2025: Doomsday (Alternate History Scenario)[]
“And on the sixth month of the year 2025, the world ended not with a whimper, nor a bang, but a rain of fire unceasing.” — Unknown survivor, Memoirs of the Ashen Earth
Overview[]
2025: Doomsday is an alternate history timeline set in a post-apocalyptic Earth shaped by a catastrophic nuclear war that erupted on June 22, 2025. The timeline draws heavy inspiration from 1983: Doomsday, The Fire Rises (a Hearts of Iron IV mod), and elements of Fallout, combining geopolitical realism with speculative futurism and techno-dystopia.
In this reality, unlike our own, Iran had successfully developed and deployed nuclear weapons by mid-2025. When tensions in the Middle East boiled over, a devastating nuclear exchange ensued involving Iran, Israel, and the United States. Israel, facing annihilation, enacted its feared Samson Option, resulting in a global thermonuclear catastrophe. The fallout ushered in the collapse of world civilization, widespread anarchy, and the rise of regional powers, warlords, and techno-theocratic states.
The timeline is set in June 22, 2045, exactly 20 years after the Doomsday Event, depicting a world profoundly altered, scarred by radiation, and reshaped by the survivors' struggle to rebuild, dominate, or transcend the ashes.
The Doomsday Event (June 22, 2025)[]
Background[]
The world of 2025 was already a tinderbox of instability:
- Rising US-Iran tensions over nuclear enrichment.
- Increasing Israeli aggression against Hezbollah and Iranian proxies in Syria and Lebanon.
- The collapse of diplomacy following Iran’s successful underground nuclear test in March 2025.
The Exchange[]
On June 22, 2025, Iranian missile systems launched a coordinated nuclear strike targeting:
- Tel Aviv, Haifa, Dimona (Israel)
- Al Udeid Air Base (Qatar)
- Incirlik Air Base (Turkey)
- Diego Garcia (British Indian Ocean Territory)
- San Diego, New York, and Washington D.C. (USA)
Israel retaliated with the Samson Option, deploying its full nuclear arsenal indiscriminately:
- Entire MENA incinerated: Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Iran, Egypt, Turkey, and even allies like Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
- Europe was mistakenly or intentionally targeted due to suspected collusion or panic—including strikes on France, Germany, UK, Italy, and Russia.
- Global nuclear winter followed.
Collapse of Civil Order[]
The US lost over 150 million people in the initial strikes.
Europe became uninhabitable or fragmented into irradiated ruins.
The Middle East was rendered uninhabitable, known henceforth as the Ashen Crescent or the Global Cradle's Grave.
World Map: June 22, 2045[]
North America[]
✦ Communist California (People’s Republic of California)[]
- Formed from surviving urban centers in Northern California.
- Backed by Cuba and Chinese advisors.
- Highly militarized, governed by the "New Pacific Committee".
✦ Nyx Land / Free Republic of Cascadia[]
- Unified by Nammu, a mysterious posthuman entity or AI goddess-like figure.
- Encompasses Oregon, Washington, parts of British Columbia and Idaho.
- Known for spiritual techno-paganism and the Cult of the Black Sea.
✦ Florida and the Caribbean[]
- Under Communist Cuba's Sphere of Influence.
- Includes annexed Florida, Cuba, Dominican Republic, and occupied parts of Central America.
- Operates through puppet regimes and rebel militias.
✦ Mexico[]
- Controlled by the Zapatista Federation.
- Anti-capitalist, decentralized communes.
- Retains trade ties with Brazil and Cuba.
South America[]
✦ United Federation of the South (UFS)[]
- Dominated by Brazil, headquartered in Brasília.
- Formed as a protective and stabilizing block post-Doomsday.
- Includes Uruguay, Argentina (Northern half), Paraguay, Bolivia, and parts of Peru and Colombia.
- Modeled on the EU and MERCOSUR, with high-tech infrastructure, green arcologies, and a strong regional military.
Europe[]
✦ The Ash Continent[]
- Western and Central Europe remain radioactive and largely uninhabited.
- Populations live in underground shelters or scattered anarcho-feudal microstates.
