Difference between revisions of "User:PopeDaveThe3th"

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Part 2: First Contact
== Part 2: First Contact ==


The discovery of plasma under the Martian surface would revolutionize human society. An incredibly potent and efficient energy source, plasma would prove the key to Faster-Than-Light travel and extrasolar expansion. Nanotrasen in particular, as the first to discover plasma, would see massive profits as they quickly acquired as much plasma-rich territory as possible. While the warning signs of what Nanotrasen would eventually become were observed, most SF officials, (unaware of the lengths NT had gone to secure more plasma reserves), believed natural competition would prevent any monopoly from developing. While this would be later recognised as an early mistake, at the time humanity was wholly consumed by the wonder and potential of interstellar FTL travel. Waves of exploration and colonization missions departed Sol seeking new territory and resources for corporate and government entities alike, all under the watchful aegis of the now-renamed Trans-Solar Federation’s growing interstellar navy.
The discovery of plasma under the Martian surface would revolutionize human society. An incredibly potent and efficient energy source, plasma would prove the key to Faster-Than-Light travel and extrasolar expansion. Nanotrasen in particular, as the first to discover plasma, would see massive profits as they quickly acquired as much plasma-rich territory as possible. While the warning signs of what Nanotrasen would eventually become were observed, most SF officials, (unaware of the lengths NT had gone to secure more plasma reserves), believed natural competition would prevent any monopoly from developing. While this would be later recognised as an early mistake, at the time humanity was wholly consumed by the wonder and potential of interstellar FTL travel. Waves of exploration and colonization missions departed Sol seeking new territory and resources for corporate and government entities alike, all under the watchful aegis of the now-renamed Trans-Solar Federation’s growing interstellar navy.
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The meeting itself was to be held on Luna, and included representatives from the majority of human sub-nations across known space, alongside the Trans-Solar Joint Chiefs, and the Grand Marshal. Broadcasted live across much of the TSF, humanity watched with bated breath as the first official diplomacy between species began, and proceeded far more smoothly than many anticipated. The Central Authority, as it was now known, was revealed to be a peaceful and competent, if mildly authoritarian government, and one that sought peaceful relations with the rising power that was the TSF. After several hours of spirited debate, a treaty was hammered out between the two powers, now known as the Solar-Central Compact. Under the Compact, both nations agreed to establish embassies, along with hotlines for rapid communication in emergencies. Migration was permitted between both nations, alongside an open border policy, and trade and research agreements. In the end, it turned out that the Skrellian people were similarly interested in humanity, as the years following the Compact saw millions of migrants both to and from the Central Authority, and media from both species began proliferating. Even today, the Skrell remain the largest minority species within TSF space by a large margin, and consistently rank as the most beloved of all aliens in human opinion polls.
The meeting itself was to be held on Luna, and included representatives from the majority of human sub-nations across known space, alongside the Trans-Solar Joint Chiefs, and the Grand Marshal. Broadcasted live across much of the TSF, humanity watched with bated breath as the first official diplomacy between species began, and proceeded far more smoothly than many anticipated. The Central Authority, as it was now known, was revealed to be a peaceful and competent, if mildly authoritarian government, and one that sought peaceful relations with the rising power that was the TSF. After several hours of spirited debate, a treaty was hammered out between the two powers, now known as the Solar-Central Compact. Under the Compact, both nations agreed to establish embassies, along with hotlines for rapid communication in emergencies. Migration was permitted between both nations, alongside an open border policy, and trade and research agreements. In the end, it turned out that the Skrellian people were similarly interested in humanity, as the years following the Compact saw millions of migrants both to and from the Central Authority, and media from both species began proliferating. Even today, the Skrell remain the largest minority species within TSF space by a large margin, and consistently rank as the most beloved of all aliens in human opinion polls.
Part 3: Trials
== Part 3: Trials ==


