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Wrath of God
North Galactic District, Volkadia
Late 5800 CE
North Galactic District, Volkadia
Late 5800 CE
In the rocky moments after the explosion rocked the market square in the Wildpark Outdoor Market, there was a great deal of panic followed by a quick response by local police forces which rushed to the scene. Yet, the explosion had released a highly toxic chemical into the air which formed into a cloud which dispersed slowly, making any who were still alive by injured in the explosion a fatality. To make matters worse, the police had arrived from all across the sector, but the chaos caused by a sudden assault on the police station, leaving the local Colonel dead and his office vacant, caused the chain of command in the area to utterly collapse. Not knowing who held sway, the police elected one of their most known and brightest to lead them, who formed a quarantine area around the poison smoke and led a team to secure the police barracks. This temporary leader contacted larger authorities and called in the military to secure his station and re-establish control.
The entire planet of Nauroma was soon hailed by a small fleet of over 12 ships, including the battleship The Revenge, which deployed a security force of 500,000 to the planet's surface from across the NGD. Military officers relieved their police counter parts and placed direct control over the administration, despite the protests of it's administrators and governors. Security forces began to retain order and began immediate investigations. They reviewed bodies, holotapes, and a vast array of messages in and from the planet and eventually found their culprit. The fanatic Sofiumist terrorist, Metod Bartoš was identified by investigators and was reported across Volkadian media. His companions, some believed killed by the fanatic, were also quickly found outside the city, with investigators still debating if the suicide bomber who initiated the bombing was Metod or not. The scene was still under severe suspicion, as it was undecided if the police station was the main source of the attack, or the merchant quarter, neither of which was apart of the terrorist's known MO.
Metod had been an outcast of the church since his first series of murders against social liberal deists and 'moderate theologians', or theologians who didn't argue for theocracy but rather interpreted their faith in civil morality. Metod's early career had earned him spite by the Sofiumist church for the past 20 years, but the man's efficiency had both impressed and terrified the church. Preachers watched in horror as the news was revealed that the highly publicized slaughter was caused by a fanatic of their own. Across Volkadia, the preachers warned against the tide of atheism amongst their congregations and faith healers hollered to the stars, asking for the voice of Spiritus to squash those who warped and corrupted his will. Yet despite the universal condemnation, some more radical preachers in far off colonies and poorer districts praised the terrorist attack, calling the government's current administration as unholy and unjust, and that Metod had performed a pious act by destroying the unfaithful and bringing clarity where their was not. One Theocrat running for governor once even remarked at a conference that Metod had not killed enough, dooming his campaign and causing embarrassment for the political faction.
In the great church in Mesto na Kopci, the great garden city of the Sofiumist faith, over 7,000 preachers joined in the Conference of Radicals, a call for action amongst the clergy to discuss the issue of rising extremists like Metod. In attendance, over 200 radicals had come to argue for Metod's cause. The preacher discussed, prayed, sang, and launched volleys of insults at one another. It was eventually decided that the church would not longer openly support radical and fringe elements in the faith to secure the face of the church, and banished the radical preachers from the conference. Formally, the church also gave it's formal (and powerless) blessing to the government to utterly destroy the terrorist cell, and promoted it as saving the church. Yet, despite this show of moderation, it had also caused great controversy in the church. Several populist preachers were banished due to their radical beliefs and authoritarian views on theology, and returned to their pulpits screaming about the corruption on the church. Political divides which had not normally effected the Sofiumist faith now began to creep in.
The terrorist acts were universally condemned across all political sectors, brining temporary relief to the growing political instability. Theocrats sided with the church above the radicals, and nearly every major politician condemned the attacks on social media accounts or through speeches. The Vodca made the terrorist act a prime target for his speech, condemning the men responsible for the attack and vowing action against further extremism, remarking the eerie similarities between the radicals and the Zuukist Faith. The poor taste of the terrorist attacks even united traditional enemies such as the Isolationists and the Social Liberals, with two rival organizations such as the Nauroma Liberal Legion and the National Peace Group of Nauroma having formed a unity protest against radicals on Nauroma. Both social liberals and isolationists talked to each other and agreed on certain issues, creating a small amount of unity where there was seemingly none.
