History Literature / AdAstraPerAspera

* ForWantOfANail: Senator [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmund_G._Ross Edmund G. Ross]], who in our world voted to acquit Johnson, instead votes for his impeachment, setting in motion the events of the timeline.

Written by [[Creator/Rvbomally]] (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. A GrimDark setting best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, or as the author himself commented, a UsefulNotes/ColdWar-themed ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

Written by Creator/Rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. A GrimDark setting best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, or as the author himself commented, a UsefulNotes/ColdWar-themed ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

Written by Creator/RvBOMally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. A GrimDark setting best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, or as the author himself commented, a UsefulNotes/ColdWar-themed ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

Written by rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. A GrimDark setting best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[JustForFun/RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, or as the author himself commented, a UsefulNotes/ColdWar-themed ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000''. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

* FantasticRacism: Most aliens are stereotyped as either monsters or subhuman primitives, with little rights to speak of. Even the seabrides, which serves in various human navies and can be given "honorary human" status, faces discrimination.

** Vacuity Pocket [=87555N=] is an [[GodwinsLawOfTimeTravel Axis Victory]] world set in 2097, with a German-Japanese cold war and a balkanized United States.

* KillEmAll: Enacted constantly by all sides as psychological warfare. "Civilian" have little meaning in 28th century wars.

Written by rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. A GrimDark setting best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, or as the author himself commented, a UsefulNotes/ColdWar-themed ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

* AnachronismStew: 28th century humanity is the most powerful species in the galaxy, with FTL [[spoiler:and interdimensional]] travel capability. Most computers, however, still use vacuum tubes due to extensive use of {{EMP}} weaponry. Software development is actually decades behind OTL, due to the lack of independent crowdsourcing. "Modern" operating systems are similar in nature to their VideoGame/{{Fallout}} equivalents.

* LampshadeHanging: Parallel universes can have different laws of physics, making FTL travel possible in trueline. All inhabitants of Vacuity Pocket 941GR5 are [[RealityWarper reality warpers]] and [[{{Telepathy}} telepaths]].

* OneNationUnderGod: Numerous states are ruled by [[ChurchMilitant Church Militants]] - examples include the Greater Seidonian Protectorate, the Holy Dominion of Christendom - and worst of all, the Kang Gyala, whose state religion is the aforementioned ''[[MiseryBuildsCharacter Pidanayana]]''.

* {{Qurac}}: The PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny Democratic Republic of Qurac is this trope InSpace

* {{Room 101}}: The Technocracy's Department 101 handles interrogation and torture of political dissidents.

** Vacuity Pocket [=OTS5MPF=] [[Literature/{{Timeline 191}} have an independent Confederacy defeated in the 1940s]] by an elected, socialist US government. When Coalition forces arrive, a centrist United States is busy fighting off "[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare a rather insane invasion by socialist “ultranationalist” Russia]] and various insurgent groups in the Middle East".

* StealthInSpace: Averted.

* WeHaveReserves: Eerily similar to [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer 40k]]. The combined armies of the three powers amounted to 180 ''billion''. Each empire possess millions of ships, and wage galactic war simply to keep their populace in line.

* MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness: Somewhere between [[Mohs/PhysicsPlus type 3]] and [[Mohs/OneBigLie type 4]].

* NotSoDifferent: In theory, the three superpowers have radically different ideologies; in reality, each oppress their people just as much as the other.

Written by rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. A GrimDark setting best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, or as the author himself commented, a ColdWar-themed ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}''. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

* ScaryAmoralReligion: The Children of Oblivion, [[ImmoralNihilist a nihilistic cult that seeks the destruction of all life in the universe.]]

** Vacuity Pocket [=CA1497=] have [[{{Ringworld}} several gigantic ringworlds]] instead of planets orbiting Sol, the product of an ancient and advanced alien civilization.

Written by rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom, despite only having started back in 2011. Best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, the timeline's [[GrimDark grimdarkness]] rivals that of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer 40k]]. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

* TheKingdom: Nova Italia, while authoritarian and oppresive, it is also surprisingly confederated and the only relevant neutral nation.

Eventually, three [[GalacticSuperpower interstellar superpowers]] emerged from the ashes. The '''Coalition of Western Republics''', the Christian objectivist successor of the American and German Empires, wage constant war to impose UsefulNotes/ManifestDestiny across the galaxy. The '''Conseil of Workers' Systems''', a communist state that worship its leader as a living god, wage constant war with the capitalist Coalition. The '''United Technocracies of Man''', a textbook 1984 dictatorship with ''obliteration of the self'' as its official ideology, is a nonaligned kingmaker [[spoiler:and the ultimate winner of the Galactic War]]. Hundreds of minor powers are under the Big Three's yoke. All are more or less equally oppressive, and wages war only to pacify their internal populace.

* WeaponOfMassDestruction: And how. Nuclear and antimatter weaponry is considered standard-issue and are used with abandon. More exotic weapons include missiles that create miniature black holes and Vacuity portals, as well as the Merkwürdigliebe ([[DrStrangelove Strangelove]]) Device - a modified FTL engine that forces a star to collapse upon itself.

