Gaea

Earth is a planet in the Sol System and is home to the humans. In the modern universe, Earth is devoid of intelligent life, save a handful of ape species. Humanity was removed from the planet when the Eteno and Grox's fight came to the world. The Eteno managed to save the humans from extinction, and took them to a refuge colony in the empire set aside for them. Earth is now a sort of wildlife refuge, with the millions of species already present thriving alongside almost 10,000 successfully introduced species from abroad.

A common myth of the various empires is that Humans were wiped out by a mysterious race, but there is no evidence to support this. Other theories claim the Humans abandoned their world hundreds of years ago, and nature has reclaimed the planet. No evidence supports either theory. For empires unknowing of Earth and humanity's encounters with the Grox and Eteno, it would be extremely difficult to determine if indigenous intelligent life still existed on the planet, as nature has reclaimed much of the surface.

Earth and the Eteno
In 896 ATGW, after the destruction of humans on Earth, Mistuvad Fuels and Minerals conducted a routine survey of Earth, attempting to determine of the world's resources were plentiful enough to warrant the opening of extraction operations. With the discovery of vast crude oil reserves and oil sands, along with plentiful deposits of valuable materials like silicon, iron, and coal, MFM deemed it prudent to begin construction of extraction platforms, and spaceports for the moving of resources and personnel. When the first towns for MFM personnel and their families popped up all across Earth's surface, the true value of Earth began to present itself. Millions upon millions of species of flora and fauna were observed, and unlike during the Eteno's first encounter with Earth, researchers were sent to collect and study life on the planet. From the smallest shrub or ant to the largest tree or whale, life was studied and taken to research centres across the EIT, as well as gardens, zoos, and aquariums. Some felines and canines native to Earth also became popular pets among some Eteno, with a ready supply available from Earth due to unrestricted breeding.

The Eteno population of Earth is at its densest in Colombia and Java, with almost thirty million persons supported by a rapidly-growing coffee industry. While coffee introduced from Earth has been grown on Eteno worlds for decades, it is only recently that plantations on Earth have popped up. Coffee from these plantations can be easily sold at prices many times higher than similar product from other worlds. Natural Earth coffee from its native environment is one of the fastest-growing commodities in the galaxy in terms of price.

A plethora of small Eteno towns are scattered across the planet, housing much of Earth's nearly eighty million Eteno inhabitants. A patrol boat dock and Marine garrison is present at Cyprus (the Imperial Armed Forces' Earth headquarters), with minor outposts at Sakhalin Island, Iceland, the Canary Islands, Madagascar, the Falkland Islands, and New Caledonia.

Currently, Earth feeds the EIT a wide variety of natural resources, as well as diverse flora and fauna. Norwegian coal fuels orbital manufacturing platforms, Arab crude is used to lubricate tank parts, Canadian oil sands fuel the Imperial Marines' MC-2 aircraft, Siberian crude is used to make plastics, Australian bauxite helps churn out enough aluminum for the Imperial Air Force's aircraft, Silicon Valley helps produce silicocalcium alloys for thin starship parts, Texan helium is used for industrial leak detection, and Chinese Magnesium is used to make emergency flares. This is only a small fraction of the resources Earth provides, and their myriad of uses.