Moving into the mid 2100s, a golden age had graced the TSF. Business and trade were booming, trade with the Skrell had revolutionized many scientific fields, and the armies and fleets of the Federation grew ever larger. There were warning signs, of course. Corporate power abuses, reports that were far too rosy for what they should be, undermanned garrisons, and a strangely pervasive megacorporation, among others, but very few of these made it to the TSF proper, with most being suppressed early by corrupt planetary officials, and the rest given a token response at best. After all, to most it appeared the Federation was in a period of incredible prosperity, and with this prosperity came arrogance. Surely, it was thought, these reports were needless fear mongering inflating small issues far out of proportion, and could be safely ignored. Needless to say, it was not fear mongering, and the next decades would see a series of devastating blows that would shake the Federation to its very core.
Moving into the mid 2100s, a golden age had graced the TSF. Business and trade were booming, trade with the Skrell had revolutionized many scientific fields, and the armies and fleets of the Federation grew ever larger. There were warning signs, of course. Corporate power abuses, reports that were far too rosy for what they should be, undermanned garrisons, and a strangely pervasive megacorporation, among others, but very few of these made it to the TSF proper, with most being suppressed early by corrupt planetary officials, and the rest given a token response at best. After all, to most it appeared the Federation was in a period of incredible prosperity, and with this prosperity came arrogance. Surely, it was thought, these reports were needless fear mongering inflating small issues far out of proportion, and could be safely ignored. Needless to say, it was not fear mongering, and the next decades would see a series of devastating blows that would shake the Federation to its very core.
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In the end, the war could not be called a victory for any side, save one. The Federation had its image of invincibility shattered, a fleet humbled, and its first true breakaway state. The USSP, while free of the Federation and the corporations, and incorporating several neighboring systems which took the opportunity to join them, inherited a system in ruins with millions of casualties and a devastated industrial base. Indeed, the only true winner of both the First Kidan War and the Cygni Insurrection… was Nanotrasen.
In the end, the war could not be called a victory for any side, save one. The Federation had its image of invincibility shattered, a fleet humbled, and its first true breakaway state. The USSP, while free of the Federation and the corporations, and incorporating several neighboring systems which took the opportunity to join them, inherited a system in ruins with millions of casualties and a devastated industrial base. Indeed, the only true winner of both the First Kidan War and the Cygni Insurrection… was Nanotrasen.


Part 4: Schism
== Part 4: Schism ==


For the uninitiated, Nanotrasen is, and was at the time, the galaxy’s largest known private corporation. An economic juggernaut, Nanotrasen holds assets in numerous scientific and industrial fields, from ore extraction to advanced materials research to microelectronics manufacture, among numerous others. Nanotrasen even possesses its own armed forces, with a small but modern navy and several subsidiary private military contracting firms. From the moment of its creation, Nanotrasen has been utterly insatiable in its corporate conquests, driven to near fanatical lengths to secure new markets and resources to exploit. Spreading like a virus across both human and skrellian territory, Nanotrasen would use ruthless and not-quite-illegal tactics to push any and all competitors out before vacuuming up their assets.
For the uninitiated, Nanotrasen is, and was at the time, the galaxy’s largest known private corporation. An economic juggernaut, Nanotrasen holds assets in numerous scientific and industrial fields, from ore extraction to advanced materials research to microelectronics manufacture, among numerous others. Nanotrasen even possesses its own armed forces, with a small but modern navy and several subsidiary private military contracting firms. From the moment of its creation, Nanotrasen has been utterly insatiable in its corporate conquests, driven to near fanatical lengths to secure new markets and resources to exploit. Spreading like a virus across both human and skrellian territory, Nanotrasen would use ruthless and not-quite-illegal tactics to push any and all competitors out before vacuuming up their assets.

Revision as of 12:33, 2 October 2023

It is I, the pope, resident grammar fanatic and Sol Gov enthusiast.


