Sep 10, 2020 7:11 pm
Space is big. Really big. You just won't believe how vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big it is.
-Douglas Adams
The beginning
After the invention of the hyperdrive in the year 2097 humanity quickly began to exand into the milky way. Asteroid mining and in-space construction was already very advanced and so the hyperdrive served as the intial spark for an explosion of interstellar travel and settlement.
Many conflicts for ressources or political influence just ceased to be because of the relative ease to just restart somewhere else. Some people just wanted to live a relatively simple life on an untouched planet whilst others wanted to rebuild civilization after their ideals. The hyperdrive was the key to a seemingly infinite numbers of planetary systems. If there was a system with no habitably planets space stations or encapsulated cities were built.
After 25 years the leaders of Earth and the biggest colonies began to realize that the extensive colonization was not only a great achievement but also led to severe cases of human suffering.
There was no oversight whatsoever and so some colonies descended into tyranny, starved to death or were eradicted by pirates. Piracy in general was rampant. Some planets became infamous as hubs for large scale human traficking.
A constitution was crafted that set rules for, among other things, colonies, interplanetary defence, enactement of laws and elections.
The human federation was born. Each colony enjoyed relative independence but had to adhere to humanitarian and democratic standards.
Even with the power of the hyperdrive distances were vast and travel times could be several months. The human federation was divided into sectors. The sectors were defined in a way that each system in a sector could be reached within one month of travel time. That made sure that the government of the sector could quickly react to potential threats or humanitarian crisis.
First contacts
In the year 2157 the first spacefaring alien race was dicovered. A prospector ship entered the system PS0159-1235-67 and encountered a ship of an alien race known as Golba-Vizaar. This was the birth of many things, from exolinguistics, exoanthropology to interspecies trade.
The Golba-Vizaar (in fact two seperate alien species and the only known instance of two sentient species evolving on the same planet without eradicating each other) proved to be friendly. Embassies were established and treaties regulating the friendly coexistance of both species were signed.
But not all encounters provided to run that frictionless.
The Sarkem, an alien lifeform that looked and behaved like some form of insect, saw the first contact with the humans as the begin of an invasion and began a five year war that devasted two human sectors and several of the Sarkem's planets.
Within the decades to follow humanity discovered more than 10 sentient, spacefaring species.
There were some conflicts with some of them but at least neutral relationships could be established with all of them.
The Pok-Dominion
2301 a colony was established in the Pok system. It stood out because it had 12 planets. One of the planets and two of the moons proved to be habitable and resources were abudant.
Soon after the first colony was established an alien fleet appeared in the system and began shooting at the colony and any other ship in the system. The fleet of the human federation came to save the colonists but was severely beaten at the first battle of the Pok system.
In the following 8 years the mysterious alien fleet began to systematically attack one human settlement after the other. The mysterious alien were called the Pok Dominion. Named after the system in which they were first encounteres
Diplomats tried to contact the Pok Dominion and sue for peace but all attempts to establish communications were ignored.
The colonies tried to resist fiercly but could only delay the inevitable defeat. Some smaller battles were occasionally won but as soon as the main fleet of the Pok Dominion set its way to the next system it was doomed.
In this desperate situation the human federation called for a conference on the icy planet Atteka V. The human diplomats explained that this fleet is unstoppable without the help of the fleets of the other alien races. That there is no way of knowing if the Pok Dominion will stop after eradicating the human race.
After difficult negotiations the treaty of Atteka VII was signed with most of the present alien races. A defensive alliance that compelled all signature races to come to help if any of the members is under attack. From now on the tide turned.
The combined fleet of seven alien races was able to drive back the Pok dominion. Many hard battles were fought but after ten years the fleet of the Pok Dominion was finally beaten at the second battle of the Pok system.
After this decisive victory the alliance received to only message ever from the Pok Dominion:
You have won. We will cede the system of the twelve planets to you. We will stop fighting but if you enter any system claimed by us we will continue to fight until you are destroyed. You have been warned
As the allied fleet suffered great losses too the fighting stopped and the Pok system marked something like an unofficial border between the Pok Dominion and the races of the treaty of Atteka V.
The situation now
It's been 33 years since the great war and humanity has recuperated from the heavy losses of the war. New colonies were established and new ships were built. There is relative peace and additional races have signed the treaty of Atteka V. The Pok Dominion stayed peaceful. Some daring freelancers tried to venture into the Pok Dominion but no one returned. The Pok Dominion seems to realize that those ships are not part of an invasion and stayed peaceful but the lingering danger of another invasion troubles the leaders of all races. Some call for a preemptive strike but for now those voices are a minority.
The treaty of Atteka V is a bond that connects human and alien races in a way that is more than a pure defensive alliance. It was expanded by chapters regarding trade, colonial efforts, borders as well as other topics and evolved into a comprehensive framework of interspecies relation.
For now there is peace and humanity is thriving. How long is unknown...