SDN Worlds 4: History Consolidation Thread

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TimothyC
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Re: SDN Worlds 4: History Consolidation Thread

Post by TimothyC »

Excerpt from Umerian Journal of Strategic Review
vol. 872, issue 9
“The Kryptonian Empire: an Analysis”
Background
The early-phase human expansion of the 2200s and 2300s encountered several hyper-capable alien civilizations, such as the Bragulans, Idurans, Eoghans, and of course the orks. But the most socio-politically important first contact was with the Kryptonian Empire. The first meeting between an early Terran hyperscout and a Kryptonian warcruiser in 2224 went well, and humanity was surprised to discover another race with such similar outward appearance. While early relations between the early human star polities were generally good, they deteriorated as the Kryptonian Empire pushed to limit human expansion coreward. Despite this deterioration, the Kryptonians were able to maintain an outward image as a generally peaceful civilization.

This image shattered in the 2450s, with the discovery of ruins in sector S5. These ruins, the homeworlds of a once-starfaring race which called itself the “Woobies,” had been reduced to burnt-out nuclear cinders. The Woobies apparently developed the Heim Drive around the Earth year 1950.

In what was originally thought to be an unrelated move, in early 2458 the Kryptonians ordered home most of their diplomatic missions including those to the Centrality, Umeria, the Grand Dominion, and New Anglia, with little explanation. Long range UN recon flights detected a slow and methodical buildup of Kryptonian fleet numbers, but nothing to suggest increased readiness levels.

With a series of publications in late 2459, the Umerian xenoarchaeologist Bonifacia Lugo revealed translations of a recording that implicated the Kryptonian Empire in the destruction of the Woobies. This image, reproduced here:
Image
was damning in its thoroughness. The common refrain of “Remember the Woobies!” “Who were the Woobies?” “EXACTLY.” echoed throughout the greater human sphere. Diplomatic requests to the Kryptonian Empire for an explanation went unanswered. As human polities noted increasing numbers of Kryptonian destroyer groups on what appeared to be recon sweeps, many assumed the worst: a Kryptonian invasion of human space followed by an attempted extermination of humanity itself.

While the cessation of all Kryptonian military activities in July 2462 was initially seen as a maintenance stand-down, and the sudden and complete closure of Kryptonian space interpreted as an intelligence blackout, nothing happened. The local powers were tense, interpreting these decisions as a prelude to war.

Tensions subsided and war-warnings lapsed by December, after a six month period with no attacks of any kind on human worlds, let alone invasions or extermination attempts. Several attempted intelligence gathering missions including a unique joint Umerian-Shepistani mission were turned back at the Kryptonian border, and the wider galactic community lost contact with all agents in Kryptonian space. By 2469, other than the Kryptonian Embassy on Terra Nova, the Empire was quiet.

Current Assessment

Very little reliable information is available on the current state of the Kryptonian military, save that it exists. Attempts to infiltrate a useful density of reconnaissance assets into their space have proven a uniform failure for centuries; patterns of failure suggest a very unusual palette of sensor capabilities. ELINT [1] offers at least some hints of the scale and tempo of their peacetime operations, but no more. Humint is nearly useless due to the extreme isolationist policies of the Kryptonian government, and even when approaching through lawful channels for interaction, ships with sophisticated enough equipment to observe Kryptonian military technology in action are generally boarded, found out, and rendered unable to learn anything useful.

Scientific and technical exchange between Krypton and the outside galaxy is negligible; it is predicted that any serious combat against Kryptonian forces would involve a great many technical surprises, on both sides of the line...

References

1. Document request code D72FA46534E75150*

OOC: * → Umerian for “If you want to look this up, go to whoever in your chain of command is responsible for handling classified documents, and hand them this code which the registry will interpret as "I want to look up classified documents on Umerian ELINT operations near the Kryptonian border because I read about them in the Journal of Strategic Review.” The request will be handled appropriately to your clearance and status.”
"I believe in the future. It is wonderful because it stands on what has been achieved." - Sergei Korolev
KhorneFlakes
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Re: SDN Worlds 4: History Consolidation Thread

Post by KhorneFlakes »

The Taiidani: A brief history

The Taiidan originated from the original starships that brought the Hiigarans to Hiigara. A seperate faction of the Hiigarans, the Taiidan were at first disinterested in Hiigara, requesting that they be given permission to colonize Hiigara's moon instead of joining the other colonists. Though many of the Hiigarans colonists found this strange, the Taiidan were given permission. Landing one of their ships on Hiigara's moon, the Taiidan established a base there, supplying minerals to the Taiidan-owned ships. Building several habs, most of the Taiidan population lived on these habs rather than settling down on Hiigara.

