The world of Metallurgent
Metallurgent's point of deviation from real history starts in the late sixties with the extension of the Space Race. Mars and Venus are found to be colonizable (though not easily), and both East and West are keen to compete over who will dominate these new frontiers. The US becomes withdrawn after their loss in the Vietnam War, acting to draw South America into their sphere of influence through economic carrots rather than sticks, as well as opposing other European interests in the region - notably, aiding Brazil and Argentina in forcing European elements out. This prompts the European nations outside of the Communist Bloc to work closer together on matters of defense, creating a new economic bloc themselves. The USA in the meantime focused on expanding their orbital dominion - after the Iranian Oil Crisis, the government sought solutions to keep America energy-independent and landed on a constellation of orbital solar plants. Spending the vast majority of their yearly budget competing with the USSR in Space, the American ground forces are neglected and neutered by lack of funds, culminating in an embarrassing defeat to a Panamanian Government asserting malfeasance of American Spaceborne corporations and revoking access to the Central American Spaceport. Though this incident was eventually resolved with operation JUST CAUSE, it was system shock to an apathetic public. Solutions were proposed and considered - the problem of a severe manpower shortage was approached in many ways, but the one that was eventually settled on was the ANVIL project by Future Armor Research Command - a modular AFV system that could allow for combat units with substantially fewer personnel requirements, using proven architecture from spaceborne equipment. After the debut of this technology with the Panamanian conflict, the concept spread around the developed world.
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During the same period, the Soviet Space program Interkosmos paid dividends for the bloc's economy. The untimely death of Leonid Brezhnev resulted in his successor being a less-politically minded minister of agriculture, and this benefitted the USSR in the long run with Chairman Sergetov proving far more open to unusual ideas than his predecessors. This willingness to back long shots was the Soviet Union's ticket to Venus, with the first landing occurring as early as 1975 thanks to the embracing of laser propulsion. However, this wealth was not spread equally. The Republics of Kazakhstan and Ukraine benefited greatly from this invigorated space industry, and pushed the Union for more freedom to set policy within their own borders. At the same time, Yugoslavian Communism was proving to be arguably as successful as the Soviet model. This combination of factors led to far more autonomy than would have been the norm for the Soviet Union, a trend that only continued with the accession of Gorbachev in the 1990s. This would eventually lead to the breakdown of the old Union model, and the adoption of the New Union Treaty and the formation of the Union of Soviet Sovereign Republics in 1994. After this point, the Republics were fully self-governing, with Moscow only acting as a meeting place to discuss issues that were common to the entire bloc.
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Meanwhile, ties between what were now long-term colonists on the Moon and Venus and those on earth were strained. By the mid 90s, it was fairly common for families to be living on the moon, many of which had children who had been conceived and born in those environments and manifested physical changes due to them. The silver used in lunar water purification plants led to a blue complexion manifesting in the long-term denizens of lunar settlements - something that served to underline the tension between temporary staff and those who planned to live on-site. Of particular note (and concern) to the governing bodies was that oftentimes colonists from both the USA and USSR felt more kinship between themselves than with the nations they hailed from. Collaborative works for friendly competition normalized direct contact between colonists, and before long a distinctly lunar identity had taken hold with many. On Venus, the extreme environment resulted in a dour attitude amongst those who spent long term labor stays on-world, creating conflict between them and the 'tourists' who were only visiting for the novelty. This odd geopolitical situation led to a lessening in global tensions up until the mid 1990s, when a series of events - both intentional and unintentional - lit the fuse for a powder keg few were aware was brewing. American overreach in space, French tightening of colonial regulations, festering Russian militarism and an ill-timed death of Josip Tito set the stage for a relatively small group of radicals to destabilize the entire global power balance.
