It has been a year and the Clone Wars rage on harder than ever. Worlds change hands with increasing frequency and the gears of war are turning faster and harder than ever, hundreds of worlds are sites of near planetwide warfare.
In the Republic;
Military Spending is reaching a new high and the military grows daily, there are massive numbers of clones in battle and technological development is changing, Venators are becoming Obsolescent as the new Republic Class Star Destroyers are being rolled out in large numbers. It is even rumoured that the Republic is working on a large multi-kilometre long vessel packing some truly frightening firepower.
Additionally the Republic is now recruiting normal men and women to fight, these 'home defence' units are growing in number and freeing clones from garrison duty for the front. But such measures haven't been without consequence as Separatist Sympathisers join up and then conduct sabotage or even terrorism from within, the worst of which was the poisoning of a large shipment of Bacta intended for the front lines killing nearly twenty thousand clones, while few of the deaths were directly related to the poisoning, most of the deaths came about because of the shortage of bacta that destroying the shipment left the front lines in.
Politically the Landscape has changed as well. Despite Valorum's brave leadership the tired Chancellor retired from his position, and politics, succeeded by Shayla Paige-Tarkin. An adamant supporter of the war and, with her rising to Chancellorship, signalled the rise of the Militancy Faction within the Senate. Those senators more favourably persuaded towards the war to reclaim seperatist space recieved more and more concessions and favourable results for the issues they presented. Meanwhile the more passive and pacifist elements began to be pushed out. And those senators for worlds contested by the CIS, unless staunch followers of the war, were pushed out entirely or even arrested as traitors against the Republic.
The people of the Republic are growing more and more frightened by the wars continuing, and escalation and with good reason. Security is cracking down across the republic and it is taking those they might have called allies once with it.
In the CIS:
The CIS has been fighting to match military spending with the Republic with a little more ease than the Republic has, its firm ties to some of the strongest trade branches giving them more money and resources to throw at problems than had ever been seen before. Millions upon Millions of Droids are rolled out to join the war and fleets of ships are growing.
Lesser craft like the Hardcells have long been phased out of the CIS's military arsenal in favour of new classes of vessel to fill the same lesser roles. But Grievous's massive influence over the CIS military has concentrated less on smaller ships and more on large capital ships with expansive hangar bays. The Subjugator class Dreadnoughts now forming an 'essential' part of the Confederacy's "Wolf Packs"
Grievous has also been growing dissatisfied with the performance of Battle Droids, their lack of real instinct, intuition and the like have given Grievous the excuses he needed to also begin recruiting from the civil populace, though he'd always favoured Kaleesh for his own guards. But recently he has opened up the Confederacy Military to flesh and blood troops.
Unfortunately for the Republic, the CIS Political Landscape has remained somewhat more stable, Mina Bonteri has retained her Chancellorship and an increasing number of disaffected worlds have been defecting to the Confederacy, their fears at an increasingly militant and hard-line republic forcing their hands. And so while many worlds have changed hands militarily, more than a few worlds have been changing hands politicially.
The people of the CIS are staunchly loyal and desperate to fight for their freedoms while those of the Republic have grown disaffected with the war, while security is tight across the CIS there has been no rash of terrorism and sabotage to stain the public perception of the war, while some events have certainly happened, those republic loyalists in CIS space tend to look down on the idea of sabotage and terrorism instead opting for peaceful protests which largely go ignored.
In the Syndicate:
War is good for business. This is a universal truth that any within or connected to the Syndicate would tell you. And this one more than most, since the beginning of the War the Syndicates power and influence has multiplied a thousandfold. Few criminal organisations remain that do not at least pay dues to the Syndicate.
And it's ability to project its force has also grown, people whisper of shadow-fleets beyond the trade lanes moving in secret to the orders of men masked in shadow. The truth being far worse. The Syndicates shadow fleets moving in the open where all can see disguised as trade ships often trading liveries and transponder codes as they cross the red line from Republic to CIS territory and back.
The Hutts remaqin a prime power in the Syndicate though Zann has overshadowed them with his domination of the inner core's more profitable criminal empires. Zann has also by a vote of the Syndicate's inner councils, been chosen to represent its military might, while not as powerful as the CIS or Republic by massive margins, the rag-tag fleet of the Syndicate can make more than a mess of anyone who justifies its use.
Politically, in an unexpected turn, the Syndicate mostly leans on its powerful victims of blackmail to prevent any concerted investigation or action, or in a couple cases, has arranged for them to be ambushed by the opposing side.
Those in the Syndicate remain staunchly loyal to it, the rewards for loyalty are great and the price of betrayal far far too high for comfort. Indeed, the benefits for membership have long been a much higher margin of safety for their activities and more likely to escape 'justice' should he be caught out. But those criminals who remain outside the Syndicate are massively resentful of the organisation and have a great deal of fear of them. The more successful find themselves driven out by Syndicate Enforcers, the less successful find themselves thrown under the proverbial bus to cover up Syndicate work gone wrong.
In other Space:
Mandalore has maintained its independence from the CIS and Republic, sometimes by force, and many other worlds, a thousand or so all told, managing to claim their independence from their example including worlds like Mon Calamari, and more importantly, Thyferra. Thyferra noticing the trend has withdrawn itself from the Republic, and while it continues to supply them, refuses to be drawn into the war and supplies the CIS as well, above Thyferra both the CIS and Republic have a permanent fleet stationed to 'ensure' the independence of the planet. Thyferra, not intimidated in the least, has secure the services of the Mandalorian Fett clan to protect its interests under the public threat that if the CIS or Republic tried to force their hand that they would receive no more Thyferran Bacta for all time.
As worlds go independent so to other smaller communities. Indeed, several small planetoids and moons have gone over to independent control through various circumstances. But without a clear and present threat from them the CIS and Republic have found their hands tied in the matter.
One of the most inexplicable events was a two month long truce during which the CIS and Republic seemingly went on a hunt for an organisation referred to as the Architects. This brutal hunt caused unrest in large areas of space who saw it as a witch-hunt for political enemies of both sides. It came to a head when the Republic and CIS co-operated to destroy a large vessel that the news revealed had escaped Anaxes in battle. But as the craft was destroyed General Grievous took the chance to get in his blows on Tarkin's command ship. Though both escaped, any hope of peace the mutual truce had created was dashed.
Hutt Space, thanks to the Syndicate, has also managed to remain theoretically neutral in the war. Though it is said that for the right price that Hutts of Lower Influence have extorted... I mean allowed... CIS and Republic supply convoys through their space.
