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Alias snippets, plot bunnies etc

A prosperous Helghan

Alias

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In 2101, the UCN's colonization fleet would depart the Sol System with their destination being the Alpha Centauri system and the goal of establishing humanity's first extrasolar colony. It would be a "hub" system between Earth and proposed colonies beyond Alpha Centauri. By 2111 the colony ships begin arriving in Alpha Centauri to cheers by the people of the UCN and segments of the population of non UCN countries. As well corporations looked forward to the economic opportunities that would soon be avail even to them. Initially two worlds are pinpointed for colonization - a rocky world around Alpha Centauri A and a lush Eden planet around Alpha Centauri B.

The excitement would not last as tragedy would strike in 2116. A cluster of six colony ships, Archon, Triumph, Pacifica, Jericho, Seraph, and Harbinger completely drop off the tracking imager during a particularly intense solar flare. Contact cannot be re-established with them. The last transmissions from the ship seem to indicate a catastrophic systems failure. The loss of the colony ships is a significant financial hit for the UCN.

They simply cannot afford to fund another interstellar colonization effort of the same size, and the chances of a smaller colony failing are too high. In a mood of desperation the UCN opens the bidding on the settlement rights for the Alpha Centauri system - and after a highly competitive bidding process they are won by the Helghan Corporation. The post-bidding news is full of allegations of vote fixing and bribery - and much is made of the fact that the corporation has a fleet of colony ships almost completed - but nothing is proven. Key to the success of the Helghan bid is underwriting and credit from the Interplanetary Banking Guild - in return for some 10% of Colonial profits once the colony is established. The Helghan fleet would depart in 2118 and with advances made since the departure of the doomed Alpha Centauri fleet would be able to shave off a few years off its journey.

Though seemingly tragedy had striked again in late 2127 as the Helghan fleet suddenly vanished. Helghan stock price crashes while stock markets around Earth take a major beating. With the profits from the planned Alpha Centauri colony no longer on the table, the Helghan Corporation is forced to fire part of its workforce and sell off part of its energy empire in order to be able to pay off its sizable debt. Due to the major part the Helghan corporation plays in the economy of the Sol system along with other unfortunately timed events in an already weak economy results in a short but steep recession. As the economy recovers, debate rages whether a third colonization fleet should be sent to the Alpha Centauri considering the fate of the previous two.

Arguments against include the financial costs in the midst of a recession and such financial resources being better spent to fix problems on Earth. Arguments for point out that while the solar system can support humanity for the moment, by the end of the century the resources of Sol will not be enough to support the expected population of humanity. A third side would argue to allow a generation to pass to allow for technology to hopefully advance to a level where a colonization fleet would be able to survive a trip to Alpha Centauri. In the end however none of these arguments would win. Starting in the middle of 2131 the UCN detected multiple objects moving rapidly toward the Sol system.

The speed the objects and their movements makes it likely they are spacecraft. This leads to discussion whether it is a human fleet or alien. The Helghan colonial fleet is discounted as they would not be able to return so soon if they had survived and not enough time to make the needed repairs and replacing parts. The 2101 fleet is considered but as they might be able to establish a colony and send a fleet back but their max speed being considerably slower than the objects being tracked. Finally consideration is given if first contact with an alien civilization is about to take place.

If it's an alien civilization, will it be a peaceful first contact or war. Despite the attempts of the UCN to keep this classified, it would be leaked by an unknown person or group. As predicted by people in the past, the general public did react well. People panicked, rioted and revolted against governments as terrorists and rebel groups took advantage of the chaos to advance their goals with some countries falling into civil war and some just outright collapsing along with the economy. As this was happening the UCN Navy and Army prepared for potential conflict with an alien civilization.

The suspenseful wait ends on September 19th when the fleet arrives and contacts the UCN and to the latters very much surprise it is a message in a English. While there is disbelief at first, the arrival of the fleet at the nearest space station and their meeting with UCN personnel along with some DNA tests prove without a doubt that these people from the so called Helghan Federation are human though some with a number of genetic differences. There is once again doubt when they claim they are from two human colonies from the years 2201 and 2305 that had arrived in 2127. Understandable as time travel was then considered the realm of science fiction. Though the fleet of warships decades more advanced than anything the UCN Navy has was not disputable.