Trans-Solar Federation
SGemb.png
General
Informal Names: TSF, Sol Gov
Capital: Earth - 10 Billion citizens
Founding: December 25th, 2199
Demographics
Citizenship: Military/civil service
Languages: Sol Common, Galactic Common
Population:[TBD] citizens
Policy
Form of Government: Federal Stratocracy
Head of State: President, [TBD]
Fleet: [TBD]
Currency: Standard Galactic Credit (SGC)


History

Part 1: Unity

The origins of the TSF can be traced back to the late 21st century, following the period known as the Second Cold War. This conflict was fought between the two main geopolitical blocs of the time, the Pan-Oceanic Treaty Organization led by the United States, and the Shanghai Cooperation Pact under the People’s Republic of China. This war would mostly be fought via diplomacy and economics, with occasional proxy wars in developing nations, until the fateful events of October 9th, 2074. Unbeknownst to many at that time, the People’s Republic of China was in a period of great internal turmoil, and its leadership was becoming desperate to unify and pacify the people. Unfortunately for much of the world, a hardline communist clique had recently taken power, and to them, a solution was obvious.

Early in the morning of October 9th, the PRC launched a massive air and naval assault on the POTO member state of Taiwan. The war for Taiwan was long, vicious, and thankfully non-nuclear. Even without the threat of nuclear war, however, the fight was brutal. Battles occurred on land, at sea, overhead, and even in orbit, as both superpowers’ rudimentary space fleets engaged in humanity’s first taste of interplanetary warfare. In the end, America and her allies emerged victorious, but at staggering cost. Millions were dead across the Indo-Pacific, as the war’s spillover grew to encompass the Philippines, Japan, and even much of Europe, as Russia, a member of the SCP, launched a surprise attack into Eastern Europe. The SCP fared even worse, as China and Russia collapsed as their wars turned against them, and their satellite states began to flee for greener pastures.

Even after victory was achieved, problems continued to mount. With the descent of China and Russia into civil conflict, the world had lost major sources of consumer goods and natural resources, and a massive economic crisis followed. The following decades were chaos for all involved, with waves of recessions and civil strife sending many nations to the brink of revolution, with the USA and European Union hit particularly hard. In these dark times, as their politicians squabbled, military leaders from the United States and her allies began to meet in secret conferences to discuss how to end the crisis. While none wanted to resort to such methods, it was becoming clear only extreme measures could address the issues that faced them, and a plan was conceived, codenamed Operation Silver Throne.

On July 14th, 2080, as dawn broke over the eastern seaboard, military units from across the POTO moved into action, swiftly seizing government buildings and media outlets. Their goal was simple, to finally break the deadlock between nations and force cooperation in order to end the crises facing humanity. In this matter, the operation was a resounding success, as the formerly bickering governments in the alliance acted far more swiftly when motivated by a potential military coup. This action, however, would also place immense power and influence into the hands of the military, who now had the support of much of the populace, and had set the precedent that they could interfere at will if normal governance failed.

Under the military’s watchful eye, the nations of Earth signed and enacted many new treaties of assistance and aid, which, at the behest of a council of military leaders, were consolidated into one new overarching supranational entity: The Solar Federation. Ostensibly a multinational forum for cooperation similar to the now-defunct United Nations, the Federation charter granted far more power to the military than any terrestrial state. While every planetbound nation was permitted to handle their own affairs (so long as they complied with Federal law) and maintain defense forces, the vast majority of Human military strength was placed under the SF, along with the general responsibility for all interplanetary affairs.

