2554-2564
The decade brought with it a huge amount of success and recovery of the newly-established and recovering states of the Sector.
The Seta Assembly drove an expansionistic policy, establishing control over a great many of the nearby systems in a colonising frenzy. Unfortunately, this had a negative effect on the administrative and economical capabilities of the Assembly. Industry on the new systems was poor, as was general settlement, being limited to major spaceports. The general bad quality of the systems colonised compounded this issue.
Another major issue for the Assembly was the fact that its communications were not advanced enough to uphold the traditional Setan democratic assembly with the increased distances brought about by the expansion into the void. The Seta Assembly was forced to radically restructure its more direct form of government into a more representative one, becoming a Republic in everything but name.
Contact with surviving human states was nonexistant before Setan explorers came upon the G5 system. There they met a thriving human survivor, one that had previously been a vassal of the Imperium, utilising the collapse as an opportunity to break free. This state was called the Empire of Wyoming. Before the collapse, it had been known as the Free State of Wyoming, even when under the authority of the Imperium of Manx.
Contact was peaceful, and the borders between Wyoming and the Assembly were agreed on without much fuzz. However, one issue was left up in the air, and thatwas the issue of the G3 system, which both the Assembly and Wyoming eyed. Regardless, none of them actually had any control over G3 nor had they even settled people on one of the various planets there.
The conundrum of G3 was broken by the Human-Sandhana Republic. Rapidly expanding outwards from Fraolas, the Republic reached G3 just one year after the agreement between the Seta Assembly and the Empire of Wyoming had been concluded. This angered Wyoming greatly, who openly declared their claim over the system, and began overtures to get the Setans on their side.
The Human-Sandhana Republic also stirred up conflicts in other areas with their rapid expansion, especially in their metaphorical backyard. They made contact with two human states, the Kingdom of Komnenia (based out of A3 (Komnenia)), and the Union of Central American Nations (based out of A2 (Escondido)). The Human-Sandhana attempted to integrate these two human states into their Republic peacefully, and did manage to establish a friendly relationship with the Union of Central American Nations (UCAN), but the dispute with Komnenia over A4 (de facto Komnenian) caused all of this to fall apart. The Human-Sandhana Republic decided to declare war on the Kingdom of Komnenia to annex what they saw as an uppity and agressive state. Unfortunately, once they had done so, the UCAN – alarmed by Human-Sandhana expansionism – broke trade relations, and joined the war on the side of Komnenia soon thereafter.
Due to the spread-out nature of the Human-Sandhana military, the comparatively tiny pair of states were able to make great progress, taking full control of the A4 system, then launching an attack against the Fraolas System itself to force a quick end to the war. The Human-Sandhana Republic was forced to recall all of its fleets away from expansion and back home to defend the capital, effectively ending Human-Sandhana expansion.
The forces of the Komnenia-UCAN Alliance and the Human-Sandhana Republic met and fought each other in an inconclusive battle just outside Fraolas. Casualties were quite even on both sides, though Human-Sandhana ones were markedly higher. This effectively caused a stalemate in the war as the Komnenia-UCAN forces retreated back to A4 to repair and reinforce while the Human-Sandhanan fleet also had to be rebuilt from the sustained casualties.
The stalemate was ended by a bold attack in 2563 by a minor UCAN force against A6. Unfortunately, they were unable to totally destroy the local Human-Sandhana fleet, which was able to fall back to A7. Nonetheless, the UCAN began sieging Human-Sandhana strongholds all across the A6 system, and the government in Fraolas must make a difficult decision.
In other news, Human-Sandhana research into genetics had been stalled due to the war.
The two Imperium of Manx conducted a more peaceful expansion, unaware of each other and building up both their military and industrial capabilities, they managed to secure what had formerly been core territories of the Earth Government and the pre-Earth Imperium of Manx. Though ending up bordering each other, neither actually made contact with the other during this time.
