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The Vision
In the years leading up
to 2789, during the devastation of the 1st Succession War, Eric Lyon
D’Avion (CEO of Mercury Haulage – the largest merchant navy operating in the
Inner Sphere) became more and more disgusted with mans inhuman brutality towards
man as House Leaders flung missiles and regiments at each other in a bid to
destroy the “opposition”. D’Avion was a man with a plan, however. He
longed to follow in the footsteps of the bold Alexandr Kerensky and lead his own
Exodus from the Inner Sphere into the Periphery where he would form his own
nation based on equality and tolerance, free from the violent shackles which
locked the population of the Inner Sphere in near constant warfare. An
idealistic plan, perhaps, but Eric D’Avion was also a man with the means to
achieve his goal.
An enigmatic figure with
the total trust of his employees and a large amount of political thrust within
the Successor States, D’Avion spread literature throughout the Inner Sphere
calling all those who shared his vision of a new nation to join him on Altoona,
his headquarters in the Federated Suns. Eric has expected much of his workforce
and his private security force to step up, maybe 100,000 more souls from
throughout the Inner Sphere. He soon realised that he had greatly underestimated
the power of his dream. By the 1st of January 2789 Altoona had become
enveloped in a cloud of DropShips, both civilian and military. The zenith and
nadir jump points were clogged with shipping as more and more vessels poured
into the system, millions of willing colonists from every Successor State
pledging allegiance to Eric D’Avion and his vision. Numerous military units
also turned rogue to join Eric. Mercenaries left their contracts, Kuritan
regiments were declared Ronin and fled into the Federated Suns – soldiers and
their machines, tired of the killing, ran from every corner of the Inner Sphere
and joined their civilian counterparts in orbit of Altoona, watching and
waiting.
In a journey that would
take more than two years, on the 4th of July 2789 Eric D’Avion led
the largest fleet since the Star League Exodus from Altoona across the Inner
Sphere. The destination was the Royalist Star Cluster, a dense, uncharted
globular neighbourhood of stars, many of which promised to have worlds ripe for
colonisation. D’Avion and his advisors plotted a course that took them
straight through the Sol System and along the Lyran Alliance-Free Worlds League
border in order to avoid reprisal attacks against the renegade units that had
joined the New Exodus. D’Avion divided his followers into five sections which
travelled in a convoy that at the height of the Exodus stretched over 150
light-years like a tear trekking over the Inner Sphere. The JumpShips crawled
through space, one jump at a time, following coordinates left behind by the
vessels ahead of them. Unfortunately, some accidents could not be helped, but
with each lost vessel the resolve of the colonists and their renegade protectors
grew stronger. As Eric cleared each planet he sent telemetry to the following
Ships ensuring that every captain would be aware of the next destination.
Miraculously no ‘Ships were taken out of the convoy due to human error in all
this time.
On the 12th of
December 2791 Eric D’Avion and the two other lead JumpShips arrived in the
Viborg system and began charging their K-F drives for the next leg of the
Exodus. They had cleared the Sphere, now they were Cluster-bound. It was at this
point that Eric D’Avion unveiled his master-stroke that would still be
affecting the Royalist Alliance even in 3062. Working with a series of insiders,
Eric had managed to smuggle an old Star League Memory Core out of the Federated
Suns. The Davions had hoped to have NAIS crack the core’s encryption and gain
access to the data inside, but now they would never have that chance, and the
Alliance thanks to Eric’s sage thinking would still have the secrets of the
Star League even when the rest of the Inner Sphere had sunk into barbarism.
The lead element jumped
to the first star they could which was known to have a colonisable satellite.
