Solarian Reconstruction Mandates
Occupying most of the territory once known as the Human Wildlands, the Solarian Reconstruction Mandates (SRM) are an effort by the Alliance to re-exert its control over much of the territory it lost in the initial phase of the Solarian Civil War (2462-65). They are divided into the Northern SRM, covering the Northern Wildlands, and Southern SRM, covering the Southern Wildlands. Devastated by neglect, war, and three years of anarchy it is unlikely the Mandates will return to their pre-2462 levels of productivity anytime soon, but their existence represents a step forward for the Alliance -- and for some actors such as the Republic of Biesel, a grave concern as the Alliance re-exerts its authority on a galactic scale.
Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate
Formed in the aftermath of the conclusion of the Solarian Civil War, or the War in the Northern Wildlands, the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is the structure through which the Alliance intends to rebuild the devastated Northern Reaches, which have been devastated by three years of anarchy and half a year of intense fighting between the three post-Solarian states which once dwelled in this region: the fascistic Solarian Restoration Front (Front/SRF), the bandit state known as the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems (League), and the democratic Middle Ring Shield Pact (Pact). Only intervention on the Pact’s behalf by the Solarian Navy in mid-2465 saved the region from further anarchy and the fall of its most developed world, San Colette, to the Solarian Restoration Front.
Shortly after the Navy declared the end of large-scale combat operations against the remnants of the League and SRF in mid-2465 the Alliance declared the establishment of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate to coordinate a civilian reconstruction effort of the region rather than, as the Alliance at the time was, a naval military junta. The Mandate has much work ahead of it in the coming months and years to fix the damage caused to much of the region by the Solarian Civil War. Notably the Mandate does not contain the entirety of the Northern Reaches as Konyang has joined the Coalition of Colonies. However, with the Alliance seemingly finding its footing in the Spur once again, who is to say what will come for its secessionist world?
Government
The Reconstruction Mandate’s government, as it was formed by a joint effort of the Alliance’s main provisional civilian government and its ruling military junta, is an unusual civilian government which has been given broad powers to carry out its mission of rebuilding the Northern Reaches and has little in the way of a voting population to answer to. It is, essentially, a civilian dictatorship created as a temporary measure to stabilize the region without having to concern itself with elections. While most regions are controlled by civilians, some, such as the former SRF capital of Lycoris, are ruled by military governments. Furthermore, the Reconstruction Mandate has sweeping powers to arrest and detain suspected Front and League members or sympathizers for reasons of national security, and these suspected members can be detained for an indefinite length of time. Despite the Mandate’s status as a civilian dictatorship it has not interfered with many local governments, particularly those of the democratic Pact, to preserve its approval and ensure local governments are loyal to it.
The Reconstruction Mandate is dominated by Coletters due to the system’s status as the headquarters for the 1st Battlegroup during the final weeks of the Solarian Civil War and the Sovereign Solarian Republic of San Colette’s steadfast refusal to, despite three years of isolation, officially secede from the Alliance as the worlds of the Front and Pact did. Most non-Coletters within the Mandate’s government are either Solarian bureaucrats from the core worlds or citizens of other ex-Pact worlds which remained loyal to Sol such as Novo Igman, Lhokgon, and New Peoria. Few Mandate officials are from the regions formerly controlled by the Front or the League.
The current Governor of the Northern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is Geraldo de los Reyes. Formerly a Colettish bureaucrat of the Solarian Department of the Interior, de los Reyes has been commended multiple times for both his incorruptibility and his work in ensuring – prior to 2462 – the Warp Gate Project’s goals were being met, or at least worked towards. Despite his decades of service as a bureaucrat de los Reyes is relatively inexperienced as a political operative, and now must balance the competing interests of multiple actors in the Northern Reaches ranging from the Colettish government to the Solarian Armed Forces to the remnants of the Pact and other statelets. Only time will tell if he can succeed, or if he will fail.
