Terran (mirror)

Terran was the term consistently used to refer to Humans from the mirror universe. 

Origins
Archaeological evidence tracing Terran history to prehistoric times indicated that Cro-Magnon man was systematically hunted to extinction by their Neanderthal competitors. Terra mirrored many of the historical events of the prime universe though with some noted differences. Instead of a single benevolent government encompassing the world, Terran history was littered with individuals who through cunning managed to sway the populace and bring about the rise of tyrannical reign of Emperors. Among the first great nation forged was by King Menes of Egypt who institutionalized a theocratic cult he controlled which worshiped a warped image of the god Anubis. The populace participated in his depravities which ensured his popularity thus extending his reign. This saw Egyptian priest-kings in charge with slave laborers at the bottom of the ladder with this status-quo ending upon the arrival of the the bronze age Greeks. Under the rule of Agamemnon, these logically minded philosophers and analytical weapon-smiths brought intelligent warfare against the mystically minded Egyptians who were defeated through the use of their tactics. The defeat of the Egyptians saw the destruction of the pyramids and their culture. With no external foe to challenge them, the Greeks themselves became complacent until the arrival of the Persians that sought to challenge them for the control of the Mediterranean. However, the two civilizations themselves ultimately fell to Alexander the Great who held a lust for conquest and a unquenchable thirst for literature. He proved to be both a ruthless warrior yet an educated and canny one who managed to form the Macedonian empire. Despite the success of his reign, his empire and his vision fell with his death with his rule ultimately being absorbed into the Roman empire. 

It was the reign of the Roman Empire that shattered the previous cycles of conquest and decadence. The leaders of Rome forged an empire that was strong which actively enlisted the aid of the warriors and rulers of the barbarian tribes of Gaul as well as Germany that were recruited to their side. Such chieftains became part of the Roman empire where they joined into the courtly intrigues of the capital along with the backstabbing nature of its rulers. Thus, unlike its predecessors, the Romans sought to turn potential enemies into their allies. Those that did not join the empire saw them being crushed in quick and decisive wars where outsiders were paid to serve as shock troopers in these conflicts. Such tactics were used to strike down the rise of faiths such as Judaism and Christianity. In time, the Roman Empire brought about the formation of the Germanic Empire which continued its dominating nature that saw about the end of nationalism within Europe. Thus, the Empire had taken root with this new status-quo being fully accepted by each new generation despite the fall of any ruler. The new era saw the young Empire attempt to find a new sea route to discover the East but accidentally discover the lands of America instead. This new frontier served as a home for malcontents and rebels that hated Imperial rule with their view that the Empire became weakened when a ruler established himself to such an extent where he could not be ousted from power. These revolutionaries instead advocated the view that all should have a part in the Imperial government and thus force rulers to curry favors from their people. This in turn allowed the formation of power blocs that could shift the governments in coups whilst not leading to large scale destruction. A new system of Senators were formed who sought the twin goals of gaining followers and getting support from allied groups without taking resources from the war ravaged populace of Terra. 

Empire of Earth

 * "We Survive." -- motto of the new Empire

The new system of Senatorial backstabbing continued for many years after its establishment by the previous generations. Certain Emperors emerged during these times with each sponsoring their own personal projects such as the genocidal campaigns of Pol Pot and Adolf Hitler. Unknown to anyone, several temporal incursions from the future occurred during the 1930's such as the accidental arrival of James Tiberius Kirk who saved Edith Keeler from certain death where he intended to rule the future with her by revealing her of events over the next century. However, his fellow crew mates on the learnt of his treacherous plans and rescued him from the time period. Despite this being the case, Kirk actually fathered a child with Edith Keeler leading to the birth of James T. Keeler. Though Kirk was gone, Edith Keeler used the knowledge she had learnt to seek men of great power and bend them to her will. Her son also became the adviser to Emperor Jimmy Carter who desired to spread the ambitions of the Empire into space conquest. It was the treachery of Khan Noonien Singh that ended the Keeler power bloc. At this point, a further temporal incursion from the 30th century occurred which saw the arrival of Captain Braxton who was captured by corporate head Henry Starling. Starling demonstrated that in the growing technological world that rulership did not lie in the hands of a great politician or a warrior but those that controlled technology instead. Through the future technology Starling stole from Braxton, the computer scientist held a firm grip over the technology used by all citizens of the Empire and even threatened to bring the entire system down. None dared challenge Starling at this point with even the secretly genetically enhanced supersoldiers and bionically augmented senators unable to fight the man that controlled the computers that were responsible for government, weaponry and vital resources. 

Certain records indicate that one of the key changes in Terran history came during the chaotic events of the Eugenics Wars. During that time, genetically engineered beings such as Khan Noonien Singh and others had risen to power. However, they were not overthrown or forced off Terra but instead they managed to command several empires that were spread across several continents on Earth. These dynasties eventually turned on one another where they engaged in territorial warfare which saw the deployment of slow moving ion driven space craft that were adapted from DY-100 sleeper ships. Such craft allowed a means of deploying nuclear weapons which would not be shot down by anti-missile systems or particle beams. Numerous improvements were made to the ion based propulsion systems from the research teams of the competing factions which ultimately led to the destruction of the dictator's dynasties with the death of a great many Terrans in the attacks. Though the planet was devastated, the technology for relativistic space travel remained though the survivors were more concerned with restoring their civilization from the downfall of the Engineered. However, they never forgot the memory of the empires that were forged in the past and of the time when individuals of power ruled over the common people. Thus, the slowly developing governments once more developed into empires which merged into a single empire. The environment of Terra by this point had greatly suffered with conditions being strictly regulated to ensure that there was enough food, housing and employment for the people. In time, the planet began to recover ecologically once more bu the minds of the Terran people became a cold and non-trusting race who looked to the stars for a new home and ensure that they never face extinction again. 