The three JumpShips made the precarious jump and, after a system check, deployed
all the available DropShips to chart the system. The survey took over three
weeks, during which time 10 more JumpShips arrived in system. Seeing that the
fourth planet had an ecosystem similar to that of Tharkad’s, Eric D’Avion
ordered Captain Pollard Gunne and his complement of colonists to remain and
begin settling on the fourth planet – quickly christened “Gunne’s
World”. Eric pressed spinward, leaving behind the two other lead JumpShips,
the captains of which had orders to commit each section of the Exodus convoy to
a region of the Star Cluster, thus cutting down the time it would take to
explore and colonise each suitable system. Former FWL citizens headed
spinward-fringeward. Kuritan and Cappellan colonists were instructed to put
racial differences behind them and head fringeward. Lyran and Rasalhagean
volunteers remained behind and set about exploring the immediate stellar
community around Gunne’s World. Some headed coreward, investigating a salient
of stars that pointed back to their homelands. The Federated Suns section
charged up and headed spinward after D’Avion, following the man they felt they
had the closest bond to.
By the 3rd of
February 2792 Eric D’Avion, now finally understanding the scope of what he had
accomplished, found a planet to settle on and establish a new base of operations
from which he and his advisors, with the help of the colonists themselves, would
organise the exploration and further development of the Royalist Star Cluster. A
relatively dry world with abundant plant life, Oxfordshire was chosen as the
capital of the new Royalist Free Worlds and work immediately began on the
planet’s first settlement, built high up on a cool plateau overlooking the
planet’s vast southern ocean. News filtered back of more successful efforts
across the Star Cluster as planets and systems were named and people began to
erect their geodesic domes. Via the “communications hub” on Gunne’s World,
Eric D’Avion sent out word of the nation’s new name and its new capital.
Spurred on by hope and frontier spirit, colonists spread out across the Cluster,
expanding the borders of the Royalist Free Worlds with each fresh plot settled
and each unspoilt world claimed for freedom from the Succession War.
The
Boom Era
Most of the planets
within the Royalist Star Cluster with at least a partially Terran atmosphere
were colonised between the years 2793 and 2818. Villages sprung up across
planets, and these hamlets soon developed into bustling towns as more people
fled from the growing conflict in the Inner Sphere to a new life in the Royalist
Free Worlds. Amongst this new wave of refugees were more renegade military units
and several industrial pioneers, who immediately saw the possibilities for
development in the more inhospitable parts of the Free Worlds. Numerous
scientists also fled the Succession War for the Royalist Free Worlds, bringing
with them their research teams and in many cases their equipment. These educated
men and women settled on and around the Capital planet, enjoying the pleasant
surroundings of worlds such as Cambridgeshire and Warwickshire.
The larger towns turned
into small cities over time and every planet quickly found its niche in this
“promised land” they had made for themselves. The Cappellan and Kuritan
colonists being hard-working and pragmatic began to exploit the harsher worlds
they had settled on, producing raw materials for the development of the rest of
the Royalist Free Worlds. The FWL settled planets were found to be ideal for the
growing of crops and so farms and greenhouses spread over the surface of worlds
like Sharpe’s Desire and Marathon. The Lyran sector around Gunne’s World
remained in contact with the rest of the Inner Sphere and became increasingly
important as more refugees poured into the Free Worlds, bringing with them lurid
tales of the war that was tearing the Sphere apart. The population swelled
dramatically. Food and housing manufacture was stepped up and skilled architects
and city planners became important as every planet was built up to support the
burgeoning number of people.
In an effort to prevent
the formation of cultural microcosms that would promote racial hatred so
prevalent in the Inner Sphere, an ailing Eric D’Avion encouraged people to
migrate throughout the Star Cluster, regardless of their creed. Going was slow
at first but eventually the population of the Royalist Free Worlds began to
mingle. Former Davions worked alongside ex-Liao colonists in the mines of Novo
Muscova and FWL personnel shook hands with ex-Lyran citizens on Fife, turning to
face the task of engineering a whole new society. They were longer identified as
colonists, nor by their birthplace. All the peoples of the Free Worlds were
united as Royalists, brought together under one banner.
The
Peace Corp and the Constitution
Unfortunately on the 13th
of January 2819 Eric Lyon D’Avion, the figure-head of the Royalist Free
Worlds, lost his battle with lung cancer. The population were greatly distressed
at the loss of the man that had led them from the horrors of the Inner Sphere to
their new home.