While Metod's terror cell was relatively unknown, with no name or demands made on it's part, more formal radical organizations and Theocrat militias with obvious ties to the organization could have a face. Famed Theocrat leader and militia officer Gregor Suchý was arrested in connection to the terror group, causing many radical militias associated with theocracy idealism into hiding. These leaders and their families were placed on terror watch lists in Volkadia, with some fleeing the civilization to distant colonies or unknown star systems as powerless hermits. Some bounties ranged from 150,000,000 to 400,000,000 credits for the capture or death of 7 religious radicals. One was collected by a prospective Colonel who found one terror leader hiding in a woodland cabin on a temperate colony, with sixteen zealots trying to defend their leader from capture. The Hunt was on, but the biggest reward was saved for the famed terrorist Metod himself, with the government outright granting 2,000,000,000 Credits for his capture or proof of death.
The biggest winner in all this however were the atheistic elements of the progressive liberals. Several proniment and generally disliked Volkadian atheists accused the church of promoting and even ignoring the zealotry of Metod and the Sofiumist terror cells and radicalized militias. One Volkadian pop scientist named Aurel Tichý had a large scale debate with a church leader, humiliating him in front of a audience of young students. Unknown to most of the populace was that Aurel had purposefully chosen a weak and generally unfit theologian to debate, but had promoted him to be the 'top dog' of the church, and filled his cheering audience with many of his own students and liked minded biased intellectuals. The ruse had worked, with many who watched debate having begun to doubt their faith or reacted poorly to the church's accusations against Aurel and his followers. Many new faces had come into the camp of the progressive liberals, who have consumed a vast majority of Volkadia's atheist and deist members.
The Little Ones
Estate Galactic District, Volkadia
Late 5800 CE
Estate Galactic District, Volkadia
Late 5800 CE
The Estate District, the former empire of the Oturan civilization which was consumed by the Volkadian leadership, had generally been without trouble for generations. Oturan were fanatically dedicated to peace and learning, a society so engrained with loyalty to the benevolent noble caste and to co-existance that open warfare is incomprehensible to them. Yet, many Oturan feared war so much, that violence or unrest was not entirely unknown. Many Otrok governments had begun to see reports of protests and secret meetings between Oturan factory workers and farming hamlets, especially congregating on the Oturan homeworld of Oakus. Many Oturan were still rather upset they were considered slaves by the government, and programs which tore young adults from their families still rocked Oturan society. Unrest in the Volkadian homeworlds, along with a great deal of fear mongering by the Isolationists who saw a base to exploit amongst the pacifist Oturan, made the small and peaceful people become upset. Throughout a two month long period, several sit ins and flash protests were soon followed by the formation of several rogue militias and illegal gatherings in the grand halls.
In order to restore order, the local governors of the Estate district, mostly admiral governors who ruled their worlds with iron fists, began a massive crack down of their own planets. Traditionally, Oturan were allowed a great deal of autonomy with certain restrictions on religion and movement, but were still legally slaves of the government while in the Estate District. It came as a surprise when police rolled up in large vans, replacing Janissary defensive guard and kicking out many Oturan media hosts and replaced them with humans. A number of informal political groups and charity organizations connected to abolitionists, conservatives, and social liberals were raided by police in the night and were dismantled. This predictably caused a greater deal of unrest then before, but the Oturan often just grumbled in their traditional farmsteads rather then take direct action. These governors also began to restrict a number of rights illegally, skirting around the CCL and began to forcefully conscript Oturan into the armed forces as a separate slave army known as the Otrok Guard, which instead of it being a slave army under the Otrok feudalistic governments, it was a core of enslaved military conscripts and engineers to aid in policing and garrisons. The idea had been that the Oturan would think less of revolt if they had to face their own, and a newer generation of militarized Oturan would grow up to appreciate Volkadian military culture.