Military
The Reconstruction Mandate’s mission is supported by a significant Solarian military presence intended to suppress the remnants of the Front and League, many of which have become guerrillas and bandits, in the region. It can additionally call upon limited System Defense Force assets from the former Pact such as the Civil Guard, though these forces are in the process of being regenerated and upgraded with modern warp-capable engines following the events of the Solarian Civil War which showed SDF vessels direly need independent warp capabilities. Many The Solarian Army units — such as 2nd Venusian Air Cavalry Division — are involved in anti-insurgent operations on the planets of the now-defeated Front, where many fanatical followers of its ideology have chosen to fight to the bitter end as guerillas instead of surrendering to what they see as a false Solarian government.
Notable Worlds
San Colette
The capital world of the Reconstruction Mandate,San Colette was subjected to intense fighting during the closing weeks of the Solarian Civil War during the Front’s invasion. Its System Defense Force, the Civil Guard, fought valiantly alongside mercenaries of the Free Solarian Fleets and its Pact allies, and ultimately lured the Front into a trap near D’Anzin which allowed much of its naval to be destroyed by the intervening 1st Battlegroup strike force. The Mandate rapidly resolved many major issues within the Nueva Patria system and life in many areas of San Colette is starting to return to normalcy, though there is much work to do — particularly upon the distant planet of D’Anzin, where efforts to clean up the aftermath of phoron contamination from destroyed processing facilities are expected to take some time.
Lhokgon
Subject of intense fighting between the League and Front during the Solarian Civil War, the Helium-3 refining world of Lhokgon was devastated by fighting. Originally colonized at roughly the same time as San Colette by primarily Himalayan nations, Lhokgon’s system — the Gangetic System — is unusually rich in Helium-3 and served as an important mining and refining center for the fuel throughout much of the 24th and 25th century. In early 2463 Lhokgon, with the collapse of Solarian authority in the region, joined the Pact after its System Defense Forces repelled a League incursion which damaged multiple mining facilities in the Gangetic System’s outskirts.
With the Front’s invasion of the Pact in 2465 Lhokgon was once again thrown into conflict. Though its System Defense Forces fought valiantly they were ultimately unable to withstand the full brunt of the Pact’s offensive and the system fell to the Front, though not before the residents and government of Lhokgon were able to sabotage much of the system’s Helium-3 refining operations. The Front was not merciful in its occupation as a result: anyone affiliated with the Federal Solarian Republic of Lhokgon’s government they could find was given a summary military execution and employed in its Helium-3 industry were forced to work under pain of execution for themselves and their families. League offensives in the region caused the Front to enact even harsher policies as they moved to the defensive. By the time of the Solarian Navy’s arrival to liberate the system much of the industry not already destroyed by the Lhokgers themselves or fighting had been burnt to the ground by the Front, crippling a once-vibrant industry.
Between the Front’s occupation and the Navy’s liberation of the Federal Solarian Republic of Lkohgon many Lhokgers engaged in armed resistance against the Front, particularly as its retaliations increased, causing many Front-aligned Army units to be tied down on Lhokgon and thus unable to invade Nueva Patria. Now, after the Navy’s liberation, many of these guerilla fighters have become part of the Federal Solarian Republic’s reconstruction initiative, which seeks to rebuild Lhokgon’s Helium-3 industry with the assistance of Einstein Engines while maintaining the democratic system Lhokgers fought valiantly for. The road ahead is long, but the Lhokgers are confident they will overcome any challenge.
Novo Igman
One of the unlucky worlds to be captured by the League and Front and different times, the Federal Solarian Republic of Novo Igman was a major mining and industrial hub of the Northern Reaches prior to the Solarian Civil War. Colonized in the late 2300s by primarily Yugoslavian settlers, the planet never reached the prosperity of San Colette or Lycoris but had a relatively high standard of living by Solarian Outer Ring standards due to its industrial base and several large Solarian defense factories which produced Army equipment. This made it a major target for warlords during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and the planet joined the Pact in early 2463 after fighting off a raid from the nearby League.
Novo Igman’s arsenals armed much of the Pact’s non-Colettish forces and served as a major source of armaments for the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet’s importance made it a major target for the League during their initial invasion, and Novo Igman quickly found itself the target of the League’s main offensive push. The planet eventually fell out of the Pact’s control in late March, 2465. The Federal Solarian Republic’s government refused to surrender to the League and much of the planet’s system defense force and military began to wage an insurgent war against the League, which quickly found itself unable to control much of the planet’s industrial capacity. When the Front took control over the planet in late April, 2465, the League occupation troops who remained behind found themselves caught between Novo Igman’s insurgents and Lycorii units who had been sent to subjugate the world. Many League troops, lacking a better option, opted to join with their former enemies against the Front, and a more vicious phase of the insurgent war began.
