental catastrophes, a seemingly unified Earth turned to the stars and began to rapidly establish colonies on new worlds.[3] In the wake of this colonial expansion, a ruling body known as the Sovereign Colonies was formed, serving as the government encompassing Earth and its colonies in a time when space travel was limited, requiring large investments of money and materials as well as military supervision.[2][4]

At the start of the 24th century, public dissatisfaction with the Sovereign Colonies - compounded by the deepening resource crisis and Resource Wars that had erupted over humanity's territories[1] - led to the Secession War, a civil conflict that pitted the Sovereign Colonies Armed Forces against Secessionists seeking to dissolve the administration and replace it with an Earth-centric government. The Sovereign Colonies' covert expedition to Tau Volantis in 2311 was an attempt to resolve the resource crisis and end the conflict by securing the limitless energy provided by the Markers.[5][6] However, the expedition proved to be a disaster and, in 2314, the Sovereign Colonies invoked Scenario Five: the destruction of all research and personnel related to the government's Marker program. The extent of these purges nullified its ability to continue the war and the Secessionists emerged victorious, dismantling the Sovereign Colonies and founding the new regime in its place: Earth Government Colonial Alliance, commonly referred to as EarthGov.[7]

Earthgov logo

An EarthGov poster in the 26th century with the government's slogan.

As Scenario Five was kept confidential and most of its evidence was destroyed, the accepted explanation in military circles was that the Sovereign Colonies leaders were implementing scorched earth tactics, preferring to scuttle their fleet rather than hand it over to the victors.[8][9] However, the new EarthGov administration was at some point able to recover information regarding the Sovereign Colonies-era experiments with the Markers,[1] even records that pointed to Marker 3A's presence in the restricted Aegis system, although they were unable to determine its location until the Concordance Extraction Corporation stumbled upon it in 2508 during an illegal mining operation.[10]

Unitologist Uprising[]

"EarthGov officials yesterday denied rumors that the government was no longer able to contain the widespread violence that has gripped the colonies in recent weeks. The violence began 16 days ago on Uxor following a year-long campaign by the Church of Unitology. Five colonies have gone dark since the Unitology riots began. There have been rumors of bombings at government laboratories and eyewitness accounts of brutal killings following shortly after."
—Excerpt from "An End to EarthGov?" in 2514.[11]
EarthGov vandilized posters

Vandalized EarthGov posters found on Luna.

In the aftermath of the Titan Station incident in 2511 following EarthGov's disastrous Project Telomere, EarthGov experienced significant turmoil within its infrastructure.[12] In the following three years, the efforts of the followers of Unitology to weaken EarthGov's military and favor among the public doubled. The Circle, a militant group of Unitologist extremists led by Jacob Arthur Danik, played a significant part in the insurrectionist campaign against EarthGov.

DS3 Dead EarthGov Security Guard

An EarthGov Security officer executed by Unitologist rebels.

The Unitologists' belief was that EarthGov's experiments on Markers were sacrilegious; with the apparent end of human existence at hand, the Circle began to attack EarthGov Marker test sites by the year 2514. EarthGov's inability to curb the Unitologist efforts became apparent to the public. At least five colonies, including Uxor,[13] fell dark over a period of sixteen days with EarthGov refusing to admit the severity of the situation.[11] The next colony attacked was New Horizons on Luna.[11]

Following these attacks, EarthGov's structure was evidently failing; their status among the public had begun to falter, with anti-EarthGov graffiti coating the walls of even the closest of colonies. Though they continued to hold the majority of planets and stations, including Earth, that continued to support the government establishment, most of the population had become noticeably and concerningly opposed to EarthGov rule.[12]

Military[]

Main article: Earth Defense Force
EDF LOGO

Logo of the Earth Defense Force.