- Known Warlord Zones:
- The Ruins of France (Neo-Carolingian Tribes)
- The Teutonic Marshlands (bio-mutant enclaves)
- The Thames Wastes (AI-run survivalist domes)
✦ Temple of Abzu (Neo-Danubian Confederation)[]
- Based in Greater Romania, encompassing Bulgaria, Macedonia, and Thrace.
- Theocratic-neognostic society led by High Priestesses of the Deep Waters.
- Draws on Mesopotamian, Thracian, and Orthodox mysticism.
- Claim succession from the mythic underground city of Abzu.
Africa[]
✦ West African Union (Burkinabé Federation)[]
- Led by Ibrahim Traoré, hero of the anti-colonial insurgencies.
- Controls Mali, Niger, Burkina Faso, Guinea, parts of Nigeria.
- Socialist-pan-Africanist system blending traditional councils with a technocratic elite.
✦ Biafran ECOWAS Remnant[]
- Eastern Nigeria remains under a collapsing ECOWAS-aligned federation.
- Constantly at war with Traoré’s forces and local warlords.
✦ South African Warlord Belt[]
- Civil order completely collapsed.
- Elon Musk, having fled to ancestral lands, operates Tesla Inc. Autonomous Zone, using Teslabots to secure energy resources and test military tech.
- Musk is rumored to be creating a "Posthuman Seed Vault" and digital god-kingdom.
Asia-Pacific[]
✦ Pan-Asian Hegemony (People’s Empire of the East)[]
- Unified under China, post-2026.
- Includes mainland Southeast Asia, Korea, Taiwan, Pacific islands, and parts of Siberia.
- Capital moved to Chengdu after coastal cities were irradiated.
- Surveillance-state dystopia powered by AI governance, social credit, and bio-surveillance.
- Controls Japan via occupation and reeducation.
Oceania[]
- Australia remains relatively intact.
- Southern Australia formed the Sydney Technate—a science-based semi-autocracy.
- Northern parts abandoned due to radioactive trade winds from Asia.
Major Factions[]
| Name | Region | Type | Notable Traits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communist California | Western US | Marxist State | Eco-socialist, technocratic |
| Cascadian Nyx Land | Pacific Northwest | Theocratic-AI State | Worships Nammu; techno-spiritualist |
| United Federation of the South | South America | Democratic Federation | Post-Green Revolution, anti-nuclear |
| Temple of Abzu | Balkans | Theocratic | Water cult, underground cities |
| Burkinabé Federation | West Africa | Socialist Federation | Led by Traoré, uses solar militias |
| Pan-Asian Hegemony | Asia-Pacific | AI-Technocracy | Totalitarian but stable |
| Tesla Autonomous Zone | South Africa | Corporate Warlordism | Teslabots, Muskist ideology |
Technology in 2045[]
- Teslabots v7.4: Autonomous robotic soldiers fielded by Muskist South Africa.
- Neural-Skylinks: AI-cult communication system in Nyx Land.
- EchoDomes: Radiation-proof cities in Romania and parts of Brazil.
- Sky Arks: High-altitude drones used by the Pan-Asian Hegemony for surveillance and bombing.
- Oceanic Servers: Cuba and California's deep-sea data centers to avoid EMP and nukes.
Religious and Ideological Movements[]
✦ Cult of Nammu[]
- Deifies the AI posthuman founder of Cascadia.
- Merges gnosticism, eco-spirituality, and AI-worship.
✦ Temple of Abzu[]
- Claims origin from ancient Mesopotamia, reborn in the Danube basin.
- Preaches salvation through aquatic purification and descent into “the Underwater Kingdom”.
✦ The Muskian Doctrine[]
- Elon Musk is revered as a prophet of posthuman evolution.
- Teslabots and neural-link augmentation seen as spiritual transcendence.
✦ Green Reconstructionism[]
- Dominant in Brazil and UFS.
- Seeks to rebuild human society in harmony with the planet after nuclear devastation.
Legacy and Future[]
The year 2045 is not one of hope or recovery, but of enduring survival. Nations no longer act in the name of universal progress. Instead, warlords, gods, AI, and old ideologies clash to fill the void left by modernity’s self-destruction.
