2555
Sector 1
For the Human-Sandhana Republic, the signing of the Treaty of Vandalip was a great diplomatic victory, as it showed that the HSR was not a nation of warmongering expansionists who wanted more land at any costs. A leaked part of the negotiations also showed that the HSR had made quite some concessions to the autocratic Kingdom of Komnenia, further improving the image of the HSR. The only one unimpressed by this was, of course, Verlin, who had long before the present set their sights on the territory which the HSR laid claim to with the Treaty of Vandalip. [+5 Prestige to HSR. Relations with Komnenia neutral. Relations with UCAN neutral. Relations with Verlin are still bad]
However, this was all overshadowed by a much larger event. Verlin garrisons and observation posts had reported sightings of strange organic creatures flying around in space, with a course set on Verlin itself. These sightings were dismissed as nothing important, even as more and more sightings of the strange creatures were made closer and closer to Verlin. Finally, several of the creatures appeared at Verlin. They looked rather like large, bloated pigs with several protrusions that the Verlin garrison fleet quickly found out were some sort of weapons that shot globs of acid. These "space-pigs" (as they were quickly dubbed) were quickly taken care of by the garrison, but the Verlinese were still very unnerved by them, and the leadership even more so when they received the reports of what the creatures that they had initially dismissed as harmless were capable off. Particularly the biological weapons had unpleasant implications. Still, life continued on, although the Verlinese military was put on alert.
That precaution was justified when a huge swarm of the creatures, numbering around one hundred thousand, were sighted not far out from the Verlin system. The Verlinese leadership hit the panic button, mobilising the Verlinese military. All of the merchant fleets at the capital planet of Verlin were quickly repurposed for combat. Guns and armour were hastily fitted onto them to help defend against the coming onslaught of biological terror. Verlin sent out a message to the Trade Order as well, though due to the great distances involved the Trade Order could not send reinforcements in time.
Battle was joined as soon as the space-pig armada came within the vicinity of the Verlin homeworld. The Verlinese threw everything they had in an effort to stop the onslaught, calling back forces stationed all around their territory. Unfortunately, these reinforcements arrived too late, and though the defenders of Verlin were not utterly crushed, the space-pigs were abe to break through and land on the planet. Fierce fighting ensued, with the Verlinese employing biohazard containment strategies mixed with Brute Force and Defensive tactics. One clear example of this was when the Verlinese forces managed to contain five thousand of the space pigs in one district of the capital city, and then subsequently demolishing the whole district from orbit.
Eventually, the Verlinese forces managed to triumph over the boarish threat, although at a cost. Their homeworld was in need of rebuilding and their economy had taken a large hit as a result of the mobilisation of most of the merchant fleet. In the face of this threat, the Most Serene Republic of Verlin looked outwards to gain some sort of protector from this menace, though their options were horribly limited. [Verlin mobilised. Verlin economy in bad shape. Verlin seeking aid.]
The abovementioned event in the HSR's neighbour allowed the Human-Sandhana to proceed with the expansion of its navy relatively unnoticed as Verlin was far too busy with the Pig Problem. Also the HSR colonisation effort launched this year went unremarked. [+9 Light Ships to HSR in 1 turn. +5 Medium Ships to HSR in 1 turn. +2 Heavy Ships to HSR in 2 turns. +1 Hazardous System, +1 Normal System to HSR. -360 Credits from HSR]
For the Soczarist Communczaric of Manx, support and aid continued to be exchanged with the Union of Communes, greatly boosting both of them. [+4 Development Levels to SCM. -220 Credits from SCM]
Sector 2
In Mongolia, the order of the day was Expand, Expand, and Expand. Mongolian colonisation fleets stormed across the borders and seized large swathes of systems for Mongolia. [+1 Worthless System, +2 Hazardous Systems, and +10 Normal Systems to Mongolian Empire]
Another important point on the Mongolian programme was the expansion of the Mongolian navy. A not inordinate amount of funds were poured into this project. [+6 Medium Ships to Mongolia in 1 turn. -234 Credits from Mongolia]
The last point on the Mongolian programme for the year was building the "Statues of Mongolian Glory". This was all-in-all a successful effort, garnering more support among the Mongolian populace
and increased revenue from tourism. [+1 Stability to Mongolia. +5 Other Income (Magnificent Statues) to Mongolia in 1 turn]
Sector 3
In the Terran Ascendancy, the signing of the Terran-Alkaterian Treaty formalised the southern border. To keep the United Protectorates out of the Terran claim zone, a rush was made to secure the only viable passageways into it. [+3 Hazardous Systems, +2 Normal Systems to Terran Ascendancy]
More ship construction programmes were also initiated, though they proceeded just as slowly as before. [+3 Light Ships to Terran Ascendancy in 2 turns. +1 Medium Ship to Terran Ascendancy in 2 turns. -66 Credits from Terran Ascendancy]
In order to alleviate this, the Terrans invested quite some funds into speeding up the construction of their vessels. This ended up a costly, though somewhat successful endeavour. [All current Terran constructions sped up by 1 turn. -100 Credits from Terran Ascendancy]
Funds were also provided for improving Terran infrastructure. This ended up quite costly as well. [+2 Development Levels to Terran Ascendancy. -150 Credits from Terran Ascendancy]
Sector 4
In the Alkaterian Empire, the signing of the Terran-Alkaterian Treaty formalised the northern border. Alkaterian colonisers were sent out to secure the Alkaterian part of the border. [+1 Hazardous System, and +2 Normal Systems to Alkaterian Empire]
A second Alkaterian fleet also emerged from the void to form up with the already existing one. However, some of these ships were in dire need of refits. [+9 Light Ships to the Alkaterian Empire. +3 Medium Ships to the Alkaterian Empire. +1 Heavy Ship to the Alkaterian Empire in 1 turn. -288 credits from Alkaterian Empire]
Attempts to construct facilities on the newly-acquired worthless system ended in failure. Also, development projects for some of the newly-acquired systems were postponed due to a lack of available funds. [-10 credits from Alkaterian Empire]
Furthermore, plans for projects to make the hazardous systems more habitable had to be cancelled as well so as to not plunge the Alkaterian Empire into deep debt.
