When the first pioneers passed across the boundaries of the Solar System in search of
whatever lay beyond, it was impossible to not compare them to the ancient seafaring
peoples of Earth.
In the classrooms and culture of the era, the first landings on Acadia were viewed as
the natural culmination of human exploration that began with the discovery of the Solomon
Islands by the prehistoric Lapita, or the rounding of the Horn of Africa by the Somali
kingdoms of antiquity.
The galaxy was simply the next great ocean.
Perilous and sometimes deadly but filled with wonders and treasures beyond human imagination.
By the dawn of the 26th century, most within the Greater Terran Union could argue that
this ocean had been tamed.
Alien nations that had, for centuries, boldly resisted humanity’s conquests, existed now
only in memory.
Peoples whose own history and culture might once have been the equal of any found on Earth,
pledged their allegiance to new banners and foreign values.
The most sacred relics; crowns, monuments, constitutions, and holy objects from a dozen
fallen worlds were displayed in the museums of Earth and its colonies, a testament to
human greatness.
Few citizens within the Union realized that this ocean they had dominated was beginning
to boil.
The growing arrogance of humanity was not unfounded.
With the end of the final war against the Compact, the Faraxian Confederation had been
established as a Terran satellite state, while the Rixian Galactic Directorate too retained
its sovereignty in name only.
Both joined the Union of Nimerium as puppet governments, their economies, political systems,
and militaries now wholly dependent on the GTU and completely subordinate to its interests.
Technological innovation also continued at a remarkable pace.
In the Barnard's Star System, the wealth and labor of almost the entire Union was put towards
a single unparalleled goal.
Utilizing self-replicating nanotechnology reverse engineered from discoveries in the
extragalactic star cluster, the first steps were taken towards the construction of a Dyson
Sphere.
The announcement of Project Malakbel was a shock to the greater galactic community and
even the citizens of the GTU themselves.
While the construction of a Dyson Sphere was long theorized, it was believed by most to
be an insurmountable task, centuries, perhaps even millennia, away from feasibility.
When the barest of frameworks had been constructed however, the project drew the attention of
the Florian Matriarchy.
A highly advanced and pacifist civilization widely respected across the galaxy, the Florians
were horrified by the Greater Terran Union’s efforts.
In a dramatic bit of irony, Barnard's Star, viewed from the Florian homeworld, was located
in their most revered constellation, one that depicted their society’s unifying figure.
The Florian’s did all but beg the Greater Terran Union to reconsider the placement of
the Project Malakbel, even offering financial compensation, but the Florian Matriarchy had
been one of the fiercest critics of the Sword of Terra, and their requests were denied.
As Project Malakbel progressed, the Greater Terran Union moved to solidify its outermost
territories.
The recent conquests had given the Union a wealth of former Algan, Rixian, and Faraxian
systems, but these in turn had brought it into direct contact with new potential rivals.
Along the outer rim, particular attention was given to the Vol Hive.
Largely isolationist since their defeat by Union forces in one of the earliest wars against
the Compact, the Vol’s hive mind bore a disconcerting resemblance to that of the Tyrum.
Clearly formidable, Union High Command nevertheless projected their defenses could be overwhelmed
and their worlds occupied in under 5 years with limited casualties.
Their strategy was based on utilizing the network of gateways that linked to a primary
terminal egress located in the extragalactic cluster.
Having activated this network, Terran fleets would be able to almost instantaneously transit
to similar gateways across the galaxy, including several located in the heart of Vol space.
While critics in a closed session of the National Assembly noted that like ancient Rome before
it, the Greater Terran Union was beginning to conquer an empire out of self defense,
the potential of the operation itself was universally lauded.
In 2517, the Greater Terran Union declared war on the Vol Hive.
The planned preemptive strike exceeded expectations.
By utilizing the gateways, Terran fleets quickly managed to destroy the main strength of the
Vol and afterwards, advanced almost unopposed.
For the first time, the warships of Fleet Command fought alongside the armadas of its
puppet states and racial divisions that had existed for centuries slowly gave way to mutual
respect.
In 2520 the homeworld of the Vol Hive was occupied and the war was all but over.
All that was left was for Terran armies to seize the remaining Vol colonies, none of
which presented any significant resistance.