Under this new union, humanity would swiftly expand from Earth to secure new resources and land in the solar system. Luna, as the first to have permanent human settlement, was given wholly to the Solar Federation as their command center and quasi-capital, to ensure that no nation received preferential treatment. Mars, being a prime planet for colonization, became a patchwork of colonies, independent breakaway states, and corporate zones. In particular, Nanotrasen made its beginning here, as one of the numerous mining companies scouring Mars for raw material. Mercury similarly became home to large mining outposts, albeit automated due to the intense heat. Venus, given its intense climate and lethal atmosphere, was ignored for the moment but earmarked for later terraforming. The outer reaches of Sol, while neglected by many in the initial colonization waves, received more and more attention as the rich resources found in the asteroid belt and around the gas giants were found. Finally, Pluto, which was purchased wholesale by the SF, and now serves as a sensor outpost and fleet anchorage.


Part 2: First Contact

The discovery of plasma under the Martian surface would revolutionize human society. An incredibly potent and efficient energy source, plasma would prove the key to Faster-Than-Light travel and extrasolar expansion. Nanotrasen in particular, as the first to discover plasma, would see massive profits as they quickly acquired as much plasma-rich territory as possible. While the warning signs of what Nanotrasen would eventually become were observed, most SF officials, (unaware of the lengths NT had gone to secure more plasma reserves), believed natural competition would prevent any monopoly from developing. While this would be later recognised as an early mistake, at the time humanity was wholly consumed by the wonder and potential of interstellar FTL travel. Waves of exploration and colonization missions departed Sol seeking new territory and resources for corporate and government entities alike, all under the watchful aegis of the now-renamed Trans-Solar Federation’s growing interstellar navy.

For a time, it seemed humanity was alone in the galaxy, in regards to sentient life. While many worlds colonized by humanity were home to xenoflora and fauna, none had reached anything approaching sapience, and many began to wonder if humanity was the sole power in the galaxy. With no outside threat apparent, some even began to question whether the TSF’s massive navy was justified given that they were mostly responsible for anti-piracy actions. These questions would be put to rest in late 2105, as the backwater system of Cyjana became the location in which humanity made first contact with the Skrellian Central Authority.

Cyjana, for its part, was a system recently colonized by an impoverished settler group which had spent most of their funds purchasing and outfitting their colony ship, and had colonized the system’s sole habitable planet, a hot and arid world that was yet to receive official designation, only referred to as Cyjana III. The colony had limited orbital infrastructure, with only a rickety skyhook and makeshift communication relay connecting it to the rest of human space. Even so, as the alien vessel jumped into the system, the haphazard sensor network above the planet still detected it as it moved towards Cyjana III. Given their lack of orbital defenses, the colonists were understandably terrified, and dispatched a hyperwave SOS to the nearest TSF fleet anchorage. As luck would have it, the famed 4th Fleet was performing maneuvers in nearby systems, and quickly dispatched a rapid-response detachment to assist. While the admiral at the fleet’s head was at first skeptical of the claims, his suspicion quickly vanished as the newly-arrived flotilla detected the obviously alien craft. Now under the far more powerful sensors of the TSF detachment, the alien vessel was revealed to be quite small, roughly the size of a TSF corvette, and lacked any visible weapon hardpoints. Based on this, the Rear Admiral in charge of the detachment elected to take a defensive position around Cyjana and attempt communication.

Fortunately, the alien vessel was inclined to do the same, and both sides transmitted data packages tailor made for such an event. The data itself revealed that the aliens were far more akin to humanity than first believed, being of similar physiology and genetic layout, even breathing oxygen, only adapted towards a more oceanic environment. Thanks to the data and new atmosphere of cooperation, verbal communication was established within days, and a meeting aboard the 4th Fleet’s flagship, the TSFS Warsaw (CVN-03), was scheduled. The ensuing event was somewhat humorous in its proportions, as almost all of the Warsaw’s nearly 6000-man crew were assembled in one of its cavernous starboard hangars to welcome the dozen Skrellain science personnel coming aboard. Despite the comedic opening, the meeting proceeded well, with an exchange of cultural data, an unclassified tour of the vessel, concluding with dinner at the officer’s mess. Following this victory for interstellar diplomacy, both parties agreed to convey details of the meeting to their respective governments in preparation for a more official meeting. This meeting would be shortly arranged, and mere weeks later a Skrellian diplomatic envoy had the honor of becoming the first aliens to enter Sol.

