Stellaris Ch 8

Chapter 8 - 2300 to 23:

The Federation of Earth is victorious in the Turf War, as it has become known as.

The election process begins, as promised, in February of 2300. The candidates are as follows: President Anguish, with 65% support; Kimberly Zen of the Free Elections Center party, with 14% support; Willow Vargas, with 12% support; and Carizac the Baanthurian of the Institute for the Advancement of Science, with 7% support. It looks to be another runaway election for Anguish, and those who oppose his continued rule do so mostly to stop the sudden authoritarian and one-partied feel of the Federation.

A few months later, Europa is hit with a series of earthquakes. It appears that the Sirgoggs were excavating a cave system to house a new city, when a careless mistake caused several large building collapses and hundreds of deaths on the surface. An apology is demanded from the Sirgoggs, but the response given is rather vague and diverts blame onto natural seismic activity. The relations have clearly worsened.

Unsurprisingly, President Anguish is victorious in his 4th election. He has been the Federation's president for 45 years now, and some question the justness of allowing a ruler such a long time on the throne. Many bring up the ancient Julius Caesar as reason enough to not give one man so much power for so long.

Earth's first colony in many years is founded in March of 2303. It is called Phoenix, located rather far from earth when considering hyperlanes. The entire planet is covered in glaciers.

The scientists on Earth discover the impossible late 2303. They have figured out how to keep a wormhole stable enough for a ship to enter. At once, the plans for Project Vision begins. This will send one 'lucky' ship through the Cartel controlled wormhole in Altair. The lucky scientist to lead the mission is chosen to be Randall Pyrolithic. He has been exploring the unknown parts of the universe at the command of the UNS Verigan for a decade and is ordered back. The ship will be outfitted with the equipment and technology required to successfully navigate the wormhole.

For unknown reasons, the Think Tank's Galactic Assembly leaves the Jibru Cooperative and relocates to the Klaggian Star Dynasty.

It is not until mid 2305 that the UNS Verigan arrives at the Altair Wormhole. News across the free galaxy has been following the events. On May 1st, Pyrolithic leads the ship in.

It takes a split second for the ship to come out of the other side. It is thousands of light years away, in the Impan system. While not the most useful link possible, this endeavor will surely lead to advances and discoveries into artificial wormholes. Earth receives news of the success a few days after it happens, and the public is somewhat excited. Many theorized it would bring the explorer to an entirely different universe.

Another great scientific discovery comes along in 2308. With the Experimental Hyperlane Breacher, a ship will, theoretically, be able to travel very far at great speeds without the use of a hyperlane. Once again, Pyrolithic is chosen to test. He is recalled from his exploration, and his ship is retrofitted with the EHB.

A transmission received in late 2309 shares with the Federation that the Kalaxenan Ancients have an Endangered Species Preserve on one of their planets. The Federation happened to chance upon the DNA of a long extinct species that greatly interests them. They request that it is shared with them, so that a clone can be produced. The Federation gladly accepts.

A few months later, the Ussaldon asteroid station is put under construction. It is primarily planned to be a mining station with trade hub capabilities.

An amazing discovery is made in 2311, a planet of floating islands in the sky. Scientists have discovered a new element never before seen, that appears to negate the effect of gravity on matter. Very quickly, the Federation makes plans to colonize the planet. This will surely bring forth all sorts of scientific discoveries.

In 2312, the EHB is successfully tested, as the UNS Verigan navigates from the Cartel system of Hischmal to the Federation system of Poaa. The downside to the new technology is that it is slower than hyperlane travel by several factors. More development will have to be made before it is a better option.

The galaxy is not in good shape. The Tebbran Shipping Alliance, once one of the most powerful empires in the universe, is shattered by the Jonus invasion. Millions of refugees flee the carnage, settling in the Federation and other friendly civilizations far from the enemy.

In a complete turn around from a a few decades ago, the Kirillian Empire declares war on the Lilarobius Triad. Unfortunately for them, this means that they are at war with the Triad, the Vissari State, and the Steel Bank. There is little hope for victory. Luckily for them, the Jibru Cooperative joins the war with them a few weeks later.

War may not be far away for the Federation. The Vissari State publicly declares that the Ozaggamum system is rightfully theirs. 2nd Fleet is deployed to the system to deter any Vissari forays into the area.

The colony of Forsteria is established in 2317, on the floating planet in the Norgon system. Scientists flood to the planet to study the floating islands.

The next election cycle comes around later that year. Anguish goes for yet another term, while the rest of the candidates are largely the same. Several factions are worried about the possibility of Anguish winning again; the Federation should steer clear of such authoritarian habits.

Anguish is finally out of the office, as Kimberly Zen is elected as President of the Federation. She promises a stronger military to deter possible attacks from the Vissari State and stronger relations with the allies of the Federation.

A grand construction effort begins in 2318: the Macroengineering Testing Station. It will be the first megastructure in the Federation, a truly ginormous creation around Saturn, to be used to conduct engineering research. It is estimated to take over 5 years to construct.

A new threat is born in 2319. The Lozavata Raiders have united under the Great Khan, a powerful psychic by the name of Petals of Indigo. He claims he and his people will stop at nothing to unite the galaxy under the Lozavata Horde. For now, the Horde is at the other end of the galaxy, surrounded by Jonus Extirpators. The free peoples of the galaxy pray that these two murderous civilizations will simply wipe each other out and save everyone a lot of trouble.