U2869 is a universe with subtly different physical laws from a standard universe, allowing for certain developments which are impossible to manifest in a standard universe. They broadly consist of the ability to tap into and funnel the dark energy field fueling the expansion of the universe, which in the case of U2869 and similar universes generally emerged as a form of indirect, unintentional genetic engineering which allowed lifeforms to directly absorb this concentrated energy, but almost invariably resulted in them becoming established as epicenters for massive, devastating outbreaks of mutated life.

The history of U2869 aligns nearly perfectly with that of U0, only noticeably diverging on Earth in the 2010s (U2869) due to the impact of the outbreaks and subsequent intervention by the Confederacy. An unknown amount of time ago, a predecessor IU civilization had established a hidden monitoring station in U2869 on the Earth-facing side of Luna with the purposes of studying the potential of this energy tapping on Earth's life, with it programmed to transmit a signal once widespread use was detected. However, this civilization had mysteriously vanished at an unspecified period in the past, leaving a network of what the Confederacy would eventually label as the 'Tripwire Array' unattended across a multitude of universes. In the 2010s (U2869), the U2869 monitor began registering the presence of the technology and began to transmit its confirmation signal, noting three distinct stages of increasing prevalence before it was almost entirely eliminated at the end of the decade.

Following the beginning of the Multiversal Expansion Era and the acquisition of IU Drive technology from the Imperial Confluence, the Confederacy began dispatching probes into the Multiverse, one stumbling across a monitoring station. Followup investigation revealed the presence of a central outpost on Luna in U2832 during early 2047 (U2), prompting a crewed Confederate expedition which isolated the IU signal used by the monitors and added receivers for it amongst the repertoire of equipment utilized by Confederate ships equipped with IU Drives. With the station receiving eleven positive signals for the technology, the Confederacy derived the coordinates for these universes and began redirecting IU probes to them.

However, all but one of the signals yielded only terrors to freeze the soul.

Six of the Earths investigated had been completely devastated in varying degrees of severity, ranging from a major mass extinction which wiped out most complex life to the planet being entirely gone, with two revealing no traces of any major bodies within what was the Sol System and traces of similar large-scale destruction expanding outwards through their local interstellar regions. No detectable traces of Humans were found within those universes. Another four revealed an Earth and wider Sol System which was more or less intact, albeit with clearly detectable damage. Despite there being Human populations however, the conditions upon those Earths inflicted by the mutated life was so horrifying and threatening to the Confederacy that it was forced to resort to complete annihilation from a distance, reducing the planets to similarly sterile conditions as some of the prior six. Of them all, only the Earth of U2869 was found in a reasonably untouched state with a stable Human civilization, although there was detectable side effects similar to but far less extreme than the other ten worlds. In the face of these discoveries and the pressing need to investigate the causes of what had occurred in these universes, the Confederacy dispatched the CSS Kratoyn, a Stellar Navy vessel equipped for covert research.

Upon arrival in mid-2047 (U2) / early 2022 (U2869), the initial orbital survey confirmed that the planet's civilization had already been damaged but not fully destabilized by exposure from two distinct mutation outbreaks which had been internally dealt with, the first being a small-scale one eight years prior and the second a year and a half ago which was far more widespread, with the effects from both concentrated in the eastern and central continental United States. Concealing themselves from the native population, the Confederate vessel registered active signatures from incomplete attempts at mutation triggers, most strongly in North America and Eurasia. However, an active mutation was also detected on the Pacific coast of North America, alarming the Kratoyn's crew. From what information could be derived, it was concluded that the triggers were attempts using limited knowledge to duplicate the original development which was being actively resisted by the United States, although this was hampered by its attempts at internal recovery from the outbreaks, international jockeying over the triggers and attempts to fill the void left by the decaying American hegemony, and cultish movements developing which bizarrely appeared to favor cultivating fresh outbreaks. Perhaps foolishly, the Confederates dipped their toe into this ongoing situation by a cautious attempt to obtain samples from the mutated remnant present on the Pacific coast, but it backfired disastrously due to insufficient information on its capabilities.

Wreaking an unexpectedly large amount of damage upon the drone, the incident was significant enough to draw the attention of multiple government and corporate groups which had been engaged in competition to locate and capture the remnant, ranging all the way from the American federal government to a minor terrorist group from the Middle East. The different groups colliding into each other triggered a multi-sided battle between the different organizations and the remnant which the Confederate drone was barely able to evade, only avoiding capture due to the arrival of additional drones from the Kratoyn to recover it. The struggle over the remnant ultimately ended when a Chinese corporate team contracted by its government successfully captured it, smuggling the entity aboard a vessel which slipped away to the Chinese mainland.

