Trekylon Civil War
The Trekylon Civil War was the most bloody conflict in the history of the empire, more violent than the Unification Wars of the Treksylvania Era. Yet the conflict also inspired technological innovation, medical breakthroughs, and sociopolitical changes that would have repercussions for the future. Triggered by demands from a splinter political 'party-within-a-party' in the wake of the Exodus from the Milky Way galaxy and Resurrection in Galaxy 23-A (Bode's Galaxy), the civil war nearly threatened to undo the internal changes ushered by the first middle-class Emperor and the recently won peace with Trekylon's neighbors and former opponents.
Distant Causes
The distant cause of the civil war was the chaos of the post-Barlat Assault period, in which fears of Barlat infiltration, rumors of collusion with the Concordiat, outrage at the dictated removal by force and threat of force of Michael I from the throne (along with the renunciation of the throne by his heirs, also dictated), and the humiliation of defeat imposed by a group who had hitherto threatened an ally of the empire smoldered. The Treaty of Atlantis, while somewhat moderating the dictated terms of the Treaty of Twist, could not save the Harvey dynasty as the clauses dictating their abdication and renunciation of the Imperial throne remained despite active protests from Inuyashia and a few other nations. Despite the best efforts of the junior branch of the Harvey line (known as the Godwin lineage), the empire could not shake its restrictions. An attempt to secure assistance from Barlat's major rival, Laptev, resulted in a futile gesture declaring the empire to be free from all but the moderated clauses of Atlantis/Twist and the loss of life measured in thousands. Within a short period of time, Trekylon recovered with the assistance of both Alterra and Inuyashia, but the revanchism and bitterness remained. Trekylon would work behind the scenes to destabilize the Concordiat and draw closer to the Axis as a result.
Relations within the political system in Trekylon began to alter as elements of a nationalist-imperialist began to crystallize. Initially part of the peaceful and larger Movement For The Restoration Of The Monarchy or MRM, this 'grass-roots' grouping stoked the flames of revanchism and on many occasions threatened to undo the balance of political power within the Parliament by supporting extremist senators who then spent capital (as well as time) evoking the call to liberate the Homeland and overthrow the Twist 'diktat' by force. Baron Matthew I (as Emperor Michael III) managed to keep the extremists at bay, but only just. When a war with the USOA under a militant president looking to punish his opponents both within and without, began threatening the empire despite the cordial relations both enjoyed, the balance threatened to tilt.
Relations within the political system in Trekylon began to alter as elements of a nationalist-imperialist began to crystallize. Initially part of the peaceful and larger Movement For The Restoration Of The Monarchy or MRM, this 'grass-roots' grouping stoked the flames of revanchism and on many occasions threatened to undo the balance of political power within the Parliament by supporting extremist senators who then spent capital (as well as time) evoking the call to liberate the Homeland and overthrow the Twist 'diktat' by force. Baron Matthew I (as Emperor Michael III) managed to keep the extremists at bay, but only just. When a war with the USOA under a militant president looking to punish his opponents both within and without, began threatening the empire despite the cordial relations both enjoyed, the balance threatened to tilt.
Immediate Causes
The Exodus resulting from the defeat by the USOA, and the exile in Givosian space further intensified the bitterness. While everyone was grateful for the Givosian offer of sanctuary, the main source of the bitterness came from the knowledge that never again would the Human citizens of Trekylon see or set foot on the world of their birth, Earth. This was made worse by the assassination in USOA territory, of one of two potential future leaders of Trekylon. The period of discussions with the various neutral, allied, and former enemy nations and Trekylon exaggerated the uncertainty and gave the fringe, militant groups more propaganda to increase their numbers. of these, the Sword of Michael and The Fist were the most prominent. The Sword of Michael group kept their activities limited to armed demonstrations and protests at the Imperial Embassy in the various foreign nations, utilizing only such weapons as bats, paddles, clubs and beer bottles, never leaving the Imperial enclaves in which the embassy buildings were located. It was The Fist, however, that would play a role in the events leading to the outbreak of war.