However, the Earth-based Imperium of Manx made contact with another state. This state called itself the "Great Tiě". Despite this alarming name (Tiě being Chinese for iron), the Imperium of Manx managed to establish a friendly relationship with them, constantly trading with each other.
This relationship came to the test with the increased tensions between the expansionistic Gallic Empire and the Great Tiě, originating from a dispute over who was the rightful owner of the B16 and C1 systems.
The Gallic Empire expanded rapidly out from Gaul, its expansion only being stopped when it hit the obstacles that were its neighbours. To the southwest, Crimea Ryvuhr. To the north, a state known as the " Great Tiě". To the east, the Order of Divine Light. Relations with Crimea Ryvuhr were cold, and fraught with suspicion from both sides. However, there was no conflict as the Crimeans busied themselves with other matters, and neither were there any disputes. With the Great Tiě and Order of Divine Light were another matter entirely. With the Great Tiě, both the B16 (de facto controlled by Great Tiě) and the C1 (de facto controlled by Gaul) were disputed. With the Order of Divine Light, D2 (de facto Gallic) was the object of dispute. Both of these remained unresolved throughout this period, but a decision would have to come soon from one side or another. In recent years, the dispute to the north has heated up with the Great Tiě making diplomatic overtures to gain the support of the Earth-based Imperium of Manx.
Domestically, little actually happened in the Gallic Empire.
Crimea Ryvuhr aggressively expanded throughout the decade, greatly extending their reach beyond the confines of the Býg Ryvuhr system. Initial Crimean expansion secured the C9 and C10 system, and a second wave established Crimean authority in the C6 system. The C9 system was very valuable to the Crimeans, and most of their settlers went to settle there, even going as far as to name it "New Ryvuhr".
The extensive build-up of the Crimean military continued with this, along with an economy capable of sustaining the military. This went a long way to securing Crimean power, but it was not enough. In 2562, war was declared on the United Protectorates. This move was made due to the stretched state of the Gallic military, and its bad political situation, making an attack on the United Protectorates with most of the Crimean military viable without Gallic interference.
The war was still ongoing by the end of the year 2564, though Crimean victory was almost complete at that point. C8 was fully occupied by Crimean forces - with only scattered attacks by guerillas being conducted by Protectorate remnants - while C14 was holding on by a thread. The Protectorate space forces were nonexistant, with Crimean fleets having total orbital dominance over Protectorate space. The Crimeans had secured several beachheads around the surface of the capital of the United Protectorates, the most important planet of the C14 system. The presence of Crimean forces in the rest of the C14 system was limited to a number of small installations on various moons and uninhabitable planets though.
The Most Serene Republic of New West Slavia spent most of the decade peacefully expanding and building up its economy, encountering no other human state at all. Despite the fact that the West Slavian economy experienced an unprecedented boom and the society flourished there were still unsatisfied people. In fact, many were becoming increasingly disgruntled with the increasingly oligarchic nature of West Slavic politics and the poorer and poorer working conditions. Finally, the people had had enough. On the 14th March 2561, in the city of Nowe Sarajewo in the heavily industrialised E4 system, the shots were fired that marked the start of the Great Revolution (also called "March to Victory").
The Great Revolution was the culmination of all resentment built up towards the oligarchy, and though many factions vied for control of what had been started in Nowe Sarajewo, it was the Communists who gained the upper hand, in no small part due to the huge support they held among the people. E4 and Nowa Slawia itself were both Communist strongholds and from that base, the Communists managed to seize power relatively swiftly and bloodlessly. They proceeded to implement a system of direct democracy and democratic communes throughout New West Slavia, and on the 1st May 2563 the leader of the Communists, Piotr Kowalski, proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Communes.
