Trifold Union

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The Trifold Union is an agreement signed by the Coreworlds Conglomerate, the Empire of the Queil and the Ele Dominion, confirming the formation of an interstellar alliance between the three parties.

The Trifold Union was negotiated and later ratified at the Threshold of the Ninth Plane, a monastery on the planet Andar Prime, in the Andarra system. Its signatories were Ambassador Rayan Tiller of the Coreworlds Conglomerate, Prince Aster of the Queil and an unnamed representative from the Ele.

The terms of the Trifold Union solidify the existing borders of the three parties’ territories, while allowing for peaceful coexistence and further expansion towards the outer galaxy. It is not known what demands or offers were made by the Ele, and those portions of the documents have already been heavily redacted. Critics were wary of the unknown party’s influence on the Union, but Ambassador Tiller reassured citizens of the Coreworlds that the new agreement would lead to prosperity for everyone in the galaxy. The Union, unable to determine the true name of the Ele delegation's flagship, dubbed it the 'Arrowhead' in their reports, due to its distinctive shape.

Among the particulars of the Trifold Union are terms forbidding the creation or use of high volume payload weapons, such as the the experimental Kalamus Devastator secretly developed by the Queil military. This clause has apparently not deterred the Queils from pressing on with research into such weapons in secret.

Another key element of the Trifold Union is the creation of the Vassal Territories, civilisations whose borders fall within those of the three main Union powers but who remain largely independent, yet without the economic, military or population strength to rival the Conglomerate, Queils or Ele. These territories, including the Dothroi, the Eldori, the Iniir Protectorate and the Rimbalan Bloc, benefit from the Union's protection but have only minor say in its politics.

One of the first projects to see widespread collaboration between the member states of the Trifold Union was the ARK Mandate, an institution spearheaded by the Aglostarros University Museum tasked with preserving and protecting rare and unique artefacts and specimens from across the galaxy.

As the Empire of the Queil began to voice its concerns regarding the arrival of Project Centennial’s Centurion probes in its territory, the members of the Trifold Union summoned the project’s Curator, Endelle Stroth to meet with them on Andar Prime. The aim of the summit was nominally to find solutions to the increasing volatility in the galaxy, but Stroth feared that it would prove to be more of an admonishment for her recent actions to foment such volatility.

Following the summit, the astropolitical community began to speculate that relations between the members of the Union had cooled, under pressure from threats such as the Galactic Liberation of Wonder movement, the anonymous employers of the Montreau Conservatory and the Centurion probes themselves. However, speaking to press between negotiations, Ambassador Rayan Tiller reaffirmed that the Union members were committed to protecting the citizens of the galaxy.

As a consequence of their meeting with Curator Stroth, the members of the Trifold Union agreed to form the Union Defence Alliance, which incorporated Queil military units, the ARK Mandate and most private colonial security forces, which the Union reportedly bought outright. The Union hoped that pitting the UDA against GLoW would help to protect its territories, but the force struggled to control the threats. General Stele of the Queil Empire made clear in a press release that the Union intended to fight against GLoW until the frontier was free of threat.

Following continued antagonism between the Centurion probes and the Empire of the Queil, the Trifold Union ultimately decided in 2270 to issue an open warrant for the arrest of now ex-Curator Stroth. The warrant stipulated that Stroth be brought in alive and unharmed for a reward of ⍺100,000. It was rumoured that the Union was holding a further charge of sedition in reserve, regarding Stroth’s suspected association with GLoW. The Union upped the reward to ⍺200,000, and then to ⍺400,000, as the potential allegations of treason became more credible.

When experimental anti-Centurion munitions developed by the Queil were seemingly successful in destroying Centurions 56 and 72 in the Gordian Veldt, the weaponry was deployed to all other forces under the Trifold Union. Digital autopsies of the downed drones confirmed that GLoW had patched their software extensively using the command codes of the AUM Curator, leading the Union to increase the bounty on Endelle Stroth to ⍺1,000,000. However, despite having been dismantled down to only their data cores, both Centurions 56 and 72 later broke out of containment by apparently rebuilding their entire bodily structures from components of the research station in which they were being held.

This incident prompted the Trifold Union to shift tactics, from engaging the Centurions directly to relocating sensitive targets away from the drones' projected flight plans. The Union also extended a hand of peace to GLoW, suggesting that any recriminations against the insurgents could be deferred in the interest of finding a solution to the Centurion problem together.

Later in 2270, as the Centurions began to send back their findings from within the Ele Dominion, the Union grew concerned that the Ele Metanation posed an astropolitical threat, with some characterising the entity as a "zombifying hive mind". They summoned Ele ambassador El-Deen to explain why details of this threat were withheld, in what the AlTime News Channel speculated was an "incriminating lie of omission".

Tensions between Union members continued to be strained when the Coreworlds Conglomerate and Queil Empire attempted to stem the exodus of citizens to the Ele Dominion by establishing checkpoints along the Dominion's border. In a rare instance of vocal protest, the Ele remarked that this move was not in the spirit of the Union, and that free movement across borders had been one of their few conditions upon joining the Trifold Union.