Nascent Era of the Gallente Federation

The Nascent Era of the Gallente Federation (or the Pre-Federate Era) covers the time before the empire was actually founded, during the latter years of the Gallente Information Age in 22463AD to the founding of the eponymous union in 23121AD, almost seven centuries later. The Nascent Era is characterized by Gallente first contact with their Caldari neighbors in Luminaire, the development of starship technology (such as warp drives) that saw the two races encounter the Intaki, Mannar and many others, and the creation of various international organizations that would eventually coalesce into the Federation itself.

First Century

Gallente Information Age

In the year 906AR (22463AD), the Gallente (today referred to as the ethnic Gallente) were well into their Information Age, having created a global telecommunications network that had started to facilitate cross-cultural and international cooperation. Their homeworld, the sixth planet of the Luminaire system, had many different names at the time, the most common one being Gallentia (the name of which is still sometimes used into the contemporary era).

The Gallente homeworld was a comfortable and biodiverse world that was still divided into nation-states (along with corresponding ethnicities and cultures), though the political and economic effects of their Information Age meant a large amount of globalization had started to take place. This included the intermingling of the different ethnic groups, as well as the evolution of the first international organizations (initially based on trade and diplomacy) evolving into the World Democracy League.

Technology and communication had resulted in democracy and libertarianism being exported from the Garoun continent to become the dominant ideology on the planet. Nations that had proved uncompromisingly resistant to these ideas (or were deemed politically unfashionable or anachronistic) were weeded out in interventionist wars by the major powers and alliances of the time. These one-sided conflicts would be over in days or weeks with minimal collateral damage, thanks to the development of precision weaponry such as guided missiles.

There was still some political tension on the homeworld despite the ideological standardization taking place. Many states were wary of democracy and liberalism, especially when it was forced onto other states via economic or military means. However, in that year of 22463AD, the Vivien Tolouti of the Republic of Lyace’s astronomical body discovered a new civilization on the seventh planet of the solar system (known as Cephalin up until that point), who were visible via telescope thanks to the start of that world’s Industrial Age.

The discovery of the Caldari, as they became known much later on, rapidly reorganized the priorities of the Gallente. The revelation that they were not alone in the universe had an unprecedented effect on the people, and the Gallente quickly came to believe that war and other disagreements was outdated and short-sighted.

Caldari Contact

Upon the discovery of the Caldari in 22463AD, the Kingdom of Central Garoun (the contemporary successor state to the historically influential Garoun Empire and home to the famed city of Caille) proposed the founding of the International Space Cooperative. Organized by Central Garoun and other major powers, many other minor states joined in later. It had been decided that space was to become the future focus of the Gallente race, declaring the homeworld as nothing but a cradle of civilization to depart from. The ISC would be the harbinger of this, and technologies to cross the interplanetary distance became the primary focus of all future scientific endeavors.

Over the next fifty years, the ISC oversaw the development of Gallente Prime’s orbital infrastructure, in preparation of eventually visiting the Caldari. In the future, these developments would lead to the construction of numerous lunar and orbital colonies around the planet. Another project that would come to pass in the future were space elevators that would support solar power arrays in orbit, permanently ending any energy concerns on the planet.

The ISC launched several probes to the Caldari homeworld. The first landers were merely sent to acquire planetary data about the world, which simply baffled the natives. Later probes contained pieces of media about the Gallente, including a world political map, images of the different civilizations, and recordings of songs and movies in different languages. The governments of the Caldari, composed mostly of absolute monarchies and bureaucratically authoritarian states, were initially very curious about the probes, as the Caldari's xenophobic tendencies had yet to exist amongst their culture. Realizing that they would be greeted imminently by an off-world race, Caldari leaders trained linguistic specialists in attempting to translate the main languages of their neighboring planet, for the purposes of communicating with the alien humans. They were well-prepared by 971AR (22517AD), when the ISCSS Venture from Gallentia had made planetfall on the continent of Tikiona on the Caldari homeworld, home to the bulk of that world’s population.