Jennifer MacIntosh, Eric
D’Avion’s niece, took charge of the Leadership on Oxfordshire, well aware of
the cracks that were appearing in the cultural fabric of the Free Worlds
following her uncle’s death. Although Jennifer was a clever woman and just as
much of a visionary as Eric D’Avion she lacked the former Leader’s charisma
and charm. Needing a way to keep order amongst the colonies, MacIntosh called
all former military units to trade their plough-shares into swords once more. 16
regiments hailing from across the Inner Sphere regrouped and met on Oxfordshire.
There on the 8th of March 2819 these military sections swore an oath
to place all former loyalties and enmities behind them, promising to serve the
Royalist Free Worlds and specifically the Leadership in the capacity as the
Royalist Peace Corps. Divided into Divisions, the RPC spread out across the Free
Worlds to garrison the new colonies, showing the populace that if former warring
armies could unite and work as one then surely civilians can as well.
Following a series of
repelled raids on Royalist assets by the Circuinius Federation the Royalists saw
the cohesion and camaraderie of the RPC and rallied behind Jennifer MacIntosh as
they had her uncle.
With the support of the
nation once again behind its leader, MacIntosh set about drafting a new
constitution by which the Royalist Free Worlds, or as it was re-named, the
ROYALIST ALLIANCE would be governed. This constitution would protect the rights
of every Royalist citizen and also set out the new government workings of the
State. Envisioned as a parliamentary democracy, every planet would have an
elected governor representing its people. The parliament was to be run by one
person, an elected Prime Minister, who would be the chief statesman and decision
maker for the Alliance.
It would take a few years
to iron out all the creases in the constitution, but by 2823 the Royalist
Alliance had its first Prime Minister, Reginald Parker. Flanked by planetary and
regional governors the new administration of the Alliance began amidst great
public acclaim for the parliament. With the roots of a great nation in place and
the reigns of power now firmly in the hands of the Prime Ministers office,
Jennifer MacIntosh retired from her now defunct position as the Leader of the
Colonisation Council and left Oxfordshire for the quiet world of Hector’s Tear
to raise Tharkadian Llamas.
At the beginning of
Parker’s first term as Prime Minister the major colonisation efforts had
ceased. With a defending force to protect them and a new government in which
they actually had a say, people set about improving what they had. Cities grew
larger, farms spread out further, mines churned out more and the first factories
to be built began to produce consumer goods. The Royalist Alliance was becoming
self-sufficient remarkably quickly. Amongst a raft of new legislation being
announced by the government was a call for research teams to re-commence their
work. Mostly this was to develop new civilian technologies but a large group of
former military scientists based on Cuxhaven in the Gunne’s World district,
now named the League Pact, made a breakthrough when in 2825 they deciphered the
information carried within the Succession Memory Core. The government fell upon
the information with gusto and the formation of the Alliance’s first military
contractor in 2826, Warhammer Battleworks, ensured that the Royalist Alliance
would remain in possession of Star League era technologies for the future.
Reginald Parker was
declared “the saviour of the Royalist Alliance” as the population enjoyed a
period of great expansion under Parker’s guidance. He served 3 terms in office
and then stood down, opening his position to Julian Brandt, the next elected
Prime Minister. Aware that the Alliance needed a figure-head to replace the
image of Eric Lyon D’Avion in the nation’s consciousness, Brandt declared
Samuel Gregor D’Avion – a decorated military commander and a great proponent
of the Royalist Peace Corp – the first in what would become a long line of
administrative monarchs, labelled Czars and Czarinas. A charismatic leader and a
veteran of numerous skirmishes against pirate raiders, Samuel D’Avion could
sway the populace any direction he chose, mostly to the whim of the parliament
whom he backed completely. Royalists regarded their nation as House D’Avion
– bearing of course no relation to House Davion, the Federated Suns.
Golden
Years
The years 2833 to 2876
were yet another golden period in the Alliance’s history. A new effort was put
into further developing the more inhospitable parts of the Royalist Star
Cluster, partly driven by industrialists like Arthur Hale and Germaine Olsen who
saw the untapped wealth within systems that were difficult to build up, Farpoint
Sector and Black Isle, a beautiful yet poisonous planet, being good examples.