The Earth Defense Force is the military arm that enforces EarthGov's orders and is responsible for protecting Earth and her colonies. EDF Navy destroyers (ship prefix "USM") defend key EarthGov locations and patrol outlying systems; its Marines are known to be ruthless in their handling of pirates and other rogue elements.[1]

EarthGov also employs security forces on their colonies, such as the Titan Station Security Force and the New Horizons Security Force, which effectively serve as localized gendarmeries and appear to operate under the EDF. These security forces have been known to make use of conscription.[14]

Practices[]

Colonial Policy[]

EarthGov Titan supply

EarthGov ships delivering supplies to Titan Station.

EarthGov is deeply entrenched in the affairs of colonial politics, business and military administration, its government placing the concerns of Earth and its citizens above all else.[15] It holds the power to control travel throughout colonial space and, if required, to police, establish curfews and restrict traffic in certain areas, as well as dispatch military and naval forces to remove elements believed to ignore or threaten its orders.[10]

Black Operations[]

"EarthGov is often accused of conducting espionage or secret experiments. True, EarthGov controls many uncharted or restricted worlds, some with research facilities that have been off-limits since the time of the Sovereign Colonies, but the full truth might never be known."
—Official description[1]
DS2 EarthGov High Rank Uniform

High-ranking EarthGov official uniforms.

The public announcement of the massacre on the USG Ishimura provides evidence into EarthGov's consistent cover-up policies, the cause of the numerous deaths on the ship and the Aegis VII Colony having been pinned on a "terrorist attack".[16]

Hans DS2

A vandalized poster accusing EarthGov of lying.

EarthGov's black operations are not restricted to scientific development, however; its control extends deep within commercial contracts with a number of private corporations whose documents can, at any time, be manipulated. As in the case of Isaac Clarke's father, Poul Clarke, the government regarded his work as ship architect with wary eyes and classified most of his service record for reasons never revealed.[17]

Combined with numerous black ops, the government apparently also hires field agents, or spies, to gather information on activities it is not privy to at certain times. One such agent, Kendra Daniels, was assigned to infiltrate the team of the USG Kellion sent to respond to the crisis on the Ishimura and retrieve the compromised Marker 3A for the government, with the USM Valor being deployed to assist her.[10][18]

EarthGov's secretive Oracle Program deploys specialized field agents known as Oracles to deal with operations of the highest importance. Dressed in white uniforms and possessing finger rings with apparent Stasis abilities, these agents are implied to have been designed by the government to assess the threat of the Necromorphs.[19]

Marker Research[]

"CEC vessel USG Ishimura in breach of EarthGov system isolation order. Believed to have recovered Marker 3A. Special Ops has confirmed the system but unable to provide planet location. [...] OBJECTIVES: Secure Marker 3A. If infection is present, initiate sterilization protocol 'EURYDICE'. If infection is not present, initiate containment protocol 'APOLLO'. All personnel must, WITHOUT EXCEPTION, submit to full psychological examination during debriefing."
—EarthGov's orders to the USM Valor.[10]
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Logo of EarthGov's Project Telomere on Titan Station.

Among the government's activities are numerous black or secret operations projects intended to hide, from popular scrutiny, several of its sensitive initiatives, such as their research into the Markers in the 26th century.

In the 23rd century, the Sovereign Colonies spearheaded research into replicating the Black Marker, an artifact of alien origin found on Earth.[20] The replicas of the Black Marker, the Red Markers, were hidden in restricted-traffic star systems such as Aegis VII in order to cover up the resulting horrors from public eyes. The efforts of the Sovereign Colonies to bury all research after the Tau Volantis incident prevented their successors at EarthGov from making substantial strides into Markers for nearly two centuries.[7]

GovSec Laser Room

A Red Marker being constructed as part of Project Telomere in 2511.