The unrest was briefly quelled when the Gaia-Hera system was discovered in Bode's Galaxy (Galaxy 23-A in Imperial charts). With everyone simply trying to rebuild their lives after being forced to flee the Milky Way galaxy, the extremist groups went underground and for the most part went silent. The Sword of Michael group stepped up their efforts to win support for the restoration of the Harvey line to the throne, reasoning that with the removal from the Milky Way and the bulk of the foreign powers' territories, a return of either Michael I or the setting up of one of his sons as emperor could be undertaken with-if not official support-then at least with silent consent of the foreign powers. But when it was made clear at the Givosian summit that no such return of the Harvey dynasty would be accepted even with the literal and virtual isolation of the empire in their new galactic home, the government began casting about looking for someone who would be welcomed by the people and accepted by the foreign powers. The assassination of Ambassador Murdock in USOA territory meant that Merchants' Guild member-leader Drake Patterson became the default choice. Being the first emperor-elect to come from the middle-class gave Patterson an advantage in that he had never served in the military or fought in a war, unlike his predecessors. Patterson's economy-minded policies for Trekylon also appealed to the foreign powers in that he was not likely to plunge Trekylon into realpolitik until the more pressing issues of rebuilding the economic infrastructure in the new colonies and in Gaia-Hera was fully completed. Patterson was named regent by the Council of Ministers in order to facilitate the resettlement, put a face to Trekylon's negotiations with the foreign powers, and serve as a symbol and rallying force for the people of the empire.
The unrest was briefly quelled when the Gaia-Hera system was discovered in Bode's Galaxy (Galaxy 23-A in Imperial charts). With everyone simply trying to rebuild their lives after being forced to flee the Milky Way galaxy, the extremist groups went underground and for the most part went silent. The Sword of Michael group stepped up their efforts to win support for the restoration of the Harvey line to the throne, reasoning that with the removal from the Milky Way and the bulk of the foreign powers' territories, a return of either Michael I or the setting up of one of his sons as emperor could be undertaken with-if not official support-then at least with silent consent of the foreign powers. But when it was made clear at the Givosian summit that no such return of the Harvey dynasty would be accepted even with the literal and virtual isolation of the empire in their new galactic home, the government began casting about looking for someone who would be welcomed by the people and accepted by the foreign powers. The assassination of Ambassador Murdock in USOA territory meant that Merchants' Guild member-leader Drake Patterson became the default choice. Being the first emperor-elect to come from the middle-class gave Patterson an advantage in that he had never served in the military or fought in a war, unlike his predecessors. Patterson's economy-minded policies for Trekylon also appealed to the foreign powers in that he was not likely to plunge Trekylon into realpolitik until the more pressing issues of rebuilding the economic infrastructure in the new colonies and in Gaia-Hera was fully completed. Patterson was named regent by the Council of Ministers in order to facilitate the resettlement, put a face to Trekylon's negotiations with the foreign powers, and serve as a symbol and rallying force for the people of the empire.
The Trigger: The 'Blue-Bloods' and Trom Vergusson
With the reestablishment of the Imperial Parliament on Gaia and the introduction of three new parties, Trekylon appeared to settle down. Patterson was proclaimed as the new emperor in November of 2313. Among his first acts was the drafting and co-sponsoring of a bill that helps to stabilize the economy in the post-Exodus recovery, opening the way to the establishment of new manufacturing, industrial, and agricultural expansion. His next plan was to make universal healthcare more affordable with the Affordable Care Act or ACA. Criticism of the bill was surprisingly low, helping it pass. Drake I's next bill, however, would cause a stir.
In accordance with the economic recovery plan conceived by himself, the Economics Minister, Foreign Minister and War Minister, Drake I proposed-and the three ministers drafted-a budget plan which called for an increase to the healthcare and education budgets at the expense of the military. This Military Budget Act, while allowing for continued funding on projects already underway, cut funding and thus shelved many future projects. This bill triggered an outcry from among the veterans, who soon after joined The Fist. The Imperialist Party, kept marginal by a coalition of Imperial-Democrat, Imperial-Republican, Nationalist, Commerce, Socialist, and Green parties, rose in revolt in the Parliament Dome. Led by an energetic senator named Trom Vergusson, who hailed from the outer colonies (colonies outside the Gaia-Hera system), a splinter movement within the Imperialist Party, known as 'Blue-Bloods' because of their view that only an absolute monarchy without the restraints of a Parliament would insure the survival of the empire and give it the power to launch its manifest imperial destiny, challenged the Military Budget Act on the grounds that Trekylon was still held hostage by the Atlantis Treaty despite the Exodus. They further cited the American threats to Inuyashia resulting from the formerly Dual Monarchy's ill-fated involvement in the Barlat-Laptev War as another threat toward monarchy and in particular to the only surviving remnant of the Harvey dynasty. When Imperial-Democrat senator Wolf Clinton confronted Vergusson before the entire Parliament, Vergusson stormed out, taking the entire Imperialist Party and half the Nationalist Party members with him. This is regarded as the official start of the civil war, though it was not the military start to it.
