A Bit Of Historical Fluff Text:
The Kingdom of Hyborea
In the early decades of Terra's expansion into space, several colony expeditions are known to have gone missing. Some have been found later, surviving as they can. Others have left only wreckage, or distant radio signals suggesting fascinating mysteries.
Until recently, the Howard Expedition was thought to be one of these. When intelligence agents brought word of an apparently-human polity on the far side of the Draconian Empire, however, the Terran Confederacy had to take notice.
The spatial rift the Howard Expedition fell through sent them not only hundreds of light-years off-course, but also centuries through time. They were extremely lucky to find a habitable planet within reach of the far end, and landed there to start building their colony. Over time they built cities and industry, eventually reinventing the hyperdrive almost from scratch. By the time they encountered the Draconians and their other neighbors, the Tharkad Imperium, they controlled over fifty inhabited systems.
Neither neighbor took their presence well, however, seeing them as a relatively weak power, ripe for conquest. Over the course of a decade the Hyboreans were pushed back, first to their homeworld, then even that was conquered. Several squadrons of ships and a number of large refugee fleets made it to their more distant colony worlds, however.
The Hyborean Kingdom in Exile spent the next fifty years building up the industry and fleet strength they would need to reconquer their worlds and liberate their people from their oppressors. An entire new generation of warships and weapons were built in those faraway colonies, and a new generation of warriors were born and raised and trained.
Those worlds and people have now been liberated, and the Hyborean Kingdom Navy stands strong and proud.
The Principality of Khitai
An early schism among the Hyborean colonists lead to about a quarter of their initial number departing to found their own colony. They used the still-functional colony ship to ferry some thirty thousand dissenters (mostly of various Asian extractions) to a newly-located planet several dozens of light-years further outwards from the direction of Terra.
Khitai and Hyborea fought several minor skirmishes, mostly over access to resources in the intervening systems, over the next few centuries. By the time the Draconians overran Hyborea, Khitai had settled a dozen worlds in the same region as the distant colonies to which the Hyborean refugees fled. At first disinclined to assist their old rivals, appeals to common humanity and shared history (and trade) had a strong influence. In the end the Princes of Khitai decided that a strong, independant Hyborea would serve as a valuable buffer between them and the two alien empires.
Khitaian shipyards would aid in constructing the fleet that would carry out the war of liberation, and Khitaian officers would assist in training the many Hyborean volunteers to man that fleet. Several squadrons from the Khitai Navy would accompany the Liberation Fleet and take part in the war, as well.
Today, Khitai is a valued trade partner of Hyborea, and while the two star nations have their differences, they see the value in those differences - and their similarities.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.
The Kingdom of Hyborea
In the early decades of Terra's expansion into space, several colony expeditions are known to have gone missing. Some have been found later, surviving as they can. Others have left only wreckage, or distant radio signals suggesting fascinating mysteries.
Until recently, the Howard Expedition was thought to be one of these. When intelligence agents brought word of an apparently-human polity on the far side of the Draconian Empire, however, the Terran Confederacy had to take notice.
The spatial rift the Howard Expedition fell through sent them not only hundreds of light-years off-course, but also centuries through time. They were extremely lucky to find a habitable planet within reach of the far end, and landed there to start building their colony. Over time they built cities and industry, eventually reinventing the hyperdrive almost from scratch. By the time they encountered the Draconians and their other neighbors, the Tharkad Imperium, they controlled over fifty inhabited systems.
Neither neighbor took their presence well, however, seeing them as a relatively weak power, ripe for conquest. Over the course of a decade the Hyboreans were pushed back, first to their homeworld, then even that was conquered. Several squadrons of ships and a number of large refugee fleets made it to their more distant colony worlds, however.
The Hyborean Kingdom in Exile spent the next fifty years building up the industry and fleet strength they would need to reconquer their worlds and liberate their people from their oppressors. An entire new generation of warships and weapons were built in those faraway colonies, and a new generation of warriors were born and raised and trained.
Those worlds and people have now been liberated, and the Hyborean Kingdom Navy stands strong and proud.
The Principality of Khitai
An early schism among the Hyborean colonists lead to about a quarter of their initial number departing to found their own colony. They used the still-functional colony ship to ferry some thirty thousand dissenters (mostly of various Asian extractions) to a newly-located planet several dozens of light-years further outwards from the direction of Terra.
Khitai and Hyborea fought several minor skirmishes, mostly over access to resources in the intervening systems, over the next few centuries. By the time the Draconians overran Hyborea, Khitai had settled a dozen worlds in the same region as the distant colonies to which the Hyborean refugees fled. At first disinclined to assist their old rivals, appeals to common humanity and shared history (and trade) had a strong influence. In the end the Princes of Khitai decided that a strong, independant Hyborea would serve as a valuable buffer between them and the two alien empires.
Khitaian shipyards would aid in constructing the fleet that would carry out the war of liberation, and Khitaian officers would assist in training the many Hyborean volunteers to man that fleet. Several squadrons from the Khitai Navy would accompany the Liberation Fleet and take part in the war, as well.
Today, Khitai is a valued trade partner of Hyborea, and while the two star nations have their differences, they see the value in those differences - and their similarities.
--
Sucrose Octanitrate.
Proof positive that with sufficient motivation, you can make anything explode.