Despite its awareness of a Red Marker's danger and of the previous failed attempts to control it by the Sovereign Colonies administration, EarthGov restarted the Marker program in 2508 following the accidental uncovering of the Aegis VII Marker site by the CEC, using the replication blueprints implanted in Isaac Clarke's mind.[21] The most notable of EarthGov's new Red Markers was the Site 12 Marker created on Titan Station during Project Telomere. According to Director Hans Tiedemann, EarthGov officials had reached the consensus that planet cracking could no longer sustain humanity and that research to safely harness the Markers' energy was necessary to save our species.[22]

Dead Space 3 Screenshot 2023.09.16 - 23.38.19

The shroud covering the Luna Marker on the New Horizons Lunar Colony.

Despite the disastrous Titan Station incident, EarthGov continued to build and study Red Markers in test labs scattered around its territory for the following years. By this point, they appeared to have somewhat improved their safety techniques, covering the Markers with shrouds that were more successful in blocking their signals than what was observed with the Site 12 Marker. These shrouds were subsequently destroyed during terrorist attacks by the Circle led by Jacob Arthur Danik, unleashing the Marker signal across several EarthGov colonies.[23]

Commercial and Military Contracts[]

In the midst of large-scale space commerce, EarthGov establishes contracts with commercial corporations in order to benefit from the planet cracking business. Such government-related corporations include the Concordance Extraction Corporation and the Galactic Union Merchant Marine Corp, over which the government wields considerable power and is authorized to determine the legality of corporate mining operations.[10][17]

Notable Members[]

Trivia[]

  • EarthGov is similar to a totalitarian state, with complete control of all the colonies, restriction of freedom of speech and religion (as seen in the government's efforts to neutralize Unitology[24][25]) as well as lack of democratically elected leaders, given that Hans Tiedemann said that his family ran Titan Station for generations. EarthGov also makes use of propaganda messages, which are more prominently featured across the Sprawl in Dead Space 2.
  • EarthGov was never referred to by its name in the original Dead Space or in any other media prior to Dead Space 2, often being referred to only as "the government".
  • According to Captain Norton, he and Sergeant John Carver were a part of "EarthGov's Last Battalion", suggesting a significant amount of EarthGov's military forces were wiped out or converted by Unitologist forces.

Gallery[]

Logos and Posters[]

Sources[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 The World and History of Dead Space - EarthGov Page
  2. 2.0 2.1 Dead Space 3 Dev Team Edition: "Nostalgic posters for an era long gone, the SCAF represents the government prior to EarthGov 200 years ago, when space travel was done without Shockpoint drives, and was only for the bold and the courageous—and the military."
  3. The World and History of Dead Space - Backstory Page
  4. Dead Space 3: Liberation: "She discovered that Marker tampering went way back, past EarthGov to the old Sovereign Colonies administration."
  5. Log:A Desperate Mission
  6. Log:S.C.A.F. Artifact 17
  7. 7.0 7.1 Log:Last Contact
  8. Dead Space 3: Chapter 3: The Roanoke
  9. Dead Space 3: Chapter 11: Signal Hunting
  10. 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 Log:Orders
  11. 11.0 11.1 11.2 Log:EarthGov Artifact 01
  12. 12.0 12.1 Steve Papoutsis: Earth Gov is in significant turmoil after the events of Titan Stations. There are hold outs hanging on to the old government but the population is very anti earth gov. Aegis7 - Meet: Steve Papoutsis (March 7, 4:00PM PST)
  13. Dead Space: Liberation
  14. Log:Life on the Sprawl
  15. EarthGov posters in Dead Space 3
  16. Dead Space 2 website, Remember the Ishimura
  17. 17.0 17.1 Log:Background Request
  18. Dead Space (2023) - Kendra: What my department sent me here to do. Even if the Valor couldn't help me out like I wanted.
  19. Dead Space: Salvage
  20. Dead Space 3: CAG Briefing
  21. Dead Space 3 - The Story so Far
  22. Log:Tiedemann's Last Hope
  23. Dead Space 3: Chapter 1: Rude Awakening
  24. Log:Recruiting
  25. Log:Altman's Footsteps
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