Upon exiting the Parliament Dome, Vergusson became party to riots which erupted throughout the 'Political Center' of Imperiopolis. The riots became such that two of Trekylon's former opponents, the Great Houses of Xie and Ish'Cong, sent security forces to begin rounding up the ex-senators and their civilian sympathizers. Vergusson was captured by Xie security forces, and as of now is believed to have been executed. This action by two former enemies of Trekylon, and the subsequent mobilization of foreign security in Diplomats' Square would cause the biggest tragedy since the Twist Massacre.
In accordance with the economic recovery plan conceived by himself, the Economics Minister, Foreign Minister and War Minister, Drake I proposed-and the three ministers drafted-a budget plan which called for an increase to the healthcare and education budgets at the expense of the military. This Military Budget Act, while allowing for continued funding on projects already underway, cut funding and thus shelved many future projects. This bill triggered an outcry from among the veterans, who soon after joined The Fist. The Imperialist Party, kept marginal by a coalition of Imperial-Democrat, Imperial-Republican, Nationalist, Commerce, Socialist, and Green parties, rose in revolt in the Parliament Dome. Led by an energetic senator named Trom Vergusson, who hailed from the outer colonies (colonies outside the Gaia-Hera system), a splinter movement within the Imperialist Party, known as 'Blue-Bloods' because of their view that only an absolute monarchy without the restraints of a Parliament would insure the survival of the empire and give it the power to launch its manifest imperial destiny, challenged the Military Budget Act on the grounds that Trekylon was still held hostage by the Atlantis Treaty despite the Exodus. They further cited the American threats to Inuyashia resulting from the formerly Dual Monarchy's ill-fated involvement in the Barlat-Laptev War as another threat toward monarchy and in particular to the only surviving remnant of the Harvey dynasty. When Imperial-Democrat senator Wolf Clinton confronted Vergusson before the entire Parliament, Vergusson stormed out, taking the entire Imperialist Party and half the Nationalist Party members with him. This is regarded as the official start of the civil war, though it was not the military start to it.
Upon exiting the Parliament Dome, Vergusson became party to riots which erupted throughout the 'Political Center' of Imperiopolis. The riots became such that two of Trekylon's former opponents, the Great Houses of Xie and Ish'Cong, sent security forces to begin rounding up the ex-senators and their civilian sympathizers. Vergusson was captured by Xie security forces, and as of now is believed to have been executed. This action by two former enemies of Trekylon, and the subsequent mobilization of foreign security in Diplomats' Square would cause the biggest tragedy since the Twist Massacre.
The Fist Strikes: Nihal II
The Fist struck the first blows to Trekylon on 15 January 2314 when they loaded explosives onto a tibanna refinery in orbit of Nihal II. The highly volatile gas-fuel ignited in the explosion, causing a bigger chain reaction which destroyed the orbital refinery, a docked freighter, and a freighter leaving orbit, and severely damaged another freighter. Two thousand six hundred ninety-five were killed instantly in the massive explosion, with 226 of those deaths on the refinery itself. Investigations by both the IBI (Imperial Bureau of Investigation) and the Intelligence Ministry discovered that the explosives used in the attack were standard C-4, used for mining operations in order to open new tunnels. They also discovered that a transport ship originally owned by a mining consortium out of Ralka had gone missing, leading to suspicions of theft. Those suspicions were later confirmed by video-sensor telemetry from a drone placed in orbit of Irtil, the moon of Nihal II, recording a transport arriving and departing from the refinery just hours before the attack. An All-Points Alert for the freighter was issued, but was too late in locating it. Meanwhile a blockade of the Nihal system was enacted by Imperial decree, which forbid any ships excluding those requisitioned by the IBI from entering the system while the investigation continued. Currently, the system remains under lock-down as the investigation continues, and all tibanna collecting and refining has been suspended. This has resulted in a slight yet substantial loss of revenue. While this would not be the last Fist-orchestrated act of violence to take place during the Civil War, the 'Nihal Incident' would forever be remembered as a brutal act in the same category as the September 11th, 2001 terrorist attacks on the old United States, centuries before.
