History Of The Venerial Republic

Extracted and abridged from the Official History, produced by the Venerian Ministry of Information

Genesis - Before 3057

The genesis, one could almost say pre-history, of the Venerian Republic goes back to pre-interstellar days, the first step on the second planet in the Solar System, the original Venus. In 2740 the first manned expedition to the planet Venus was undertaken, partly funded by The Church of the Seventh Coming, this was quickly followed by a permanent settlement in 2753 supported by an orbital station.

Following the Utopia Congress of 2858 The Church claimed the planet Venus for itself, taking formal control of the colonies that it had effectively founded over 100 years before, they also founded a fledgling colony on the inner most planet Mercury, in 2864. However, Mercury was sufficiently inhospitable for the colony to be little more than a flag planting exercise to claim the planet for The Church.

The motivation of The Church of the Seventh Coming was to found an entirely religious based community, to have a society with none of the cares and worries of secular society and a group of eminent scientists had a new and revolutionary plan for terra-forming such an inhospitable planet to turn it into a utopia.

Throughout the next twenty turbulent years the colony on Venus struggled to implement the terra-forming plan, and it became clear that the original projections were hopelessly optimistic. It was going to take many hundreds of years to make Venus even marginally habitable for normal humans and the plan was abandoned. Thus, on 2885 the Venerian Exodus commenced, a new star system had been found which had good prospects for a colony and The Church abandoned the inner planets of the Sol system and moved to the "Promised Land", or "Canaan" as it came to be known. It needs to be pointed out that The Church of the Seventh Coming, and hence its legal successor the Venerian Republic, has never given up its claim upon the two inner most planets of the Sol system and they are still technically part of the Republic.

From this point on The Church started to lose its pre-eminent position within Venerian society but the time spent in the Venusian and Mercurian colonies by the original Venerians had forged them into a single minded and hard band of people. They quickly took control of the infrastructure of the colony in the Canaan system and moved on to also take leading roles in the founding of other colonies in nearby systems.

Thus Venerians, and The Church, were heavily involved in the founding of colonies in the Olan and Agni systems in 2919, the Vladimir system in 2922, the New Venus system itself in 2927 and the Beza system in 2934. Whilst these colonies remained under the control of the Solar Republic they developed their own identity and culture, drifting further and further from the aspirations and ideals of the Earthicans. Venerians were also heavily involved in the founding of independent colonies in the Ekaterina and Romulus systems in 2938.

As Humans expanded their sphere of influence Venerians went with them and in each Quadrant of Human space a cluster of systems were colonised by Venerians under the overall umbrella of the Solar Republic, and its successor The Earth Empire. The separation of the Venerians from the Earthicans finally came to a head in 3070 on Romulus III.

Famous Venerians in History - 2900 to 3045

Before we move on to the Venerian War of Independence, we should take the time to consider the often sadly ignored part played by Venerians in the pre-Republican expansion of the human sphere and their not insubstantial contribution to the arena of war and politics during the intervening 185 years.

For example, although the Venerian colonies were spared the ravages that others suffered during the A.I. War (2900) we still had a notable involvement, at the Battle of Stickney: The 4th Marine Regiment, the unit responsible for defeating the evil AI, was commanded by Lt. Col. Stefan Brown, a Venerian (on his mother's side). Also, within the officer hierarchy of the same regiment was a second Venerian, a distant relative of our current beloved President.

During the Wolfer Secessionist War (2922 - 2923) the chief of staff of the Wolfer Admiral was Commodore von Mannstein, a Venerian, who masterminded the battle plan for the stunning victory the Wolfers achieved over the Earthican Fleet. Moving the Wolfer vessels through an asteroid field that the Earth admiral regarded as impenetrable the Wolfers were able to flank the Earth Fleet and inflict a humiliating defeat.

Through 2926 to 2928 the Solar Republics infamous 8th Republican Fusilier Ground Force Division were based on Sirius. Commanded by Major General Ivan Duchturov, a Venerian, they were instrumental in putting down the Sirian rebellions with extreme prejudice.

When the Solar Republic was reconstituted as The Earth Empire in 2943 many of the high military positions were held by Venerians. To this day we will always maintain that it was an equipment malfunction that targeted the Hyama Dome (2944) for space bombardment and this was definitely not done on the orders of Adm. Alexei Chichagov, a Venerian - this was confirmed at the subsequent Board of Enquiry.

