History of The UCH 700 - 1002

The people of Helix were no strangers to harsh times. The relations between the planet's many nations were always in either some state of thin peace or stirring turmoil. Because of such, Helix's history was filled with generational conflicts that coloured the people's perspective on war.

"Without the fear of death and loss, life is without the currency of fulfilment."

"To live true as a Human is to partake in the most natural form of trade, war."

Every citizen was forced to volunteer some amount of their time to their nation's military, even when not at war. This forced exposure sought to give every person a moment to identify with their nation and its forces, strengthening their bond and loyalty in the process. To be born and raised within a society perpetuating these viewpoints was practically inescapable, as most other civilizations that didn't share similar enforcement were usually the ones to fall first during a new conflict.

Over the centuries, many nations had their time as the supreme power over Helix, with each of their reigns not lasting more than a few generations. This constant exchange of power eventually culminated in the Great Struggle: A planet-wide conflict that saw nearly every major nation fighting for global dominance. It was a war born of the ever-growing idealization and eagerness of war. Naturally, death came in unprecedented totals, outnumbering even the worst of any previous battle. From the ashes of this pure atrocity came a sense of clarity from those who survived, leading to the first actual attempt at global unification and a move from their glorification of war. Although the nations would still remain as separate entities, they would do much better at staving off any potential future turmoil.

The prospect of colonizing neighbouring worlds was always a venture that Humans possessed the will for, but with most of their funding usually in their defences, they simply lacked the means. That was until the year 750 when research into interplanetary travel finally delivered its first tangible results. As each major nation began its planning and preparations for individual expeditions, the obvious question became a dreaded paradox. Surely, if anything were to spark a new plague of animosity between nations, it would be a dispute over which nation owned the new territory discovered. And so, to prevent this, the major nations of Helix decided it best to unify under one democratic government body. This would ensure that each nation would have its needs and wants fairly represented while also combining their respective resources for a unified goal. This new form would be known as the United Countries of Helix, or UCH. Over the next few centuries, the UCH would colonize and control Draathar and EXO-9, each planet growing and harbouring its own government that would see representation under the UCH.

War with the Federation 1003 - 1004

As the UCH began to expand further throughout the Cluster, a consistent and reliable flow of resources became more and more of a necessary establishment. While Helix alone was sufficient for the government's first few decades of expeditions and settlements, the ever growing scope of their colonization meant the need for an even greater supply.Exo-9 was designated as a suitable world for this task, and so, a resource initiative was issued to the leaders of the planet: In exchange for their focus on resource acquisition, the UCH promised to provide the planet's citizens with paid basic living expenses in addition to the generous sum already proposed for their work.

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This was meant to ensure that every participant in the initiative was well motivated for the rather linear mundane line of work that was to make up much of their planet's opportunities. As much as the UCH attempted to keep its end of the bargain, the slow and bloated bureaucracy resulted in many of the lower-class citizens of Exo-9 receiving practically nothing from the original deal. Even with the average living conditions worsening by the year, the leaders who were meant to represent the people remained complacent to the circumstances, benefiting all they could from maintaining the initiative, even when their workers lived in poverty.

Many of the colonists began turning to the Federation for a better life, and migration between across the border to the neighbouring faction became common. The Federation, looking to capitalise on this opportunity, began to secretly appoint puppet leaders of UCH controlled regions, who claimed to represent the lower classes. The UCH refused to recognize these forcefully appointed representatives and threatened military action if they did not return the power back. Thoroughly disillusioned with the supposed benevolence of the UCH, the fraudulent representatives turned down the offer of surrender and reorganized themselves into the Federation. This would be the one promise the UCH was sure to keep, as they immediately deployed their forces onto Exo-9, waging their first war against the Federation.

While the UCH held the superior numbers, their growing dependency on Exo-9 for its resources ended up arming the Federation with a tactical edge as they used their territory and reserves to limit the UCH supply lines. In the end, such access points and supply stations were used as a bargaining chip to put a stop to this costly endeavour. The UCH and Federation ended their feud with an agreement to split the territories amongst themselves and respect each other's sovereignty.

WMD 1005 - 1008

While the two forces kept a display of peace, the UCH was never satisfied with leaving a portion of Exo-9 to the Federation, especially with the fear that they'd only grow more powerful the longer they were left to themselves. With plans to eventually destabilize the developing Federation, the UCH began to put much of its funding into WMD programs that could be effective in eradicating their opposition without disturbing much of the precious land they currently occupied. This haste to manufacture weapons quickly turned into an arms race as the Federation gained intelligence on the UCH's secret operations. Another war would ignite between the two before either side could complete any of their major projects, with only a scarce few prototypes ever being actually deployed for field use.

Return of a Bygone Ideal 1009 – 1018

At the beginning of this second war, the Federation received an ally in the form of the ROS. At first, their contribution simply consisted of behind doors financial aid and information. Still, as the UCH became more ruthless, ROS's involvement changed into public support and deployment of their own soldiers. With the full support of the ROS, the Federation was able to convince many other colonies to secede from the UCH.

As their enemy grew more prominent by the day; one would've expected the UCH to fall under the pressure and, with only a few tactical blunders, be left in defeat. Unfortunately for the Federation and ROS, a resurgence in Helix's old ways began to take hold as the stacking odds resulted in widespread cultural pressure. The bygone days of the glorification of war and all its aspects resurfaced in the modern era, giving the UCH one resource that their enemies didn't possess: Soldiers who were eager to fight. This cultural shift only proved to increase loyalty and morale, as the people had never felt more unified.

Little by little, the UCH was able to secure small victories over the opposition, specifically targeting territories that promised the most gains for the least amount of effort. Then, when they knew they had the opportunity, they'd reward their soldiers with large sweeping strikes at demoralized colonies, taking back control over the resource supplies and routes they once lost. What was supposed to be an overwhelming victory in numbers was slowly turning into a game of endurance, and the Federation was losing. So, with their control and support fading, they surrender to the UCH, relieving them of all their Exo-9 territories.

The sun rose on a changed galaxy. For better or worse.