UPC History

All the things that anyone actually remembers

Interstellar travel was discovered in the latter half of the 21st century by Unicorp, a commercial subsidiary of the United Nations Space Agency “In two thousand and ninety-one, Unicorp discovered another sun...da duh da duh da duh da duh...” Over the next one hundred years, the UNSA made a serious stab at moving most of the population of the Earth to interstellar colonies. Unfortunately, though an eventual one hundred million emigrants left Earth, this made no significant dent in the population of the spawning ground of the human race. The first sentient race discovered by humans were the Alsarii. The Alsarii were a group of artistic humanoids who had discovered star travel several decades earlier, and were exploring their local stellar neighborhood at a leisurely pace.

The discovery of the Alsarii by a starship from Earth led to a set of major crises, as it became clear that the immigration program sponsored by UNSA was not only a failure, but would likely be limited by the distribution of other species. A wealth of problems brought the United Nations staggering to a halt, and during the twenty-second century the Earth broke down in chaos and ruin. The colonial worlds were largely left to “do for themselves” or perish.

The discovery of the Vergosi race in the mid 22nd century did not make for an overwhelming improvement. The Vergosi were only slightly more technologically advanced than humankind, though they had possessed star travel for millennia.

The Vergosi were traders, with many useful things to sell to colony worlds, no longer being supplied by dysfunctional mother Earth. The Vergosi demanded high prices, and offered attractive credit terms. Because of their economic power, and the threat of the Vergosi Mafia, few humans dared either fight the Vergosi, or organize against them.

The Yorr War

In the first decade of the 23rd century, humankind encountered the Yorr. This race was antagonistic and barbaric. It was a miracle that the Yorr possessed star travel at all. After several years of skirmishing, conflict with the Yorr exploded into a savage and brutal war that dragged on from 2214-2218

After the war, human statesmen attempted to form the loose alliance that had opposed the Yorr into a strong galactic government. Human statesmen organized the Union of Planetary Councils (UPC). Though Alsarii contributed some advanced knowledge of sciences, and tactical arts, it was generally conceded among humans that they were pikers who did not carry their weight during the “Great War.” Because they had only a few planets, and were known by all races as having the cleanest toilet facilities and most edible food, they were given the “honor” of housing the UPC Government. The Vergosi and Yorr never actually joined the UPC, but they did sign a set of Peace Treaties with the UPC Parliament.
During the Yorr War, the Alsarii had contributed some advanced knowledge of sciences, and tactical arts, though it is generally conceded among humans that they are pikers who did not carry their weight during the “Great War.” Because they had only a few planets, and were known by all races as having the cleanest toilet facilities and most edible food, they were given the “honor” of housing the UPC Government. The Yorr never actually joined the UPC, but they did sign a set of Peace Treaties with the UPC Parliament.

Between the Wars

Peace continued for about a decade after the Yorr Armistice in 2218. There was progress everywhere. The UPC consolidated the great educational systems into an inefficient and cumbersome system of “Universities of the United Councils of Planets.” Only UUCP Algol V, and UUCP Epsilon Eridani IX survived with any sort of credible reputation.

The Great Depression

In 2229, the UPC Economy collapsed, resulting in a massive galactic depression. Even the Vergosi were hard hit. Some Humans turned against the UPC, which since the War had maintained a fairly powerful grip. Excesses were cited - in 2232, after a fairly minor rebellion on the tiny forgotten colony of New Haven, the UPC dropped hydrogen bombs and wiped out the ten thousand or so inhabitants. New Haven had excited xenophobic fears among the UPC hierarchy because the population were mutated by radiation when their stardrive failed, and their descendants had bizarre psychic powers.

The UPC industrial complex survived the depression, and scandals like the destruction of New Haven, however, and under increasingly liberal leadership the economy recovered. Since the ’32 elections, a series of Galactic Presidents curbed the powers of the Bureau for Interstellar and Galactic Offworld Trade Security, a powerful intelligence agency with vast internal powers. By the late thirties, all was nearly back to normal.

The Retull War

Unfortunately for most of the known sentient races, at about this time, the pernicious Retull began to spread across known space. The Retull, unlike the other races thus far discovered, were not humanoids with some cute and offbeat variant on human features. They were large chittering crosses between insects and lizards, which no one had much in common with. To make matters worse, they were a hive mind, and while sentient, they had no use for, or comprehension of, other species. Their unimaginatively designed starships dropped colonies onto inhabited worlds. The Retull then began to farm, build roads and nests, and create industry without the slightest regard to the existing inhabitants. When attacked, they defended themselves with quiet and deadly weapons.

The Retull onslaught in 2238 was at first ignored by the majority of worlds. It was not until 2239, when the Retull began to touch on those worlds inhabited by, or owned by, the Vergosi, that a solid opposition emerged. Even the Yorr suffered from the onslaught of the Retull, though fighting communistic insectoids who did not hoard wealth or luxury items did not hold a great deal of enchantment for them. By 2241, all of the Allied races: Human, Alsarii, Yorr, and Vergosi, were at War with the Retull.

The war was long and grim. In 2242, Protocera, and then Thalidium, fell just before Holiday Number 12. The fall of two major UPC industrial bastions left the UPC heart exposed, and resulted in widespread panic. The UPC clung to heroes like Captains Karl Wolfram and Terry Chin, or General Rikki “Blood and Steel” Allen. Finally, the UPC made a successful stand at Tovirex, and began to turn the tide. By 2244, it was clear that the UPC was winning. Heroes like Captain Carrol Cicco, and General Uckert carried the fight into the Retull worlds, smashing the Alien’s ability to carry out a war.

Because the Retull could not be reasoned with, and because they were unsympathetic bug-eyed monsters, it was decided by the UPC that the Retull should be subject to genocide - hunted down to the last egg-sac. Despite the turning tide of battle, the hive-aliens showed no sign of interest in surrender, and even the more pacifistic statesmen agreed there was little alternative to wiping them out.

The Postwar Galaxy

Eventually, as all good things must, the Great War came to an end. Even the creation of a genetically engineered “warrior strain” of Retull, with awesome physical abilities, could not sustain the race. The last Retull colony was reduced to superheated goo by the Yorr, and peace was imminent.

UPC members who had been squabbling among themselves began to realize that their neighbors had a plethora of war-surplus materials, and began hoarding accordingly. The result was a rapid disintegration process that threatened to overtake the UPC. Arms manufactories operated overtime, staffed by millions of returning warveterans, who needed jobs anyway.

There were terrible problems. On New Detroit, one of the great UPC industrial worlds, a Gangster Party was elected to the Government, and a World Gang-War broke out. The UPC intervened, leading to a terrible scandal when it was learned that the UPC intervention had been influenced by the Vergosi Mafia The Alsarii have a saying. “There is nothing new orbiting the sun.”