To the pioneers of Antares!
In recognition of the fearless determination and exemplary spirit
which guided the Confederacy and now the Commonwealth of Antares across the stars,
the Office of the Prime Minister has authorized me to make the following announcements.
For the next 31 days, from the time this video went live, any citizen who supports
the Templin Institute at the $10 level or above on Patreon, will be granted access
to a limited edition embroidered patch of the 1077th Tank Regiment. Historians will recognize
the 1077th for their heroic actions defending Discovery Plaza in Jost, and their status
today as one of the Commonwealth’s Army’s most honored and legendary military units.
Those at the $25 tier will additionally receive a pin of the Confederacy’s emblem,
one that can be displayed with pride on your uniform, desk, or usehnka.
Furthermore, in celebration of this campaign’s conclusion, a discount is
available on all artwork depicting the history of Antares, again for the next 31 days.
And lastly, for those who wish to lead the Confederacy themselves
beyond the boundaries of the Antares Miasma, the Stellaris Invicta mod on
the Steam Workshop has been updated to include elements from Season 2.
You’ll find more information and links in the description below.
Six million souls departed Earth’s orbit on March 1st, 2159. The Earheart Flotilla was
the largest ever constructed, carrying not only scientists, engineers and specialists,
but their families. They were to be the second wave of colonists and Antares
eagerly awaited them. It took 545 years for the descendants of those Pioneers to finally set foot
upon the world that was to be their home, and they did so not as explorers,
settlers, or even lost sons and daughters returning to the fold, but as liberators.
How or why the Earhart Flotilla had emerged so far off course,
stranded in a distant alien wilderness, was never discovered. It took centuries of struggle for
the colonists to overcome the challenges of their new home. New nations emerged,
scattered across a variety of worlds, each with their own triumphs and tragedies. Yet when they
finally came together again, bound in common purpose under the banners of a new Confederacy,
the mystery of how they had arrived became of far less importance than to where they might go.
What would become known as the Antares Miasma resembled a type of dumping ground, a place where
objects from across the galaxy had been taken, either at random or for some unknown purpose.
Yet as the Confederacy spread across the stars, and entered into a galactic community of nations,
this strange region in the galaxy was transformed into something else. Through its willingness to
accept all those who fled persecution and war, Antares became a sanctuary. In its determination
to never bow to the ambitions of warlords or the might of tyrants, it became a symbol.
But it was a symbol that seemed to clash with the practical realities of the universe itself.
The Confederacy faltered, and at times failed. Potential partners became rivals
and trusted allies became pawns. Yet the lesson of the Pioneers was never forgotten.
No matter how much had been lost and how great a struggle remained,
a better life could be achieved. Not for the one, or the few, but for all.
The nation that liberated the Earth was not the same one that had set out to find it. And to the
Commonwealth of Antares, the birthplace of humanity had become as alien a world
as those first settled by the Earhart Flotilla. It was no longer their home, but it could be again.
It took generations for the wounds inflicted first by the Screk and later the Greater Terran
Empire to be healed. The old battlefields were cleared and the tragedies of the old regimes
brought to account. It was as great an endeavor as ever undertaken by Antares,
and one not accomplished without setbacks and loss, but it was accomplished. On March 1st,
654al , the reconstruction effort formally ended. The United Nations of Earth was proclaimed
and a new sister republic to the Antares Commonwealth was born.
The era that followed is known by a thousand different names on a thousand different worlds,
but on each, the story’s the same. Wherever tyranny found victory,
great ships would appear bearing the flags of a thousand different nations.
And by the skill of their diplomats or the strength of their guns,
the air would become too pure for the slave, so that all those who breathed it grew free.
The promise of Antares alone was enough to cast exploited worlds into open revolt
and no plea for aid went unanswered. With their own populations turning against them,
the last despots united, desperate to prevent the new age in which they would play no part.
The wars against the Ro'thugann Hegemony and the Ti-Zru nearly matched the scale if not
the savageness of the Terran Liberation campaign. For the only time in history,
the Antares System itself became a battlefield, until the might of Earth, ‘the Old Colossus’,
arrived at the critical moment to secure the victory of the New. Piece by piece
the last holdouts were overcome until there remained no kings, no autarchs, no emperors.
Against the combined power of Earth, Antares and the galaxy of nations that joined them,
even the impenetrable shields of the ancient Screk were overcome.
For the first time in centuries, the enveloped worlds of the Thimodian
Republic were reunited with the outside galaxy, and nations made whole again.
Vrul-Ho too was reformed, and it was only the first of many.
Worlds were sculpted into being not by engineers, but by artists. The power of the
galaxy itself was harnessed bringing peace and plenty to all those who dwelt within.
There was seemingly nothing that could not be accomplished.
Today, when a civilization meets a certain threshold of technological development,
the representatives of a great Commonwealth will reveal themselves.
An invitation will be issued, an offer to become a part of a community of nations;
a vast multitude of species that came together to achieve wonders that would
be impossible alone. Prospective members will learn of this Commonwealth’s history;
the rise and fall of the Ancient Screk, the conquest of a planet named Earth, and a group
of pioneers who suffered and died for the chance at a new home and better life. They will witness
the tragedy of Vrul-Ho, the war against the Great Khan, and the liberation of a thousand nations
and then untold millions more. They will see ships depart for distant galaxies, first dozens and then
hundreds, gradually linking them together with a web of industry, culture, commerce and discovery.
They will be given the opportunity to find a place for themselves in a welcoming and just universe
not as pawns or servants, but equal partners. To push the limits of scientific knowledge,
art and philosophy. A chance to look outwards, not only at the universe, but one another... and to
join a chorus of voices in declaring that “Here we will remain most excellently, but not here alone”.
In Stellaris Invicta, the Templin Institute guided the Antares Commonwealth into an uncertain future.
The journey is now over, but we’d like to thank everyone who helped
shape this story whether on Twitch, Patreon, Discord or here on YouTube.
This second season has been such a tremendous success and has certainly been among the most
rewarding endeavors yet attempted by the Templin Institute. Thank you all very much.
But the journey of the Antares Confederacy was just one story among many.
Stellaris Invicta will return.