It was not only in the military sphere that Venerians excelled and took prominent positions in Human history; the Treaty of Bates (2950), which set out the colonial administrative Quadrants was masterminded by Astro-Surveyor Andrei Massen-Dexon. Hence the popular name of Massen-Dexon lines for the artificial boundaries of each Quadrant.

During the Asteel War of Independence Venerians had many roles and positions on both sides but notably the mass driving attack on Vulkan (2976) was overseen by Commodore Tutchkov, a Venerian. Rather ironically it was Ambassador Bagration, also a Venerian, representing The Earth Empire for the drafting of the Treaty of Geneva (2977) which outlawed mass driving.

In 3045 a combined fleet of Earthican, Martian and Esteeler forces were assembled to attack an installation in the Cinder Seat system which was running an illegal A.I. When the three fleets assembled it was realised that each one was commanded by a Venerian, and what's more they were related!

Parties & Massacre - 3057 to 3070

Many trace the break with Earth back to 3070 though in truth cracks had begun to form many years earlier. For a considerable period of time there had been discontent within the Venerian pioneered systems in Q0 over the high level of taxation imposed from Earth, and with the perennial gripe of 'taxation without representation'. While the colonies were allowed to elect local 'assemblies' these bodies had no say in taxation or other 'Imperial' issues and thus the colonies had no direct influence on the Imperial Government back on Sol III. It would however be wrong to put the coming split entirely down to financial causes. As noted above, the Venerian systems increasingly developed their own identity and culture, and more and more saw themselves as different to what was perceived as a distant and uncaring Empire.

In 3057, the flap of the butterfly's wings that was to cause the storm occurred - the Venerian Peoples Party (VPP) was formed to campaign for lower taxes and the right for the colonies to elect their own senators. Despite the inherent legitimacy of these aims, the Earth Empire saw this as an act of disloyalty and reacted by raising taxes still further and clamping down on civil rights.

Such oppression, however, merely increased VPP membership and support - over the next eight years more & more assembly elections were contested and an increasing number won. By 3065 the whole planetary government of New Venus was controlled by the VPP, with 73% of the system assembly being VPP members. Despite this, the Earth appointed Governor tried to run the system with a minority cabinet, blocking local attempts at taxation reforms in particular. In 3066 the VPP head of the New Venus assembly died in a hovercar accident, some believe suspiciously. Investigations into his death turned up evidence of alleged electoral fraud and the Governor promptly dissolved the New Venus assembly. Over the next year similar evidence of fraud was 'found' against all the assemblies dominated by the VPP and they were dissolved too. Mass arrests of VPP members occurred and the party was effectively removed from power.

In 3067 radical elements within the VPP, frustrated at the failure of the political route, split off and formed the Venerian Freedom Party (VFP). This party began openly espousing a separatist manifesto and the use of direct action to achieve this aim. Anti-Imperial demonstrations became more frequent. The Earth Empire increased taxes to punitive levels, and sent in more soldiers. Unrest continued to simmer, until in 3070 things came to a head with two key events.

First, in 3070.152 dock workers at Romulus station, incited by VFP activists, spaced an entire C5000 cargo ship full of Terran lager in protest at the 950% taxation - this is of course the famous 'Romulan Ale Party'. The Imperial system governor, Lord Hague, was incensed. Not only was he a big fan of Terran Lager, but the chairman of Imperial Beverages Inc. was a close personal friend and had just lost a lot of money. Security was tightened and arrests of known VFP sympathisers began in earnest.

Meanwhile, in the university city of Petersburg on Romulus III, a group of students had been planning a series of peaceful demonstrations in support of the VFP. Refusing to be cowed by the governor's televisualised tirades they went ahead with the first march on 3070.222. Once again governor Hague overreacted - a demonstration of a little over 10,000 citizens found itself faced by three Earthican Ground Force Divisions (GFD). Despite this the march started peacefully until the troops tried to herd the demonstrators into a local park. The park however was far too small for such a crowd and people started to resist and attempt to escape the crush. The troops, believing they were coming under attack, opened fire. Hundreds were killed and countless more injured before the Massacre of Petersburg Park, referred to by the Earthicans as the 'Battle' of Romulus, was 'won' by the Imperial military.