Though originally not called the Taiidan, they took the name after the Incident. The Incident was simply that - an incident. The Incident began when the remaining Hiigaran ships in orbit protested against the Taiidani monoply on materials from Hiigara's moon. The Taiidan were quite insulted by this claim - they stated that the Hiigarans had simply not asked for resources and therefore the Taiidan did not give them any, as such. However, the monoply was bad enough that one of the Kiiths, Soban, declared martial law on Taiidan corporations and space habitats.

Angered by what was considered a uneccesary action, the Kobol, a light freighter of the Taiidan, was ordered to open fire on the accusers with it's PD guns. The Kobol was successful in it's mission, almost starting a war. However, Hiigaran diplomats intervened quickly enough that a war did not occur. However, despite the insistance of Huur S'jet, the Taiidan took their current name ad quickly declared they wanted absolutely nothing to do with Hiigara. Converting their habs into self-sufficient colony ships, the Taiidan left for parts unknown, travelling through the Outback.

Eventually stumbling upon a lush, resource-rich world, the newly-christened Taiidani named this world Taiid and settled, developing extensive infrastructure and research facilities. The Taiidan claimed several sectors, becoming a technologically and militarily advanced Empire. The Taiidan however, took a stance of isolation - ships entering Taiidani space were redirected to other locations, and trade with other entities was limited to items not containing Taiidani technology or science. The Taiidan Empire quickly gained a reputation as a mysterious, heavily militarized state, rumored to possess a number of great scientific wonders.

At it's height, the Empire of old possessed hundreds of advanced capital ships, an enormous navy, and billions of well-trained shock troops. It also spanned nine sectors. The Taiidan of old were infamous for the strength of their ships - a single Taiidan Heavy Cruiser was typically worth 4 heavy cruisers of another's navy. Many said that the power of the Taiidan's vessels surely warranted a smaller fleet. Fortunately, the Taiidan never declared war on states not close to them.

However, as the Empire advanced, so did it's politics. The Taiidan went through sets of Emperors, most of which made many advances in th Taiidan people's name. However one of them was the downfall of the old Empire - and his name was Riessitu. Becoming Emperor circa. 2782, Riessitu was disliked among the Taiidan for his totalirian policies. The Empire Star Republic was one of the late Emperor hatreds - the ESR had never been well liked by the Taiidan due to their ancienet rivalry and the ESR's expansionist policies. Riessitu use the ESR as one of his justifications for his increased control over the Empire.

As the Emperor transformed the Empire into a dictatorship virtually overnight, many protested to his increasing power and control. One of these groups was the Taiidan Comitee for a Republic. In 2791, the Republic became an official state, the Vorshaan sector becoming their capital. The Taiidan Republic was a short-lived democracy born from the tyranny of the old Empire's last days. At first, they had been a beacon for hope - as the late emperor Riessitu was a madman, a totaliarian dictator who had brought an era of despair upon the Taiidan people.

Declaring war upon the Empire Star Republic when he discovered numerous spy networks inside the Imperial government, he commited war crimes that were not well known due to the (relative) stance of isolation the Taiidani had taken towards the galaxy. Most of these involved execution of ESR agents without trial. That was all the evidence the ESR required to support the Republicans. Arming the Republicans for war, the fledgeling Republic and the ESR waged a joint campaign to overthrow the Empire. A great war erupted for the future of the Taiidani, with many sectors worried by the great war occuring near the Outback. Imperial and Republican forces clashed in violent conflicts, the Republic commiting more and more morally questionable actions, eventually culminating in the Slaughter of Garac - in which the Republicans demonstrated their lack of care for the lives of others - by bombing Garac into molten glass. There had been no warning - and therefore several billion Taiidani died under orbital fire.

Totaliarian as he was, even Riessitu felt great sadness at the crime committed by the Republicans. In his fury, he removed the Conventions of Warfare document that held the Taiidan Imperial Navy and Army's restrictions on warfare. Navy vessels destroyed countless ESR and Republican civilian and military vessels in fury - a hunger for veangence consumed the normally analytic and rational Taiidani - one that would be sated by nothing less than the destruction of the Republic and their ESR supporters.

It was said that back then, one Taiidan ship was easily a battleship compared to ships that might of been comparable. The Taiidan of old were scientists and engineers without equal - they made great leaps in technology and science, but even their great forte could not stop the next great atrocity that came - The Burning of Taiid.

It had been said that many Taiidan that day wept - Imperial or Republican. A massive Republic fleet, said to be so enormous in size that it was said that it blotted out Yammoch, the Taiidan homeworld's star. The old Navy and Army fought to the end that day, their discpline and wrath brought upon the Republicans like the fist of a angry god. But even they failed - like the madmen they were, the Republic burnt Taiid to cinders with orbital bombardment. Billions upon Billions died, the Emperor himself roaring his defiance and shaking his fist at the Republican vessels even as they burnt both him and the world to cinders. When the deed was done, the death toll was 98 billion Taiidani - all Imperial. The Republicans suffered enormous losses as well however - most of their fleet was routed and destroyed. The remnants of the Army and Navy joined up with a Imperial Taiidan splinter group. Helping the civilans offworld and onto an enormous exodite fleet, the Imperials left the last Imperial held system, a grand exodus leaving no Imperial Taiidani man, woman or child, nor their possessions behind. When the Republic arrived, the Karos system was a ghost, silent as if the Taiidan had never touched the world.

