Dynastic Wars

The Dynastic Wars describe a collection of wars fought between years -3000 and -10 for control over the star systems in modern day Zones 2-6, and at its largest scale involved over 20 star systems.

Due to the destruction of the Library of Alexander in year -1300, true historical accounts of the early part of the wars are difficult to find. Many stories of the ancient empires and even the early dynasties in the war are likely mythical in nature.

The best accepted historical accounts to date are recorded in three historical texts, by three seperate authors:

1. The Great War (covering years -3000 to -2000)

2. Endless War (covering years -2000 to -1000)

3. No End to War (covering years -1000 to -10)

A non cannocial fourth text is often taught in universities as an epilogue to the third text, detailing events of the Great Summoning and formation of the Tau Kappa Alliance.

## First Phase (-3000 to -2000)

Recorded history before the years -3000 has not been uncovered within modern day Zones 2-6, and the only historical texts that accurately detail events before the year -1500 are the aforementioned works. *The Great War* was published in year -2000 by James Alexander, a historian from the Kappa Dynasty.

The text begins with a stellar map and overview of the two dominant powers at the time, the Kappa Dynasty and the Gamma Dynasty. Interestingly, the text makes no mention of the mythical Alpha and Beta Dynasties from which the two powers claim descendence. This lack of information is a leading piece of evidence against the Alpha and Beta Dynasties true existence. Opponents argue that the formation of the dynasties, political and geographic, were not mentioned anywhere in the text, so the lack of histrorical account is not evidence enough for such a conclusion.

Although the text is titled The Great War, only the first half of the text describes the 600 year long stalemate between the Kappa and Gamma Dynasties, ending sometime in year -2400. Famous battles, tallying of lives lost and cities destroyed, and political motives were the main focus of this first half of the text.

The rest of the text deals with the aftermath of the fall of the Gamma Dynasty. It describes the histories of the various factions that were absorbed into the Kappa Dynasty as its power consolidated. It also describes the histories of various states that rebelled and broke away from the Kappa Dynasty, with varying results.

## Second Phase (-2000 to -1000)

**First Part**

*Endless War* was a series of novels later compiled into a historical text by Coinage Co, a publishing firm in the Tau Confederacy. J Diamond and Cilia Waters are two of the most attributed authors, composing a majority of chapters before year -1300.

Of the many rebel groups that broke off from the Kappa Dynasty, the planet Tau IV Alpha in Zone 5 remained unpacified for over 500 years. The Kappa Dynasty's influence declined in the years between -2000 and -1800, allowing several factions to gain more autonomy and form their own independent planetary governments.

The planets in Zones 5-6 soon gained enough self suffiiciency to formally declare independence. Leading the movement was the Tau IV Alpha planet, which formed the Tau Confederacy with two other planets and their moons early on in the wars. Several planets joined the uprisings and the rebel forces won a large amount of complete victories in Zones 4-6.

Unbeknownst to the rebel forces at the time, the Kappa Dynasty was dealing with too many incursions on their fringe systems to effectively control the rebellion. Starting around year -1400, legions of armies known as the Raiders or Space Raiders arrived and violently raided and colonised planets in modern day Zones 2-7, 9, 15, 17-19. The Kappa Dynasty and other factions were devastated by these raids, and many factions collapsed.

**Second Part**

Authors refer to the "clonoids" or "armies of clones" when describing the military conquests of the Kappa Dynasty around this period. Combined with scientific and military texts preserved from the Kappa Dynasty, these clone armies were indeed the first generations of Clonoids that comprise part of the Trooper species.

While the clone armies initially succesfully contained many rebellions, treatment of the Clonoids was poor by the Kappa Dynasty. Eventually, many Clonoids in turn rebelled against their creators, seized control of the means of their own production, and formed their own dynasties.

This period was one of endless war, and over 5000 wars were recorded, an average of 10 per year, in between years -1800 and -1300. The Caster armies fought against Trooper armies, while Raiders continued to pillage and conquer land from all parties.

The only major powers to survive were the Kappa Dynasty, which was reduced to controlled fewer than two star systems, the Tau Confederacy, which ceeded land on their planets to the Raiders and were somewhat assimilated, and the Omega Dynasty, which was distant from the main raiding activity. Accounts of the raids are provided mainly by historians from the Omega Dynasty, as it was the Raiders who burned the Library of Alexander down, along with its historical records.

## Third Phase (-1000 to -10)

After the destruction of the Library of Alexander, the Tau Kappa systems were thrown into a "dark ages" period in which economic activity, development, and histrorical and literary works became absent between the years -1300 and -800. The historical text *No End To War* is an exception, covering battles fought within this period with remarkable accuracy.

The invasions by the Raiders left the Tau Kappa sectors in ruins, but the immense devastation actually allowed for a brief period of respite and recovery, as empires were too exhausted to fight. During this time, assimilation of the Raiders into the population of the Tau Kappa sectors created two new subspecies, known as the Casters and Subcast.

In year -900, planets in Zone 9, the center of power for the Omega Dynasty, were annihilated in a supernova. Refugee vessels from the unprepared empire were recieved on some planets. On other planets, military vessels of the Omega Dynasty attempted forced conquest, starting a new wave of wars and struggles of power.

During this time, dozens of factions formed and fell, with the most stable being the Kappa Dynasty, the Holy Kappa Kingdoms, the Tritrion Kingdoms, a second rendition of the Gamma Dynasty, and the United Tau Federation, forming from the remains of the Tau Confederacy.

It was thought at the time that the great Kappa Dynasty would finally fall, as turmoil had caused it to decline for millennia. The Holy Kappa Kingdoms and Gamma Dynasty were thought to be likely replacements, but in the end both factions were conquered by the Kappa Dynasty. Of the dozens of factions that formed throughout these hundreds of years, and the hundreds of empires that fell in the past thousands, only the Kappa Dynasty stood as the sole remaining power in the cluster by year -10.

The aftermath of the Dynastic Wars include signifiantly reduced power of the Kappa Dynasty, as many of their planets and populations were destroyed during the war. By the end of the wars, the Kappa Dynasty failed to secure influence beyond Zones 2-6, and the remaining "border zones" were left as independent states ruined by war.