Shock and outrage fanned out from Romulus throughout all the Venerian pioneered systems, even those where Venerians were not the majority. Spontaneous demonstrations, strikes and uprisings erupted across all of the systems. On New Venus a mob of VFP sympathisers surprised the local police and seized the Governors office and its comms station, and declared the planet independent. When the Governor ordered the army to retake his office they were met by a crowd in excess of 80,000. The commanding officer withdrew his troops to orbit and insisted on orders from Earth before he committed to such an attack.

Rebellion - 3071 to 3090

While they were crushed in early 3071 when fresh troops arrived from Sol, the so called '100 days of freedom' of the New Venus Free Council lit a fire which engulfed all of the Venerian systems, as they had begun to think of themselves. In 3072 alone there were 23 separate declarations of Venerian independence from various parts of the Venerian colonies. The VFP hastily formed a military wing, the Venerian Republican Army (VRA), but it was lightly armed and equally lightly trained. It was no match for the Imperial military juggernaut and all attempts at independence were rapidly and bloodily put down. However, whenever the imperial military moved to put down one area of rebellion, two more sprung up in its wake. It took until 3077 before 'order' was completely restored and the Empire had the Venerian systems in the firm grip of martial law.

This however did not stop the rebellion, it merely forced it underground. The surviving VRA members organised themselves into several distinct branches, the terrorists (Vengun), the underground army (Venanah) and the underground shock troops (Venmach). Each system was seeded with cells of Vengun and formations of Venanah and Venmach.

The Vengun were often branded as terrorists committing atrocities against Earthican civilian and political targets and pin-prick actions against Imperial military forces to pin them down. The Venanah were an army in being, slowly equipped and secretly training ready for the day they would be needed to rise up and openly fight the forces of the Earthican regime. Starting as companies, they expanded to battalions, brigades and eventually the equivalent of complete divisions, at least one per Venerian system. Finally, the Venmach were the elite force of this newly organised Venerian military force, hand-picked from the Venanah, these were zealots with brains. They committed small scale military attacks against Earthican military installations and then melted back into the surrounding civilian infrastructure.

Each time the Earthicans perceived an terrorist outrage, committed by the Vengun or Venmach, they lashed out in their normal heavy handed manner merely fuelling the anti-Earthican feeling rather than quashing resistance, and so the forces arrayed against them grew. What had been an actively supported minority independence movement in the 3070's grew to be a majority cause and became increasingly identified with what it meant to be Venerian. Resistance increased and the Earthicans were forced to deploy additional troops to the Venerian worlds. By 3085 over 60% of the Imperial GFDs and 75% of their anti-terrorist units were in the Venerian colonies and their security elsewhere was being compromised.

By 3089 the Vengun, Venmach and Venanah were getting ready for their 'final' strike. Before they could rise up though they were betrayed by a deep anti-terrorist operative, code named 'Harry Game'. Most of the leaders of the planned uprising were arrested and tortured. Whole swathes of the VRA were captured and moves made against arms caches and training camps. Once again the flame of freedom was flickering, near to extinction.

The War of Independence - 3090 to 3095

What happened next has been hotly debated ever since. It is clear that the Imperial forces were shocked and caught off guard by the size of the response to their actions. While the exact numbers of people involved is still unclear today, one thing is certain: all across the Venerian systems the people rose up spontaneously in popular revolt.

An example of this was in the township of Woebegone in the Vladimir system, when the bulk of the locally stationed Earthican military seized the local Venanah arms cache, the civilians, supported by the remaining Venanah overran the Earthicans arsenal, incurring terrible casualties. The Earthicans then found themselves against a heavily armed mob supported by the local Venanah operating the Earthicans own hover-tanks. Despite calling in aerospace forces for support the Imperial forces were overrun and eliminated.

This pattern repeated itself all over the Venerian systems. The Empire lost 6 GFDs in their entirety, most caught in their barracks and overrun by civilians once their security fences had been breached by the Venmach. The Venerians also gained control of a number of space vessels, Star Guard and shuttles, a few PACs and even a couple of Naval vessels where the crew and marines were Venerian in the majority.