Uncertain as to how to proceed due to the risk of exposure and the unexpectedly powerful capabilities of the remnant, the Confederate expedition was ordered to remotely observe and only intervene if the situation spiraled out of control, or at least more so. Despite the massive damage to the initial drone, it had managed to preserve its sample for delivery to the Kratoyn and studies were begun in parallel with those on the surface as the remnant arrived at a laboratory in the PRC. Already in a dangerous state of flux due to the PRC leveraging its growing influence in the void left by the US, this unstable geopolitical landscape was thrown into a deeper crisis by the identity of the remnant's seizers being revealed, worsened further by the information going public. Amongst the storm of furious denouncements by various organizations, chiefly amongst them the US government, celebrations by the aforementioned cults which hoped their time grew near, and increased pace on developments of the mutation triggers, the Confederate's orders were altered, with their main goal being to formulate a strategy for covertly and surgically eliminating all research into the technology on the planet before it became the eleventh documented Earth to be destroyed by it. Although relatively simple due to lower advancement of the planet's native civilization, the need to remain as secretive as possible and the dangerous unknowns of potential outbreaks complicated their planning.

Unfortunately, the situation was forced to a head by the Chinese corporate organization similarly underestimating the remnant.

Unable to prevent the it from breaking out of confinement, all attempts to stop the remnant were only met with further destruction and death before it seized a sample of the trigger technology being developed. Without sufficient time to intervene, the Confederate vessel was only able to witness the beginning of a third outbreak in the Chinese mainland, far more intense than the prior two within the US and far beyond the native's ability to effectively respond. Due to the situation, the Confederates determined there was no other choice but to scrap their concealment and initiate first contact as they openly intervened, confirming the emerging suspicions from various organizations on the planet via observations of the mysterious drones that an unknown agent was present.

Due to the energy absorbing nature of the mutation outbreak making the use of weaponry extremely risky based on reports from the prior outbreaks shared by governments on the planet, the Confederacy elected to hold back heavy fire and focus their mitigation efforts on assisting the PRC in attempting to contain the outbreak from major population centers, which to put it mildly was not very successful and did little to stop the onslaught. Despite the advanced research capacity of the Confederate vessel allowing the production of a countermeasure far more rapidly than anything on the planet (including revelations about the trigger technology which native research had missed and drawn naive assumptions from), it still required nearly five hours for a solution to be developed and delivered. In the interim, a controlled application of the technology was used to contain the damage two hours into the third outbreak, which was able to significantly reduce the potential extent of the devastation and contain the outbreak before the finished countermeasure was delivered and successfully ended the crisis.

Despite the time period of the third outbreak in the PRC lasting a fraction of the first two in the US, the total damage to both countries was roughly equivalent. Additionally, although the bulk of the damage to the latter had happened nearly two years prior, it was still struggling to recover from the destruction and was in fact on the verge of collapsing from a global superpower into a regional power at best and completely crumbling at worst, with the PRC freshly reeling and similarly risking collapse in the future. With the two countries making up major cornerstones of global civilization, the sharp shock of the PRC's devastation rippled across the planet and further destabilized a geopolitical balance already disrupted by a similar shock from the second outbreak in the US two years prior.

In the aftermath of this 'Third Outbreak', the Confederacy dispatched an initial wave of vessels to U2869 soon thereafter and began offering assistance in recovery and systematic extirpation of the capability by rogue agents of triggering further mutation outbreaks. Although fears swirled about of this still-mysterious civilization moving in to take over, the risks of global collapse from the power vacuums left by the destruction in the US and PRC resulted in those two countries being the first to accept assistance despite angry reactions from suspicious and nationalistic elements in both. Despite plans to bring in additional waves of assets from U0 to further cement their presence in U2869 and gradually begin a process of annexation over a period of decades as a foothold for further expansion into that universe's wider galaxy, these tentative plans were interrupted abruptly by Cutoff Day. Due to a wormhole link in U2869 similarly disrupting IU Drive travel in that universe as with all universes connected to U0, the event left an array of Confederate presences on Earth, Luna, and in orbit of both stranded and forced to reconsider their position.

The Confederates were hampered in their efforts to rebuild and develop the US and PRC due to their comparatively miniscule population, far more limited technological assets than even the remnant Confederacy in U2, internal resistance, attempts at technological theft, various differences being seen in a negative light, and their status of being outsiders and often being perceived as invaders. The INE were hampered by internal disputes between countries otherwise oriented towards being rivals (such as Israel and Iran), suspicions of neo-colonialism from smaller countries, the massive technological superiority of Confederates, and the perception of Confederates by some as a means to escape dominance by old imperial powers (especially in Africa from France). Smaller preexisting regional conflicts have also merged with the wider resistance of INE against Confederate encroachment, resulting in opponents electing to join opposite Blocs for support against their rivals. A prominent example of this is India joining INE.

Depending on their status and association, countries within the Confederate sphere of influence either chose to join the Confederate Bloc outright or merely align with them. Those who were highly dependent on the US and/or PRC or generally desperate for assistance tended to join outright, while those were were still friendly with the Bloc members or less dependent for aid were generally content to merely align with the Confederates, although some elected to fully join. Both internally and externally, a major source of resistance to the Confederates is fear of them attempting to seize absolute power in the world, a fear not helped by the Confederacy triggering what amounted to soft coups to purge elite groups in the US and PRC which were serving as roadblocks to their countries from being developed by the Confederacy.

