Luna (TU)

Luna is the Latin name for Earth's moon, which, along with its human settlements, is referred to as Luna by the time of Trinity.

Luna operates more or less as an independent state, though technically it is a collection of colonies which belong to nations, corporations, religious organisations or even private individuals. It is heavily developed, with its own society, satellites, news media, sophisticated communications network (LunaNet) and social conflicts, but it is perhaps most significant to humanity as the home of ISRA, the clairsentient Psi Order, and the Qin embassy to Earth.

History
The United States established an independent moon base, Olympus, by 2040, but this was captured and occupied by the Space Brigade during the Aberrant War. Other Lunar stations existed around this time, including Camelot and Yeltsingrad. Camelot and Olympus were rebuilt after the War, and with the invention of gravcrystals in 2071 overcoming many of the problems associated with life on Luna, the newly rebuilt colonies experienced a population explosion.

Brazil, China, the Federated States of America and the United African Nations all poured resources into Lunar development, and various colonies thrived. The Lunar Prospecting Charter encouraged independent exploration, and a university, the Luna Institute of Technology, was founded in 2099.

In 2100 the major powers with interests on Luna signed the Lunar Unity Agreement, simplifying its administration and making Luna function more like a commonwealth than a collection of colonies. Life on the Moon still had dangers, however; the Lunar Rational Front began assassinating religious leaders the same year, and Aberrants attacked Luna multiple times during the first decades of the twenty-second century.

Soon after, Luna becomes immeasurably important as it (publicly) becomes home to both ISRA, who call Olympus Base home, in 2106 and the Qin embassy in 2108. In 2111 the Independent Defense Squad is founded to help defend Luna, assisting the Unified Lunar Police Force; Luna is clearly not without crime or poverty, with many residents living in slums.

In 2115, part of the doomed Esperanza satellite crashed on Luna, at the site of the original Apollo 11 moon landing (though all artefacts of the landing had been moved to safety following an ISRAn vision).