By 3091 the Empire had less overall control that it had during the high watermark of the rebellion in 3073. The level of Imperial control, however, varied greatly from system to system, and from year to year. In some places and times they had almost total control with Venerian activity reduced to acts of terrorism. In others the Venerian control of the countryside was almost complete with the Earthicans only controlling the ground they stood on.

The Earthicans were further hobbled when Old Mars took advantage of all the missing troops and rose up in one of its periodic revolts. The resultant border tensions with the New Martians also tied up a lot of Imperial naval assets. However, where the Earthicans could deploy their remaining ships they would gain the ascendancy. In other systems the Venerians would gain the upper hand. But neither side could wrest complete control of any system from the other. For four long, bloody, years the war dragged on in a form of dynamic stalemate.

That was until early in 3093, when in a surprise strike the polyglot Venerian fleet arrived in the Canaan system. The beleaguered Earthican forces were overwhelmed in a matter of days and Canaan became the first system totally under Venerian control.

A few weeks later New Venus City fell to the Venanah, when a strike by the Venmach liberated the inmates of Bastine prison and the people rose up in celebration and support. Fleeing to orbit, the Imperial Governor, Lord Louie, ordered the orbiting 17th Imperial Fleet to open fire and "wipe that accursed city from the history of the universe".

It is perhaps the greatest irony, that one of the pivotal figures in Venerian history was not actually a Venerian (not even on his mother's side). Rather Captain John Patel was a much rarer thing - an honourable Earthican! As we all know, that fateful day he refused Governor Louie's order and instead turned the guns of the BBI Potemkin on the rest of the 17th Fleet, calling on his fellow captains to "Join him and stop this madness". Almost half did - the remainder were surprised and either captured or destroyed. With the fleet on their side, the rest of the system quickly fell into Venerian hands.

This was a huge blow to the Imperial regime. They were already under heavy criticism from the other polities and facing a massive naval build-up on their 'north-eastern' border as their relations with New Mars deteriorated alarmingly. Now they had lost two entire systems and seen an interstellar fleet defect to the opposition. The Emperor was not amused and in late 3093 the 13th and 15th Imperial Fleets, scavenged from reserves all over the Empire, were despatched from Sol to New Venus.

However, a Venerian patriot in the Imperial navy had forewarned the Venerian Commanders, and they were ready. When the two Imperial fleets started their burn into the New Venus system they realised that they were in a trap. The Venerian 1st fleet was burning in behind them as the 17th Fleet burned towards them from in system. In the ensuing Battle of New Venus the Imperial forces were shocked by the way the Venerians were prepared to fight, using anything at their disposal. Although the Venerians were outgunned in almost all departments they used suicide shuttles to ram their opponents, including the loss of a TPTI and an ALSI, carrying one and a half GFD, to ramming shuttles with nukes on board. Shocked and disheartened the Imperial admirals surrendered to avoid any further loss of life.

With all the naval forces available to the Venerians concentrated in the New Venus system to meet the Earthicans counter-stroke the Canaan system was open to attack and was retaken after a bitter, but short, struggle. Despite this success the tide had turned against the Earth Empire.

The defeat at New Venus was the final straw that broke the back of the Imperial camel and from this point on the Earth regime fought defensively. When in late 3094 New Mars and the Wolf 359 Commonwealth threatened to join the conflict on the side of the Venerians, the Empire agreed to a negotiated settlement. In mid 3095, the Congress of Gorilla met and Imperial and VFP lawyers drew up the Treaty of Recognition. After less than a week of negotiations, the Earth Empire, together with New Mars and the Wolf 359 Commonwealth, signed and formally recognised the Venerian Republic. The one serious regret for the Venerians was that the original colony system, Canaan, remained in Imperial control, to achieve their independence they had to swallow this bitter pill. But they were determined that Canaan would be relieved of the Imperial yoke as soon as possible and the Republican home systems were originally New Venus, Agni, Beza, Olan & Vladimir.

