Crisis of the 13th Eon

The Crisis of the 13th Eon, also known as the 13th Eon Crisis and the Crisis of the Thirteenth Crisis, is a period as well as conflict which pits the Death Cults of Meriana, known for taking over worlds and converting most non-Merianan civilizations into subservient states and reanimated armies, against every civilization. The diverse civilizations and societies which were friendly, neutral or hostile towards each other banded into the Coalition of the Void, composed countries, civilizations, societies, groups and movements that sought to check Merianan aggression and end it.
The eon-long war began when the Death Cults of Meriana intruded into the southern borders of the International Union of Armanya and southwestern borders of the Confederation of Man, followed by Merianan intrusions into the southern borders of the Novayan Stellar Commonwealth and the eastern borders of the Saiyanese Stellar Federation. When the Death Cults of Meriana unleashed its forces upon all of civilization, the nations, civilizations, societies, groups, movements and parties of the Void soon banded into the Coalition of the Void, which were divisive despite attempts to unify the factions fighting the Death Cults; the division worsened after refugees arrived in. The war saw early victories for the Death Cults of Meriana before devolving into a stalemate, which saw limited or full-scale offensive operations and defenses and raids and skirmishes.
It wasn't until the signing of the Coalition of the Void Declaration mid-eon that do away with the division and reluctance, allowing the Coalition of the Void to finally begin a counteroffensive-turned-invasion; this was the result of Indepol, a small independent group which, despite facing legal and illegal actions from most Void states and censorship, hold a realistic solution to unite the aware people and ensuring the survival of civilization. Though the small independent group is scattered between many nations and societies, its actions affected the entirety of the Novayan Stellar Commonwealth so much that its government and people ceased censorship and asked the small group to help unite the factions of the Void in the fight against the Death Cults. As a result, the Coalition of the Void Declaration was signed, and under the small group's directions, the Coalition of the Void became a united front and built its own military from some of the units of every Void states and factions.
The counteroffensive saw the liberation of many worlds formerly taken by the Death Cults of Meriana, but what hardened the hearts of many is that many societies which banded together to survive but were depleted due to many of their peoples being taken to beturned into necroids, the result of the Kingdom of Meriana being overthrown by cultists under Death Prophetess Emilia Markolma, who used the technologies of the Armies of the Light, which were defeated and forced back from the Void after the last war, to build the most powerful military and nation the Void have never seen. Now seeing the full extent of the Death Cults of Meriana and evemore willing to unite once again, the Coalition of the Void invaded the Death Cults of Meriana. The wrathful and vengeful forces of the free Void crushed the Merianan cultists and their undead armies battle after battle, though there were many, many times the Coalition of the Void stopped itself from losing what it was originally designed for: defeating the Death Cults of Meriana and putting an end to their transformation of living voidwalkers into the necroids. Though, there are times where the Coalition of the Void utilized paratechnological weapons to achieve victory, though not without regret; the Null Divider, a weapon capable of "dividing by zero" which causes the targets to cease to exist.
By the time they reached the borders of the former Kingdom of Meriana, the Coalition of the Void conquered much of the Death Cults of Meriana's territories. Meriana's borders were then entered by Coalition forces, which proceeded to conquer world after world, ringworld after ringtworld, station after station, and orbital habitat after orbital habitat. Upon reaching the Meriana system, its worlds were already full to the brim with Merianan refugees and reanimated armies, some of which turned against their masters after complications in the ritual occurred. Meriana IV, capital of the Death Cults of Meriana and the former Kingdom of Meriana, was then invaded alongside the other worlds of the Meriana system. Though bridgeheads were established, surgical strikes were made to decapitate the Death Cults' leadership, leading to the capture, defection or elimination of Merianan leaders; among the captured were Death Prophetess Emilia Markolma, an honorable woman who was corrupted by an artifact belonging to the Armies of the Light.
==Aftermath==
The victory over the Death Cults of Meriana gave the Coalition of the Void finally gave the many nations and peoples of the Void rest. A coalition military occupation of Meriana was declared, and many civilizations and societies which have been ruined were able to recover. Three years after the war, many worlds which were independent of many nations' control, had fallen under the Death Cults of Meriana, and were purged of any Death Cults forces were colonized by small groups of civilians, security forces (composed of former military personnel, police officers, mercenaries, contractors and paramilitary troopers), scientists, thaumaturgists and engineers, who built organized, like-minded and self-sufficient communities based on the small group's plan.
At Armanya, representatives of different governments heatly debated on what to do now, after they defeated the Death Cults of Meriana. Plans were made to dissolve the Coalition of the Void, others wanted to keep it, some remained neutral. The Novayan Stellar Commonwealth, influenced by the small group's realistic and peaceful solution, soon asked the same group to transform the Coalition of the Void into a true intergovernmental organization, based on the steps of the small group's plan. Through their effort, it saw the formation of the International Union of Void States, also known as the Void Coalition, an intergovernmental organization dedicated to maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations between and among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be the center for harmonizing the actions of nations. While many nations believe that everything will return back to pre-war conditions as if the war itself didn't happened, the NSC surprised many by adopting the ideals of Indepol and inviting the small group to help identify and rectify its issues and help reforming its government, police force, military, services, education system, healthcare and economy, which followed the group's ideals and objectives.
