Seed
From small things, big things grow.
On the day seven representatives of seven worlds shook hands, and agreed their people, with their shared past, had a shared future, no one could have known the enormity of that agreement; the effect it would have on the future, on the path of human history. It has been the speculation of numerous works, both academic and entertaining, on how the last 800 years of human history may have turned out if their had been dissent on that day, a voice or voices who stood separate. Would the universe be a better place? Or worse?
To detail the history of the Home Stars before the fateful day the Newhome starship
Don't Know Where Where Going popped into existence above the planet Sol is well beyond the limited scope of this piece; instead we look at what happened afterwards: the formation of the
Australasian Interstellar Community.
After first contact with Sol, Newhome wasted no time attempting (and succeeding) to contact the other colonies of the first fleet: for the colonists of the Crux sector, it was a heartening development. For hundreds of years, they had looked to the stars and wondered if they were the only ones, the last humans. To find so many of their distant brothers and sisters had not only made it, but thrived, filled the stars with celebration. Soon the small but growing fleet of FTL ships began to bring representatives to Newhome, so that they could learn about each other, the differences they had developed over the centuries, the similarities they still shared, the common roots they had. It was here the Community was born: a forum to share ideas and technology, to work together for the future.
The Community started simple, as an exchange of culture an ideas, but evolved as time went on, taking on new roles and responsibilities as technology advanced. As the planets of the Crux sector began to explore and colonise nearby stars, the Community helped coordinate; as FTL trade became essential to the planetary economies, the Community became a trade block. As improvements in communications technology made it easier for the planets to communicate, the Communities responsibilities grew, developing communications protocols, ruling on standards, and coordinating the development of the first quantum networks.
But it was first contact with the American Sector that sparked the biggest change in the Community.
The discover of of the other colonies sent shockwaves through the Crux sector: the apparent number of colonies and huge population (at the time estimated to be somewhere between twenty billion and two hundred billion) dwarfed the Crux colonies. It went beyond that though: now contact had been made, their was a “foreign” to the Crux colonies, rapidly becoming multiple “foreign” as the somewhat fractured nature of the American sector became apparent. The Home stars realised their was need to show united front, least the Crux sector be dominated: As such, Extrastellar affairs and dealings were united under the Community.
At the same time, the people of Home Stars began to engaged in a massive colonial expansion, spurred on in part by fear of the size of the American Sector. In a matter of decades, dozens of new star systems and planets were colonised. More and more it fell to Community authorities to organise and administer these new systems.
With more an more responsibility and authority resting in the hands of the Community, and integration between the Home Stars increasing, there were changes in how the Community was governed: from the original, professionally appointed committee of academics and diplomats, to the semi elected advisory council, and finally, the Interstellar Parliament, elected by the member planets of the Community. It was apparent, that full integration and federalisation was almost inevitable, and negotiations to achieve such began as early as 10210.
In the Final years of the Community, their was one more major development: the founding of the combined military force, ANZAC. ANZAC was formed in response to the growing issue of the border with the America Sector: the seemingly eternal conflicts burning across the sector had an unfortunate habit of spilling over into Crux space, and the ANZAC were intended to help stem the violence. What started as a security operation soon turned into a full blown conflict when ANZAC vessels investigating an incursion came under fire from from forces of one of the more aggressive American polities, the Great Cascade. Although the Cascade were beaten back, ANZAC high command identified the need to eliminate Cascade forces from the border stars; Unforeseeable at the time, this first military foray into the American sector was the beginning of a conflict that would define the next two centuries: the Subjugation of the American Sector.
On the 29th of Second-May, 10267 EE, as the sun rose over the planet Newhome, the flag of the Australasian Intergalactic Community was lowered for the last time, signifying the end of the 149 year old organisation. In its place, a new flag was risen, signifying the seven worlds of the Home Stars becoming a single nation. The
Australasian Intergalactic Commonwealth was born.