The New Oryioni Collective was the first state to greet the crew of the Venture, assisting them with establishing a communication link back to Gallentia. When the prime minister of New Oryioni asked the ISC captain for the collective name of the people of her homeworld, she replied with ‘Gallente’, derived from Gallentia, which in turn was the Garoun name for the planet. This was the first recorded use of the term ‘Gallente’. The conversation between the two individuals took place in the city of Arcurio, and was televised across the Gallente homeworld, watched by billions across the planet. In response, the Caldari identified themselves as Caldari, which was simply the name of the world itself. The terms Gallente and Caldari thus became the primary identifiers in differentiating the ethnicities of the two homeworlds for all future interactions.

Despite the later tensions between the two races, there was much jubilation on both Luminaire homeworlds after the discovery of another planet inhabited by humans, answering thousands of years worth of philosophical posturing. As the Caldari leadership had already learned many of the Gallente languages before the first contact, the latter became the primary form of communication between the two planets. This was deemed the most practical and efficient system, but it did not stop many Gallente from learning the Caldari languages, either out of curiosity, or because they had opted to migrate to the Caldari homeworld.

The major Gallente nations established embassies across the Tikiona states, and began to assist the Caldari in emerging out of their industrial era and into the Space Age. Thanks to Gallente assistance, the Caldari were able to populate other areas of the world in earnest, which had remained undeveloped for centuries.

Birth of Luminaire

Over the following decades, the Caldari proved remarkably efficient in catching up with the Gallente’s level of development, thanks to a more homogeneous history creating a stronger sense of collective identity. In addition, the bureaucratically authoritarian governments of Caldari were not weighed down by democratic or populist concerns that may otherwise have held them back. The two races worked on colonizing and developing their home system together, which eventually was named Luminaire.

The untapped industrial potential of the Caldari nations meant that it was to the benefit of the International Space Cooperative that they joined. Eventually, the ISC’s participating role in the development of Caldari diminished as the nations began to take charge of their own development. Instead, the ISC was in put in charge of establishing terraforming colonies on the second and third planets of the solar system, known as Corufeu and Astrin respectively. This was done on behalf of the Gallente governments, who started to become concerned regarding overpopulation in the near future.

During this time, the best Gallente and Caldari scientists and engineers were working within the ISC to look at ways to expand outside of their home system, even if the Caldari population was not large enough to make interstellar colonization a sustainable choice. Though there were many Caldari scientists who passionately believed in the benefits of cooperation, there was a very small movement amongst some of the Caldari leaders that felt doubts about the implications of the alliance with the numerically superior Gallente. Over time, they learnt the history of the Garoun nations in particular, and how they came to dominate smaller states via peaceful and apparently noble means. These leaders feared the Gallente would attempt a similar subjugation in the future and wished to explore expansion as a method of retaining independence.

An example of an early disadvantage was with the International Space Cooperative. When it first came to being, it was founded in a way that nations with the larger population had the most votes. This was deemed a fair and just system on the Gallente homeworld, but it did not prove beneficial to the Caldari, who were simply outnumbered, thus handicapped in the amount of votes they could hold. While some made attempts to prevent the Caldari from being too negatively affected by this system, several incidences created tensions between the two groups. The faction within the Caldari felt it was only a matter of time before the Gallente would begin to take over.

Cosmic Dawn

The Caldari Troubles

When the first stargate out of the home system was built in 1057AR (22588AD), a mere seventy-one years after initial contact (which many called a testament to Caldari efficiency), a period of expansion was sparked that mostly benefited the Gallente. It rapidly came to be that the democratic structure of the ISC began to put the Caldari at a severe disadvantage. This came on top of the relative disunity of the Caldari nations on the homeworld, who were still getting accustomed to the sudden technological jump of over two to three hundred years that had taken place in less than eighty.

In addition, the ISC contracted out private corporations to assist in the colonization process, a concept the Caldari had yet to fully embrace. The ISC also allowed colonization and settlement by individuals or small groups, an idea that did not mesh with the Caldari collectivist mindset. Thus, the Gallente nations and people were able to expand through the ISC as the Caldari were still struggling to consolidate technology with their politics. Armed conflicts had erupted on the Caldari homeworld, though their Gallente neighbors regularly intervened to prevent them from evolving into world wars, even sending peacekeeping forces when necessary.