The meeting itself was to be held on Luna, and included representatives from the majority of human sub-nations across known space, alongside the Trans-Solar Joint Chiefs, and the Grand Marshal. Broadcasted live across much of the TSF, humanity watched with bated breath as the first official diplomacy between species began, and proceeded far more smoothly than many anticipated. The Central Authority, as it was now known, was revealed to be a peaceful and competent, if mildly authoritarian government, and one that sought peaceful relations with the rising power that was the TSF. After several hours of spirited debate, a treaty was hammered out between the two powers, now known as the Solar-Central Compact. Under the Compact, both nations agreed to establish embassies, along with hotlines for rapid communication in emergencies. Migration was permitted between both nations, alongside an open border policy, and trade and research agreements. In the end, it turned out that the Skrellian people were similarly interested in humanity, as the years following the Compact saw millions of migrants both to and from the Central Authority, and media from both species began proliferating. Even today, the Skrell remain the largest minority species within TSF space by a large margin, and consistently rank as the most beloved of all aliens in human opinion polls.

Part 3: Trials

Moving into the mid 2100s, a golden age had graced the TSF. Business and trade were booming, trade with the Skrell had revolutionized many scientific fields, and the armies and fleets of the Federation grew ever larger. There were warning signs, of course. Corporate power abuses, reports that were far too rosy for what they should be, undermanned garrisons, and a strangely pervasive megacorporation, among others, but very few of these made it to the TSF proper, with most being suppressed early by corrupt planetary officials, and the rest given a token response at best. After all, to most it appeared the Federation was in a period of incredible prosperity, and with this prosperity came arrogance. Surely, it was thought, these reports were needless fear mongering inflating small issues far out of proportion, and could be safely ignored. Needless to say, it was not fear mongering, and the next decades would see a series of devastating blows that would shake the Federation to its very core.

The first of these blows would be the short but exceptionally brutal First Kidan War. Beginning in 2154 without a single declaration of hostilities, numerous outer colonies of both the TSF and SCA went dark as fleets of alien warships engaged in a ruthless wave of conquest and barbarity. Outer garrisons fell in days, weakened by years of drawdowns and force consolidations towards the core worlds. In the time it took for a joint response to be mustered, dozens of systems had been lost and millions had perished across the outer expansion zones. As the first proper TSF and SCA fleets moved to engage, however, fortunes shifted near-immediately. The alien forces, while great in number, were technologically and doctrinally inferior to the allied nations, and most battles degenerated into massive wave attacks in which the enemy displayed not an ounce of self-preservation. This behavior, responsible for turning the war into a grinding, horrific slog, was explained after the first specimens of the new alien, now referred to as the Kidan, were recovered, and found to be extremely similar to terrestrial eusocial insects, enslaved via pheromones to a divine queen.

Within months, the tide had fully turned and the allied forces were pushing into Kidan territory, having deciphered their intelligent but utterly inflexible strategies and inflicting mortal damage to their once-mighty navy. Even with near-total orbital supremacy, however, TSF High Command was unwilling to risk ground invasions, on the basis that given how ruthlessly the orbital wars had been fought, any prolonged ground campaign would become a meatgrinder. Instead, a plan was hatched to assassinate the Kidan Queen, and hopefully cause the entire hive structure to collapse with her. So it was that little over a year after the war began, it was ended in a blaze of nuclear fire as TSF and SCA forces, unaware of the Queen’s exact location and filled with righteous anger, carpet-bombed the Kidan homeworld with MIRV weapons, scorching the planet to ashes and wiping out the Queen, along with all of her successors. The effect this had on the species was pronounced. Once orderly and efficient planets broke down into anarchy as all semblance of order died with the Queen. Believing their mission complete, the TSF and SCA forces departed the once-grand Kidan Empire in victory, battered but unbroken. Unfortunately for the victors, this was but the first of many.