The emergence of the INE Bloc and who joined it was largely in response to the ones joining the Confederates, with the EU and Russia forced to set aside their rivalry to unite against perceived Confederate world conquest and India choosing to join due to concerns from the PRC and US together under Confederate influence being too dominant. INE has a very defensive attitude towards the Confederate Bloc, with it being famously insecure towards anything resembling a move towards eventual capitulation. Due to this attitude and the feelings of desperation sprouting from it, larger INE members tend to force smaller countries near them into remaining aligned to form a solid front, such as larger countries in Europe like France and Germany regarding smaller ones, Russia regarding Central Asia, India regarding South Asia, and so forth, resulting in solid swaths of INE membership across large regions. This however has led to tensions both internally and externally about potential neo-colonialism, prompting some countries beyond their reach to side more firmly with the Confederates as aforementioned.

Due to both careful dissemination and theft, Confederate technology generally spread around the world, with the INE Bloc lagging behind but not too far since the Confederates were reluctant to develop even friendly countries too rapidly. As a result, a bizarre mix of hard to replicate advanced Confederate technology, less advanced copies of it, and rare independent developments in native technology (most native innovation was based on observations of Confederate technology) are predominant. All traces of the mutation triggers which had caused the three disastrous outbreaks was carefully eliminated from access by the general population by most parties, with a major concern by both blocs being that the other side was secretly working on it or fringe groups were doing so, with multiple thwarted attempts at intentional outbreaks fueling these concerns. With the only known information relating to it being used to guide efforts to eliminate it elsewhere, comparisons were drawn to the containment of the only known smallpox viruses by labs of major powers.

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2014: First Outbreak

2020: Second Outbreak

2022: Third Outbreak & First Contact

In the aftermath, the small Confederate presence chose to continue by reorganizing the US and PRC into the twin cores of a new Confederate Bloc in 2023, although they faced resistance as large native powers such as the EU, Russia, and India banded together into the Indigenous Nations of Earth (INE) Bloc in 2025. Seeing the Confederates as vulnerable due to their reinforcement line from U0 being cut off, their goal was to bring together the rest of the world against the Confederates to resist potential attempts at a takeover. In response to elite groups in the US and PRC hampering development, the Confederacy performed a swift behind the scenes coup in 2028 which toppled them, triggering a strongly negative reaction amongst the INE.

The 'Fourth Outbreak' occurred in 2023, although it would differ strongly from the prior three. A malicious actor triggers a small-scale outbreak of mutated life in Northern California, with this instance being dealt with relatively rapidly and harmlessly in a stark contrast to the prior three. Already in development at this point, the Confederacy would deploy a global satellite network designed to monitor for and halt future Outbreaks more efficiently, with it being fully completed in 2024. Its first official use and de facto declassification due to it being utilized in 2027 to terminate an attempted Outbreak in northeastern Australia.

In the early years of the Confederate presence on Earth, the uncensored Confederate distaste for the procedure of infant genital cutting and policy of freely providing alternatives and the treatment to repair it was part of the impetus for a strong backlash emerging from societies that engaged in the practice, such as specific segments of the United States, Islamic-dominated regions of Africa and the Middle East, Israel, the Philippines, and elsewhere. Over time and with much initial resistance, the rate of the procedure would gradually drop in the United States, Canada, and western regions of the PRC, declining sharply during the middle decades of the century and ultimately becoming negligible by the 2080s. By contrast, some cultures in INE would 'double down' on the procedure as a proud signature of being anti-Confederate, most prominently within the countries of Israel, Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan. These cultures would proselytize the procedure throughout the Bloc, with this triggering internal rivalries within INE as some regions which historically did not practice it such as northern Europe providing pushback of their own.

Russian Crisis in 2032. As part of the aftermath from the Insurrection, rogue elements in the Russian military acquire Confederate weaponry, shielding, and stealth technology, using it to secretly construct a base in Siberia. Upon completion in 2032, it is utilized in a surprise attack which cripples two Confederate vessels until a space-rated particle beam at an excessively high setting is fired from another Confederate ship. Although successful at swiftly ending the crisis, this move is controversial throughout the world, even amongst the Confederates themselves, especially due to the beam having been classified before abruptly being revealed to the wider world via it being fired at Earth, along with the intensity of the weapons fire having an ongoing impact on the region for years afterwards. An image from a Russian drone of the impact ejecta spraying into the atmosphere below the orbiting spark of the vessel that fired the beam would become an iconic marker of the crisis which would circulate for decades. In the aftermath (of the aftermath), the proliferation of bootleg Confederate weaponry would continue, partially justified by what would commonly be viewed as an overreaction by the Confederates, and ultimately becoming comparable to both nuclear proliferation and the ongoing struggles to suppress the much-feared potential of a 'Fifth Outbreak'.