Rather predictiably, this had the near opposite impact that the governor admirals had wanted. Oturan armies came from very specific warrior castes which originated from a very rare militarized monarchy which peacefully incorporated into a larger one as a vassal, becoming the elite caste of police, city guards, and armed forces. By conscripting every day Oturan, the admirals had essentially broken a number of CCLs which forbade non-Waterspear clansmen from getting their hands on guns and military equipment. The Otrok governments soon brought huge lawsuits against three admiral governors which could swiftly bloom into a massive scandal. Several local overseers on Oakus complained to the government officials about the situation. It had gotten so bad, that one Overseer had burst into the office of one admiral and pointed a gun at his head, demanding he reversed things. It was by pure luck that both the overseer and admiral were able to handle their differences in a kindly matter, but tensions still ran high with these feuds between the admiral governors and Otrok governments.
In a rather brash move, one admiral appeared above the planet of Luva, a smaller Oturan core world. Luva is a rather decently sized and well seeded planet, cultivated by Oturan into a feudal farming world. The admiral, Vlado Mráz landed with 250,000 troops and marched it into Luva's capital, placing the Luva's nobles under his direct care and dissolving the Otrok government in formal display. The same had been done to several Oturan colonies, who's governments were suddenly forced to dissolve. While the process had been legal, to all involved it was obvious this was a political move. The Otrok governments which had been dissolve had been publicly building a case against Vlado and other governors for ignorning the CCL, and this action had caught the attention of the Media. While normal Volkadian media only reported it as progress for which the Estate District was 'normalized' into the republic, Oturan and Abolitionist media called it scandal, coup, and corruption. The noble familes which had once ruled these planets were banished to Oakus, with demands of new Admiral Governors to be placed on these planets, but not before hundreds of tapes filled with collected evidence of abuse had been destroyed.
The take over of these governments came with a new slew of problems and scandals which broke out within the month, shifting public attention and causing anger. None of which had been so infuriating with the blatant corruption of Governor Admiral Judita Tesárová, a conservative, had been implicated in a huge slavery scandal. Judita was accused by a number of Oturan who complained to a higher up Overseer that the new governor admiral had been selling their kinsmen to mining companies. While it would later be discovered that these kinsmen were just grown up children, and were used by the companies as space engineers and repairmen, Judita had used poor channels and back end dealings, and even was paid in a outright bribe by several companies for exclusive rights to steal away more competent slaves from the planet's enclaves. The scandal was exposed by Oturan journalists and it later exploded on social media in Volkadia, causing Judita to step down from her position as Admiral to avoid being brought fatal charges by a Overseer on the planet.
Things only got worse, as the new admiral governor's and their incompetence lead to new problems. One of these problems was the replacement of local overseers with far less qualified and more brutal ones. Many local Overseers tended to bond with the Oturan, and sided with them on a number of issues, and such as in the case of Admiral Judita, could lead to huge problems for the careers of the recently placed admirals. In order to fix this problem, the new admirals reassigned many of the local Overseers to other positions, and replaced them with their own military officers. These new overseers were abusive and never really read the CCLs, which wasn't helped that they had illegal licenses and had little training. These new officers ran their enclaves like military labor camps, and generally were more then willing to active the Oturan's electric collars. While they could theoretically held peace in the camps through fear, it was often unnecessary, and many of these officers ran their enclaves into the ground. Within a week, two enclaves were stripped of resources due to bribery, and another had somehow exploded due to poor management. These acts became increasingly known amongst the Volkadian elite who watched in utter amazement of the strange incompetence of these officers trying to run a single small enclave.