As the horrific war came to a close and reconstruction began, the TSF found that rebuilding the massive damage of the early war would be extraordinarily expensive, and levied additional taxation across human space. This would prove to be the straw that broke the camel’s back in starting the next major crisis of the 2100s, the Cygni Revolt.

The Revolt, or Great Patriotic War, as it is known in the USSP, was a crisis many years in the making. Cygni itself was a system dominated by a cabal of large corporations, with an economy based on mining the system’s rich resource deposits for processing on Cygni III, a heavily industrialized tundra world. While numerous abuses were committed by this cabal, the system government was corrupt to its very core, and massive quantities of bribe money ensured no reports of these abuses reached Naval Station Oahu, the nearby TSF fleet anchorage. In response to this, an underground left-wing movement had been growing for decades, gathering strength and weapons in preparation for their revolution. Critical to the success of this movement was Malfoy Ames, a charismatic ideologue who channeled popular anger by blaming the TSF for Cygni’s woes, arguing that they were perfectly aware of the planet’s situation but refused to intervene. While entirely false, the sentiment spread like wildfire, and all that was needed for full scale revolt was a final spark.

Said spark would come in the form of the war taxes levied following the First Kidan War. Unwilling to pay themselves, the corporate oligarchs and corrupt politicians of the world chose to levy additional hardship onto the workers of the system, increasing shift times, further reducing any form of safety regulation, and even sending corporate terror squads to ensure compliance. This would finally prove to be too much, and rioting erupted near-immediately across the system. Unwilling to involve the TSF and risk their crimes being discovered, the system government understated the crisis and informed Oahu the situation was well in hand. Skeptical, the Rear Admiral directing Oahu summoned her staff to form a plan of action. At the same time, however, treachery was afoot. Several of the station’s civilian workers had turned their coats for the rebels, and sabotaged the communication relays and power systems of the anchorage. At the same time, revolutionary forces poured from a docked cargo freighter into the station, having stowed away in shipping containers to arrive undetected. Desperate battle began across the station as the surprised and disorganized marines and loyal civilians fought the poorly equipped but numerous rebels under the glow of the station’s emergency lights. In the end, the equipment and valor of its servicemen and women could not save Oahu, with only a desperate last stand in the communication annex giving the loyalists time to repair the comms relay and send a distress signal.

The Oahu Massacre would claim the lives of all 5,310 personnel on Oahu, as the jubilant revolutionaries began their Red Terror, slaughtering any who surrendered and broadcasting the depravity to bloodthirsty crowds across the system. At the same time, the distress signal had reached the main TSF headquarters in the sector, and the 5th Fleet was mustered to provide a response. In the intervening time, however, the revolutionaries were hard at work. Swiftly achieving victory against the demoralized corporate forces, the revolutionaries, now calling themselves the USSP, moved swiftly to fortify the system and reactivate Oahu and its interred vessels. By the time the 5th Fleet exited hyperspace, a sizable armada of converted civilian craft and hastily repainted TSF warships had been prepared, backed by the semi-functional NAS Oahu, which had basic functions but could not be fully repaired thanks to the slaughter of most of its engineering crew.

While such a flotilla crewed by inexperienced personnel would normally be easy pickings for the 5th Fleet, the 5th was itself not at full strength. The fleet had been battered in the Kidan war, and as such many of its warships were still docked for repairs, including all of their fleet carriers and all but one of their fast battleships. As such, while the battle was still won handily by the Federation fleet, they had taken far more losses than would normally be expected. By the time the response fleet arrived in orbit over Cygni III, over half the fleet had been knocked out. Even so, the USSP flotilla suffered far worse, with no survivors but the few frigate-sized vessels fast enough to escape. The battle had, however, given the planet’s defenders time to prepare, and as the first gunships and shuttles of the 5th Fleet’s marines breached the atmosphere, they were met with a hail of anti-aircraft fire from overcharged mining laser systems and hacked batteries previously owned by the corporations. While the fleet would normally have launched massive screens of fighters and bombardment drones, the lack of proper fleet carriers meant numerous sectors were insufficiently covered, and the warships above were forced to engage ground targets with their main batteries, leveling entire city blocks to destroy the few weapons emplacements hidden among them.