Novo Igman is unique amongst Front-occupied worlds for successfully overthrowing the Front’s provisional government before the Solarian Navy could arrive, effectively freeing themselves from their control in June, 2465, and declaring themselves once again the Solarian Federal Republic of Novo Igman. Navy forces shortly arrived and the planet has since officially rejoined the Alliance, and is receiving significant assistance in its rebuilding efforts. While Novo Igman has been badly damaged by the war, particularly during the three months of open warfare on the planet, it remains unbroken, and its people are confident they will find their footing once again.
New Peoria
The Solarian Republic of New Peoria was, prior to the Solarian Civil War, a relatively well-traveled warp gate hub utilized by travelers from the far Outer Solarian Ring traveling towards San Colette, particularly those traveling from what is now the Coalition of Colonies and Konyang. The system was seen by many in the Northern Reaches as a relatively minor world which lived in the shadow of San Colette’s success. New Peoria was nearly conquered by the League during the initial chaos of the Solarian Civil War and was only saved by the intervention of San Colette and the Free Solarian Fleets. The planet quickly joined the Pact after this.
During the initial weeks and months of the Solarian Civil War hundreds of thousands of refugees fleeing chaos in the Wildlands and the Coalition passed through its warp gates on their way to San Colette, and New Peoria’s warp gates were a major evacuation point for Pact civilians caught in the Front’s path of advance prior to their destruction by the Pact in early March, 2465. After falling out of the Pact’s control and being seized by the Front in March, 2465, New Peoria’s system became a major rallying point for the Front’s forces and was the intended site of a push by the Front into Nueva Patria via the hacking of Colettish warp gates by specialized ships – a plan only narrowly thwarted by the Solarian Navy’s timely arrival. The Front forces in New Peoria’s orbit were destroyed by the Solarian Navy in the closing days of the Solarian Civil War, and the system itself rejoined the Alliance shortly thereafter.
Like many worlds located in the Northern Reaches the future of New Peoria is very much in flux due to the defection of many of its former trade partners to the Coalition of Colonies. The Solarian Navy, which is responsible for much of New Peoria’s rebuilding efforts, has refused to consider working with the Coalition and many on the planet are vehemently opposed to the Coalition due to their support – real or perceived – of the League. Some in New Peoria have called for the Navy to establish a new base in their system as a replacement for the mostly-destroyed naval facility of New Atlantica, or to fortify the system like Nueva Patria.
Lycoris
Formerly the capital of the fascist Solarian Restoration Front, the Solarian Military Mandate of Lycoris — known as the Federal Solarian Republic of Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris, both under Front control and before the Civil War — is a world which has caused and seen a great deal of suffering. Located in the Alfheim System, of the oldest inhabited systems in the Northern Reaches, Lycoris and Lycoris Minoris were wealthy worlds prior to the Solarian Civil War only equaled in the region by San Colette. The planet and its moon were most well-known for their impressive shipbuilding industry and enviable natural beauty. Dozens of ships were produced from its orbital works and millions visited the planet to see the distinctive red flowers it drew its name from.
The shipbuilding industry’s wealth brought many immigrants: most human, and some not. As the Alliance entered into a period of decline throughout the late 24th and early to mid 25th centuries politicians on Lycoris and its moon stoked the fires of nativism as a tool to ensure their continued dominance of the system’s politics. This Lycoris-first policy found immense success amongst the Lycorii and became more radical with the arrival of nonhumans to the system. First came the skrell, who were stereotyped as sneaky and subversive mind-readers looking to take the high-end careers of Lycorii and turn them into a colony of their Federation. Then came the unathi, who were stereotyped as a bloody and backwards species who had opted to burn themselves in nuclear fire when given an ounce of power, and the tajara, who were stereotyped as naturally violent and only fit for dull labor in the frigid northern reaches of the planet. The system was a major stronghold of ATLAS and profited immensely during Frost’s short and corrupt regime due to it being favored over San Colette. It thus comes as no surprise the Front found a natural stronghold here.
