The Black Flag

The Black Flag was a decentralized militant movement aimed at opposing and resisting the growing authoritarianism and agressivity of Gasan society under Iyderan's reign. The movement was decentralized and vague, but known for posing a wide range of actions that were disruptive at best and hostile at worse to the Gasan state, like spying on the movement of GRN ships, blocking ports, harbouring fugitives, help mobilize strikes and riots, and, in some case, attack GRN supply lines.

## Origins

### The Democratic Future Society

The Black Flag traces its origins to the manifesto written by a university student from Audela, Saturn: Dorian A' Mare. Dorian was part of a small radical student group called the Democratic Future Society, which, amongst many other Gasan intellectuals during Iyderan's rule, were advocating a return to democracy, which had been lost during the Jovian reform. In a time where the discussion surrounding a return to democracy ranged from wanting a parliamentary monarchy to an outright abolition of the monarchy in favour of a republican system, the Democratic Future society's ideas were considered particularly radical. However, Dorian and his group did not have much influence outside of his university, much less outside of Audela.

Dorian regularly wrote articles in the school newspaper. He kept his more radical ideas more discreet and within his own group, and the ideas he vehiculated in the newspaper were generally vague and embellished with literary devices to bypass censorship. Although, after a brief absence, he published three essays: "The Farce of Democracy", "The Paradox of Pacifism" and "Our fight" in the school newspaper, which later formed his manifesto. Those three last essays were brief, blunt, and direct, much more politically bold than his previous writing. Although it did not have much repercussions initially, the city-wide controversy surrounding those three essays eventually forced the government to intervene. For this, he was arrested by the authorities of Saturn, all members of the the Democratic Future Society were expelled, and the teacher in charge of the newspaper was forced to resign.

Dorian was sentenced without trial and incarcerated to Tartar, which caused massive protests in Audela. The protest gained state wide attention, which only gave his essays more visibility.

### Dorian's Manifesto

Dorian did not make the manifesto himself, but his supporters pieced it together, mostly from the three essays, presented as chapters, which formed the body of the text. A conclusion was added from an open letter he wrote right before he was arrested, and an introduction was written while he was in prison, pressured by his supporters.

The manifesto was outlawed almost immediately, initially by the government of Saturn and then state wide once it spread to the other planets. Some editors published the paperback edition with the cover of fictional new novels, which changed periodically as the authorities got wind of it. Despite the authorities' attempt to censor it, the manifesto spread across the Federation.

### The Formation of the Black Flag

Although the events surrounding Dorian and his manifesto caused a major upheaval, contributed to the social climate that lead to the Cold movement, it's ideas were watered down by the time it reached the larger audience, and led to the tamer ideologies of the cold movement. Those who completely adhered to Dorian's ideas sprouted out from everywhere across the Federation, but mostly from the ice planets, the moons and the asteroids. They emerged as decentralized, independent entities, and called themselves the "Black Flag", owing to the last line of the manifesto: "I say this: shed the four colour flag of the federation, the green flag of Mars, the blue flag of the so called 'Lunar Empire' , all the banners of Earth, even the yellow flag of Venus. In the vacuum, there is no colour but black, the void, the negation of all authority and nationhood, and this is where we belong."

Although this line of the manifesto called for a unified human race, the Black Flag movement failed to gain major support outside the Gasan federation. They did, however, gain some degree of support amongst the Lunar diaspora in the frontier regions. Although the Gasan government had always refused to publicly apologize for the bombing of Argerive, and refused to consider it an act of genocide, many prominent Black Flag figures sought the Lunar diaspora on Primo and offered them their apology on behalf of all Gasans. While many accepted, many also refused. This caused the divide in the Lunar diaspora, with many of them choosing instead to believe in the fabled existence of a Lunar Empire.