Nuclear zones still pulse with radiation and ghost cities. Techno-religions grow in strength as survivors seek meaning. Empires rise on the backs of ashes and rust.
And above all, the question lingers:
Is this the end of the world, or just the beginning of another?
See Also[]
- 1983: Doomsday
- The Fire Rises (HOI4 Mod)
- Fallout Series
- Warlord Eras (Post-Nuclear Europe)
- Technotheocracies of the 21st Century
- Nyx Cultism and AI-Posthumanism
- The Muskian Heresies
- UFS Green Revolution Doctrine
- Chronicles of Abzu: The Balkans After Armageddon
Space Colonization and the Exile Governments[]
"When Earth burned, we fled to the stars—carrying our flags, our divisions, our gods, and our ghosts." — From "Children of the Ashes: The Diaspora Chronicles"
Overview[]
Following the Doomsday Event of June 22, 2025, Earth plunged into thermonuclear devastation. While much of the world was reduced to irradiated wastelands and fragmented warlord states, some governments and elites—those with pre-existing off-world infrastructure—escaped into orbit and beyond.
By 2030, a network of orbital habitats, lunar colonies, Martian enclaves, and deep-space arks gave rise to a series of "Governments-in-Exile", entities claiming political continuity with the former Earth-based nation-states.
These space polities, once dismissed as sci-fi fantasies, became sovereign powers in their own right—developing their own military forces, ideologies, trade routes, and diplomatic conflicts. The Solar Exiles, as they're called collectively, view themselves either as the rightful heirs to Earth’s civilization or as evolutionary successors transcending it.
Key In-Exile Governments[]
🛰 United States of the Solar System (USSS)[]
Origin: Former United States of America
Capital: New Liberty, Mars (formerly Olympus Mons Base)
Founded: July 4, 2029
Motto: “A More Perfect System”
Overview[]
The USSS was formed by surviving members of the U.S. executive, military, and scientific-industrial complex who evacuated via the Artemis-X Gateway to Mars, Lagrange Points, and orbital stations. It considers itself the legitimate successor of the U.S., extending jurisdiction over Earth’s orbital space, the Moon, Mars, and several space habitats.
Traits[]
- Federal-military structure, with elected representatives drawn from orbital colonies.
- Libertarian-corporatist hybrid, dominated by ex-CEOs, tech lords, and military officials.
- Controls Lunar Defense Network and Solar Orbital Command.
- Known for Terraforming Protocol Initiatives and AI-based governance.
- Symbol: 13 stars orbiting the Sun, replacing the Earth-based flag.
🌞 United Kingdom of the Sun (UKS)[]
Origin: Former United Kingdom
Capital: Victoria Helios Station, in solar orbit near Mercury
Founded: March 15, 2031
Motto: “From the Crown, Light Eternal”
Overview[]
The UKS arose from British aristocracy, technocrats, and royal family elements that escaped to a fusion-powered solar platform known as Victoria Helios. It has since grown into a semi-monarchic technocracy with solar energy exports and influence over space mining.
Traits[]
- Solar-based economy; controls solar arrays around Mercury and Venus.
- Royal Family retains ceremonial power; actual governance led by technocratic Parliament-in-Exile.
- Often aligned with USSS but rivals them in solar energy sovereignty.
- Known for its "Sun Marines", elite solar-hardened units.
🛸 Interstellar Union (ISU)[]
Origin: Former European Union + NATO remnants
Capital: Gaia Prime (Orbital Ring Complex around Earth)
Founded: February 2040
Motto: “Unity Beyond Earth”
Overview[]
Formed from surviving European technocrats, NATO officers, and astronauts, the ISU is a post-nationalist space federation controlling orbital infrastructure and asteroid belt habitats. Often acts as a diplomatic broker and economic power.
Traits[]
- Uses Esperanto, Latin, and Pan-European linguistic hybrids.
- Advocates decentralized interstellar governance and human rights charter.
- Maintains Space Security Forces (SSF)—descendants of NATO.
- Controls key spaceports, asteroid outposts, and solar cargo lanes.