After a decade of wandering, the Taiidani Exodites were contacted by the Prussians - who offered a pact: The Prussians would help the exodites take back their worlds, in exchange for helping them steal certain ESR technologies. Though the exodites grudingly accepted their aid, a peace of sorts was realized between both factions, although their rivalry remained. The Exodites armed for one final war for the future of the Taiidani.

After yet another war, the Republicans were defeated and forced out into the unknown parts of space: Holdouts and pirates were all that remained of the Republic. The ESR was routed and forced back to their territory, but they kept one Taiidani system under their control, forces of both empires too weary to fight another battle in such a short timespan.

And so a century and a half of rebuilding occured. The Neo-Taiidani, as the new Empire now called themselves, claimed a virgin world untouched by war, along with it's system. In honor of those lost during those terrible conflicts, they named that virgin world New Taiid - and elected their de-facto leader, Tiir Jet, as Emperor.

Today, the NTE is a small, although well-developed nation. Part of their goals is to return to the glory days of the Empire, before the madman Riessitu took over. Current Taiidan goals also include the elimination of Republican holdouts and the opening of better diplomatic relations with the rest of the Galaxy.
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Zor
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Re: SDN Worlds 4: History Consolidation Thread

Post by Zor »

The Rise of Joel Forester

The History of the Barbarians directly linked with that of its leader, Joel Forester. Starting out as a minor pirate leader commanding a small fleet he was bestowed by fortune a great prize in 2540, after examining the sight where a few weeks earlier a battle happened, he found among the debris a mostly intact battlecruiser that happened to have had its crew killed in battle and was abandoned as both sides were forced to fall back after its conclusion named the Hercules. Forester seized upon this and had the craft towed to his base, where his engineers making her combat worthy. Using this spacecraft as an offensive weapon, he significantly increased his ability to raid and more money and followers came to his aid. Most Pirates would have simply wiled away these resources without regard, but Forester had bigger ambitions. He made connections with a variety of criminal organizations and mercenary groups, built up stockpiles of weapons and ammunition on his asteroid bases and prepared to make the first move in his plan for greater glory.

In 2549, Joel's rag-tag fleet's advanced elements began intense commerce raiding around new Colombia causing the small New Colombian navy to mobilize. In the chaos, a single barbarian spearhead descended from hyperspace and moved into the system. The small New Colombian warfleet was not suited to defend herself against the Barbarian onslaught and was dispatched quickly enough. Forester then encircled the planet, ordering surrender. Although about half the planet did not surrender, all organized resistance was crushed within five weeks. New Colombia became the first conquest of the Barbarians.

The New Colombian buildup

After the fall of New Colombia, the planet and system wad devised up into fiefs among his captains. Valuable items such as artwork and so forth were collected and either used to furnish a large number of pleasure palaces which they constructed or sold. This provided capital which was used to begin the build up. New Colombia's previous government was fairly corrupt and generally ineffective, a fact which was key in why Forester selected it for conquest although what the Barbarians installed was far from an improvement. Soon after their arrival, they set to work on a buildup. What industries existed were pressed full tilt into making more industrial equipment, and additional industrial resources were imported where local industries were insufficient. Over the next two decades New Colombia was remade into a factory world and vast shipyards were built in orbit. The Barbarian warlords cared little of the well being of their subjects, simply contenting themselves with making sure that they and their men had a high standard of living and that quotas for the production of equipment were met. The Cities of New Colombia became crime ridden slums, with crude apartment blocks among an endless number of factories. While their occasional attempts at rebellion, the Barbarians fell down upon these hard, generally involving large numbers of executions. Despite death rates increasing sharply, the population of New Colombia was increased by various means (human trafficking, hired mercenaries and pirates, cloning) as more manpower meant more resources. In orbit, a vast fleet of ships was created while huge armies were raised.

The neighboring states saw this and were shocked at this turn of evens, but Forester managed to work around this. Forester made sure that his men did not raid local commerce and their was a considerable increase in exports in a few cases and more equipment was bought for the industrial development programs. He managed to avoid direct confrontation for the needed time. Some preperations were made to deal with possible invasion, but these would prove to be too little for the coming onslaught.
The Barbarian Invasion

On March-10th, 2567 several fleets under the command of thirteen of Walker's most prominant warlords were launched striking at New New York and Darwinia. The simple bulk of the Barbarian fleet allowed for comparatively short victories and the conquest of two new worlds with six months. Newport put up a more dedicated resistance before it too fell after an addition nine months. The same policies that the Barbarians employed on New Colombia were employed on these worlds and soon the Barbarians would be gathering more forces. With the Entirety of Darwinia sector under Forester's Control, the Barbarian Hordes became a much more pronounced threat and was enough to call intervention.