What had been a long time coming eventually came out in full force, as a huge abolitionist call to action was formed. Various Abolitionist leaders created the 'Freedom Flotilla', a large civilian convoy ship which had been specially designed for supply and comfort, was to be used to travel many famous activists and civil rights leaders to the Luva. Over 20,000 protesters arrived and broadcasted annoying messages to the ships and Oturan radio waves, planning not to leave until the Oturan were granted their rights back and the CCLs were restored. Activists met with more sympathetic governor admirals, and a number of slave guild representatives to discuss the issues, with many agreeing to the surprisingly reasonable demands. The Abolitionists had wanted restoration of the previous overseers, new Otrok governments to be restored to the worlds, and in return the entire charade would be dropped by the Abolitionists and would work more closely with the admiral governors by providing new ideas and ways to clear up Oturan culture without resorting to violence or abuse. Yet, as they were talking, a warning salvo was launched across the side of the flotilla, with warnings from Admiral Vlado demanding they leave. When the Flotilla refused, Vlado launched fighters which began to circle the ship. Despite heavy protests, especially from two other admirals on board, the Flotilla was forced to leave and made it's way to Oakus, where it docked. The Abolitionists returned home, having nothing else planned to stop the government take over of Oturan worlds.
Yet, luck was given to them in the form of the Volkadian Slave Guilds. Slave Guilds often handled a number of things, such as paying overseers, managing enclaves, and general transport of slaves across Volkadian space. They had been normally opposed to the abolitionists who wanted to steal away government property which they alone handled, but the negative press worried the guilds greatly. Militarists, like the reactionaries and conservatives, sided with the admirals, but a surprising number of social liberals and reformers simply had not cared in the slightest. The Estate Slave Guild, one of the larger slaver guilds in Volkadia, wrote a long and angry letter to the Vodca, demanding that he involve himself in the affair and put a end to the problems, promising that there would be problems in the future if the government did not step in. The slave guilds made it clear that they would protest the government and even support their enemies if they sat by and did nothing, with a number of Volkadian slave guild representatives preparing to leave for Aurolia to perhaps test the waters of their own political power and force the government to action.
When one of the Reactionaries read the letters aloud to the room of politicians, the governor admirals declared treason, but the letters had been worded in a way to not be implicating. The Vodca sighed in annoyance at the proceedings, and in a attempt to regain support amongst the abolitionists who had been sliding from his grasp, he began to declare his support for the guilds to send a new territory governor to smooth things over, appeasing also the admiral governors and slave guilds. Yet, the reactionaries began to open up, with one declaring that only a Blackguard would make things right. The governor admirals were reluctant to agree, but considering that every recent Blackguard had been one of their own, they began to voice their agreement with the reactionaries. Vodca Maximilián Pokorny disagreed strongly, being a social liberal he despised even the name 'Blackguard' and thought of them as a archaic and useless part of the government. after a long dispute with the reactionaries, Max declared "I will rather die on this pulpet before god then elect a Blackguard'.
What was decided upon was that two military administrators would be given permission to restructure the colonies and create new posts for Volkadian government or restore Otrok governments. One of these governors was a weak and sniveling progressive liberal who had been forced into the position by Governor Zuzana Jillemničková, but the other governor was a good friend and idealistic man named Timotej Bača. These two administrators focused mostly on replacing the swiftly placed military governors with a more formal government, made up of human colonists on the Oturan worlds. Yet, Timotej was not the same man Max had known years ago, having become a devious and corrupt man. Through subtle and awkward proposals, Timotej began to invite hundreds of industrialists and rich friends to fill the positions of Luva's colonies, forcing many Oturan to switch their jobs as engineers to service industries, organizing Luva as a business colony in which he gained a nice percentage of luxury profits. He bribed many governors and military officials to look the other way, as his new found government took great pleasure in forcing the Oturan into rather humiliating tasks and jobs to appease overly rich celebrities and business moguls, which again went against many CCLs.
Battle of Oveland Pass
Eastern Galactic District, Volkadia
Late 5800 CE
Eastern Galactic District, Volkadia
Late 5800 CE
Two groups had become drastic and popular rivals in the EGD, the Union for Eastern Worker's Rights (UEWR) and the Black Nauserian Party (BNP). Culturally, the BNP are Nauserian which had been the traditional loyalist group made up of middle class and low class families who had supported the Leadership when they annexed their country. the BNP, as loyalists, were not overly popular and had begun to have a deep rivalry with the UEWR, which were Nauserian in name only and often were mostly immigrant workers from the Northern Galactic District looking for work, and were disgusted with the poor workman laws in the EGD. In order to keep the peace, BNP allowed UEWR supporters the 'gift to live' in their state, so long as they did not infringe on the rights of their corporations or disrupt the fragile stability, an agreement reluctantly made by UEWR leadership. This truce had remained very uneasy for several years, with small political skirmishes and current trends having exploded heavy handed debates. Social liberals such as the worker's union had essentially helped elect a number of social liberals to positions of power in the EGN, which had been mostly conservative, which angered many party hardliners.