Within hours, the marines had secured their landing zones and were engaged in brutal urban warfare as they attempted to secure vital infrastructure targets in order to force a surrender from the rebels. The war was a slog, with the ill-equipped revolutionaries trying every tactic imaginable to make the invaders pay in blood. Mass assaults, concealed snipers, suicide bombing, and widespread booby-trapping were commonplace, while Federation forces retaliated by obliterating entire city sections with orbital artillery, and firing incendiary munitions point-blank into enemy fortifications. As the grinding war of attrition continued, casualties began to mount on both sides, and Federation morale began to near rock-bottom as the fanatical revolutionaries showed no signs of surrender. Finally, to the surprise of many, Malfoy Ames himself offered a peace deal to the Federation. In exchange for an acceptance of their sovereignty and a demilitarized border zone, the Federation would receive all of its captured and deceased forces, and would be allowed to scuttle any disabled TSF vessels, along with NAS Oahu. The Federation, driven by mounting public outcry across their territory, accepted the deal, and in late 2160 the Cygni Insurrection was over, its end heralded by the detonation of Oahu’s nuclear scuttling charges, sending its remains flying into the system’s sun.

In the end, the war could not be called a victory for any side, save one. The Federation had its image of invincibility shattered, a fleet humbled, and its first true breakaway state. The USSP, while free of the Federation and the corporations, and incorporating several neighboring systems which took the opportunity to join them, inherited a system in ruins with millions of casualties and a devastated industrial base. Indeed, the only true winner of both the First Kidan War and the Cygni Insurrection… was Nanotrasen.

Part 4: Schism

For the uninitiated, Nanotrasen is, and was at the time, the galaxy’s largest known private corporation. An economic juggernaut, Nanotrasen holds assets in numerous scientific and industrial fields, from ore extraction to advanced materials research to microelectronics manufacture, among numerous others. Nanotrasen even possesses its own armed forces, with a small but modern navy and several subsidiary private military contracting firms. From the moment of its creation, Nanotrasen has been utterly insatiable in its corporate conquests, driven to near fanatical lengths to secure new markets and resources to exploit. Spreading like a virus across both human and skrellian territory, Nanotrasen would use ruthless and not-quite-illegal tactics to push any and all competitors out before vacuuming up their assets.

By the time of Cygni, Nanotrasen was in a peculiar spot. While they had lost a considerable amount of resources and facilities in the First Kidan War, the company was also in a prime position to begin acquiring the assets of other companies who went bankrupt as a result of said war. Compounding the potential was the fact that the TSF was now far more focused on rebuilding its battered forces than policing megacorporate activity, making the already small amount of oversight nonexistent. Indeed, following the war, bribes flowed like water as Nanotrasen made mockery of the Federal Constitution, performing hostile takeovers and asset grabs that would make a celebrity divorce lawyer green with envy. Even so, the main event was still coming, and it would begin shortly after the first shots echoed through the corridors of NAS Oahu.