One particular incident occurred when a prominent ISC diplomat and scientist by the name of Sebastienne Po-Lana was beheaded by a Caldari warlord for a breach of etiquette. She had overlooked removing her shoes upon entering an old Raata shrine, angering her hosts despite her profuse apologies. To many Gallente, large portions of the Caldari culture began to be seen as backward, as the latter were seemingly brutal enough to execute someone over what the former saw as an astronomically trivial detail. Religious conflicts were seen as something very primitive to the Gallente (who had ended such disagreements before and during their Industrial Age), and thus the death of Sebastienne Po-Lana exploded to cover the Caldari homeworld as a whole.

Though many Gallente agreed that the instability on Caldari had to come to an end, they all disagreed as to the methods as to how this should be done. In contrast to the Gallente nations, which were democratic, the states of Caldari were perceived as much more authoritarian in nature. Some groups felt that if these governments were replaced with democracies, then the infighting would cease, citing the perpetual peace that widespread democracy had spawned on the Gallente homeworld.

More extreme groups felt that this wasn’t enough, believing that the Caldari had simply not been civilized properly, despite the technological assistance granted to them. They believed the martial and hard-nosed traditions of the Caldari made them more prone to violence and conflict, as demonstrated by the execution of Sebastienne Po-Lana, and thus these cultural facets should be eradicated, or at least diluted. Others felt the International Space Cooperative should become an organization that started to involve itself in politics and diplomacy, or at least punish states that were undemocratic, but this never reached fruition.

Cultural Deliverance

The answer came in 1109AR (22631AD), when the Cultural Deliverance Society (CDS) was founded by several Gallente philanthropists, business tycoons, and other multinational figures, for the purposes of bringing stability to Caldari. The CDS was explicitly apolitical in its nature and was to not represent any one nation on Gallente Prime. In secret, however, it did have the backing of several major Gallente powers of the time, though this was not discovered until decades later. It arrived on Caldari that year, and set up several endeavors across most Caldari nations, including, but not limited to, charities, schools and humanitarian projects.

The CDS also introduced corporate capitalism to the Caldari to a more extensive degree, with the first Caldari megacorporation being founded in 1173AR (22684AD), known as Isuuaya. Both the Cultural Deliverance Society and the International Space Cooperative went a long way to influencing modern Caldari society with Gallente concepts over the years, though Caldari culture was resilient enough to adopt many ideas for their own benefit, instead of being warped completely. An example of this was the megacorporation, which combined Caldari pragmatic authoritarianism with their collective outlook perfectly.

Over time, the influence of the CDS began to become increasingly noticeable. Several Caldari regimes were overthrown by uprisings and replaced with democratic governments, with many claiming the Gallente covertly supplied them with resources. The largest powers were slightly more resistant to change, with some absolute monarchies creating a parliament of some kind. These Caldari democracies differed from the Gallente ones, however. They were much more centralized, favoring a strong executive over a divided legislature. Nonetheless, the Caldari traditionalists found these changes outright sacrilegious, even an abomination, believing the new stability to the homeworld was not worth the price of cultural change.

These elites began to associate themselves with the Caldari megacorporations, who slowly grew in power and stature as a result. The influence of these megacorporations began to permeate the Caldari democracies, with many states simply becoming puppets of the corporate CEOs once the novelty of regime change had dwindled. The presence of lobbying within these democratic systems made it easier for the corporations to encroach their influence, to the point that they were able to do so even in Gallente states, though to a far more limited degree.

Secret Schism

The sheer logistics of constructing the stargate network with conventional engines meant that governments and corporations almost had a monopoly on the first wave of interstellar expansion. Given the dominance of the Gallente in the ISC, the Caldari were in an unequal partnership with regards to colonization closest to Luminaire. Instead, it was the Caldari megacorporations that decided to undertake a separate colonization process from the Gallente, having the resources to do so. They were not bound to the ISC like most of the Caldari states were, allowing them to muster the industrial base to go it alone in regions of space that would later become the Citadel and the Forge.

These Caldari megacorporations signed undisclosed agreements with certain Caldari homeworld nations, allowing them to benefit from one another in terms of resources and acquiring colonists. These Caldari nations started to increase their cooperation with the ISC as time went on, in order to better hide the secret activities of the megacorporations from the Gallente powers.

It wasn’t long before the mild overpopulation concerns on Gallente Prime finally exploded into a panic, as Corufeu and Astrin had yet to be terraformed. This resulted in several nations negotiating for the construction of underwater cities on the Caldari homeworld. A total of seven arcologies were constructed, far removed from Caldari sovereign territories, though nonetheless a source of friction in later decades.

