2151 – The first great galactic war erupts pitting neighbor against neighbor, friend against friend, and brother versus brother. True fights are few and far between for the first ten months. Confederate Military leaders are loath to be overly aggressive in fleet engagements due to the former camaraderie and friendships formed.

2152 – Following the Alliance attacks, the Confederate Navy pushed forward to reclaim lost and seceding systems. Between the Navy and Marine fighting, they brought twenty-five systems back into compliance. Many systems begin to choose neither side, they would prefer to be left alone until a victor is decided. Several more second and third-wave systems are being contested.

2153 – The Alliance pulled a masterclass in fleet movements and attacked the northeast portion of Confederate space, an area of new colonies not generally happy with their benefactors. In hindsight, it was discovered that the Alliance had allowed certain gains to occur, which left the Confederate fleet too spread out. Further distracting the Confederate response were large riots and attacks in the Alpha Centauri system, which terrified both Fleet Command and the Civilian Government.

2154 – The Confederate Intelligence Act of 2153 was approved by the lower houses but not signed into law until January 6th, 2154. The new branch of the military, Naval Intelligence, was formed. Spies and assassins were recruited and trained. By the end of the year, the first wave of assets was sent forth to do their deadly and dangerous tasks. The Alliance has its first general elections, President Horace Johnson’s first action is to initiate an unpopular, but highly necessary, draft.

2155 – The Confederate Navy finally engages in a large-scale battle in the Eta Cassiopeia system. While historians would call this a great victory, it was in actuality a pyrrhic victory. Forty percent of their ships were destroyed. Another twenty-five percent were damaged so heavily that they would be parted out and scrapped. Thirty percent suffered significant damage that resulted in lengthy stays in overtaxed void shipyards. Only sixteen ships survived with no appreciable amount of damage, though none of these ships was larger than a corvette.

2156 – Confederate Admiral Johann Gustafson is removed as Fleet Admiral for suggesting an end to hostilities.

2157 – The Alliance attempted to attack another Agri-world in the outer reaches of Confederate space near the Mu Arae system. The attack is thwarted, but Alliance raiders regularly return to the system to harass, capture, or otherwise delay shipments to other parts of Confederate Space. Their actions seem to have the opposite of their intended effect, opposition to the war in Mu Arae is non-existent.

2158 – The Alliance Extra-net is established. President Horace Johnson of the Alliance is assassinated immediately after he took his second oath of office. The president is now viewed as a martyr and the intensity of Alliance attacks grows significantly. The Confederates swore they had nothing to do with the assassination, the truth of which wouldn’t be discovered or accepted for nearly seventy years later.

2159 – The Alliance’s industrial output continues to shock and amaze Confederate think tanks. It was not understood how they were able to produce the number of ships and operate all of them.

2160 –Confederate scientists develop a new form of ablative armor that is being added to any new design and retrofitted to any ships currently in space dock.

2161 – The momentum begins to shift back on the Confederate side as their more heavily armored ships are able to weather the damage dealt in battles longer and thus wear down the Alliance. The Alliance eschews large engagements and begins to send out raiders to attack but not destroy mercantile vessels.

2162 – Sixteen months of perfect harassment of non-military targets has accomplished two things. The citizenry, including the politicians and military personnel, have thrown away any ties they may have had to any of their former friends, family, or loved ones that joined the Alliance. And despite this general enmity toward the enemy, the long war has grown old.

2163 – Chancellor William Breitbart officially calls for and receives a cease-fire from his counterpart President Aarek Nu. An informal and temporary border is agreed upon where all fleets are to pull back to their respective sides. Some Alliance raiders toss away their oaths and become pirates.

2164 – Despite nefarious and underhanded attempts to swing certain worlds to their side, perpetrated by both sides, peace talks continue while the ceasefire holds. The general framework for both sides is agreed to in principle, but the specifics of which worlds will go where were yet to be determined.

2165 – Ambassador Jules Thomas pulls off the unthinkable and manages to sign away several inhabited systems to the Alliance while acquiring a similar number of systems that seemingly aren’t worth as much.