The Order of Divine Light undertook rapid colonisation to spread the word of the order to the stars once more. Unfortunately, this expansionistic attitude brought the Order into conflict with several of its neighbours. To the west, D2 was the object of dispute. To the southeast, D5 (de facto controlled by the Order) was the object of contention of a three-sided dispute between the Order, Merchanos, and the United Councils of Farinenion. This dispute has not been resolved as of the current time due to the need to set fleets and ships into position. The Order itself also has the D2 dispute to occupy its stretched military forces with as well.
Merchanos was more cautious and methodical in its expansion, building up industry and infrastructure on systems before continuing on to claiming new ones. They made contact with five human states: The Arn Consortium, the Nitheim Resurgence, the Galan Rim Union, the United Councils of Farinenion, and the Order of Divine Light. Unfortunately, they got themselves embroiled in a dispute over D5 with the latter two. A dispute that has been low-key as units are manoeuvred into position. In recent years, the tone of the conflict has soured, and war looks like an inevitability. A notable event in recent days though has been an offer by Farinenion to give up their claim to D5 and recognise Merchanian claims in exchange for Merchanos recognising F2 as Farinenian territory and allowing Farinenion to colonise the system undisturbed.
The relationship with the Arn Consortium was more cordial, with numerous trade treaties having been signed since initial contact. The Nitheim Resurgence remained skeptical to Merchanian intentions though, not in the least due to the fact that Merchanos presents a threat to traditional Nitheimer power in the region.
The Free and Imperial State of Gerdutches finally pulled itself together, ending the petty squabbling that had dominated Gerdutches in the past. Its expansion into the stars was focused on establishing a trading network. This lead to a stream of income for Gerdutches when they made contact with a human state known as the "Kjell-Mora Corporation". The contact was friendly and they soon established a prosperous trading relationship. Through the Kjell-Mora Corporation, Gerdutches was made aware of the greater world. Of the Terran Ascendancy and its war with the Shofixti, among other conflicts, but most importantly the situation in J10 was made known. The Kjell-Mora Corporation had an ongoing dispute over the ownership of the de facto Kjell-Moran system with the expansionistic Alkaterian Empire.
The Kjell-Mora Corporation wanted Gerdutches to support their side of the dispute, and Gerdutches must choose a side. Not supporting the KMC would greatly damage Gerdutch-Kjell-Moran relations, but intervening would mean coming into conflict with an expansionistic military power.
After resolving the Aluxian Crisis, the Empire of Shenzhou continued building up its new colonies and expanding. As a safeguard against the Brotherhood of the Stars, as well as other undiscovered potential hostiles, Shenzhou constructed defensive installations at the I5 and J1 systems. However, the decade flew by in peace, and with the lack of need for a strong military Shenzhou was left relatively weak militarily.
The Brotherhood of the Stars pursued an expansionistic policy, something which lead to frictions with neighbouring states. The Aluxian Crisis was the result of these, as was the war with the Shofixti Empire and the incident that lead to that. The terraforming policies of the Brotherhood continued to be used, resulting in several otherwise uninhabitable systems becoming habitable.
It should be noted that the war with the Shofixti was not solely due to the K4-K6 altercation, but also due to the intense dislike of authoritarian regimes harboured by the Brotherhood.
The Shofixti expanded throughout the stars with speed to alleviate the population crisis on their homeworld. Unfortunately, this rapid expansion came at the cost of economy and military, and good relations with neighbours. The K4-K6 Altercation lead to war being declared between the Brotherhood of the Stars and the Shofixti Empire. Another dispute over K9 lead to a war with the militaristic Terran Ascendancy.
On the more domestic front, not much happened in the Shofixti Empire.
Unlike its troubled neighbours, the Alkaterian Empire conducted its programme of rapid expansion without much drama. After re-establishing a tenuous link with the Alkaterian fleet command and receiving reinforcements, they expanded rapidly out from the Karlic system. Unfortunately, this rapid expansion brought them into conflict with the Kjell-Mora Corporation. The J10 system (called the Sara System by the KMC) was disputed between the Kjell-Mora Corporation and the Alkaterians, though de facto under the control of the KMC. This conflict has not yet come to a head, but tensions have been on the rise, especially with the KMC officially asking for the support of the Free and Imperial State of Gerdutches.