The States of Nova Atlantis and Zhongguo Sector mobilized themselves to defeat the Barbarian threat, but severely underestimated the effectiveness of the Barbarian war machine. The fleets that were dispatched did not co-ordinate with each other and were small in size. Expeditions sent out between 2567 and 2569 were harassed and eventually either destroyed or forced into retreat. At the same time, Barbarian armies fell upon seven more systems and seizing control of them. Attempts to coordinate a more centralized military force were made by the newly formed alliance, with Nova Atlantis emerging as its core. In an attempt to give himself time to further incorporate the new conquests into the Barbarian war machine, he sent Khan Malik (his most powerful vassal and at least in Forester's eyes a growing rival) with a massive fleet into Nova Atlantis sector with the objective of doing as much damage as possible. This fleet was successful in destroying many mining stations, supply depots and minor settlements, but struck against major population centers three times. Once against Nova Atlantis itself (which was defeated after a two week battle), once against Newport (defeated after a three day battle when re-enforcements arrived) and once against Nova Australia (a desperate assault which lasted six hours in which Malik died in august of 2470).

The Stalemate

Khan Malik's offensive put the Alliance forces on the defensive, a state that would remain the case for the remainer of the decade, at the same time, concerns gathered over what was happening in Forester's territory. Reports indicated huge shipyards being built and vast armies being raised. At a set of meetings between heads of state and military leaders it was concluded that to defeat the Barbarian hordes, a single major push was needed. As such, what had been a loose military alliance gradually became more and more integrated as they moved to total war. A single command structure as created. Spacecraft, weapons and equipment were standardized for logistical purposes and military/industrial development was coordinated. The policy of the alliance became that of defense, protecting what they had against Barbarian incursions. Expansion slowed during the 2570s, the only notable effect was the conquest of Seafoam and a few marginal planets.

Forester continued his own build up as his armies and fleets increased in size. He also organized fairly frequent raids into allied territory, generally attacking asteroid settlements as well as one attempt at an invasion of Ny Norge in 2574 after a set of praticularly intense raids against Nova Atlantis sector. While the Barbarian fleet did managed to over-power the local defenses and managed to land forces on the planet, the Barbarian fleet was driven out after only a week and what forces they landed were neutralized after seven months. The goal was to slow alliance industrial development while he built up his own war machine to win the war.

The Liberation

In late 2580, The alliance launched a single massive advance into Barbarian held territory to retake world of New Zoria. This strike was hard and swiftly crushed the defending fleets and allowing for the landing of forces to free New Zoria from barbarian rule. This Prompted Forester to launch a counter offensive to dislodge them. The Battle of New Zoria in early 2581 involved thousands of spacecraft and the Barbarian fleet inflicted significant casualties, but the allied wall of battle held strong and the Barbarians were eventually forced to cut their losses and fall back. This would be followed by a system by system liberation campaign in which the allied fleet would wait and its targets one at a time with a spearhead.

The Barbarians were not done yet, their fleets broke up and launched raids on convoys and patrols. On the ground they fiercely resisted, making heavy use of human shields and terror tactics against "disloyal" civilians. While many conscripts were quick to surrender, those that did were often at risk specialized reprisal. Several large scale battles happened as the Barbarians attempted to retake lost ground, including driving the allied fleet from Darwinia. Between the general civil decay that was brought about by Barbarian rule and devastation caused by holdouts. The most infamous case of this was that of Hephaestus, when an allied fleet under Admiral Minoux reached this world on December 2nd defeated the fleet stationed there, six retreating warlords after telling the allied fleet to leave the system gave an order which had the orbital defenses to drop everything they had into the planet while billions of tonnes of orbital shipyards, half finished spacecraft, asteroids under processing and slag was dumped onto the surface resulting in complete planetary sterilization and the deaths of over two billion lives. Not everyone was willing to die for the cause, a fair number of pirates began to bleed away and many warlords cut their losses and fled with what troops and equipment they could bring.

The end of the Barbarians as a coherent military threat happened in 2585. Reduced to Freyja, Speranza and New Manitoba, Forester organized and personally led bulk of his remaining forces in a last ditch gambit to reclaim New Colombia. The Second Battle of New Colombia was the last great stand of the Barbarians, but when Forester's flagship Will to Rule was carved to bits by the consentrated firepower of a dozen allied battleships, the last hope the Barbarians had died. His fleet broke apart and fled. In the following three months, the Warlords on the remaining Barbarian worlds began to evacuated their worlds, leaving behind chaos and anarchy while allied fleets quietly moved in.