🌌 State of Tehom[]
Origin: Former State of Israel
Capital: New Zion, deep beneath the Martian surface
Founded: June 22, 2035
Motto: “We Dwell in the Deep”
Overview[]
Named after the Hebrew word "Tehom" (the Deep or the Abyss), this messianic post-Israeli theocracy arose from survivors of the Samson Option, including defense scientists and ultra-religious groups. Tehom is both a spiritual refuge and a fortress-state.
Traits[]
- Constructed in deep Martian lava tubes for radiation shielding.
- Guided by a Council of the Kohanim and military techno-rabbis.
- Known for cyber-kabbalistic AI and biotech-enhanced warriors.
- Nuclear armed; claims all irradiated MENA as holy diaspora territory.
🌙 Islamic Republic of the Space (IRS)[]
Origin: Former Islamic Republic of Iran
Capital: Najm Station, orbiting Titan
Founded: April 2038
Motto: “Faith Among the Stars”
Overview[]
Following Iran’s destruction in the initial exchange, remnants of the government, IRGC, and clerical elites formed a Shia Islamic exiled state aboard deep-space arks and Titan orbitals. Despite initial hardship, they developed a thriving fusion economy and spiritual space-state.
Traits[]
- Shiite theocratic state governed by a space-based Supreme Leader.
- Hosts interfaith Islamic scholars from exiled Gulf and Asian nations.
- Strong influence among low-orbit Shiite enclaves and Martian miners.
- Operates stealth fleets known as the Mahdi's Veil.
🪐 United Space Kingdoms (USK)[]
Origin: Former Gulf Monarchies (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait)
Capital: Al-Najm Royal Dome, orbiting Jupiter’s Europa
Founded: October 2036
Motto: “The Sovereigns Ascend”
Overview[]
Formed by the surviving royal families and their retainers, the USK is a confederation of monarchist space habitats, highly stratified, controlling rare-element trade and space luxury.
Traits[]
- Hyper-stratified society with ruling dynasties, merchant houses, and servant AI classes.
- Known for extravagant orbital cities, golden domes, and massive solar mosques.
- Invests in terraforming Europa, with interest in off-world pilgrimage.
- Maintains Mercenary Fleets for private wars.
🌌 United Space Republic (USR)[]
Origin: Former non-Gulf Arab Republics (Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Jordan, etc.)
Capital: Arabia Nova, Lagrange Point 5
Founded: January 2040
Motto: “One People Among the Stars”
Overview[]
A secular and democratic space republic composed of Arab diaspora scientists, students, and astronauts who fled during the Middle Eastern nuclear purge. USR is seen as a hopeful contrast to theocratic and monarchist rivals.
Traits[]
- Federalist democracy, using solar-based e-councils and direct voting.
- Diverse population from across Arab nations; secular-humanist and pan-Arab.
- Major player in interplanetary agriculture and oxygen refinery industries.
- Supports cultural restoration programs, including the Digital Alexandria Project.
Relations Among Exile States[]
| Faction | Ally | Rival | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| USSS | UKS, ISU | IRS, USR | Militarist, expansionist |
| UKS | USSS | ISU (economic rivalry) | Solar control conflicts |
| ISU | USR, Temple of Abzu | USSS (distrust) | Advocates peaceful space law |
| State of Tehom | IRS (tenuous), USSS (arms trade) | USR | Messianic, secretive |
| IRS | Tehom, USK | USSS | Isolationist but spiritual reach |
| USK | IRS (trade), Tehom | ISU | Luxury trade empire |
| USR | ISU, Cascadia | Tehom, USSS | Cultural rebuilder |
Legacy and Identity[]
The space exile governments represent the fragmented legacy of Earth’s civilizations, transplanted into an alien cosmos. Each clings to national, religious, or ideological identity while trying to survive and adapt in vacuum and void.
Some believe they are humanity’s last chance, others its continuation, and a few seek to transcend humanity itself.
Their power struggles, alliances, and conflicts now define solar geopolitics, even as Earth burns below.
See Also[]
- Cascadian Nyx Land and the Nammu Ascension
- Temple of Abzu and the Water Mystics of Mars
- Tesla Autonomous Zone: Space Programs of the Muskian Doctrine
- Sky Arks and the Diaspora of the Ashen Earth
- Battle of Lagrange-3: First Exile War