The killing, disappearing, and deporting of non-humans and humans suspected of “anti-Solarian sentiments” continued throughout the Front’s control of the planet, and almost every aspect of its government dedicated itself to this. Its civil government and system defense force eagerly dedicated themselves to the Front’s cause and Lycorii troops fought for the Front across the Northern Reaches from 2462 until June 2465, when a Solarian military intervention on behalf of San Colette crushed the Front and established a provisional military government over the planet and its moon. Even now many Front loyalists, unwilling to surrender, have run to the wilderness to wage an insurgent war. Those who remained behind have often found themselves arrested by the Solarian Army pending military tribunals.
Lycoris is a planet which has been tainted irreversibly by the Front and its struggle for unobtainable purity. Once renowned natural spots have become barren of their typical visitors, or revived for Front-aligned insurgents hoping to kill as many Solarians as they can before they die. The planet’s once unspoiled vistas have been covered in quickly-built Front facilities, now reduced to ruins by the Solarian Armed Forces during the Solarian Civil War. Its orbital yards now stand mostly silent, either sabotaged by the Front in a last act of defiance or lacking the workers to operate. Millions of Lycorii have died, either by the Front’s hands or fighting on its behalf in the Solarian Civil War.
New Atlantica
Formerly the “capital” of the League of Independent Corporate-Free Systems, the large Interstellar War-era naval space station of New Atlantica was mostly destroyed in intense fighting between the League’s 67th Fleet and forces of the Solarian Restoration Front during the final weeks and days of the Solarian Civil War. Three years of neglect by the League and the — intense fighting around it has reduced much of the station to charred, slagged ruins intermixed with functional or partially-functional sections. Almost none of the prewar civilian population remains and the few dozen civilians who still inhabit the station are mostly transient offworlder human salvagers formerly performing independent salvage operations and now contracted by the Navy to help remove debris from hazardous areas.
None wish to rebuild or repair the hulking and aged corpse of New Atlantica, but rumors have begun to swirl of the Navy building new sensor arrays in the system to monitor the Coalition. Some say the majority of these are pointed towards one system in particular: the now-border system of Konyang, recently seceded to the Alliance and now staring down its former overlord.
Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate
Controlling the former territory of the Southern Solarian Military District and the Solarian Provisional Government, the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate (SSRM) was formed shortly after the end of the Solarian Civil War. The main non-state opposition to the SSRM are the remnants of the Biesel-aligned Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), which is most active in a formerly Solarian region adjacent to the SSRM known as the Nieużytek, or Wasteland, in Visegradi Creole. The SSRM began to stabilize prior to the War in the Northern Wildlands through the efforts of the local Solarian Navy garrison, particularly the First Middle Ring Battlegroup under the command of Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai – now the governor of the SSRM.
The Alliance’s government declared the establishment of the SSRM to coordinate further reconstruction efforts in the region. Unlike the NSRM, the SSRM is a military government dominated by the Solarian Navy due to its more hazardous position on the edge of the Sparring Sea and Badlands. While the SSRM is more stable than its northern counterpart there is still much work to do, and some have expressed concern that its military government means the Alliance is not as concerned about escaping its Navy-dominated past as it claims to be.
Government
The SSRM is a provisional military government which has been established to assist in the region’s formal transition back into the broader Alliance. It has broad powers to govern and direct the Southern Reaches as it sees fit, and martial law remains in place across much of the region — though it has lessened in some locations, with promises of a return to normalcy as the Alliance’s first fair elections since the 2450s begin. Szalai’s First Middle Ring Battlegroup and Yunso’s 6th Middle Ring Battlegroup dominate the military government of the region, having worked together to keep the area stable since the beginning of the Solarian Civil War.
The Governor of the Southern Solarian Reconstruction Mandate is Solarian Navy Fleet Admiral Klaudia Szalai, formerly the leader of the Southern Solarian Military District and a career Navy officer with a history of excellence in service. A native Visegradi, Szalai has transformed the rainy world into a lynchpin of Solarian control in the region and has repelled all attempts to contest the Alliance’s hold over the Southern Reaches. To her frustration she has never been able to reclaim the devastated Nieużytek — formerly under the control of her rival, Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp. While her governorship is likely temporary, with the SSRM soon to be handed over to civilian authorities once it is more stable, most in the region have confidence in Szalai.