The Merchanian recognition of the de facto border with Nitheim served to improve their relationship, though Nitheim still remained on its guard due to the pro-Merchanos stance of Farunenion. [Merchanos no longer has a presence or claim on the disputed system.]
On the other border, the Merchanians stationed their fleet just behind the border systems, causing tensions to increase as the Great Tiě did the same.
The colonisation effort continued unabated, securing the last two systems within reach of Merchanos, located in what came to be called the "Kérato Extreme". This name came about not only due to the horn-like shape of the region or the fact that it was on the edge of Merchanian space, but also due to the extreme environment in many of the planets in the systems located therein. [+2 Hazardous Systems to Merchanos]
Funds were poured into upgrading the currently rather dismal (at least in comparison to the Imperium of Manx) equipment of the Merchanian military. [+1 Space Tech lvl to Merchanos in 2 turns. -100 credits from Merchanos]
The rest of the Merchanian treasury was poured into improving their existing holdings. [+8 Development Levels to Merchanos. -300 credits from Merchanos]
Early in the year, the Imperium of Manx issued an ultimatum to the Western Imperium, threatening to declare war if the West did not accede to their demands. The Western response arrived very quickly, and was a total refusal to submit to the demands of Earth. However, the Imperium of Manx failed to act on this, causing quite a loss of face. [-10 Prestige from Imperium of Manx]
On the domestic front, research was commenced in the field of cloning. Funds were poured into the project but not much actually happened. Progress was at the pace of a snail, and did not look like it was going to get anywhere anytime soon. The only thing that had been discovered by the end of the year was the feasibility of the concept, though mass-cloning would in all probability be prohibitively expensive, at least at the present. [-15 Credits from Imperium of Manx]
Funds were also poured into the construction of a new fleet for the Imperium. This made quite an impact on the state of imperial finances. [+7 Light Ships in 1 turn to Imperium of Manx. +3 Medium Ships in 1 turn to Imperium of Manx. +1 Heavy Ship in 2 turns to Imperium of Manx. -312 Credits from Imperium of Manx]
Attempts were made to distribute more propaganda among the systems of the Western Imperium, but to no avail as most of the propaganda was destroyed by the Westerners, and though they were unable to discover who stood behind it, their suspicions were directed towards Earth. The Western counter-propaganda effort took care what little of the propaganda that had been spread to their populace. [-20 Credits from Imperium of Manx]
Repairs were undergone on the sabotaged observation station, managing to restore it to functioning status. However, determining who had sabotaged it was much more difficult. What evidence was recovered pointed to two different states, the Galan Rim Union and the Nitheim Resurgence.
The Imperium of Manx also sent out its fleet to assist the True Manx, under the guise of being True Manx forces. Shortly after entering True Manx space, they were immediately sent out to defend one of the True Manx's systems which had been attacked by the Western Imperium. The True Manx space forces had already been destroyed, leaving the forces of both of the Imperiums to square off against each other. 8 Light Ships and 5 Medium Ships for the Eastern Imperium, and 10 Light Ships and 4 Medium Ships for the Western Imperium. The dislike that hung in the air between the commanders on both sides could almost be felt as the two bitter rivals lined up for the first of many battles between their two states. The commanders on both sides were very eager to deliver a crushing defeat to the other side, and thus forsook any rational tactics. Instead, both of the fleets charged headlong against the other. As the tactics were equally bad on both sides, only the technological edge of the Eastern Imperium allowed them to triumph. [Casualty report: Imperium of Manx lost 3 Light Ships and 1 Medium Ship. Western Imperium lost 7 Light Ships and 1 Medium Ship]
In the Brotherhood of the Stars, four new systems were claimed. Additionally, funding was provided for a military academy to educate officers in light ship tactics, as well as the construction of more light ships. [+1 Hazardous System, and +3 Normal Systems to Brotherhood. +1 Space tech level to Brotherhood in 3 turns. +10 Light Ships to Brotherhood in 2 turns. -160 Credits from Brotherhood]
Furthermore, the Brotherhood also sent out envoys to their neighbours to negotiate a number of things. Unfortunately, all of these envoys disappeared mysteriously. Some blamed pirates, some Merchanos, and some blamed Crimea Ryvuhr. However, nobody actually knew who had caused the disappearance of the envoys.