A Coalition Forms
The Nihal II terrorist attack forced Trekylon to increase security at all factories, schools, shopping centers, churches, and other places where people gather. In Diplomats Square, Imperial Security worked in tandem with foreign security units to secure the embassies and close down access via highway to the foreign quarter, leaving the foreign emissaries with the spacepad as direct access in or out. At the same time, Drake I and newly appointed Foreign Minister Odan met with representatives of Ish'Cong, America, the Imperium of Man, and the Azerothian Union (with belated participation from the Great Houses of Xie) to discuss measures to neutralize the rebels, grant amnesty to sympathizers who committed no treason, and arrest the ringleaders. A Coalition was forged among the foreign participants, whose dual role was to contain the violence in Trekylon and safeguard their ambassadors and other visiting citizens. Initially, Drake I welcomed the Coalition as it would provide a source of foreign support to his rule and his efforts. But this would soon change, and force Drake I to lay down some ground rules.
Azuria had seen a rise in rebel activities, as the third largest population hub (behind New Titania and Gaia) and the financial capital of the empire. Awake to the threat the Fist posed on his citizens, Governor-President William Behr had begun a crackdown on rebel gatherings, arresting suspected Fist members, and forcing the would-be rebels to evacuate or face imprisonment. At the same time, Imperial Redtroops began a campaign of pacification, not only detaining those rebels who escaped the cities (an oxymoron, considering the planet itself is one large city), but also capturing rebels in the 'suburbs'. Progress had been made at a stroke, and Behr was seen as a Hero of the Empire for his efforts. Unfortunately for him, his largely bloodless campaign against the rebels threatened to unravel with the unexpected arrival of a massive Xie fleet. The Xie commander claimed his fleet was there to prevent a rebel seizure of the planet, but both Behr and Drake I were all-too aware of the Xie ability to use an internal division to exploit its separation from the empire and easy annexation into its own territory. Thus, an Imperial fleet was dispatched to Azuria for the dual purpose of assisting in the pacification of the remaining rebel cadres and to keep a close watch on the Xie fleet. This Imperial fleet was further reinforced by the introduction of an Inuyashian fleet whose sole purpose was to watch the Xie fleet closely. While the Great Houses didn't attempt to subvert Azuria to the extent it could then conquer it and eventually withdrew, the danger inherent in foreign involvement in a civil war made it imperative for Drake I to issue a Convention which regulated the extent and amount of foreign assistance each colony-system could receive and called for an Imperial fleet to accompany any foreign force deployed to trouble spots to insure that the sovereignty of the empire was not challenged using the civil war as a pretext. The Convention of Gaia was as follows:
- The Coalition Powers would recognize the sovereign rights of Trekylon in relation to its colony-systems and not infringe on said rights.
- The Coalition Powers would act in a supporting role to Trekylon's pacification of the rebels and only to such extent as the colonial government allows.
- The Coalition Powers would extradite any captured rebels to Imperial authorities, excepting any who commit crimes against Powers.
- The Coalition Powers will provide humanitarian and medical assistance to colony-systems that have suffered rebel occupation through coordination with Imperial authorities.