Second Light

Intaki Discovery

As corporations were left with constructing the stargate network, and individual states were left to develop the handful of worlds around Luminaire on their own, the ISC sent out various deep space vessels to discover new planets and races. In 1306AR (22794AD), the ISCSS Sojourner stumbled across the Intaki homeworld, on a exploratory mission to survey and chart nearby systems and planets far from Luminaire.

The crew of the Sojourner did not believe there to be any civilization on Intaki, having sent a landing expedition to collect samples of the native flora and fauna on the semi-arid to tropical world. It was completely unexpected, then, that the expeditionary team encountered a delegation from a local village. The crew were at a loss; the ISC had no protocol regarding the interaction with indigenous populations, despite the expectation that new races may very well be discovered.

Using their initiative, the Sojourner crew decided to live within the local village for the rest of that year, recording the lifestyles and learning about the culture. Having gained enough information about the world, such as the divide between the Intaki in the northern and southern temperate polar regions, the ISCSS Sojourner left Intaki to return to Luminaire, leaving the local Intaki with items of technology and media about the Gallente and Caldari homeworlds. Upon their return, the crew were decorated as heroes within Luminaire, while the leaders of the Gallente and International Space Cooperative began debating amongst themselves how to return to the Intaki.

Unlike the Caldari, who had a working political system composed of nation-states on their homeworld before first contact, the Intaki were behind such concepts, and thus integration into the ISC would not be possible. Moreover, the ISC did not have the legal mandate or authority to ‘uplift’ civilizations, and it would be far too expensive for any one Gallente nation to take up the task so far away from home.

Many Gallente considered the spiritual and agrarian Intaki to have many similarities to pre-industrial societies and tribes on their own homeworld, and thus they were eager to reestablish contact. Meanwhile, the Caldari were focused more on the development of their secret colonies, and had no interest in the Intaki.

Instead, the largest Gallente nations created the Organization for Foreign Planetary Development (OFPD), a body that would work closely with the ISC for dealing with indigenous populations. The now-defunct Cultural Deliverance Society from over a century earlier was not revived, having somewhat of a negative stigma attached to its reputation (though many felt the OFPD was just a successor to the CDS). Unlike before with the ICS, the Caldari showed no inclination to join the organization, with a handful of states beginning to become skeptical regarding Gallente definitions of development.

The OFPD funded the construction of the ISCSS Sojourner II, a significantly larger vessel that would return to Intaki, better equipped to bring the Intaki up to speed with technology. One of its primary missions was to establish a communication link back to Luminaire, while the ISC would start the long and laborious project of constructing a stargate chain to Intaki. It would not be the only vessel to return to Intaki. Popular support for the endeavor was strong on the Gallente homeworld, so many more expeditions were sent in the decades to follow.

Mannar Expedition

Not long after the OFPD was founded, deep space probes confirmed the existence of another primitive civilization in a distant solar system that would later become known as Mannar. This time prepared to encounter a new race, the Organization for Foreign Planetary Development and the International Space Cooperative jointly announced the construction of the ISCSS Merolles-Kuoka. The latter half of the ship’s name was an acknowledgement to a handful of Caldari megacorporations that assisted in the starship’s construction. This vessel would be larger than anything built previously, and would have stargates erected by industrial ships that would follow in the wake of the journey.

First contact with the Mannar was established in 1324AR (22809AD), the huge Merolles-Kuoka remaining in orbit as a logistics platform and a communications link back to Luminaire. Similar to the Gallente, the Mannar were not a single political, cultural, or ethnic entity. Rather, the racial identifier came from the largest country on the planet, which was known as Mannar. As the country of Mannar was the first line of contact with the ISC and OFPD, the world would be named Mannar as a whole, despite various local names for the planet.

The main Mannar state was not very far from entering its Industrial Age, having invented the printing press and ships that were able to cross entire oceans. Its most distinct features were great architectural marvels in the form of symmetrical stone cities and pyramids. The largest cities were constructed from the ground-up in an organized fashion, rather than being smaller towns that had agglomerated into wider cities, as amongst the Gallente. The other obvious feature of the Mannar was the artistic loudness and decadence of their culture, moreso than the Gallente cultures had ever been. Clothing was minimal, with eclectic body- and face-painting being the closest thing to an equivalent. Hairstyles were noticeably massive. Large monuments were decorated with paintings of all sorts, be it animals or humans, while some cities had each district painted in a separate color.