As the Cygni Insurrection broke out, many within TSF high command were worried as to how far it would spread. After all, Cygni was not the only system unhappy with the new taxes, and most certainly not the only one with pervasive corporate influence. As a stopgap measure, the Federation paid out exorbitant contracts to fast-track the repairs of the numerous vessels damaged and disabled in the Kidan War, along with expanded funding of development programs as a stopgap to keep populations complacent until a permanent solution could be found. These measures would, of course, cost a massive amount of money, and the TSF was forced to sell off many of its assets, including many recently acquired after the Kidan War. The intention was to sell off roughly equally to smaller businesses and companies across human space, but as one could imagine, this did not occur. Instead, as the first wave of sales began, Nanotrasen put its plan into action. Calling upon connections and corrupt officials bought off many years before in preparation for such an opportunity, Nanotrasen ensured that the vast majority of assets were sold to itself, a subsidiary, or one of its many shell corporations, often for far below market value, relying on their deep tendrils of corruption and deniable assets to ensure these discrepancies were either written off as rounding errors or fabricated altogether. Altogether, the move was a strategic masterstroke for Nanotrasen. The company had nearly doubled in size, attained a de-facto monopoly in dozens of systems, and hidden their tracks well enough that only the deepest of investigations would find wrongdoing, all for a price far below their initial expectations.

These maneuvers did not go unnoticed, of course, with several TSF intelligence analysts beginning to connect the dots, but given the chronic underfunding on the TSF intelligence services, bureaucratic stonewalling, and general restrictiveness of the TSF’s intervention mandate, the truth was not found until it was far too late. As the dust settled on Cygni III and the remnants of the 5th Fleet limped home, the music stopped for the TSF. All that was left now was to wake up and smell the ashes. Indeed, ashes were much of what the Federation was left with post-Cygni. Nanotrasen now owned a not-insignificant fraction of SCC industry either directly or indirectly, the vast sums of money that should have been raised were found to not exist, and it had been revealed that Nanotrasen’s corruptive influence ran deep into the TSF’s bureaucracy. Even so, the Federation did not roll over and accept Nanotrasen as the new corporate overlords of humanity. Sol still burned, and the Federation Joint Chiefs, in a rare show of complete unity, swore that the Federation would not let this defeat go unavenged.

Vengeance would be for the future, however. For now, the Federation picked up the pieces, and turned their focus to internal matters. The revelation that Nanotrasen had agents so deep into the Federation was quite concerning to the Joint Chiefs, and what could only be described as a large-scale internal purge followed. The intelligence analysts forced to make do with a shoestring budget before were now lavished with funding and privileges, with one goal: Find every single infiltrator and corrupt official within the TSF, so that they could be brought to justice. With near-total access to the Federation’s financial and personnel records, the newly formed Federal Analytics and Intelligence Department went about their mission with a vengeance. No one was safe from the audits that followed, from the greenest lieutenant to the Joint Chiefs themselves, and thousands of personnel were indicted in crimes ranging from minor bribery to high treason. One particularly memorable incident saw a Rear Admiral, wanted for the aforementioned high treason, lead military police forces on a wild chase across multiple systems after hijacking a racing vessel with a band of compatriots. This incident also brought the closely-guarded investigations to the public’s attention, which itself became a media circus as pundits and political commentators wondered why so many personnel were being demoted, arrested, and even occasionally black-bagged by Federal special forces and FAID direct action teams. When questioned, a Federal spokesman merely replied that the Federation was “engaged in housekeeping”.

By the end of the “Great Purge”, as many personnel sarcastically referred to it, thousands of military and civilian personnel across the Federation were behind bars for their crimes, and the Federation could at last attempt to address the root cause of the issue. While Nanotrasen was too powerful economically and politically to attempt to dismember at the moment, the Joint Chiefs reasoned that they could prevent another Nanotrasen from forming. Thus, in the early years of the 2200s, the Joint Chiefs and Federal Council, against the wishes of the civilian assembly, called for the first constitutional convention since the Federation’s founding. The primary issue on the docket was the TSF’s intervention mandate. Since its foundation, the Federation had been restricted in how it could directly affect its member planets and systems. For the most part, only sustained and flagrant violations of the federal constitution could warrant a response, and while this light hand had led to much prosperity, it also resulted in rampant corruption in TSF member worlds and allowed corporations like Nanotrasen to grow unchecked.