With the establishment of the Republic of New Venus many of the independent colonial systems which had been settled by Venerians, or were sympathetic to the Venerian cause, and in many cases had actively been involved in the War of Independence elected to join the Republic. This was initially a temporary arrangement, but was formalised immediately after the election of the first President, 3107, and these systems are seen as founding systems. They are, in Q1 - Riprap, Reefer & Herring, in Q2 - Macbeth, Cob, Klown & Gros, in Q3 - Draal, Fashar & Safar, in Q4 - Jyaistha & Stu, in Q5 - Tear, Kling, Loopy & Simm, in Q6 - Patlabor, Brown, Bombastic & Buster, in Q7 - Oith, B'Noth, Csoyl, Yndya, V9 & W6 and in Q8 - Diddykay, Poppy Ally & Goof Ball. From 3100 onwards all the systems listed above appear on star charts as Republican systems.

The Second Revolution - 3095 to 3106

In the aftermath of the war several opportunistic elements within the VFP took control of the Venerian worlds and set up the Provisional Government of New Venus. Elections were promised 'when things had calmed down' and the rebuilding of the shattered Venerian infrastructure was started.

By 3097 there still had been no elections and the Provisional Government had been reduced down to a triumvirate (The infamous Magrat 'Ma' Thacker, Anthony Blurr, and Joseph Steel) by two years of successive party purges. Taxes were now higher than at any time under the Earthicans and rumours began to circulate that the bulk of the taxes were not going to rebuilding the colonies but rather to keep the triumvirate in 'Imperial luxury'. There were also rumours that they were expanding their personal bodyguard to GFD size and that these were being trained and equipped by Earthican military advisors.

Their fate was sealed when a political pundit pointed out on a popular tri-vid show that there wasn't actually any provision for elections in the treaty of Gorilla and that furthermore it included a clause permitting the Imperial armed forces free access to Venerian space in pursuit of 'security objectives'. As the pundit succinctly put it "those politicians and lawyers sold us out - they should have been first up against the wall when the revolution came".

Once again the freedom loving people of the Venerian colonies took to the streets, but this time against their own provisional government. It looked for a while like the government would quickly fall until, in 3098, a brilliant advertising campaign broke on all the Tri-Vid stations hyping up the threat to the nascent Republic from the sinister scientists of Mald. Bedazzled, the people rallied around the government and the military set off for the systems controlled by the Mald Foundation. After a small action in which both sides suffered losses an agreement was reached and the Venerian forces withdrew.

Interestingly, a recent paper in 'Interstellar History Today' posits that the only thing under threat from the Mald Foundation in 3098 was the economy of the Earth Imperium. The paper also notes documentary evidence of visits by Imperial operatives to the ruling clique on New Venus at this time. The centre piece of the paper though is a recently rediscovered 'dossier' released jointly by the Provisional Government & The Imperial Intelligence Services in 3098. Titled "Weapons of Massive Destruction - what the evil big-foreheaded Scientists of Mald are really up to and why they hate all freedom loving polities", this document was apparently the key publication in the decision to go to war. It must be noted that no weapons of massive destruction were ever found in Mald possession. Still, whatever the causes, the Venerian attack on the Mald was the last inter-polity war in Quadrant 0.

Once the false patriotism of the Mald debacle wore off the people rose up in even larger numbers than before. This "Second Revolution" was largely a peaceful affair, a velvet revolution. The people were weary of bloodshed and confined their discontent to parades, marches and strikes which started to paralyse the economy. The great strike of Synthi (now of course renamed Patlabor in honour of it's Patriotic Laborers) illustrates the revolution well. When, in 3100, the local VFP governor ordered the army to bring the 'great freedom march' to an end, using force if necessary, he was shocked when the troops merely stepped aside and allowed the demonstration to continue. In fact many did 'a Patel' and joined in with their demonstrating comrades. When he insisted that they open fire, they arrested him and handed over the system government to a revolutionary council of workers and soldiers.

Similar stories occurred all over the republic. City by city, system by system the Provisional government watched their power crumble as a series of local councils took power, often lead by the military, the workers or the civil service.

At this point it looked as if the New Republic would shatter into a hundred separate parts, each with its own rules for democracy and the exercise of power. However, in 3102, a brilliant young Venerian Civil Servant, Stephen Att-Field, proposed a solution. A great peoples congress would be called and it would visit all the systems of the Republic until a constitution, marrying all the best bits of all the different councils, could be agreed upon. Thus the "Peoples Congress to Establish a Full and New Constitution and Put in Place a System for Democratic Elections and Governance of the Republic", or the PCEFNCPPSDEGR, was begun. It sat in many systems, Beza (3103), Olan (3104), and Agni (3105 - 3106) but it was in Vladimir, in 3106, that accord was finally reached and the new constitution written.