The Convention of Gaia was signed by all participating Coalition nations except the Great Houses of Xie, which withdrew from the civil war and Imperial territory, allegedly under pressure from America, on 23 January 2314. This Convention would come just in time for the first rebel assault, on the colony world of Caledonia II
Azuria had seen a rise in rebel activities, as the third largest population hub (behind New Titania and Gaia) and the financial capital of the empire. Awake to the threat the Fist posed on his citizens, Governor-President William Behr had begun a crackdown on rebel gatherings, arresting suspected Fist members, and forcing the would-be rebels to evacuate or face imprisonment. At the same time, Imperial Redtroops began a campaign of pacification, not only detaining those rebels who escaped the cities (an oxymoron, considering the planet itself is one large city), but also capturing rebels in the 'suburbs'. Progress had been made at a stroke, and Behr was seen as a Hero of the Empire for his efforts. Unfortunately for him, his largely bloodless campaign against the rebels threatened to unravel with the unexpected arrival of a massive Xie fleet. The Xie commander claimed his fleet was there to prevent a rebel seizure of the planet, but both Behr and Drake I were all-too aware of the Xie ability to use an internal division to exploit its separation from the empire and easy annexation into its own territory. Thus, an Imperial fleet was dispatched to Azuria for the dual purpose of assisting in the pacification of the remaining rebel cadres and to keep a close watch on the Xie fleet. This Imperial fleet was further reinforced by the introduction of an Inuyashian fleet whose sole purpose was to watch the Xie fleet closely. While the Great Houses didn't attempt to subvert Azuria to the extent it could then conquer it and eventually withdrew, the danger inherent in foreign involvement in a civil war made it imperative for Drake I to issue a Convention which regulated the extent and amount of foreign assistance each colony-system could receive and called for an Imperial fleet to accompany any foreign force deployed to trouble spots to insure that the sovereignty of the empire was not challenged using the civil war as a pretext. The Convention of Gaia was as follows:
- The Coalition Powers would recognize the sovereign rights of Trekylon in relation to its colony-systems and not infringe on said rights.
- The Coalition Powers would act in a supporting role to Trekylon's pacification of the rebels and only to such extent as the colonial government allows.
- The Coalition Powers would extradite any captured rebels to Imperial authorities, excepting any who commit crimes against Powers.
- The Coalition Powers will provide humanitarian and medical assistance to colony-systems that have suffered rebel occupation through coordination with Imperial authorities.
The Convention of Gaia was signed by all participating Coalition nations except the Great Houses of Xie, which withdrew from the civil war and Imperial territory, allegedly under pressure from America, on 23 January 2314. This Convention would come just in time for the first rebel assault, on the colony world of Caledonia II
"A War Against Itself"
Caledonia II became the unlikely first battlefield of the Civil War when the governor, from Clan MacKenneth, was assassinated by a rebel cadre under the leadership of a member of Clan O'Daniel. The assassination, combined with the seizure of the capital, New Edinburgh, and other major cities across the planet gave the rebels a planetary source of loot as they were looking to expand both their fighting forces and their GDP. This led to a full scale mini civil war as the clans polarized around the two belligerent clans. Unfortunately, many of the loyalist clans had been imprisoned in their homes, their weapons seized by the rebels to suppress counterrevolution. Back on Gaia, the Loyalist spokesman, Angus Philibeg MacDonald, pleaded with both Drake I and Coalition representatives to render assistance. This plea so moved Drake I that he appointed MacDonald the new governor of the Planetary District of Caledonia II with the task of gathering the other Loyalist clans around his banner (which was enhanced with the Imperial Seal, giving MacDonald the official sanction of the emperor). At the same time, a Kiran force-with Imperial Loyalist auxiliaries-was dispatched to Caledonia II.
The joint Imperial/Kiran Expeditionary Forces found Caledonia II becoming a fortified world. The rebels, expecting foreign 'invasion', had built a series of battlements close to the subject cities, which would make it a necessity to besiege and capture. Loyalist guerrilla fighters were being armed, meanwhile, with up-to-date Imperial weapons and had begun to launch hit-and-run attacks on the rebel positions. They joined up with a Kiran/Japanese force which had been deployed outside the rebel fortress. Three days later, on 27 January 2314, both the Kiran/Japanese and the Loyalist guerrillas began a siege of the rebel fortress. In 48 hours of slaughter and bloody hand-to-hand fighting, the Allies gained a victory, the rebels having been killed to a man when they refused a last-minute appeal to lay down their arms. Over the next five days, Loyalist forces, assisted by Gaian Union Joint Forces (GUJF) and Kiran troops, reclaimed and liberated the rest of Caledonia II. MacDonald, arriving to assume his post as planetary governor, was quoted as saying, "This is a war of Trekylon against Trekylon....a war against itself."