Governing alongside Szalai is the second most important officer in the Southern Reaches: Fleet Admiral Myo Yunso of the Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroup. A Konyanger who has remained loyal to the Alliance, Yunso has been both a staunch ally and fierce rival to Anderson MacPherson, the former governor of Sankt Frederick and current highest-ranked civilian member of the Reconstruction Mandate. Yunso is as professional as Szalai but lacks her experience, with the Sixth having been mostly confined to the area around Sankt Frederick for the duration of the Solarian Civil War. Like Szalai, Yunso is expected to step down from power once the region becomes more stable.
Military
The SSRM has more local military forces at its disposal due to the presence of the First and Sixth Middle Ring Battlegroups — entities regarded as the best forces in the Middle Ring prior to the civil war’s outbreak. Most Navy and Army forces dispatched to the Mandates are stationed in the Northern Reaches, which has led to some discontent amongst forces in the Southern Reaches. These troops, many of them having fought since the beginning of the civil war, wish to finally receive large amounts of Solarian reinforcements and to return to a kind of normalcy. But with the Northern Reaches recovering from a devastating conflict these reinforcements may be months —potentially years — away.
Notable Worlds
The Southern Reaches is less populous than its northern counterpart and has long been regarded as a frontier where the Alliance ends and the more dangerous Sparring Sea begins.
Visegrad
The capital of the Mandate is the rainy world of Visegrad. Formerly the capital of the Southern Solarian Military District Visegrad has survived the Solarian Civil War and its own civil war, with pro-Solarian and secessionist forces engaged in open warfare during the first months after the Solarian Collapse. The arrival of Szalai’s forces resulted in a Solarian victory and the start of military governance over the planet. With the civil war over and elections around the corner, many wonder what will become of Visegrad now that it has been transformed into a major military hub for the entire region.
Sankt Frederick
The other prominent world of the Mandate is Sankt Frederick, formerly the capital of the Solarian Provisional Government of the Southern Reaches (SPG). One of the rare worlds which did not collapse into anarchy after the events of 2462, Sankt Frederick has been one of the most stable worlds in the Wildlands and was a common destination for refugees fleeing from more violent areas such as the Wasteland and the Corporate Reconstruction Zone. One warp gate jump away from the broader Alliance, most residents of Sankt Frederick barely felt the impact of the civil war upon their agricultural world and for most their primary interaction with the civil war was seeing refugee workers in the planet’s orbital hydroponics facilities.
Sankt Frederick is an idyllic, verdant world which has long served as the agrarian breadbasket for much of the Alliance through its use of intensive planetside agriculture and sprawling orbital hydroponics facilities. The Alliance’s support of the provisional government of the system — consisting of the mostly-intact remains of its government — has allowed it to prosper even during the civil war, with much of its production now being shipped to the devastated Northern Reaches. However, many residents of the planet are bitter at the government's decision to favor Visegrad over their world, viewing it as yet another example of naval cronyism in the Alliance.
The Nieużytek
The region beyond Mandate control, the Nieużytek is an anarchistic wasteland where violence rules and little has been left intact. Previously controlled by the Southern Fleet Administration (SFA), the Nieużytek’s fortunes took a turn for the worse following the skrellian intervention which ended the SFA as a cohesive force. The remaining flag officers of the SFA, deprived of the central leadership of Fleet Admiral F.R. Beauchamp, quickly turned on one another and descended into further warlordism as the region collapsed around them. By early 2465 the region had become too unstable to reasonably reclaim, and is the only former region of the Alliance not under the control of any nation.
Those who remain in the Nieużytek are often those who do not wish to be found by the government of any nation in the Orion Spur. They are often deserters, bandits, pirates, mercenaries, or anarchists who, dissatisfied with the broader Spur, have relocated to this area. To live in the Nieużytek is not a romantic existence: it is one where every day of life is a difficult task and survival is often in question, as the ex-SFA warlords who lord over much of the region are known for both their immense greed and cruelty. It is unlikely the Nieużytek will ever be a productive region of space before the next century, and the Alliance has shown no desire to reclaim it.