The Great Galactic War Begins

The conflict at the start was tentative. Neither side fought to kill. Space battles were almost comical in a sense as great care was taken to not do too much damage. Feelings were hurt, on both sides of the aisle, but neither side wanted the other to be dead. To an outside observer, the battles at this time were almost choreographed training exercises.

Philosophical differences were at the heart of the divide. There was no hate for the other side, dislike for sure but there was a healthy amount of respect. Every captain or admiral was very familiar with their compatriots on the other side that they just couldn’t fight a proper war yet. If war any war could be called proper.

Both civilian and military Confederate leaders were unsure how to bring back all the systems without doing permanent damage. They were almost paralyzed by the situation. Every action they could take could seemingly do more damage to their position. They weren’t alone in their concerns though.

The Alliance leaders were too worried about holding onto their territory and not damaging any of their ships because they didn’t know when they’d be able to produce more. Or, God forbid, should they damage any of their ships how long it would take to bring them back into fighting condition? And a capital system needed to be determined and fast.

Vega Prime, a relatively new but technologically advanced and well-positioned colony, become the capital of the newfound Alliance of Liberated Planets. The location was neither ideal nor logical. But the system did offer something the other options didn’t, relative security and room for growth.

Vega Prime was a luscious garden world. One of its two moons was also capable of supporting human life. If managed properly those two bodies alone could produce enough food to feed a substantial portion of Alliance space. Neither world was rich in natural resources though.

That was the other area that Vega Prime shined. The solar system has three large asteroid belts, which more than makeup for the lack of precious metals and other resources. There were also four other rocky worlds and numerous mineral-rich moons in the outer solar system available to harvest.

Admiral Trottenheim led the initial government. Concerns from planetary governors and planetary senators were sent immediately. Colonists did not want to live under the yoke of the military. Trottenheim swore that he had no intention of running the new alliance of plants, but for the interim, the military would be in charge of things. He insisted that each world send representatives to Vega Prime to help forge the civilian government.

Void combat was a rare event. Neither side was willing to commit to killing the other. An ill-advised attack on the Agri-world Persephone Beta forever altered the dynamic of the war. It forced not only the Confederate Navy but its civilian government that this was a fight for survival.

The Confederacy Strikes Back

The Confederate Navy pushed forward harder than the Alliance combat planners expected. The swiftness and ease of reclaiming the first five systems. Defense in several of the systems would be called by Confederate historians in later years as halfhearted.

Alliance Command decided there were specific worlds they would fight for, and others they would fall back and preserve their resources. Worlds where the population generally didn’t want the Alliance in charge of them were among those systems where a show of defense would be made. Some loyal worlds were given up due to their proximity to Confederate allied systems, a tough pill to swallow but it was imperative to the Alliance military to keep those systems that they could actually defend, all other systems could be used as a roadblock to slow the Confederates down.

Their industrial capabilities were far inferior compared to the Confederacy’s. Losing ships needlessly was something they simply couldn’t afford. Unknown to Confederate leaders, the Alliance shepherded them into taking certain systems while defending others more heavily. At this point in the war, the Confederacy was still thinking about unification and often chose the path of least resistance.

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Iota Persei was a system where the Confederates attempted to grind the Alliance under its heel. The world was a strong supporter of the Confederacy and chafed until its usurpers. In hindsight, Alliance leadership would find their defense of a system where they were unwanted was unwise. This was one of the last worlds that in their newfound territory that supported the Confederacy so vigorously.

In other areas of Confederate space in the northeast the Alliance was an interesting if not popular topic. Political figures were reluctant to go on record supporting either side though. Alliance intelligence reports suggested ten to thirty systems would secede willingly. Two had fully active, although comparatively small, shipyards.

While the Confederacy redoubled its efforts the Alliance struck equally as quickly and effectively. Five systems were conquered in hours. Fourteen more were solidly in the Alliance camp by the end of the month. By the time a Confederate war fleet jumped into the sector, it was too late. Three fleets worth of ships, most were admittedly civilian ships retrofitted to be warships, waited for the Confederates.