Even as the Caledonia campaign swung back and forth between Loyalist and rebel, Hellonde became yet another battlefield. Here, influenced by The Fist, rebel cadres seized several fusion bombs which had been sent to Hellonde to be disassembled and disposed of, planting them beneath seventeen major cities. Their plan was to force the planetary governor, Vernon Zosney, to yield to a rebel-backed replacement and surrender himself to 'justice'. The threat did not need to be spelled out, as they had also seized orbital satellites, as a warning that any such relief effort as was happening in the Caledonia system would result in "millions of lives lost". This prompted an American fleet to respond (rather hastily, as a GUJF fleet was already holding station out of range of the rebel-controlled satellites to avoid detection) by blockading the system. Two tense days of back-and-forth threats between the American fleet and the rebel leader on Hellonde caused so much tension that Drake I went into an uncustomary rage. In a desperate and daring gambit, and fully prepared to accept responsibility for failure and the resulting loss of life, he sent Modigh Tohopka, recently returned from an expedition, to Hellonde to deactivate and remove the fusion bombs by any means necessary. Tohopka was unusual in his behavior, often cursing and shouting even at higher ranking officers, constantly seen with a glass of whiskey in hand, and loved to talk of bar room brawls (yet it is said, he was never so intoxicated he couldn't pilot a vehicle despite his famous record of drinking up to 25 bottles of whiskey in a single night), and often shunned the chain of command. Yet in a move so shocking that the rebels surrendered without further incident, Tohopka used his personal fighter, the Scalawag, to beam up and deactivate every fusion bomb used by the rebels, beaming them into a nearby star and removing the danger of their use. With their main source of coercion removed, and a GUJF fleet ready to move into the system in common cause with the Americans, the leadership surrendered. The last rebel cadres went willingly into Coalition custody on the same day that Caledonia II removed the last of the rebels still hiding there.
The joint Imperial/Kiran Expeditionary Forces found Caledonia II becoming a fortified world. The rebels, expecting foreign 'invasion', had built a series of battlements close to the subject cities, which would make it a necessity to besiege and capture. Loyalist guerrilla fighters were being armed, meanwhile, with up-to-date Imperial weapons and had begun to launch hit-and-run attacks on the rebel positions. They joined up with a Kiran/Japanese force which had been deployed outside the rebel fortress. Three days later, on 27 January 2314, both the Kiran/Japanese and the Loyalist guerrillas began a siege of the rebel fortress. In 48 hours of slaughter and bloody hand-to-hand fighting, the Allies gained a victory, the rebels having been killed to a man when they refused a last-minute appeal to lay down their arms. Over the next five days, Loyalist forces, assisted by Gaian Union Joint Forces (GUJF) and Kiran troops, reclaimed and liberated the rest of Caledonia II. MacDonald, arriving to assume his post as planetary governor, was quoted as saying, "This is a war of Trekylon against Trekylon....a war against itself."
Even as the Caledonia campaign swung back and forth between Loyalist and rebel, Hellonde became yet another battlefield. Here, influenced by The Fist, rebel cadres seized several fusion bombs which had been sent to Hellonde to be disassembled and disposed of, planting them beneath seventeen major cities. Their plan was to force the planetary governor, Vernon Zosney, to yield to a rebel-backed replacement and surrender himself to 'justice'. The threat did not need to be spelled out, as they had also seized orbital satellites, as a warning that any such relief effort as was happening in the Caledonia system would result in "millions of lives lost". This prompted an American fleet to respond (rather hastily, as a GUJF fleet was already holding station out of range of the rebel-controlled satellites to avoid detection) by blockading the system. Two tense days of back-and-forth threats between the American fleet and the rebel leader on Hellonde caused so much tension that Drake I went into an uncustomary rage. In a desperate and daring gambit, and fully prepared to accept responsibility for failure and the resulting loss of life, he sent Modigh Tohopka, recently returned from an expedition, to Hellonde to deactivate and remove the fusion bombs by any means necessary. Tohopka was unusual in his behavior, often cursing and shouting even at higher ranking officers, constantly seen with a glass of whiskey in hand, and loved to talk of bar room brawls (yet it is said, he was never so intoxicated he couldn't pilot a vehicle despite his famous record of drinking up to 25 bottles of whiskey in a single night), and often shunned the chain of command. Yet in a move so shocking that the rebels surrendered without further incident, Tohopka used his personal fighter, the Scalawag, to beam up and deactivate every fusion bomb used by the rebels, beaming them into a nearby star and removing the danger of their use. With their main source of coercion removed, and a GUJF fleet ready to move into the system in common cause with the Americans, the leadership surrendered. The last rebel cadres went willingly into Coalition custody on the same day that Caledonia II removed the last of the rebels still hiding there.