Aftermath

When the Barbarians were defeated, what was left on their worlds was was chaos. In total, the Barbarians were directly responsible for more than seven billion deaths during their reign, and left those that were not killed in ruins. Cities were reduced to ruined slums, looting was common and barbarian remnants remained and would often wage guerrilla and terrorist campaigns. Hundreds of millions of soldiers were required to keep order and stability on these planets and considerable aid was required to rebuild their economies and infrastructure to prevent them from further degrading into chaos. Barbarian forces were gradually apprehended and reprogrammed into functional members of society. For economic stability considerable reconstruction was done. These programs were critical in the eventual creation of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth of Worlds. In the end, all former Barbarian held planets joined the new state save Seafoam.

The Rise of Joel Forester

The History of the Barbarians directly linked with that of its leader, Joel Forester. Starting out as a minor pirate leader commainding a small fleet he was bestowed by fortune a great prise in 2540, after examining the sight where a few weekss earlier a battle happeend, he found among the debris a mostly intact battlecruiser that happened to have had its crew killed in battle and was abandoned as both sides were forced to fall back after its conclusion named the Hercules. Forester seized upon this and had the craft towed to his base, where his engineers making her combat worthy. Using this spacecraft as an offensive weapon, he sugnifigantly increased his ability to raid and more money and followers came to his aid. Most Pirates would have simply wiled away these resources without regard, but Forester had bigger ambitions. He made connections with a variety of criminal orginizations and mercenary groups, built up stockpiles of weapons and ammunition on his asteroid bases and prepared to make the first move in his plan for greater glory.

In 2549, Joel's rag-tag fleet's advanced elements began intense commerce raiding around new Colombia causing the small New Colombian navy to mobilize. In the chaos, a single barbarian spearhead dscended from hyperspace and moved into the system. The small New Colombian warfleet was not suited to defend herself against the Barbarian onslaught and was dispatched quickly enough. Forester then encircled the planet, ordering surrender. Although about half the planet did not surrender, all organized resistance was crushed within five weeks. New Colombia became the first conquest of the Barbarians.
The New Colombian buildup

After the fall of New Colombia, the planet and system wad devided up into fiefs among his captains. Valuable items such as artwork and so forth were collected and either used to furnish a large number of pleasure palaces which they constructed or sold. This provided capital which was used to begin the build up. New Colombia's previous government was fairly corrupt and generally ineffective, a fact which was key in why Forester selected it for conquest although what the Barbarians installed was far from an improvement. Soon after their arrival, they set to work on a buildup. What industries existed were pressed full tilt into making more industrial equipment, and additional industrial resources were imported where local industries were insufficient. Over the next two decades New Colombia was remade into a factory world and vast shipyards were built in orbit. The Barbarian warlords cared little of the well being of their subjects, simply contenting themselves with making sure that they and their men had a high standard of living and that quotas for the production of equipment were met. The Cities of New Colombia became crime ridden slums, with crude apartment blocks among an endless number of factories. While their occasional attempts at rebellion, the Barbarians fell down upon these hard, generally involving large numbers of executions. Despite death rates increasing sharply, the population of New Colombia was increased by various means (human trafficing, hired mercenaries and pirates, cloning) as more manpower ment more resources. In orbit, a vast fleet of ships was created while huge armies were raised.

The neighboring states saw this and were shocked at this turn of evens, but Forester managed to work around this. Forester made sure that his men did not raid local commerce and their was a considerable increase in exports in a few cases and more equipment was bought for the industrial development programs. He managed to avoid direct confrontation for the needed time. Some preperations were made to deal with possible invasion, but these would prove to be too little for the comming onslaught.
The Barbarian Invasion

On March-10th, 2567 several fleets under the command of thirteen of Walker's most prominant warlords were launched striking at New New York and Darwinia. The simple bulk of the Barbarian fleet allowed for comparitively short victories and the conquest of two new worlds with six months. Newport put up a more dedicated resistance before it too fell after an addition nine months. The same policies that the Barbarians employed on New Colombia were employed on these worlds and soon the Barbarians would be gathering more forces. With the Entirety of Darwinia sector under Forester's Control, the Barbarian Hordes became a much more pronounced threat and was enought to call intervention.