*The reforms of the NSC's government saw the lifting of censorship and adopting the group's ideals. The NSC Admiralty have also been reformed to have Fleet Admirals (4-stars or one big star) and/or Admirals (3-stars) run executive governments based on their professions, with a term of three years. The Grand Marshal of the NSC, as part of the reforms, would have a council formed to assist the Grand Marshal in administering the NSC. The NSC's tricameral state legislature, once a rubber stamp of the hereditary military dictatorship, was then made a true law-making body. Finally, as part of a plan to adopt federalism, the NSC's territories were divided into thirteen commissariats.
*The adoption of the philosophy of social democracy. Regarded initially as one of many dangers to the hereditary military regime, Indepol proposed the adoption of social democracy because it helped skyrocket the people's living standards, invest and reinvest in healthcare, childcare and education, and give benefits to the people. A series of small tests involving social democracy began in the NSC's worlds, orbital habitats, ringworlds and home ships, which saw people receiving more benefits. Despite the tests being small, the NSC adopted social democracy, which brought prosperity to the NSC's citizens.
*The NSC Federal Police Service were reformed to prevent any police officer from shooting people they thought to be a threat or attempting to resist. To prevent further shootings, NSC police officers were accompanied by two civilian employees, who have control over what is acceptable and what is not acceptable. Police commissioners and officers known for corruption, taking bribes, and espousing unacceptable views were sacked, imprisoned and then replaced with more decent and competent police commissioners and officers.
*The NSC Armed Forces, once having the largest military, downscaled the size of its overseas personnel stationed throughout the Void as part of a reorganizational plan to transform it into an all-volunteer military force; this also includes transferring 70-75% of its active duty personnel to the NSC Military Reserves. The number of NSC military personnel deployed to the NSC Outer Territories were also reduced, and remaining NSC military units wore blue helmets to identify themselves as peacekeepers. The re-adoption of the network-centric warfare also allowed geographically-dispersed NSC forces to be well-informed.
*Services such as firefighters, rangers, rescue teams and others were retrained, improving their coordination in action while dealing with a fire outbreak and performing search and rescue operations, especially in wide areas and difficult terrain. The NSC services' personnel numbers were also expanded and were provided adequate equipment and funding. Media services find themselves under scrutiny after inspectors exposed fake news, lies and biased news, forcing said media services to reform and restructure itself; the Novayan Central News Agency, which have been forced to censor or edit news and events, finally made itself transparent and soon began broadcasting uncensored and unbiased news. Internet services were also under scrutiny after inspectors discover corruption, graft and exploitation of workers, also leading to said internet services reforming itself.
*The NSC's education system was modified and then reformed to include its history and how to avoid making the same mistakes. The education system's reforms added studies on the small group's ideals and solution. The reforms also saw many schools, which have bullying, ordered to adopt strict anti-bullying measures, and failure to do so results in harsh penalties and then members of their school staffs sacked. Online classes and learning were soon included. Political studies, curtailed since the end of the First Void War, were now included to allow NSC students to study political ideologies and their advantages and disadvantages.
*The NSC Federal Health Service's reforms saw the sacking and arrests of unethical, corrupt and untouchable individuals being sacked and imprisoned. As part of the reforms, the Secretary of Health Services would also be a civilian appointed a direct commission into the Federal Health Service Commissioned Officer Corps, and the position of Secretary of Health Services have a term of three years. Backalley doctors were trained in proper medical procedures. Clinics, hospitals and morgues received funding and the proper equipment and personnel needed to ensure that their duties were properly performed.
*The economy of the NSC have also been reformed. The NSC have adopted a free market-leaning mixed economy, and despite this a lot of the corporations were small and minor and less benefiting, with a small group of large corporations benefiting. After adopting the small independent group's ideals, additional reforms allowed the small and minor corporations and companies to finally flourish, thereby boosting the NSC's economy. The NSC participated in Indepol's international business cooperation. Finally, the NSC adopted digital currency in order to engage in the Void's and Indepol's international internet trade market, and some NSC companies (whether big or small, major or minor, known or unknown) providing Indepol the means of production and logistics.
This event was believed by many as false and an attempt by the NSC to put them into a false sense of peace and security and ignored it, thinking the NSC will collapse from its reforms. It was only when the problems and issues begin to rise in those nations did they realize that the NSC wasn't falsifying its reforms and that it remained standing thanks to the reforms.
This event, alongside the deterioration of the many nations' economies and societies, sent a message across the Void that, even if they wish to maintain the old realm order, every single nation will collapse as a result of maintaining their old order. Reforms were made by these nations, though some had trouble due to nationalism, conservatism, or right-wing, far-right and extreme-right oppositions. Those that refused to reform would find themselves falling or lagging behind and even become stagnant, leading to civil conflicts that required mediation and the presence of IUVS peacekeepers. The Antares Protectorate, one of the NSC's client states and a hereditary military dictatorship, is the first to follow its overlord's steps and pass similar reforms.