Admiral LaMarr allowed the Confederate ships the chance to retreat. Failure to do so would result in their destruction. Historians still debate what could have been had the Confederate fleet stayed to fight. Some argue the quality of their ships was superior to the forces they were fighting against. This was of course very true. But any victory would likely be pyrrhic, significant losses of vessels and crew were something neither side could accept this early in the conflict.

That fleet arrived just as large-scale riots and terroristic attacks happened through the Alpha-Centauri system. The Confederates turned tail and hauled ass to one of their core worlds to stabilize it. History would ultimately find the fleet admiral was right in his decision to do so.

The Fires of War

Eta Cassiopeia was a reasonably populated colony world. Not considered a core world, it was however one of the last systems claimed in the second wave of galactic colonization. It was a frequent target of Alliance raids. The system was the exit point to an unnaturally calm part of slip space that connected to the inner colonies, specifically the Luyten system.

Its primary source of income was mining and shipbuilding. The Alliance knew there was no way to capture and hold the system, but attacks to slow down and frustrate the shipbuilding capabilities were high on its priorities list. Any system in the outer rim that had a significant industrial presence was a focus of harassing raids to weaken the Confederate industrial machine.

One of Naval Intelligence's first acts was to start feeding bad intel to the Alliance. The Confederacy had hoped they could draw the majority of the Alliance resources into one battle, eliminate the enemy, and quickly move to retake its lost territories.

How overly optimistic they were, and how much they underestimate their enemies’ industrial capabilities. The fleet that they were able to lure to the system was almost ship for ship a numerical equal. The Confederates had the edge in terms of ship quality. Both sides were also equally skilled.

The void battle raged on for five days straight. Neither side was willing to give an inch. The gloves had finally come off. All of the battles up to this point had been simple feints. This was a no-holds-barred kind of fight. The Confederates won, but in the process lost nearly two full fleets worth of assets.

After four years of continuous fighting, there was now no hope of a quick and decisive end to this war.

The Inside Job

Within five years of its inception, Naval Intelligence was a household name. For dissidents, it was a boogieman. Even for loyal members of the military, their presence was unnerving. Their value was undeniable though. Their ability to assassinate targets at will was a frightening thing to behold. Equally scary was their ability to disseminate false information and create internal strife.

For decades it was not clear why the Confederacy would risk so much in assassinating the first president of the Alliance of Liberated planets. No one then, nor anyone in the following decades, could understand what they would gain by eliminating this leader. A leader who, by all accounts, was described as level-headed. It was presumed that he would at the very least be open to a negotiated cease-fir.

Alliance Intelligence, ever playing the position of second fiddle to Naval Intelligence, pulled off an amazing coup. They were able to successfully blame the attack on a legitimate spy that they had uncovered, one that only Naval Intelligence knew was not trained in the killing arts. The public cry rang out so loud that even the core worlds of the Confederacy could be heard.

But as Naval Intelligence and the Confederate leaders plead their case, both publicly and in private, the more it sounded like a cover-up to Alliance citizens, military, and political leaders. However unpopular this lengthy and non-ending war was, there was no longer any chance the citizenry would accept the Confederate government any longer.

While the balance of power hadn’t tipped a bit, morale began to be an issue for Confederate forces for the first time since the battle began. The Alliance was fighting for its survival now. It was clear within days of the assassination that the tenor of the battles had changed.

Busy Little Beavers

The early Alliance was nothing like the modern version of it. In the beginning, their industrial output was low, but they made the most out of everything they did. If a facility could produce a thousand widgets at its peak, it’d always deliver a thousand for the Alliance workers. Their efficiency over such a lengthy period of time was a staggering thing to believe. Decades later it is still difficult to believe that such levels were achievable by any side.

In comparison, a degree of slack was built into the Confederate side, and while wartime production caused improvements, it never matched the Alliances per factory output. Then again, it didn’t need to. On the low end, the Confederacy’s output of certain produced goods was three to four times greater. It was dozens, if not hundreds, of times greater on the high end.

