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Written by Duncan Day
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Tuesday, 18 October 2005 |
 The Emerald Alliance is the newest of the major powers in the Middle States. Like the Sultanate, Emerald controls a resource that everyone in the areas either wants or needs: food and water. Possessing the only true garden world in the cluster, the Emerald Alliance has managed to restore its profitable agricultural and biological trade in fairly short order (only two generations) since the near-total destruction brought on by the orbital bombardment of Sultan Malik Shah nearly a hundred years ago. The Sultanate was to have funded an orbital station as part of war reparations, and was to provide ships to replace Emerald’s destroyed freighter fleet, but never complied with either. Both the Empire and the Sultanate were too busy fighting post-war skirmishes on other fronts, and losing strength in the process, to consider helping others with reparations.
 As a result, Emerald had to pull itself out of the ashes almost entirely by itself, helped only by the provisional government at Huang during their darkest years. As a result, the people of Emerald have a fierce sense of independence, as well as a celebrated indebtedness to Huang. In fact, these two systems probably enjoy the best “interstellar” relationship of any two star systems in the Middle States cluster. The driving force, and oft-heard slogan of the political and economic powers of Emerald is simply “Never Again”, and this summarizes their military policy as well. The government of Emerald is the closest thing to a democracy that exists in the Middle States, and it consistently follows the singular agenda of ensuring a future in which no other faction, regardless of their military might, will be permitted to bombard the planet again. The current leader, Prime Speaker Holsworth, is no exception. Prime Speaker Holsworth saw the devastation of Emerald first hand as a child and will NEVER allow such events to occur again. He has made it his life goal to ensure Emerald’s safety. He has nothing but disdain for the Sultan and the Caliphs. However, he needs their neutronium. He also hates the Leung Empire for what he sees as abandonment in time of greatest need. He is aware that both would like to see Emerald under their own control, and has vowed to prevent it from happening. His goal is to continue to unite the systems of the Dead Reaches into a powerful new Alliance capable of defeating the Empire. Ultimately, he would like to see every system of the cluster inhabited and thriving as a confederation of united but relatively sovereign powers. This dream of a new golden era is shared by others in the Alliance, but few believe it will ever come to pass. Holsworth is also a realist, and is keenly aware that time is not on his side, and that the Empire is massing for an assault that will likely occur before he can recruit the Dead Reaches systems. He needs a stronger defence fleet, and is struggling to find ways to get it. He’ll hire any mercenary willing to side with the Alliance. Neutronium costs him a great deal due to the distance it must travel to reach the Alliance worlds. He is currently secretly developing some of the smaller neutronium mine sites in Huang and Bedalov that were deemed to be too small to be economical. Mercenaries fight in the Emerald Alliance Navy, increasing his chances of slowing the onslaught, but time and numbers are not in his favour.
Emerald has begun to reclaim the surrounding systems. Penda was the most recent addition (though still not considered to be a full nor trusted partner) to the Alliance, and a possible agreement with Bedalov is being discussed. Funded by large corporations, and the wealth they have gained through their agricultural trade, the Alliance has begun to take control of old stations and mining facilities in order to restore them and make them profitable. They have rebuilt their own mercantile fleet, and are in the process of rebuilding their naval forces. In the meantime, they have hired mercenaries from the Dead Reaches to protect them. However, they continue to suffer from raids by pirates, criminal organizations, and independent raiders, some of whom are sponsored by the Leung Empire. They have begun construction of larger scale defence stations and trade centres, increasing their defence needs. Most notably, the Emerald Alliance has begun planning to build a jump gate at Huang. Initial construction of the LOR assembly platform has started, and the main infrastructure has been put in place as a show of commitment to its other partners in this venture. Negotiations continue with the Sultanate and with Caliph Al Mansur II separately in hopes of finding a partner willing to provide additional much-needed funding for this enormous undertaking. If the jump gate is completed, it will cut the travel distance from the Alliance, the Dead Reaches systems, and even the Empire to the Sultanate drastically, bypassing the Nisami-Corliss-Watts corridor entirely. Needless to say, there are several other factions that would suffer greatly and would like to see this effort fail. (0) |
