What is the BETAverse?

The BETAverse is a wartorn parallel universe to the relatively peaceful EXTRAverse that @Takeru Shirogane originally comes from and is where the majority of the story of Muv Luv takes place. The EXTRAverse in turn, is a mirror parody of our own universe, nearly identical except for one off changes to well known games, movies, businesses, and actors. The BETAverse features the same nationalities and land masses on Earth as we see today, at least up to the year 2001, but there are major differences, most prevalently: a slow, grinding alien invasion of sheer attrition. Major divergences in history go back as far as the 1860's but there may be others. The full known timeline and divergences for the BETAverse will be listed below under a second heading, and continue on to following pages, in sequence.

Divergence Point and Timeline

• 1867
  - Formation of the Motosuu Government (元枢府) in @Empire of Japan. The daimyos of the anti-shogunate-overthrowing faction and the families positioned to accede to the shogunate merge, establishing the restoration of imperial rule. Afterwards, the Motosuu Government, organized by the Five Regent Houses, the major samurai families of Koubuin, Ikaruga, Saionji, Kujou, and Takatsukasa, is installed. The head of the Motosuu Government - the Seii Daishogun (政威大将軍, roughly "ruling great general") - is nominated by the emperor from amongst one of the family heads of the Five Regent Houses. The capital city is switched from Edo to Kyoto, and a centralization of power is pressed forward.

• 1939
  - September 1st - World War II begins. War breaks out between the Axis powers and the Allied nations.

• 1941
  - December 8th - War in the Pacific breaks out. From the commencement of hostilities, to the invasion of Malaya, the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Philippines campaign, and the invasion of Hong Kong all take place.

• 1944
  - World War II ends. The end of the war between the Axis powers (Germany, Italy, and @Empire of Japan) and the Allies (the @The United States of America (USA), the @United Kingdom, and the @The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR)). Germany temporarily occupied most of @Europe, but following the European counterattack, the United States dropped a pair of atomic bombs on German territory, securing victory for the Allies.
  - As the war ended earlier for the @Empire of Japan as compared to real-life events, Operation Shō-Go 1 (the Battle of Leyte Gulf), Operation Ten-Go 1 (the Yamato's suicide mission at the Battle of Okinawa), and the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings did NOT take place. As the Soviets did not invade, the Sakhalin Northern Territories of the Kuril Islands remain in Imperial possession. Western culture such as the celebration of Christmas did not seep into Imperial Japanese postwar culture as deeply as it did in real life.
  - The world becomes focused around the ideological conflict manifested by the war between the two major powers, the @The United States of America (USA) and the @The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), and the Cold War begins between the East and West. A global framework consisting of the @United Nations, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and the Warsaw Pact nations is established.
  - The @Empire of Japan, which the Allies had re-conciliated with, avoided unconditional surrender, but were placed under substantial US control, with several policies effectively turning the former Axis nation into a vassal state of the United States. The Empire of Japan is then incorporated into the world order of the Cold War immediately after the cessation of hostilities, and are promoted by the United States as their most important ally in the Far East during the post-war reconstruction. As part of the postwar restructuring in Japan, power is taken from the Shogunate and granted to the elected Diet and the cabinet.

• 1946
  - The @The United States of America (USA) Armed Forces form a Space Corps, which becomes the sixth branch alongside the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Coast Guard.

• 1950
  - The ESA (European Space Agency) of the European nations and NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) of the @The United States of America (USA), in great secrecy, begin work on the Daedalus Project, a plan to develop and launch an extra-solar planetary probe. The project plan was later made available for participation by all Western bloc nations, and was made public in development stages named Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo, which would successively develop and put to practical use large multistage rockets, orbital return vehicles, space stations, MMUs, and other related technologies.
  - Under the Daedalus Project, orbital satellites and manned flights to the Moon were promoted, the construction of large-scale orbital facilities and permanent lunar bases with an aim towards infrastructure development of the lunar surface, were promoted and achieved in stages. As part of efforts to construct a permanent lunar surface base, large-scale orbital facilities were constructed, and large space-going craft were developed and deployed to establish a supply line in-between the Earth and the Moon. All these were achieved in project stages.
  - With the @The United States of America (USA) leading the western nations, the international moonbase, Plato-1, is completed, and the geological surveys and exploitation of raw materials on the Moon begins.
  - The final extrasolar planetary exploration stage would eventually be announced to have failed due to loss of communication with the Icarus I probe almost a decade later.
  - While the @The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and her Warsaw Pact allies initially developed similar plans and held the lead in the development race, they eventually lost the Moon race. Afterwards, most of their technology shifted to heavily emphasize on unmanned probes and low orbit deployment technology.
  - The United States-Japan Security Treaty is signed. Under this treaty, the American occupation forces officially become the USFJ (United States Forces Japan), strengthening US influence in the Far East. The @Empire of Japan, resigned to its situation, pushes forward in the recovery of its economy.

• 1955
  - In the @The United States of America (USA), approval is given for the development of a larger version of the MMU (Manned Mobile Unit) for greater efficiency, due to the delays in construction of the Icarus I unmanned deep space exploration craft. The enlarged MMU is essentially a powered exoskeleton.

• 1956
  - The @The United States of America (USA) space station Hope II is used to facilitate development of Super Carbon as a structural material for probes.

• 1957
  - The larger-scale MMUs developed as part of the Daedalus Project are put to practical use, and are able to use their manipulators to utilize a multi-purpose knife tool made of Super Carbon, presumably to facilitate large-scale material cutting during construction.

• 1958
  - The Viking 1 probe reaches Mars and deploys its landing module, which transmits data images of creatures assumed to be of Martian origin. Satellite date from Viking-1 in orbit aids in confirmation of the creatures inhabiting all across the surface of Mars. Communication with the landing module was lost shortly after. Subsequent probe projects by the @The United States of America (USA) and @The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) all failed, and information of the creatures remains rare for some time after the initial discovery. This would later be recorded as the first BETA encounter.

• 1959
  - Due to Viking-1's orbital trajectory, large structures were discovered across the Martian surface. The discovery sends waves across the scientific community. Because of the implication that the large structures suggested the possibility of intelligent Martian life, the special duty research organization, Dignified 12, comprised of 12 people ranging from mathematicians and linguists to other important personnel, was created for the purpose of establishing a method of cross-species communication.

• 1961
  - The large unmanned space probe "Icarus I", equipped with a nuclear pulse propulsion/ram scoop drive, is launched from Earth orbit. Besides collecting scientific data on deep space, its purpose is to find a planet suitable for human habitation. Communication with Icarus I would later be lost.
  - Control of Project Prometheus is transferred from the @Empire of Japan's NASDA (National Space Development Agency) to its newly-established Imperial Japanese Aerospace Force.

• 1965
  - The Imperial Japanese Aerospace Force decides to adopt the multi-purpose knife tool made from Super Carbon as auxiliary equipment for their large MMUs. The tool would later be renamed as the Type-65 PB Knife, to be used as an auxiliary weapon around the time of the @F-4 Phantom's introduction.

• 1966
  - Dignified 12 makes their transition to the Alternative Plans, becoming a global large-scale project. (At this point, the BETA have not yet been named as such, since they have not yet proven to be hostile adversaries to the human race).