The States of Nova Atlantis and Zhongguo Sector mobilized themselves to defeat the Barbarian threat, but severely underestimated the effectiveness of the Barbarian war machine. The fleets that were dispatched did not co-ordinate with each other and were small in size. Expeditions sent out between 2567 and 2569 were harrased and eventually either destroyed or forced into retreat. At the same time, Barbarian armies fell upon seven more systems and seizing control of them. Attempts to coordinate a more centralized military force were made by the newly formed alliance, with Nova Atlantis emerging as its core. In an attempt to give himself time to further incorperate the new conquests into the Barbarian war machine, he sent Khan Malik (his most powerful vassal and at least in Forester's eyes a growing rival) with a massive fleet into Nova Atlantis sector with the objective of doing as much damage as possible. This fleet was sucesful in destroying many mining stations, supply depots and minor settlements, but struck against major population centers three times. Once against Nova Atlantis itself (which was defeated after a two week battle), once against Newport (defeated after a three day battle when re-enforcements arrived) and once against Nova Australia (a desperate assault which lasted six hours in which Malik died in august of 2470).
The Stalemate

Khan Malik's offensive put the Alliance forces on the defensive, a state that would remain the case for the remainer of the decade, at the same time, concerns gathered over what was happening in Forester's territory. Reports indicated huge shipyards being built and vast armies being raised. At a set of meetings between heads of state and military leaders it was concluded that to defeat the Barbarian hordes, a single major push was needed. As such, what had been a loose military alliance gradually became more and more integrated as they moved to total war. A single command structure as created. Spacecraft, weapons and equipment were standardized for logistical purposes and military/industrial development was coordinated. The policy of the alliance became that of defense, protecting what they had against Barbarian incursions. Expansion slowed during the 2570s, the only notable effect was the conquest of Seafoam and a few marginal planets.

Forester continued his own build up as his armies and fleets increased in size. He also organized fairly frequent raids into allied territory, generally attacking asteroid settlements as well as one attempt at an invasion of Ny Norge in 2574 after a set of praticularly intense raids against Nova Atlantis sector. While the Barbarian fleet did managed to over-power the local defenses and managed to land forces on the planet, the Barbarian fleet was driven out after only a week and what forces they landed were neutralized after seven months. The goal was to slow alliance industrial development while he built up his own war machine to win the war.
The Liberation

In late 2580, The alliance launched a single massive advance into Barbarian held territory to retake world of New Zoria. This strike was hard and swiftly crushed the defending fleets and allowing for the landing of forces to free New Zoria from barbarian rule. This Prompted Forester to launch a counter offensive to dislodge them. The Battle of New Zoria in early 2581 involved thousands of spacecraft and the Barbarian fleet inflicted sugnifigant casualties, but the allied wall of battle held strong and the Barbarians were eventually forced to cut their losses and fall back. This would be followed by a system by system liberation campaign in which the allied fleet would wait and its targets one at a time with a spearhead.

The Barbarians were not done yet, their fleets broke up and launched raids on convoys and patrols. On the ground they fiercely resisted, making heavy use of human shields and terror tactics against "disloyal" civilians. While many conscripts were quick to surrender, those that did were often at risk specialized reprisal. Several large scale battles happened as the Barbarians attempted to retake lost ground, including driving the allied fleet from Darwinia. Between the general civil decay that was brought about by Barbarian rule and devestation caused by holdouts. The most infamous case of this was that of Hephaestus, when an allied fleet under Admiral Minoux reached this world on December 2nd defeated the fleet stationed there, six retreating warlords after telling the allied fleet to leave the system gave an order which had the orbital defenses to drop everything they had into the planet while billions of tonnes of orbital shipyards, half finished spacecraft, asteriods under processing and slag was dumped onto the surface resulting in complete planetary sterilization and the deaths of over two billion lives. Not everyone was willing to die for the cause, a fair number of pirates began to bleed away and many warlords cut their losses and fled with what troops and equipment they could bring.

The end of the Barbarians as a coherent military threat happened in 2585. Reduced to Freyja, Speranza and New Manitoba, Forester organized and personnally led bulk of his remaining forces in a last ditch gambit to reclaim New Colombia. The Second Battle of New Colombia was the last great stand of the Barbarians, but when Forester's flagship Will to Rule was carved to bits by the consentrated firepower of a dozen allied battleships, the last hope the Barbarians had died. His fleet broke apart and fled. In the following three months, the Warlords on the remaining Barbarian worlds began to evacuated their worlds, leaving behind chaos and anarchy while allied fleets quietly moved in.
Aftermath

When the Barbarians were defeated, what was left on their worlds was was chaos. In total, the Barbarians were directly responsible for more than seven billion deaths during their reign, and left those that were not killed in ruins. Cities were reduced to ruined slums, looting was common and barbarian remnants remained and would often wage guerilla and terrorist campaigns. Hundreds of millions of soldiers were required to keep order and stability on these planets and considerable aid was required to rebuild their economies and infastructure to prevent them from futher degrading into chaos. Barbarian forces were gradually aprehended and reprogrammed into functional members of society. For economic stability considerable reconstruction was done. These programs were critical in the eventual creation of the Nova Atlantean Commonwealth of Worlds.