The remaining countries on the Mannar homeworld were at various stages of technological and social development, mostly averaging at around the Iron Age. They were composed of radically different cultures and ethnic groups. Some portions of the planet were currently unclaimed. Initially, however, the Gallente would be fixated at the Mannar state itself. They were fascinated by Mannar, in different ways than they were with the Intaki. The exotic culture that valued artistic expression was certain to mesh well with the Gallente.

However, there were some key differences. In many ways, the Mannar were considered noble savages, practicing human sacrifice in their religious rituals and a plethora of other martial traditions. At the same time, their culture valued loyalty to the powers that be, sharing several similarities with the Caldari in terms of having slight tendencies towards xenophobia, all while having a strict code of honor. The Mannar country would also regularly invade other nations to acquire slaves for their ambitious architectural projects, as well as to serve as mundane labor to relieve the citizens of lesser tasks.

Even if Mannar was a nation-state for all intents and purposes, its political structure was not defined as per the Gallente and Caldari diplomatic systems, thus it would be a legal near-impossibility to integrate the Mannar state into the ISC in their current form. Its primitive style of government composed of an enlightened monarchy could not slot alongside the bureaucratic, law-governed states of the Gallente and Caldari. Instead, the OFPD claimed an unorganized area of land on a continent far from Mannar and established the Horizon Republic. The Horizon Republic was organized according to the Gallente-Caldari model, absorbing the indigenous natives as citizens. It was hoped that bordering nations would adopt the model, as Horizon exported modern technology to its neighbors. The Gallente were reluctant to intervene directly in Mannar itself, as they felt its long-established society would be difficult to penetrate. The intention was that the Mannar country would naturally advance to the Gallente standard, once it found itself encircled by 'modern' states.

Raspa Wars

The Horizon Republic experiment had the opposite effect. As the Gallente only ended up providing technology to non-Mannar states, Mannar itself lagged behind. The various non-Mannar countries, fed up of centuries of slave raids into their territory, decided to band together to invade and destroy the Mannar empire. As had occurred with the Caldari a few centuries earlier, the political mindsets were not peacefully inclined just because they had adopted modern technology. The defender advantage of Mannar meant the conflict would be drawn out, earning the name the Raspa Wars, named after Mannar's capital city.

Neither the ISC or OFPD were equipped to deal with this crisis. Popular opinion on the Gallente homeworld was in favor of the main Mannar state, but not any one Gallente nation could hope to send its military as a peacekeeping force such a far distance on its own. Gallente colonialist tendencies had caused a major flashpoint that, once again, the national leaders were scrambling to find a solution for.

A solution came in the form of the development of the first ever warp drive, the Sotiyo-Urbaata, in 1339AR (22821AD). It was developed by a joint Gallente-Caldari science team employed by the Isuuaya corporation, and it didn’t take long for the ISC to contract mass production of the warp drive, along with multiple Gallente and Caldari nations. This increased the ease of space travel exponentially, no longer having to rely on conventional engines to traverse the interstellar distance.

The warp drive also allowed a better response from the Gallente to the Mannar conflict, with the cost of space travel dropping considerably. The leading powers on the homeworld formed the Gallente United Defense Command, better known as Gallente Command or simply GalCom. GalCom would be the extraplanetary military arm of all the Gallente home nations, though each would retain their own armed force.

GalCom dispatched a peacekeeping force to the Mannar in hopes of stabilizing the situation. Over the following years, peace was established, with Mannar on a equal technological footing with its neighbors. Reconstruction of areas devastated by the conflict would take place with GalCom and OFPD assistance.

Plateau of Two Worlds

Over time, the relatively peaceful Intaki had begun to organize themselves under one representative body known as the Intaki Assembly. With minimal Gallente influence, the Intaki had established democracy organically and completely naturally. Many felt it unsurprising that the Intaki and Gallente became natural allies over time. The Intaki were able to consolidate themselves behind one entity faster than any of the discovered races had done so far, including the Gallente.

