History

The colony ship destined to found the colony of Baleares departed Earth in 2051 AD (-2447 Imperial) and decelerated into the trinary starsystem of Harakhte A/B/C in 3220 AD (-1278 Imperial). The vessel succesfully made its final landing on the world the colonists names Baleares. They found a warm world with abundant, though relatively simple animal life. A world in which their genetically engineered crops would flourish and the imported animals displace the locals.

Twelve years after arrival, in 3232 AD, one of the "simple" local organisms managed the jump between species. Three months later some seventy percent of the colonists were infected as were large numbers of the colonies livestock. By the time a cure had been devised and implemented over half the colonists had died. Several species of imported livestock, such as cattle, had been lost completely. The colony had taken a blow it would take centuries to fully recover from.

In 4001 AD the Woal Warliyir began to make moves into the subsector, threatening all thirteen star-systems in the subsector, including Baleares. At this time the most advanced system in the subsector was the planet Nakajima. The president of Nakajima sent admiral Canning Xiang to Baleares. The Admirals squadron arrived in the Baleares system a mere hour before a Woal Warliyir raiding force. Without any treaties negotiated admiral Xiang took upon himself the defence of the system and in a series of running battles with the Warliyir forces admiral Xiang managed to destroy the bulk of the raiding force, and capture two light cruisers which he presented to Baleares. The mutual defence pact proved very easy to negotiate after this demonstration of the Nakajiman determination to keep the Woal Warliyir out of the subsector.

In 4005 AD a squadron of vessels, led by the heavy cruiser Triumphal Wonder left the Baleares system to join the coalition forces under admiral Canning Xiang massing in the Georgia system. This was to be the climactic battle of the war with the Woal Warliyir. No records survived giving the total number of ship involved, but it is clear that admiral Canning Xiang managed to position his forces to block a Woal Warliyir invasion fleet.The series of battles that followed, became known as the battle of the Banners, giving the entire sector its human name. Losses were horrific on both sides, hundreds of thousands were killed and parts of the Georgia system are still dangerous as a result of debris from this battle. The Baleares squadron was almost totally destroyed, only the heavy cruiser Triumphal Wonder and a destroyer Ardent Adventure survived, both heavily damaged. The Triumphal Wonder also took off the survivors from admiral Xiangs flagship and returned his body to the devestated world of Nakajima where she assisted in the relief efforts needed by the battered world. Baleares was one of the signatories to the treaty with the Woal Warliyir

In the peace that followed the battle of the Banners, Baleares continued to grow and expand its economy. Nakajima had lost much of her industry, Baleares moving to fill part of this void. Virus changed all that. The effect of virus on the systems of the local cluster compared to most other regions was relatively minor. A few tech levels were lost, people died, some worlds changed their names. Baleares became Hope. The biggest effect on the worlds in the cluster was on the society. People lost confidence in the institutions that governed their lives. On Hope the planet stagnated. There were no off-world markets, the few ships left in the system were non-jump capable, the people were turning in on themselves. Government followed government, none offering any solutions.

However in 5697 AD one political grouping, the Progress Party of Hope achieved their ambition and became the ruling party of the planet Hope in a landslide victory. Utilising the parties popularity at the time, its leader Gustov Handragora pushed through a series of changes which would impact on every aspect of the planets society. Using fear of virus as a basis for changes to planetary security Gustov Handragora also instituted a series of oppressive laws. This series became known as the "White laws" after Alanthia White who drafted them.

Two years later in 5699 AD when evidence was found linking the rival Democratic Advance party to the use of virus as a terror weapon on Hope, Gustov Handragora declared martial law, abrogated the constitution, replacing it with one drawn up by the Progress Party. The Democratic Advance party was declared an outlawed organisation.

In 5700 AD Alanthia White was assassinated. Blame for this was placed at the door of the outlawed Democratic Advance party. More oppressive laws were passed by the newly formed General Congress, who also appointed Gustov Handragora and two deputies as Triumverate Heads of State for life. Gustov Handragora was mabitious, both for himself and the place of the planet Hope. He wanted to found an empire. As a result a program was instituted to get the few remaining starships in the system operational again. With a huge amount of the worlds resources thrown into this project the fledgling star navy became operational on 7 July 5704 AD. At the same time the armed forces on Hope were massively expanded.

On 30 June 5706 the armed forces of Hope supported by the Hope Star Navy was given a mission by the Triumverate. The mission resulted in the Hope forces attacking and annexing the other systems of the small cluster of stars of which Hope is part. Saffron fell in 5707, followed by Prospect in 5711. In 5714 AD the restyled Hope Federation attacked the Nakajima system. Here the Federation forces ran into their first real opposition. The initial assault went well, Federation forces establishing several bridge-heads on the world. The limited transport capacity of the Federation Star Force limited the arrival of reinforcements allowing the Nakajimans to organise their defences. The result being that even now, 5717 AD, Nakajima has not been fully occupied by the Hope Federation and a continuing war rages across the world.