Most notably the Kamchatkan Rift became hot property for numerous new industrial
concerns, chiefly weapons manufacture and chemical production, the products of
which were sold to the States of the Inner Sphere to feed their voracious
armies. This all provided a major boost to the Alliance’s economy.
New companies advertised
for Royalist citizens to migrate to those largely unpopulated systems to work
for high pay and high adventure. Thousands moved into the Kamchatkan Rift and
the Odysseus’ Reaches to work on planets and from space-borne facilities.
However, red flags were raised due to rumours of slave labour and unbearable
working conditions. The government was quick to respond and Prime Minister at
the time Janet McRae authorised the deployment of two full RPC divisions to
perform assessments. Thankfully all but one company were found to be delivering
on their promises of a good life on the edge of the Alliance and most workers
were quite surprised to see DropShips descending onto their bio-domes. The
Rostok Space Salvage Corporation, however, was found to be abusing its
workforce, causing numerous deaths from disease and poor equipment. The RPC
freed the people and CEO Robert Lazarus was put on trial for crimes against
humanity. In a very short trial, during which Lazarus remained unapologetic, he
was found guilty of crimes against humanity and was sentenced to life
imprisonment in a moderate security prison on Cottingham. Many of his victims,
lured to Rostok by the promises of excellent working conditions and pay, are
outraged at the courts decision and desire to see him executed. Prime Minister
McRae diffuses the public dismay by invoking an old saying, “If it is an eye
for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the world will become blind and
toothless.” The Salvage Corporation is placed under government control and
becomes a publicly run body.
It was at this time that
several small Star League outposts were discovered during the development of
numerous worlds barely touched by the first colonisation missions. The contents
of these facilities were quickly shipped to Cuxhaven where they were analysed by
Warhammer Battleworks researchers. It was these Star League bases, dotted across
the Royalist Alliance that would form the command network for the future
Royalist Alliance Armed Forces.
While accurate surveys of
the Farpoint Sector and Shattered Worlds systems were being undertaken the
remains of two derelict WarShip fleets were discovered, shielded from previous
scans by belts of dense, low-level radiation from their damaged Kearny-Fuchida
Drives. Rostok Space Salvage were called in to investigate the derelicts more
thoroughly. Thought to have been abandoned for unknown reasons during the Amaris
Uprising, data within the Succession Memory Core enabled technicians to repair
the vessels drive systems for transit to the Kamchatkan Rift, where shipyards
stood ready to rebuild the aging titans. After being restored to full
functionality these vessels were partnered with a flotilla of JumpShips, thus
forming the core of the Royal Navy.
The
Colony Wars
The curse of all
democracies is that it only takes one poor politician to be elected to set a
society back decades. Such was the case when in the May Elections of 2890
Tennyson Galbraith was placed into the Prime Ministers office. It was hoped that
his appointment would usher in a second boom period but it only ushered in a
period of chaos and torment for the Royalist Alliance.
A true megalomaniac at
heart, the first year of Galbraith’s term in office masked his true motives.
Putting in place some radical new legislation which highlighted the fact that he
was actually a capable and, when he chose to be, level headed politician. For a
time the people of the Alliance thought they had made a good decision, but they
were wrong.
It was at the start of
the second year of Galbraith’s Prime Ministership that the first cracks in his
moderate façade appeared. Using his influence he managed to get a lot of his
close supporters into power alongside him. With the Cabinet and much of the
Lower House full of those who would not oppose him Galbraith unleashed his true
agenda.
A man with warped views
of what the Royalist Alliance should be, Galbraith started to put into place
policies that discriminated against Asian and Germanic ethnic groups. Children
who came from families with Kuritan ancestry were not allowed to enter
comprehensive schools, with the only other alternatives being private or home
schooling, or no schooling at all. Those who’s families originated from the
Lyran Alliance or House Kurita’s District of Rasalhague found it nearly
impossible to find employment in skilled jobs, with manual labour the order of
the day for these “cretins” as Galbraith labelled them. And so it continued.
As the discrimination against these social groups increased the population of the Alliance became split. Most people with Davion or Marik heritage listened to Galbraith’s ramblings and had a tendency to agree with him...
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