Though the Intaki Assembly politely declined membership of the International Space Cooperative, they had nonetheless established a reputation for clever businesspeople and deft negotiators, having started to trade with Luminaire openly. Having purchased and developed warp drive technology, the Intaki Assembly began to expand on their own accord across the area of space that would later become known as Placid. Within the century, they had become seasoned space travellers. Many Intaki migrated to Luminaire, becoming active members of the ISC, OFPD, and other international organizations.

The nations on Mannar's homeworld were slightly slower in catching up. A few decades after the Raspa Wars, the Mannar state followed the history of the Garoun nations by establishing a global telecommunications and media network. As Mannar were the first to adopt this technology, they began to export its culture onto other nations on the planet, precipitating a globalization process similar to the Gallente. Mannar became the sole superpower of its planet and possessed a hegemony over space travel, though the other ethnicities would retain their distinct identity. Before long, Mannar purchased warp drive technology, and began expanding around their home system on behalf of the other states on its homeworld. They would not join any of the pre-existing interstellar organizations.

Several opportunities arose on the Gallente homeworld as many natives began to migrate off-world. The Mannar, Intaki and Caldari were quick to fill in the empty spaces on Gallentia. As a consequence, the intermingling between the different ethnicities began to take place at a more rapid rate, with the first heads of state on Gallentia emerging into office who had at least some off-world descent.

Frontier Age

Verge Expansion

Over time, warp drive technology dropped dramatically in price. It didn’t take long before private individuals could now captain their own starships and colony vessels. Though there was some independent colonization that had occurred beforehand, the widespread availability of the warp drive allowed such settlement to take place at an unprecedented rate.

It reached a point that independent colonization was just as frequent as settlement by corporations and governments. Many colonists began to settle in an area of space which separated Gallente and Intaki territories known as the Verge (later known as Verge Vendor). The bulk of these colonists wished to escape the somewhat regulated development that was taking place around the homeworlds, desiring their own homesteads to establish.

Some of the Verge colonies banded together into minor interplanetary leagues and alliances, declaring themselves sovereign owners of those systems. This was done in order to fend off ISC encroachment, and make it illegal for foreign entities to establish settlements on worlds that were already colonized. Indeed, it was often the case that war broke out on planets that been settled by multiple misaligned parties.

It was common for the Gallente United Defense Command to intervene in these situations, which did little but encourage independent colonization further. In addition, there were several colonies that were administered by the four largest races who rebelled from their master nations, establishing their own states. Some of these would later join the ISC.

Gallente Golden Age

The Gallente homeworld had been in an extended golden age for some time now, with the first green arcology cities and crystalline megalopolises appearing in this period. As more races were discovered, many Gallente felt they had become champions of civilizing the universe and the benefactors of the other races, particularly the Caldari. The Gallente had either sent the Organization for Foreign Planetary Development in a form of non-violent conquest and assimilation, or deployed the Gallente United Defense Command as a ‘peacekeeping’ force to intervene in societies that were perceived as uncivilized, such as those who practiced slavery.

Unlike the Caldari, Mannar, or Intaki, these other races were much smaller in terms of population. Thanks to the increased ease of interstellar travel by this point, maintaining a steady stream of interference was far more palpable. By comparison, the Intaki and Mannar had established their own systems and identities before the discovery of the warp drive had enabled the Gallente to travel back and forth between worlds at a much more rapid rate.

As a result, these minor races did not gain any notoriety on the interstellar scene, and were either assimilated quickly, or never extended beyond their homeworld or system (or even their respective home continent). They mostly faded into obscurity as far as the other races were concerned, though many still cling to their own identities.

To many Gallente elites, the boom on the homeworld and the massive increase in living standards was not enough for those who became immensely wealthy from space development. Though the Caldari and Gallente homeworlds were firmly interdependent for most matters, these elites became wary of the growing borders of the Intaki and Mannar, as well as the independent states within the Verge. In addition, all of the discovered space so far lacked any sort of cohesive unity. It was a loose assortment of worlds, ranging from independent planets to colonies of governments and corporations. Nothing bound them together, except for the dominance of Gallente business interests, which started to show signs of dwindling for the first time.