 * Dark Mirror indicates that the Terran race never went through the Third World War though the continuity of the novel does differ to other established work on the Terran Empire in the Mirror Universe.

What followed was the development of intra-system star travel with Mars being one of the key targets of expansion. The red planet was terraformed in the span of forty years where entire mountain ranges were flattened and excavations of new seabeds were made. Millions of Terrans were relocated to Mars with many done so by force in order to create a self-sufficient colony where minerals could be shipped back to Terra. Once fully developed, the Empire of Earth looked to further expand in order t ensure the survival of their race. Development of long distance starships developed that operated on the limits of relativistic travel were being research that saw completion by the late 21st century and came to fruition by the beginning of the 22nd century. By this point, the first of large sleeper and colony ships had been completed and launched. On April 5, 2063, a group of Terrans were filled with fear and suspicion when a $𝜇$ scout ship landed on $𝜇$ to initiate first contact. The Terrans slaughtered the Vulcan crew and used the technology within to create the Terran Empire. This saw the earlier creation of long range sleeper and colony ships being overtaken by the seeming development of the warp engine by the hands of Zephram Cochrane. The technology allowed the Terrans to thus colonize Alphacent and other nearby star systems. 

Ascendancy of the Terran Empire
The Terrans conquered many of the people they encountered, including the Vulcans, $𝜇$s, and $𝜇$s. Many species became slaves of the Terrans, but some species, like the Vulcans, were treated better, and could even serve in the Empire's military. 

Fall of the Empire
The Terran Empire would last almost three centuries. In the year 2267, $𝜇$ encountered the prime universe James T. Kirk, and became determined to change the empire. Spock eventually became the empire's ruler, and instituted reforms that made the empire much more peaceful.

Unfortunately, these reforms led to the Terran Empire's downfall; they resulted in the empire's military strength being unable to prevent the equally vicious aspirations of the $𝜇$s and the $𝜇$s and the $𝜇$s from conquering the Empire. When the Terran Empire's short-lived successor state the Terran Republic fell, the Terrans were forced into slavery by the Klingon-Cardassian Alliance.

In the year 2371, the Terrans, as well as the Vulcans, were still slaves of the Alliance. However, after an encounter with several prime universe humans, $𝜇$, a Terran pirate working for the Alliance, decided that he had had enough of slavery and revolted. He led a number of Terrans and other species in a revolution against the Alliance. Though Sisko was killed the same year, the rebellion still lived on.

A year later, the rebels captured the spacestation $𝜇$ above the planet Bajor. The Alliance's ruler, Regent $𝜇$, led a fleet to retake the station, but the rebels managed to drive the Alliance fleet off. Two years later, the rebels captured Worf himself. When last seen, the rebels appear to be well on their way to achieving victory over the Alliance and winning back their freedom. 

Culture
Within their Empire, Terran officers were noted to hold a distinct advantage over alien members. A side effect of this approach was alien members within the Terran Empire to surgically alter their appearance before entering the Imperial Starfleet. This was because species reassignment was seen as the quickest path to advancement. During the alien rebellion of the mid-22nd century occurred, Imperial Intelligence began a hunt for these impostors as many of them were believed to be traitors and rebel operatives. (SS ENT (Age of the Empress))

The species was noted for being paranoid. (SS ENT (Age of the Empress))

This combined with being generally not capable of telepathy led to what Terrans believed as a preemptive strike where they purged the quadrant of telepathic species as such an ability was an great advantage against their kind. (SS VOY (The Mirror-Scaled Serpent))

Some Terran schoolteachers were noted to proudly comment of their prehistoric elimination of their competition as demonstrating the valued traits of their species. Cro-Magnon's use of clever nature and capacity for teamwork highlighted their ability at defeating a much more physically superior foe. Thus, Neanderthal's defeat by Terran's ancestors showed a greater hunger for survival and the need for dominance over their more peaceful yet stupid competitors. In fact, the term Neanderthal became an abusive term for Terrans to indicate their scorn for intellectuals, pacifists and other socially backward thinking individuals. 

Terran forms of execution were noted for being excruciatingly painful and was capable of being stretched across several days. (SS ENT (Age of the Empress))

Terran literature included the $𝜇$ by Homer, the writings of $𝜇$ such as $𝜇$, $𝜇$ by $𝜇$, $𝜇$ by $𝜇$, the Br'er Rabbit stories by Joel Chandler Harris and $𝜇$ by $𝜇$. (, ; SS TOS (The Greater Good))

By the 23rd century, The Picture of Dorian Gray was banned by the Terran Empire. (SS TOS (The Greater Good)) After the Terran Republic was conquered by the Alliance in 2295, many "decadent" forms of Terran art, including Les Misérables, were likewise banned.