Those Barbarians that escaped would prove to be a major problem afterwards. With advanced warships, transports loaded with trained soldiers and heavy weapons and vehicles, manufacturing equipment and a level of military skill well above average these fleeing fleets would in general go back to their old ways of general piracy. The number of raids per year sugnifigantly increased and would stay high for decades to come. Some pirate warlords with command of capital ships would attract fleets of followers and a few attempted to seize control of remote star systems, but never had Forester's sucess.

Those Barbarians that escaped would prove to be a major problem afterwards. With advanced warships, transports loaded with trained soldiers and heavy weapons and vehicles, manufacturing equipment and a level of military skill well above average these fleeing fleets would in general go back to their old ways of general piracy. The number of raids per year significantly increased and would stay high for decades to come. Some pirate warlords with command of capital ships would attract fleets of followers and a few attempted to seize control of remote star systems, but never had Forester's sucess.
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Re: SDN Worlds 4: History Consolidation Thread

Post by Kartr_Kana »

Landfall, and the Development of the Modern Hiigaran Society
By Mevath Sagald
The 14 ship convoy that had left Earth during the Diaspora finally reached their destination in the year 2371 (Terran Standard). Settlements were rapidly established on the surface of an Arth type planet. Additional settlements were established on two of the three moons orbiting Hiigara Prime. In these early days, the focus was on building a stable life and so the ranks and jobs that had been established for four generations of ship board life were maintained. The massive colony ships were stripped and parked at a Lagrange point.

For just over a century these settlements flourished and grew without major incident. The first generation of children born on the new world were often referred to as “Landfall Babies.” This generation was exceedingly numerous, as the restrictions on how many children were allowed ceased, and families with ten, twelve or even more children were the norm. In forty years, the initial adult population went from 1.4 million to over 10 million. Yet the sheer size of a new and empty world – not to mention the lunar habitats and several smaller asteroid settlements – meant that this growth was insignificant.

In these days the population still grouped by which colony ship they were from. Officers were elected and trained like their predecessors, just like they had always been. Many historians and anthropologists have speculated that if the officer corps in charge of running the different colony ships had been increased ten fold, like the population had, the later troubles might have been averted and today we would still be living under a psuedo Juanta. However, this historian humbly disagrees.

According to the records from this time - the land owners, shop keepers, artisans and artists: civilians – passengers began to desire a greater role in their governance. The general feeling began to circulate that, while the officer corps had been what was required aboard ship, they had grown outdated. Still, most of the officer corps were family or friends and this – along with the fact that settlement was still in its infancy and most peoples energy was focused on surviving and taking the first steps towards prosperity – meant that there wasn't a lot of energy or motivation to implement a new government. This would all change in 2498.

The population continued to grow almost exponentially after landfall. Large families continued to be the norm, though one family which had 26 children became somewhat famous for having more than double the average number of children. When the year 2498 finally rolled around, the population was in excess of 300 million adults. Magnificent and gleaming cities were being built, great colleges and libraries founded, industry was burgeoning, it was a time of great prosperity and excitement. In these days of halcyon might, auxiliary positions were formed. Filling the roles of Police, Judicial and City Officials, the civilians began to usurp the autocratic authority of the officer corps. As these positions were filled and began to grow in power, the officer corps began to grow jealous.

The New Years celebrations of 2500 were tinged with an undercurrent of conflict. The Armada Commander, head of the officer corps and leader of the Hiigaran people, declared all non-officer corps positions illegitimate and forced the auxiliaries to dissolve. The reason given: “The myriad impromptu offices and laws enacted by auxiliary officials, have created a patch work of mutually exclusive laws and precedents. Such is the extent of this incompatibility and tangled web of judicial responsibility and decree, that no clear ruling can be made in any case.”

The abrupt cessation of their new found powers combined with how over stretched the officer corps had become and fueled by disagreement on what kind of government would be best, lead to growing tensions. As positions became more polarized, people began to create communities based on which type of government they preferred. It is unsurprising in retrospect to see the lines upon which the population divided itself. What is surprising, though perhaps to be expected considering human nature, is how many people supported keeping the officer corps – if – in a modified form.

During the first decade of the 26th century, the different camps began to organize and take form. The intellectual elite: teachers, professors, scientists and artists, tended to favor a form of communism that would allow them to continue their work without worrying about funding. While the merchants, store owners and other entrepreneurs tended to lean towards the opposite end of the spectrum, unregulated capitalism. While many other political theories gathered their own followings.

As these groups grew larger and better defined, they began to exert control over their cities and habitation centers. As these unofficial governments, mafia really, began to solidify their position, they re-purposed the old clan names. No longer did referring to yourself as a S'jet mean you descended from colonists who traveled on that ship; it meant you believed in communism guided by science as the best form of government. Each major mafia clan took the clan name that most closely fit their ideals.