On the biodome mining colony of Dusterar, the mining company giant known as Iffegerad Industries had been abusing workers with rather subtle tactics. The company often underpaid it's workers and often worked them in 14 hours shifts, and had extremely lax age restrictions on both employment and mining equipment. Problems such as vacuum collapses led to the deaths of 4 miners in a single day due to poor insolation. The populace and media were often kept in line on the colony by the company's fear mongering, often using specialized employees to spread rumors that if the workers complained, the Oturan would replace them in the mines. When one miner was severely injured by a poisoned air from malfunctioning life support equipment, he complained to the UEWR, who sent a representative to the mine to investigate. When the conditions of mine became well known, the union formed a two prong approach, public and private, setting up a private lawsuit for the worker and a public protest in the colony in order to hide a union building operation amongst the traditionally reactionary workers.
The protest however had been a utter disaster, for as soon as UEWR unionists arrived, they were booed at by the miners who didn't want them to stay in the colony. One less informed man even set off a shotgun which broke up the procession and the Unionists were escorted in armored cars to their 'hotel', a small run down inn with just bare minimum life support and no media outlets. The protest however did go as planned and despite jeers from the miners, the corporate boss of the local mine had read the situation poorly. The local boss hired six rogues from the colony to use metal tools to beat up the protesters, which worked wonders in forcing them back. Yet, in doing so, the thugs had also beat up counter protesters who were utterly shocked and confused their mining boss would turn to local thugs to beat them up. One elderly man confronted his boss when he found his son had come home with a split head, in which the boss fired the boy and the elderly miner, saying he would just hire a Oturan instead in a rather cruel mood. This incompetence lead to many very reactionary and often very violent miners and construction workers who worked in the colony to become disillusioned very fast, and soon found themselves joining the Unionists instead.
One of the disillusioned miners was a veteran of the Astrana-Aurolian war and a highly violent reactionary named Havel Holič who had a very dramatic conversion to social liberalist ideals within less then a week of the incident. Havel was a horrifically violent man, with a long standing history of starting fights, beating up fellow miners, and had been on several watch lists of social liberals as a possible terrorists. It was utter surprise that this reactionary instead found himself agreeing with the social liberal union and even offering his help, but in his own way. He and his 'boys' would lend the social liberals his aid as guards against thugs and possible retaliation from the BNP which he was still a formal member of, and had heard they would be coming to the colony to start a equally violent reaction protest to push them out of their 'turf'. While reluctant at first, the unionists agreed to Havel's aid. Havel spent the next sixteen days forging a small militant group, baring brown bandanas and dark green armbands to symbolize their new loyalties, arming themselves with small legal firearms, but not so legal Molotovs. This new militia was made up of radicalized and angry unionists who had been harmed by the corporate thugs, trained by the disgruntled soldier.
In the following day, several civilian ships arrived and loaded off several angry BNP protesters, but also a number of very well armed thugs, a professional 'union buster' group and radical reactionary militia known as The Tilboat Breakers, named after breaking the legs of a EGD union representative named Tilboat several years ago. These thugs had been hired by the local mine boss to counter the protest but again disbursing it, but had brought unwanted attention by media and the local police from the control planet, who's governor had become annoyed by the violence. The Unionists protested near the miner's entrance, with a large railway overpass above it for resource transport. The social liberal militia forged a small barricade for themselves, but the two groups began to get rowdy. As the protest continued, several miners surprisingly joined the unionists much to the jeers of the BNP supporters who called them traitors. As the protest continued, several Tilboat Breakers snuck around the barricade with the help of a mine overseer who wanted his workers back in the mines and wished the protest to end, and surprise jumped the protesters on the pass. A shot rang out when one Tilboat Breaker tried to throw a protester from the pass, but he grasped his chest and fell himself and hit the rock floor with a sickening crunch. Their was a very momentary and dark silence.