With the Greater Terran Union seemingly at the height of its power, the declaration of
war sent by the Florian Matriarchy was all but dismissed.
The action was believed by Terran intelligence services as a purely symbolic display of solidarity
with the Vol, one that could be resolved once the Vol had been completely occupied.
The Florians were seen as far too distant to be of any real concern, the nearest outposts
were put on alert, but no major attack was expected.
These assumptions cost hundreds of thousands of lives.
Unbeknownst to the Greater Terran Union, the Florians too had activated a secret gateway
within their space.
Their fleets arrived in the extragalactic cluster at the perfect moment.
With the war against the Vol all but over, Terran fleets were in the middle of a great
resupply and redeployment, completely unprepared to meet this surprise attack.
In the Styx System, center of Terran power in the cluster, a Union battlegroup was completely
destroyed, the single largest defeat in centuries.
With the terminal egress now in the hands of the Florians, the situation became catastrophic.
The Union’s own strategy was turned against them.
Florian warships appeared in remote, undefended corners of the GTU.
Enormous battlestations that had once guarded against whatever lay in the extragalactic
cluster had been converted to nearly defenseless anchorages, or decommissioned entirely.
System after system was lost almost without a fight, while the main strength of Union
forces, engaged along the border with the Vol, were now completely cut off and out of
position.
Almost overnight, the economy of the GTU was in ruins as trade between the Outer Rim territories
and the core Commissariats was severed.
The National Strategic Reserves were activated and stores of resources and materials whose
use had been prohibited in all but the most dire circumstances were slowly drained.
Not since the earliest wars against the Compact had the core territories of the Greater Terran
Union been threatened.
An armistice was quickly agreed to with the Vol and the conquest of the Hive left unfinished.
With Earth itself potentially in danger, the Terran Home Fleet was deployed.
Together with several other battlegroups, it mobilized its strength in the Gadaxus System,
directly in the path of the Florian’s most formidable armada.
Stopping the advance of the Florians would be the largest battle in the history of the
Greater Terran Union and one that would determine if the war against them could be won.
When the Florian’s arrived in Gadaxus, they faced the full might of humanity.
For weeks the battle was fought across the entire system.
Warships and weapon systems that had never met their equal in combat were now put to
the ultimate test.
Hundreds of ships were lost and even Union Class Dreadnaughts, pride of Fleet Command,
were destroyed by fanatic Florian attacks.
In a battle of such scale, it was impossible to determine when the tide began to turn,
but after over a month of fighting, the Florians had been annihilated, almost down to the last
ship.
While they suffered horrific losses, the battlegroups of Fleet Command had seized the initiative
and began a campaign of liberation.
It took a further three years before the last occupied territory of the GTU was retaken
and when Terran forces arrived in the Styx System for the first time in half a decade,
they found it abandoned.
With the gateway network seized once more, the first tentative offensives were made into
the center of Florian territory.
While not yet fully recovered enough to commit to any lengthy campaign over such a great
distance, by seizing a collection of Florian colonies and star systems, the will of the
Florians was broken and the war came to an end.
The victorious GTU established a buffer state, the Commonwealth of Kaprisi in the conquered
Florian systems, but the price that had been paid was insurmountable.
The myth of Terran invincibility was shattered and the Greater Terran Union was forced to
accept that its position of superiority was far less stable than had been previously accepted.
Above all however, the war against the Florians proved decisively that the other great powers
of the galaxy, long dismissed as weak willed, could no longer be underestimated.
The activation of the gateways has brought even the most distant nations within reach
and should they follow the example of the Florians and commit themselves to standing
against the plans of humanity, the Greater Terran Union might drown in the ocean they
sought to conquer.
In Stellaris Invicta, the Templin Institute guides the Greater Terran Union into an uncertain
future, one you can influence.
Every Saturday we’ll live stream our progress on our Twitch channel, and viewers and patrons
will have the opportunity to vote on decisions, help name planets, ships, leaders and more.
If you miss the livestream, you can catch up on what happened when the stream is published
the next day to the Templin Archives channel.
Then, once a month we’ll produce a video like this one, detailing everything that’s
progressed in the Greater Terran Union’s struggle to achieve galactic supremacy.
The next livestream of Stellaris Invicta begins one hour after this video has gone live, we
hope to see you among the stars.