The War of New Europe

The War of New Europe was a large-scale ideological and biological conflict that occurred on New Earth approximately twelve decades after human resettlement on the terraformed New Earth. It marked the collapse of one of the planet’s earliest and most culturally significant regions, and remains the only recorded instance of full-scale civil war on New Earth to date.

---

Background

---

New Europe was among the first territories established during early colonisation efforts. Situated in a temperate, resource-rich zone, it was designed to serve as a symbolic and practical continuation of the European continent on Earth. Settlers arrived from a wide range of cultural backgrounds, many of them descendants of displaced European, Commonwealth, and Eurasian nations. For several decades, New Europe functioned as a successful cooperative zone, blending agricultural infrastructure with urban development and civic traditions.
  Over time, two dominant ideological groups emerged. At first, they coexisted uneasily. Eventually, they split entirely.

---

The Factions

---

Old England

Old England was not a theocracy. It was a spiritual preservationist state, open to all human religions and philosophies provided they upheld a shared belief in the sanctity of human identity. The people of Old England rejected genetic engineering, neural augmentation, and other posthuman technologies. They accepted mixed-heritage humans and resettled descendants without issue, but drew a firm line against self-directed biological change. To its supporters, Old England was a refuge for memory and meaning. To its enemies, it was a cultural dead end.
 

New Berlin

New Berlin was a secular progressive bloc formed in direct opposition to what it viewed as spiritual regression. Its citizens believed in advancement and saw no ethical conflict in modifying their biology to improve cognition, resilience, or longevity. New Berlin housed some of the most sophisticated research programs in gene editing and neural symbiosis. Religion was viewed as an obsolete technology. Moral frameworks were rooted in logic, adaptability, and long-term utility. To its supporters, New Berlin represented the next phase of humanity. To its enemies, it was a betrayal of everything that made them human.
 

The Line

As the divide between the two factions grew, the region was physically split in half. A militarised border was established. It became known simply as The Line.
  The Line eventually became a trench network, a surveillance corridor, and finally a symbol of failure. By the final year of the war, artillery exchanges and drone raids were routine along its length.

---

Exalung

---

Exalung is an airborne neurobiological agent created by researchers in New Berlin during the final months of the War of New Europe. Originally developed as a controlled cognitive enhancer, it was designed to trigger rapid neurological expansion in targeted populations. The delivery vector was atmospheric and encoded with gene-locked activation sequences.
  The virus misread shared ancestral human markers and activated globally across all human genotypes present in the region.
 

Transmission & Containment

Transmission: Not contagious between humans. Infection vector: Environmental exposure only. Pathogen saturates the air, soil, and porous surfaces within the New Europe exclusion zone. Persistence: Indefinite. The agent is self-replicating in specific atmospheric and biological conditions and remains active within the quarantine zone. Containment: A high-tech static perimeter prevents accidental entry. Decontamination protocols prevent spread outside the zone. Clearance: Individuals can re-enter safe zones if exposure is short and external contact is thoroughly sterilised. There is no known risk of secondhand infection.
 

Stages of Infection

Phase I: Cognitive Bloom

  Onset: 12–24 hours post-exposure
 

• Symptoms: Elevated cognitive function, extreme memory recall (including ancestral or cultural memory), euphoria, auditory hallucinations

• Note: Victims frequently describe the sensation as "seeing beyond the veil" or "remembering lives that weren’t mine"

 

Phase II: Pulmonary Crystallisation

  Onset: 24–48 hours
 

• Symptoms: Ash-coloured sputum, lung crystallisation, shortness of breath, chest pain, disorientation

• Note: Ash accumulates visibly on clothing and surfaces. Victims often appear calm or serene during this stage.

 

Phase III: Neural Cascade

  Onset: 48–72 hours
 

• Symptoms: Cognitive breakdown, aphasia, uncontrolled emotional release, seizures, loss of self-identity

 
 

Phase IV: Terminal Collapse

  Onset: 3–5 days
 

• Symptoms: Complete respiratory failure, cardiac arrest, final exhalation of airborne ash, body degradation begins within hours

• Note: No recorded recovery past Phase II. Neural scans post-mortem show collapse of higher brain function.

---

---

Aftermath

Both factions were ultimately annihilated.
  New Europe was sealed off. A non-patrolled, high-grade containment perimeter now surrounds the entire region. No human has successfully entered the Deadlands in over sixty years.
  The site of the conflict is officially referred to as New Europe. In practice, it is called The Deadlands.
  At present, it is unknown whether non-human species can enter the region without risk. No tests have been conducted. No off-world entities have been observed inside the zone.
  What remains inside New Europe is unknown.