The battle between the reactionaries and Havel's militia lasted for hours, but it was clearly one sided. Havel, in his bloodlust, fired into the crowd of BNP and chased them through the mine and civilian housing. Several Tilboat Breakers tried to fight back, but were either shot or beaten to a pulp by the much better armed, and a lot more angry, miners. The miners tore into their enemies with new found vengeance and chased them into a office. Soon, the militia squared off against police who were just barely able to hold them in a fire fight which allowed the retreating BNP counter protesters to enter their station. The Police and Havel's militia didn't really intend to kill one another, but in the heat of the moment, the two were firing on one another. Havel did eventually realize what he was doing and order a general retreat back to the mine, but he and several others retreated to the ship bay, stealing a ship and leaving the colony in haste. His Militia did not sit ideally by forever, and soon were ransacking parts of the colony or just went home to rest. The UEWR, rather disturbed by the violence, quietly surrendered to police and explained the situation, who arrested them and formed a temporary command post in the middle of the city.
Within hours, 1,000 military conscripts were brought from the near by planet and were sent to restore order in the colony, which handed rather quickly. The Militia, being leaderless now, had either surrendered or dispersed. A police chief of the colony resigned rather then deal with the issue, granting his office to a military officer and the local colonel. The colonel, disappointed with the situation, ordered a investigation. Rather ironically, it had been the colonel who fixed the issues the UEWR had sought to fix. The colonel charged the local mine boss with starting mob violence, and placed him under arrest, and took over the mine until the company could deal with his administrator. Once order was restored, the Colonel chastised the unionists of dealing with veteran radicals like Havel, and ordered them off the colony. The unionists complied and in a defeated mood had not even made a formal statement on the violence. The colony was swiftly restored to full functions in less then day with direct control, a testament to the boundless efficiency of the Volkadians. Many of the Miners who had participated were given pardons, under agreements they would not complain to the media or political parties, and took all future concerns directly to the Colonel himself, re-establishing their reactionary roots.
The fragile truce between UEWR and BNP was broken, with their political charades now covering a great deal of Volkadian political scenes in the EGD. Yet, Havel had escaped to the EGD planet of Futela, and came in contact with a number of social liberals there. He again participated in local protests, and again formed a small militia. His idealism and radicalism was unwelcome, but yet popular amongst young and disappointed youths. A radical social liberal union had formed, calling itself Zväz Pracovných Vojakov, or the Union of Working Soldiers. The ZPV as it was known in Volkadian (or UWS to everyone else who didn't speak the local language) became a regular nuisance to the BNP. Mostly made up of violent young youths, led by personalities like Havel who had become their paragon for his former radical Reactionary beliefs, and now was a radical social liberal, he had promised to bring social order and reform to the EGD by force if need be. The ZPV often joined many UEWR protests as violent radicals, smashing store front windows, tipping over service robots, and just being a general nuisance under Havel's wing.
This militia however had begun to become a social pariah amongst social liberals, and a indomitable curse upon the UEWR. Corporations such as Iffegerad Industries pointed out the violence at the 'Battle of the Overpass' was caused by social liberals, and through money and support at reactionary leaders. Efforts of social liberals in the EGD had slowed to a halt, as political strife turned to cultural hate. Rumors spread that Havel was a Oakus agent sent to spread discord, while another popular theory was that the ZPV was a political tool of the NGD governors, and the UEWR were their handlers. These fears only exploded when a violent protests eventually did kill a man in the later year. A reactionary protester had been killed when a ZPV supporter rammed their hovercar into a crowd, killing one and injuring several others. While progressive liberal governor Zuzana Jillemničková had supported the group, the social liberal Vodca Maximilián Pokorny sighed in relief when he was able to remove this political cancer, swiftly calling for action and deeming the group terrorists. Their presence has caused a social stir in Volkadian politics, especially with the rise of religious radicalism.