An interstellar economy had been created, which not only downplayed the role of the ISC, the OFPD and GalCom (who were not structured to integrate into this economy), but also meant that individual planets could begin to rival the homeworlds in terms of influence, or at least being able to stand independently without outside interference.

The Fourth Agreement

In response to doubts about the future, the Gallente elites lobbied the most powerful Gallente nations to propose the creation of yet another interstellar organization, all for the purposes of ensuring Gallente dominance for the future. The Multi-World Agreement on Trade (MWAT) was created on the Gallente homeworld for the purposes of standardizing and regulating all interplanetary commerce between its signatories. It promised to be highly advantageous to all its member states, espousing the core value of free trade, and how it would benefit worlds that are not fully developed.

The Caldari nations, being the closest to their Gallente allies, signed and ratified the treaty, as they would have been left out of the exclusivity of the treaty. The Intaki Assembly joined the MWAT as well, in order to more formally reap the benefits of trading with Luminaire. The Mannar and Verge states did not join initially, though when it rapidly became clear that were at the disadvantage for not being signatories, they followed through a couple of decades later.

It ultimately did not prove to be to everyone’s benefit, however, and it was clear that the Multi-World Agreement on Trade was an economic vehicle to keep the balance of power firmly tipped in Gallente Prime’s favor. As those with the most leverage for trade regulation, the Gallente nations reaped and annexed most of the profits, keeping the Verge states underdeveloped and maintaining an economic stranglehold on the Caldari homeworld, moreso than ever before.

The Intaki Assembly was the other major player within the Agreement. Their long history and proficiency in trade and business meant that they also were able to keep the Verge states closer to their home territories down, all for their own benefit. Meanwhile, a strong rich and poor divide had emerged within the Mannar as a consequence of the Agreement, with the most powerful states being able to exploit minor nations and colonies within their sphere of influence.

Seeds of Union

Despite the downsides of the Multi-World Agreement on Trade, there was an unprecedented economic boom, even if it was tilted in the favor of the rich and powerful. The interstellar economy became more integrated and, as a result, so were the worlds within known space, becoming interdependent on one another.

However, as time passed, many problems began to emerge, all rooted in the fact that there were as many as four gigantic interstellar organizations that started to prove bureaucratically cumbersome. Each of the four organizations had a specific role to play; the ISC was focused on exploration and spaceside development, the OFPD was slanted towards the development of planetside communities, GalCom served a military role, while the MWAT regulated interplanetary trade.

Overlaps and legal clashes became commonplace. For example, the Intaki Assembly had long become a member of the Organization for Foreign Planetary Development. They played a role in the peaceful civilization of many minor races and planets nearest to their homeworld, but it was often the case that violence had erupted, requiring military intervention. The Gallente United Defense Command would often step in, but the Intaki leaders within the OFPD would often send their own military forces, stating that any such crises did not concern the Gallente. Another example included the ISC claiming a new world within Intaki and Mannar territory, though neither race were members of the organization. All of these issues meant that political clashes became very frequent, sometimes even violent.

Politicians across known space soon agreed that the consolidation of all four organizations was needed, to abolish all preexisting institutes and establish a new order. Negotiations for what sort of organization should be founded lasted well over a decade. The Caldari leaders (who had the bulk of their territory in secret areas of space via their megacorporate ties) proved reluctant and wary of the potential creation of a supranational authority, apprehensive of what might happen should their secret colonies be discovered. There was also a growing postnationalist and postracialist movement on the Gallente homeworld, which offered popular support for the proposals.

As discussions took place, the Gallente elites started to become concerned that the founding of an interplanetary entity would not be to their exclusive benefit, as the current order was. They began lobbying the Gallente negotiators to push a proposal for a united superstate that would be founded in such a way to guarantee Gallente hegemony, instead of just an ordinary international organization. It did not take long for a democratic and regional federation of independent states to be proposed by Gallente diplomats. The Intaki and Mannar leadership were receptive to the idea, hoping to bring a swift end to the current bureaucratic mess. The Caldari, faced with becoming encircled, agreed to the concept as well.

The Federated Union of Gallente Prime, or simply the Federation, was founded in 1702AR (23121AD), signed by all nations of the Gallente, Caldari, Intaki and Mannar homeworlds, and several other entities. The Nascent Era ended, followed by the Luminate Era, a relatively short period troubled with war and strife.