The constant stream of newly produced ships still shocked, and perplexed, the military and civilian leaders. The Confederacy simply couldn’t understand how they were able to replenish their losses. For that reason, a new objective was made to capture enemy ships.

Generally speaking, Alliance vessels were effectively the same general size as Confederate ships. There were some heavy frigates that were bigger than a standard frigate but smaller than a cruiser. Excepting those unique designs though, the leadership was positive that the Alliance simply lacked the ability to crew them. And the patriotic fervor hadn’t been going on long enough for a wartime generation of children to be raised to adulthood either.

When the Confederates were able to capture Alliance ships, they were shocked at the level of automation. Slaved virtual intelligence units were put to great use. For every sailor on an Alliance vessel, there’d be between three and six sailors on an equivalent Confederate ship. Naval Research and Development immediately set out to improve the automation capabilities of their ships.

Eventuality

By the start of 2161, the galaxy had been in a steady state of war for eleven years. The industrial might, coupled with advancements in ship, weapon, and armor design had propelled the Confederates to winning battle after battle. Alliance leadership, both civilian and military, had come to the joint conclusion that victory over the Confederates was no longer possible, but survival and recognition were still a possibility.

Military doctrine changed to strike hard and fast. A withdrawal was to occur shortly thereafter. Harry the enemy, kill them if you can, but above all, come home safely to fight another day. Civilian traffic was largely ignored at this time, but the Alliance began imposing its will on recreational void liners. Mercantile ships continued to be of great interest to them too.

This new doctrine irritated the Confederate military to no end. So too did it bother the corporations for their insurance rates had skyrocketed and profits were down to all-time lows. The Alliance basked in their newfound ability to annoy their enemies.

When the Confederates attempted to take back a system, the Alliance would respond with harassing campaigns in the core worlds. These campaigns were so successful that they utterly stalled their campaign to take back systems. For the first time, the citizenry of the Confederacy was at long last beginning to talk about peace. It was at this point that virtually all systems had declared a preferred side and all but a handful were allied with that side.

Master Negotiator

The Alliance and Confederate territories were separated by a neutral zone of sorts. No more than two solar systems-wide, this track of space was devoid of any official settlements. The worlds on either side though were heavily courted by both sides, despite repeated promises to not do that.

The Mercantilist Exchange, a political block located near the Alliance’s northeastern border, began to heavily push for certain concessions to speed up the peace talks. They surmised that they would be able to increase trade exponentially. Their argument was a simple one, their industry was ready, willing, and able to produce the household goods that the Alliance industry wouldn’t be able to produce for months or years.

Agreements were made to open trade at several stations, jointly built and operated by both superpowers. The Mercantilists were able to generate trillions of credits in profit and secure their future. A substantial amount of money was funneled into secret accounts for use later. Also, at this time the group began looking at how they could peacefully secede from the Confederacy without starting a war, though many of that group believed the only way to do that would be for the Alliance and Confederacy to engage in another war.

Negotiations for the peace settlement dragged on for nineteen long months. Confederate Ambassador Jules Thomas would be hailed for his genius negotiating stance. They would give up worlds that were less than agreeable to the Confederate government, which the Alliance eagerly snapped up. In return, they wanted some “useless” worlds.

Of course, those worlds were rich in resources. It also effectively starved the Alliance of the capability to produce tritanium alloys and ceramite at a rate anywhere near the levels of the Confederacy. The Alliance lacked any detailed mineralogy reports of those systems, instead, they relied on census data and general descriptions of those systems.

A great amount of grumbling could be heard from the Alliance side of the border after the treaty was signed. Too late did they discover that these new and populated systems they acquired weren’t as beneficial as they had thought. While they were self-sufficient, they simply lacked sufficient resource wealth.

Meanwhile, the Confederacy had a rampant piracy issue. Nearly half of the Alliance ships that were sent on raiding campaigns once again violated their oaths. Now they were beholden to no one. The era of piracy had begun, and the Confederacy was looking within its borders to stamp out this scourge before it was too late.