The one thing these clans held in common was a dislike for the current government. Predictably enough the term Taiidani became the common code word for the legitimate government. Skirmishes and turf wars raged through the latter half of 2509 and on January 1st 2511 (Standard Terran Date), full scale war broke out between the factions. A civil war which would last for twenty-two years.

Insufficiently large to put down these mafia factions, the officer corps did their best to create safe zones where civilians could live in safety. As the wars escalated, the officer corps began to expand and re-invent itself. In 2524, this re-vitalized and reinforced officer corps launched a series of campaigns against the mafia, now turned governments. With a tenth the entire Hiigaran population under their control, the officer corps was swiftly victorious in crushing the young, warring polities.

By 2528, all major resistance had ended and General Riesstiu declared the rebellions ended. He also declared that the current officer corps was designed as a military engine rather than a political one. In light of that, he declared himself King and began re-organizing the officer corps, into the Taiidan Kingdom. As the new feudal government began to develop, there grew a group of dissenting officers. Secretly calling themselves Sobani, these officers began to funnel supplies to the remnants of the rebel groups. Armed and trained by the Sobani, these groups struck hard and fast in the summer of 2530.

After three years of non-stop and terrible conflict, King Riesstiu and his Taiidan Kingdom were on the defensive. Despite the advantages the Taiidan Kingdom had in terms of training, equipment and unity, it could not overcome the united strength of the Hiigaran people. So in 2533 a cease fire was signed and King Riesstiu was given five years to prepare his people to leave Hiigara forever. In 2538, King Riesstiu and his people boarded the old colony ships, repaired and restored for this purpose, and with a small flotilla of other vessels, departed Hiigaran space. Legend has it that King Riesstiu's last transmission was “I shall forge myself an empire of who's might has never been conceived, even that mewling infant, the Byzantine Imperium, shall look upon my works and be in awe!”

With the threat of King Riesstiu and his Taiidan Kingdom gone, many feared that the factions left would simply return to the destructive civil wars of just a decade and half earlier. To prevent this, a great council of Kiith-sa was called. Kiith-sa once again comes from our bizarre history of stealing everything from the Homeworld games of the early 21st century. It was first used as the equivalent of “Don,” the head of a Mafia family. As the Mafia families grew into actual governments, the Kiith-sa became the leader of the Clan.

During this meeting, tempers flared and arguments raged. No one was willing to give up their preferred style of government. Each Kiith-sa wanted to be the head of any new government and have his or her Kiith be the predominate. Through five long years, the Kiith and Kiith-sa maneuvered in the council chambers, through economics, and sometimes out right fighting. Finally a bright young mind, daughter of the S'jet Kiith-sa, proposed a new system. This system would allow each clan to utilize the government it wanted and yet bind them together in a unified front towards outsiders.

The architect of this confederation was of course Karan S'jet. Her proposal had each Kiith being its own sub-nation. Each of these disparate nations would rule itself as its people saw fit. A confederation would be established, which would provide the unified front to other star faring nations. Out right war between confederation members was strictly prohibited, but political agitating and other methods, territorial gain and increased influence were not. However, all employees of the confederation, named the Diamiid of the Clans of Hiigara, would give up their ties to their Kiith, upon becoming part of the Diamiid.

The Clans and their Kiith-sa are forbidden to undertake actions with foreign powers, as those must be left up to the Diamiid. The Diamiid itself is forbidden to interfere with the the Clans internal politics, except to stop an out right civil war. Each clan is free at anytime, dissolve its ties to the Diamiid and go its own way. However without the laws governing inter-Clan war, a breakaway Kiith would rapidly find itself attacked and divided up by other Clans still in the Diamiid. To this day no clan has ever even broached the idea of leaving the Diamiid, though the political maneuvering and clandestine one upmanship has never ceased.

To fund the Diamiid, it was decided that a portion of the aggregate GDP of all the clans would go to the “mutual defense” of Hiigaran interests. Out of this budget comes the funding for all branches of the military except the Guardsmen, who are funded and manned by individual Kiiths and are descended from the Kiith armies that threw King Riesstiu off Hiigara. Due to this fact, and the history our nation has with armies and generals, the ground forces of the Diamiid have always been the lesser arm of the military. In the future, it may prove that this is a weakness of our people and some war will force us to devote the funding to build an army of comparable strength to our navy.

However we have lasted out this last millennium in good order and our nation grows ever stronger. Despite the growing threats that lie rimward from our territory, we prosper and grow closer to our allies, and make new allies as opportunity presents. Clan politics – while still convoluted and treacherous – have mellowed from those early days of land grabs and strong arming. Our once Mafia based government has grown into a legitimate and respected political body. We face this new century with the strength we have built over the last nine, and we face it boldly.
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"Our Country won't go on forever, if we stay soft as we are now. There won't be any AMERICA because some foreign soldier will invade us and take our women and breed a hardier race!"
LT. GEN. LEWIS "CHESTY" PULLER, USMC
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