This is not, however, the place to discuss politics. Suffice to say that the Accord of Vladimir is the basis for Venerian democracy and governance. And that since 3106 the Republic has outlawed all political parties, lawyers and advertising executives. Indeed, with only minor amendment [Concordat of Canaan (3110), Reorganisation of Riprap (3115), Transformation of Tear (3119), Revision of Romulus (3127), Amendment of Agni (3131), Alteration of Asadha (3142), Conference of Cob (3158), Reform of Reefer (3169), Convention of Chan (3176), Restructuring of Red Rock (3178), Modification of Macbeth (3183), Improvement of Infoshooter (3189) and Development of Draal (3195)] the constitution agreed at Vladimir is still operative today.

Currently there is a committee considering a proposal for an amendment to the constitution, the Variation of Vir, which would remove the requirement for our current President, President Heinlein, to stand for re-election, making him effectively President for life.

Onwards & Upwards - 3107 to date

In 3107 the first President of the Venerian Republic, Wash Georgington, was elected.

After the fall of the Provisional Government, which had been seen more and more as an Imperial puppet regime despite having gained independence from the Earth Imperium, the Republic actively supported separatist movements in the Canaan system, to the point of supplying military aid when they could. A weak Imperial administration slowly realised that they were facing a war with the Republic if they continued their repressive policies, and the heavier handed they were in dealing with the Venerian separatist movements the closer the war got. Eventually, in 3109, they accepted the inevitable and withdrew from Canaan ceding it to the Venerian Republic. Now all the original Venerian systems in Quadrant Zero were free of Imperial control.

In certain Quadrants the local colonial administration aggressively promoted membership of the Republic, and this resulted in a number of localised conflicts which drew additional systems into the fold.

3110, in Quadrant 8 a conflict erupted between the Republic and GFA, which, after a lightning campaign lasting a mere 2 octants, resulted in the systems of Musashi & Powerhouse joining the Republic.

3121, the first of a series of minor brushfire wars between the Republic and the MAFC breaks out, this one in Quadrant 3, and the Buffer system joins the Republic. 3122, the dispute extends to Quadrant 2 and the Redshoot system joins the Republic. With the MAFC in a political malaise, and failing to respond to this provocation or support the MSN sufficiently, opportunist Republican colonial administrators in Quadrant 7, 3124, and Quadrant 8, 3126, find further reasons for grievance and the B'Krath & B'Narth, Q7, and Curia & Infoshooter, Q8, systems join the Republic.

During a protracted period of unrest and border disputes between the Republic and GFA in Quadrant 4, 3133 - 3137, the Tinky, Pulp & Organia systems are added to the Republic.

In 3144 our current President, the beloved Heinlein, was born, son of a poor civil servant and part time Aqua-Targ Farmer.

3145, further border disputes started by the GFA in Quadrant 2 only result in their defeat and the annexation of the Bogomiles system by the Republic. A subsequent plebiscite confirmed the status of the system with an overwhelming majority of the colonists voting to remain within the Republic.

3107-3150, With the weak Earth administration struggling to maintain a level of authority further independents joined the Republic between 3107 and 3150, the chief amongst these being Ekaterina & Romulus in Q0. But there were also, in Q1 - Eusebius, Freedonia, Holm, Rider & Ivel, in Q2 - Lead Off, in Q3 - G'Drog, Vir & Kotto, in Q4 - Lassie, Glimmer & Xena, in Q5 - Biba & Asadha, in Q6 - Smith and in Q7 - K'Grath.

For two decades, 3150 - 3170, there was serious instability in the colonial Quadrants with many brushfire wars between almost all the polities, and from the Republics perspective the highlights are:-

3152, Quadrant 5 and the MAFC system of Terravision joins the Republic.

3153, Quadrant 2 and the SSR system of Bosrovia joins the Republic.

3155, Quadrant 8 and the GFA system of Mannschaft joins the Republic.