"The Greatest Theft in Imperial History"
The rebels, under the leadership of a war veteran named Alden Tate, were organizing a new government, unofficially known as the Federal Republic of Trekylon. The few Imperialist and Nationalist senators that had escaped the Coalition security net became the nucleus of a bicameral National Assembly which also elevated many other former war veterans to politicians (none had experience in civics, however). The National Assembly passed its first regulation calling for a purge of non-Human and Loyalist sympathizers within the rebel government, then issued a Legislative Decree calling for the union of all the scattered cadres into a political organization with military support. However, the rebels lacked a substantial military force and had to this point relied on The Fist to inflict the blows to the "traitor" government on Gaia. They would now have to cobble together a space fleet to more directly challenge the Imperial/Coalition supremacy among the stars. To that end, they began researching what ship schematics they were able to steal before they fled Gaia during the Crackdown. But because the process of building a ship would take months, during which time they would be vulnerable, they would need to find a ready-made fleet already built. They soon found what they needed.
When the Imperial Republic of New Texahoma was dissolved when its government officials departed for an alternate universe, the thousands of ships that once served the Republic were mothballed. By the Treaty of Brasozia, the Republic Star Navy would be divided into three groups. The first would be used for war-games by Trekylon's Imperial Starfleet. The second would be melded into both the IGF StellarNavy and the Gaian Union's Joint Forces. The third would be maintained at secure depots located in classified locations across Trekylon. Utilizing information provided by a rogue former agent of Section 31, Harris, and a fleet of aged and stolen passenger liners, transports, and fast couriers, the rebels slipped into one such depot, taking the entire complement of New Texahoman ships within an hour. Three more depots were similarly robbed of the New Texahoman ships they once housed. When the breach in security was picked up by Imperial authorities, Drake I demanded the Intelligence Ministry, to which Luther Sloan, the minister was all too eager to commit to. Sloan's personal stake in the investigation was also do to the fact that -unknown to the emperor - he was the head agent of Section 31, and Harris had been his protege and possible successor. The betrayal of the empire by Harris was also a betrayal of Section 31's goals...and of the trust Sloan placed in him. But before Sloan could move against Harris, he escaped into neutral space and out of reach of both the empire and Coalition, yet continued to supply the rebels with technological databases, ship schematics, and weapons of mass destruction (it was later revealed that Harris was responsible for giving the rebels the location of the fusion bomb depots on Hellonde). War Minister Martok, who was ready and willing to resign his office and commit ritual suicide for the New Texahoman thefts, was later quoted as calling the brazen act of grand theft by the rebels, "The greatest theft in Imperial history".
The first reported battle between the rebel-controlled former Republic ships and the empire came in what would be called the 'Battle of the Storm'. The Storm is a large collection of nebulae stretching ten parsecs across and five parsecs long, with a tunnel traversing its full length caused possibly by a large passing comet or a gamma-ray burst. The rebels had taken a small flotilla of their newly stolen former Republic ships to hide while they upgraded and repaired the antiquated systems when a squadron of Cherokee NX-class and Firehawk cruisers stumbled upon them within the Storm. Of the fifteen Cherokee ships that entered the Storm, none made it out to warn the empire or the Coalition. They were destroyed by a small group of fighters and destroyers as the capital ships exited the Storm and made the jump to warp to slip away. The rebel fleet then began to attack nonaligned, neutral shipping and threaten Imperial supply convoys restoring Imperial rule to the Caledonia, Hellonde, and Nihal systems.
The first use of the rebels' stolen Republic ships happened at the Siege of Bespia, in which some 335 Rebel ships blockaded the planet and attempted to land troops to seize control. The arrival of a base-star assault group under Commander Thor Isodore MacDougan (his name being a combination of Norse, Spanish, and Scottish to reflect his mixed ancestry) lifted the siege only after a 29-hour onslaught from the rebels which cost the loss of 93 base-stars-out of 530 total-and over 748,000 people. Because Bespia was the central hub of the networked Merchants' Guild, of which the emperor had once been the head, it became clear that there would no longer be any attempt to negotiate with the rebels to end the civil war. This was further demonstrated when the Tholian Assembly, a Founder Nation of the Empire and very sensitive to developments outside their borders, massed large fleets at their borders with orders from their Castemoot to shoot down and destroy any intruders even if they were Loyalist Imperial or Coalition ships. Drake I barely managed to convince the Tholians to adapt a more relaxed version of their border-control policy with the idea of 'Trust, With Verification' thus averting a potential diplomatic incident. At the same time, some of the nonaligned systems, such as Traylax sought protection from the rebels under Romulan suzerainty. But it would take one more incident, one that hit very close to the empire's first Imperial family, that would finally bring renewed foreign assistance and a determination by the Trekylon emperor to end the civil war once and for all.