The point of divergence is 1868, when President Andrew Johnson was successfully impeached by Benjamin Wade, who became his successor. The Wade-Davis Bill was passed, leading to increased tensions between the northern and southern states, as well as increased militarization. UsefulNotes/WorldWarI and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII destroyed the British and French empires, leading to a tripolar world with the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Empire]], and the [[GloriousMotherRussia Soviet Union]] as the superpowers. When an US president was assasinated in 1965, an increasingly totalitarian US was remade into the expansionist American Empire. As the three empires expand into space with the advent of FTL travel, an apocalyptic nuclear war occured on Earth in 2239. Offworld colonists are cut off from their Earth-based governments and each other, sparking a period of galactic anarchy known as the Collapse.

* BigBookOfWar: The [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showpost.php?p=4079686&postcount=18 Pointers for the Smart Bombardier]] demonstrates the Coalition's utter disregard for civilian casualties in a hilariously macabre manner.
-->'''Point #4''': ''Show no mercy! Every civilian you leave standing is another guerilla our boys and girls on the ground will have to deal with later! The enemy will mobilize for total war; deny them everything!''

** Early American history is a particularly hilarious example: America is ruled by a communistic Britain; after the Boston Massacre, where Americans are rounded into gas chambers, George Washington raised the Grand Army of the Republic and revolted. Washington took 300 men to a narrow pass at Yorktown to prevent the redcoat advance. Holding the line with swords and shields, Washington personally "cut through British soldiers and spilled their entrails on the snow-covered ground"; the subsequent Declaration of Independence enforced the American people’s unalienable right to capitalism. The United States Army sailed across the Pacific and conquered Chinese settlements there, fulfilling Washington's dreams of lebensraum. The northern states, influenced by communist Canada, seceded; UsefulNotes/AbrahamLincoln won the War on Treason with primitive missiles and steam tanks. After banning communism in America, a communist-influenced Congress sent killer-for-hire John Oswald to murder Lincoln in Dallas.

** In the Battle of Masnchester, the food situation was so desperate that Coalition medics are ordered to [[Film/SoylentGreen execute the wounded and ship the bodies to protein processors.]]

** Vacuity Pocket [=OTS5MPF=] [[Literature/{{Timeline 191}} have an independent Confederate defeated in the 1940s]] by an elected, socialist US government. When Coalition forces arrive, a centrist United States is busy fighting off "[[VideoGame/ModernWarfare a rather insane invasion by socialist “ultranationalist” Russia]] and various insurgent groups in the Middle East".

** In "[[FutureImperfect The Legend of the Republic]]", [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTcVNuNX8yY George Washington leads 300 of his greatest warriors to hold the narrow pass at Yorktown, fighting hand-to-hand against the British with swords and spears]]

* FullCircleRevolution: The typical cycle of this trope is ''inverted'' after the Collapse: survivors in Russia decide that anything to do with the Soviet Union must be done away with, and restore the Russian Empire. Despite this, the new Russian Empire is almost identical to the Soviet Union in governance, complete with the Tsar being the Premier.

Written by rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on [[Website/AlternateHistoryDotCom AH.com]], despite only having started back in 2011. Best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, the timeline's [[GrimDark grimdarkness]] rivals that of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer 40k]]. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

* GratuitousGerman: Since ImperialGermany remained a great power until the Collapse and was allied with the United States, the modern "American" language is derived from a mix of English and German.

** Pidanayana (the [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast Pain Cycle]]) is a corrupted version of Buddhism that [[MiseryBuildsCharacter glorifies acceptance of suffering without resistance, which would allow the soul to reject earthly existence and attain "enlightenment"]]. Brutal sadomasochism is the norm, and advocates submit to state oppression so that mankind may suffer and be enlightened.

The point of divergence is 1868, when President Andrew Johnson was successfully impeached by Benjamin Wade, who became his successor. The Wade-Davis Bill was passed, leading to increased tensions between the northern and southern states, as well as increased militarization. UsefulNotes/WorldWarOne and UsefulNotes/WorldWarII destroyed the British and French empires, leading to a tripolar world with the UsefulNotes/UnitedStates, the [[UsefulNotes/ImperialGermany German Empire]], and the [[GloriousMotherRussia Soviet Union]] as the superpowers. When an US president was assasinated in 1965, an increasingly totalitarian US was remade into the expansionist American Empire. As the three empires expand into space with the advent of FTL travel, an apocalyptic nuclear war occured on Earth in 2239. Offworld colonists are cut off from their Earth-based governments and each other, sparking a period of galactic anarchy known as the Collapse.

Written by rvbomally (but with plenty of contributions from other members), [[http://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=181340 Ad Astra Per Aspera]] is one of the most developed and best-received timelines on [[AlternateHistoryDotCom AH.com]], despite only having started back in 2011. Best described as [[Literature/NineteenEightyFour 1984]] [-[[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]-]!, the timeline's [[GrimDark grimdarkness]] rivals that of [[TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} Warhammer 40k]]. Three galactic dictatorships lord over four trillion souls, galactic war is the status quo, democracy is virtually extinct, and a dozen conquered alien races are used as either slaves or cannon fodder.

* BadSanta: The Coalition somehow managed to turn ''Santa Claus'' into a bloodthirsty warrior figure that kills the unpatriotic without remorse.

* FullCircleRevolution: The typical cycle of this trope is ''inverted'' after the Collapse: survivors in Russia decide that anything to do with the Soviet Union must be done away with, and restore the Russian Empire. Despite this, the new Russian Empire is almost identical to the Soviet Union in governance, complete with the Tsar being the new Premier!