3159, Quadrant 1 and the GFA system of Sehnsucht joins the Republic.

3164, Quadrant 3 and the MAFC system of Garibaldi joins the Republic.

3167, Quadrant 8 and the UoX system of Nest joins the Republic.

3168 - 3169, Quadrant 7 and the Earthican systems of Rok, Roctoo and Red Rock join the Republic.

Finally, 3170, following their humiliating defeat in Quadrant 7, in an effort to blacken the name of the Venerian Republic and draw attention away from the 100th anniversary of the Earthican atrocity of the Massacre of Petersburg Park, the Earthicans sent a group of their own forces into the Safeway Station in The Long End system (Q1). These Earthican forces took control of the orbital station claiming to be Venerians. Subsequently, Earthican forces retook control of this key orbital in a stage managed battle. This incident provoked a colonial war in Quadrant 1 with the Earthicans gaining control of the Freedonia system. This resulted in such a heightened state of friction that a major war was on the verge of breaking out which would have engulfed all of Humanity, however a supreme effort of diplomacy by senior Republican figures resulted in this conflict being averted. The Republic of New Venus still lays claim to the system of Freedonia and its status will form part of any future negotiations between the parties. From this date onwards there has been a period of relative peace within the systems colonised by the Human race.

In 3174 there occurred the so-called Organian Atrocity - a group of rogue scientists, claimed by some to be Venerian, set up a planet-wide medical/genetic experiment (the 'Wild Card Virus') that nearly got out of control and left a few people dead or mutated. In response to international pressure, and to allow a multi-polity medical task force to operate without restriction, the Republican administration was withdrawn from Organia and the system has been technically independent since that date. However, it is expected to return to Republican control in the near future.

Further independent systems join the Republic, in Quadrant 6 the Chan system, 3171, and in Quadrant 5 the Bolton system, 3183.

In 3197 the Battle of Asstek (Q7) officially started the Exterminator War. Later that year a number of major space battles against the Exterminators occurred; Paquito (Q6), Dubai (Q5), Ultra (Q7), Dyme (Q7), Adobe (Q6), French (Q5), Trucker (Q5), Yendor (Q5), Baldar (Q7) and Doggie (Q6).

The following year, 3198, further major space battles against the Exterminators were fought at Senta (Q5), Winky (Q6), Doggie 2 (Q6), L'Fayet (Q7), Flypaper (Q7) and Dyme 2 (Q7). A large Exterminator base was destroyed at Granyt (Q7).

Then again in 3199 major space battles were fought at Begin (Q6) and Peroxide (Q5).

Subsequently, in 3200, two gigantic Exterminator bases were located, one in Q5 (Z'Ha'Dum) and one in Q6 (Red Spot) - both bases were destroyed by huge combined Human fleets after major battles had been fought. Also there was the Battle of Tuskan (Q7) where 16 ESBs were destroyed by a combined human fleet under the Earthican Admiral Tryon, however these ESBs were partially decommissioned, only fought in self defence and therefore the victory was tarnished.

In many of these battles, particularly in Q5, Venerians played prominent roles and many Republican naval vessels have been lost to enemy action in these four years.

Also in 3200 the Treaty of Old London agreed setting up a combined Human headquarters with a Supreme War Commander and the commitment of fleets to a new joint command to fight the Exterminators.

In 3201, following the discovery of what may prove to be a valuable Forerunner site, the major polities sent military forces to the T22 system, later renamed Avalon, to secure the finds which were being plundered by opportunists. There was a disagreement which resulted in several incidents, at Avalon and at Holm, at which the combined Earthican and GFA forces were repelled by the Venerian forces, ably supported by the MSN.

3203, Following referenda the systems of Avalon, ex-T22, Q1, and Bee, Q5, joined the Republic.

New Year 3203 a multi-polity task force set off to investigate the possible finding of an advanced alien civilisation approximately 2 HY from Sol, the Republic made a valuable contribution to Operation Go Boldly in supplying a scientific scout vessel and logistic support craft with full scientific capability. Also a follow up force, Operation Second Sight, was despatched late in 3203 with an extended range scientific survey ship to continue the work of the multi-polity force as it withdrew.


In 3205 the system of Offle, Q4, joined the Republic after a successful referendum.