The Alkaterian Empire also made contact with the Terran Ascendancy, though not much happened between the two except for the delineation of their common border, preferring to ignore each other.
The Black Bloc similarly conducted a programme of rapid expansion. While this ended up with a stretched fleet and a number of poorly-developed colonies, the Black Bloc was still able to put some funds towards research. Unfortunately, they came into conflict with an alien species known as the "Purians", ruled by the Purian Hierarchy and originating from the system of Talaven.
First contact was not very peaceful, and when all had settled down and some understanding had been achieved (though the Purians still had difficulty understanding what was so special about the wooden and stringed object that had been gifted to them), there was a dispute over L4. Both sides refused to back down, and tensions are on the rise.
War and Combat
The Shofixti-Terran War between the Shofixti Empire and the Terran Ascendancy started out with Shofixti forces engaging Terran forces in K9. They were very successful in pushing back Terran forces, but the Terrans stubbornly held on to small parts, and with reinforcements arriving they were able to fortify their position.
The Terrans for their part countered with an invasion into the K5 System from the Dyelar System. Their attack was not very successful, though they were surprisingly able to gain quite some ground, with Shofixti forces being spotted leaving the system, which bewildered the Terran leaders, though they decided to not look a gift horse in the mouth.
The separate Brotherhood-Shofixti War started out with Shofixti raids on the K4 system, intent on preventing the Brotherhood from reinforcing their rather meagre forces in the K6 system. The raids were a resounding victory for the Shofixti, who managed to stop Brotherhood reinforcements for the moment and seize nearly full control of the K6 system, the only thing left being shattered Brotherhood remnants conducting guerrilla warfare.
The Brotherhood counter-attack at K4 met failure, being largely unsuccessful in pushing back the Shofixti advance, though they did manage to blunt Shofixti forces enough to stop a Shofixti counter-attack.
Contacted:
The Seta Assembly has made contact with the Empire of Wyoming, the Human-Sandhana Republic, and knows about the Kingdom of Komnenia and the Union of Central American Nations.
The Human-Sandhana Republic has made contact with the Empire of Wyoming, the Seta Assembly, the Kingdom of Komnenia and the Union of Central American Nations.
The Imperium of Manx (West) has not made contact with anybody.
The Imperium of Manx has made contact with the Great Tiě and the Gallic Empire, and knows about Crimea Ryvuhr and the Order of Divine Light.
The Union of Communes has not made contact with anybody.
The Gallic Empire has made contact with the Great Tiě, the Imperium of Manx, Crimea Ryvuhr, the Order of Divine Light, and knows about Farinenion and Merchanos.
The Order of Divine Light has made contact with the Gallic Empire, Merchanos, Farinenion, and the Arn Consortium, and knows about Crimea Ryvuhr, Great Tiě, Imperium of Manx, Nitheim Resurgence, and the Galan Rim Union.
Merchanos has made contact with Farinenion, Order of Divine Light, Arn Consortium, Nitheim Resurgence, the Galan Rim Union, and knows about the Gallic Empire.
Shenzhou has made contact with the Aluxian Descendants and the Brotherhood of the Stars.
Gerdutch has made contact with the Kjell-Mora Corporation, the Alkaterian Empire, and the Terran Ascendancy, and knows about the Shofixti.
The Shofixti has made contact with the Brotherhood and the Terran Ascendancy, and knows about the Kjell-Mora Corporation.
The Alkaterian Empire has made contact with the Terran Ascendancy, the Kjell-Mora Corporation, and Gerdutch.
The Black Bloc has made contact with the Purian Hierarchy.
Crimea Ryvuhr has made contact with the Gallic Empire.