When the Imperial Republic of New Texahoma was dissolved when its government officials departed for an alternate universe, the thousands of ships that once served the Republic were mothballed. By the Treaty of Brasozia, the Republic Star Navy would be divided into three groups. The first would be used for war-games by Trekylon's Imperial Starfleet. The second would be melded into both the IGF StellarNavy and the Gaian Union's Joint Forces. The third would be maintained at secure depots located in classified locations across Trekylon. Utilizing information provided by a rogue former agent of Section 31, Harris, and a fleet of aged and stolen passenger liners, transports, and fast couriers, the rebels slipped into one such depot, taking the entire complement of New Texahoman ships within an hour. Three more depots were similarly robbed of the New Texahoman ships they once housed. When the breach in security was picked up by Imperial authorities, Drake I demanded the Intelligence Ministry, to which Luther Sloan, the minister was all too eager to commit to. Sloan's personal stake in the investigation was also do to the fact that -unknown to the emperor - he was the head agent of Section 31, and Harris had been his protege and possible successor. The betrayal of the empire by Harris was also a betrayal of Section 31's goals...and of the trust Sloan placed in him. But before Sloan could move against Harris, he escaped into neutral space and out of reach of both the empire and Coalition, yet continued to supply the rebels with technological databases, ship schematics, and weapons of mass destruction (it was later revealed that Harris was responsible for giving the rebels the location of the fusion bomb depots on Hellonde). War Minister Martok, who was ready and willing to resign his office and commit ritual suicide for the New Texahoman thefts, was later quoted as calling the brazen act of grand theft by the rebels, "The greatest theft in Imperial history".
The first reported battle between the rebel-controlled former Republic ships and the empire came in what would be called the 'Battle of the Storm'. The Storm is a large collection of nebulae stretching ten parsecs across and five parsecs long, with a tunnel traversing its full length caused possibly by a large passing comet or a gamma-ray burst. The rebels had taken a small flotilla of their newly stolen former Republic ships to hide while they upgraded and repaired the antiquated systems when a squadron of Cherokee NX-class and Firehawk cruisers stumbled upon them within the Storm. Of the fifteen Cherokee ships that entered the Storm, none made it out to warn the empire or the Coalition. They were destroyed by a small group of fighters and destroyers as the capital ships exited the Storm and made the jump to warp to slip away. The rebel fleet then began to attack nonaligned, neutral shipping and threaten Imperial supply convoys restoring Imperial rule to the Caledonia, Hellonde, and Nihal systems.
The first use of the rebels' stolen Republic ships happened at the Siege of Bespia, in which some 335 Rebel ships blockaded the planet and attempted to land troops to seize control. The arrival of a base-star assault group under Commander Thor Isodore MacDougan (his name being a combination of Norse, Spanish, and Scottish to reflect his mixed ancestry) lifted the siege only after a 29-hour onslaught from the rebels which cost the loss of 93 base-stars-out of 530 total-and over 748,000 people. Because Bespia was the central hub of the networked Merchants' Guild, of which the emperor had once been the head, it became clear that there would no longer be any attempt to negotiate with the rebels to end the civil war. This was further demonstrated when the Tholian Assembly, a Founder Nation of the Empire and very sensitive to developments outside their borders, massed large fleets at their borders with orders from their Castemoot to shoot down and destroy any intruders even if they were Loyalist Imperial or Coalition ships. Drake I barely managed to convince the Tholians to adapt a more relaxed version of their border-control policy with the idea of 'Trust, With Verification' thus averting a potential diplomatic incident. At the same time, some of the nonaligned systems, such as Traylax sought protection from the rebels under Romulan suzerainty. But it would take one more incident, one that hit very close to the empire's first Imperial family, that would finally bring renewed foreign assistance and a determination by the Trekylon emperor to end the civil war once and for all.