While there was relief that Earth was not going to fight an interstellar war, what they learn from the Helghans fleet makes them realize that the future of Earth will not be as bright as the one from the other two timelines. With the state of the UCN's finances and the sizable tech gap between them, economically bullying or using the military against this Federation is not an option as Earth will need the resources of Alpha Centauri and beyond if the people of Earth are to survive beyond the next few decades. In early 2132 the Helghan fleet would depart with UCN, reporters along with much of the Helghan corporation leadership, part of its workforce and their families. Learning of the future and considering that there may be anti-Helghan actions against them in the future, they decided it best sold pretty much everything but the name of the company and left with a sizable fortune to invest into this Helghan Federation. When they arrived in the Alpha Centauri system, the Federation was in the midst of a modest economic recovery with Vekta recovering from the cutoff from trade with 23rd century UCN and Helghast of 2305 adjusting rather well with financial and food assistance of Vekta while the people of the presumed lost Helghan colonial fleet having settled on Vekta.

As well a colony had been established on Gyre in the nearby Altair system with plans to establish more colonies on nearby systems. The return of the Helghan fleet is greeted with celebrations and especially the money the Helghan corporation would invest into their worlds. While there are problems in the Federation, such as poverty on Helghast and differences between its two peoples, though the government's emphasis on the familial relationship between has helped in that regard. Of course the economic boom that would come with trade with Sol and playing up their issues with Earth by politicians has helped to create a new national identity. Relations at the turn of the 23rd century are positive but their is resentment on both sides. On Earth resentment for blocking their expansion and on the worlds of the Federation primarily among the Helghan people as they have not forgotten the Extrasolar War, Starving Times along with the hard times of settling Helghan.

Still peace will continue for the time being as their would be no gain for the Federation to try to conquer the Sol System and the UCN is still decades behind tech wise and the population gap is shrinking with the Helghan Federation population swelled by a baby boom from the late 2130's to the early 2160's and immigration from Earth and its colonies helping to further increase its population and boosting the population of the colonies beyond Alpha Centauri. For the time being peace reigns and Federation prosperity likely to continue for decades more to come.
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For some reason I thought about Killzone recently. Ended up making this ISOT scenario. The second group of ships were simply moved to Alpha Centauri when the two future planets showed up.
 
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Rise of the Second Imperium
When Emperor Palpatine perished at the Battle of Endor a plan he had crafted nearly 35 years ago while Supreme Chancellor known as the Contingency was put into motion with Sentinel droids directing those they contacted to begin Operation: Cinder and use climate disruptor arrays to scour worlds both rebellious and loyal. Fleet Admiral Gallius Rax as well was visited by a Sentinel informing him of the Emperor's death and ordering him to begin the Contingency. In the time following the events on Endor, Admiral Rax engineered the deaths of numerous Imperial commanders by leaking information about Imperial fleet movements and locations of their bases to the New Republic in order to purge the Empire of those he viewed as unworthy for what would come the Empires fall. A fall which had been greatly accelerated by Operation:Cindera and Raxs leaks as rebellion spread across the Empire faster than ever and a growing number of Imperial forces defecting to the New Republic or simply deserted with some settling down while others would become pirates contributing to the Galaxy worsening piracy problem.

Admiral Rax kept the Contingency a secret from even his own subordinates, including Grand Admiral Rae Sloane, who disliked his secretive style of leadership, and his Shadow Council, an advisory council assembled by Rax consisting of senior Imperial officials and commanders. After Sloane was presumed lost or captured during an attack which he had orcreshstrated on the New Republic capital of Chandrila, Rax assumed leadership of the united Imperial remnants as Counselor to the Empire. He then ordered his forces to assemble at Jakku for a final showdown with the New Republic. Unknown to the Shadow Council and the Imperial forces, Rax was planning to kill them all along the Republic fleet with the exception of the former Commandant Brendol Hux, whom he regarded as essential to the Contingency and the Empire's future.

Intending to destroy the "Old Empire," Rax had Commandant Hux train local children into a force of soldiers who would become the foundations of the new Empire; Commandant Hux had previously run a secret society of child soldiers at his academy. While the battle was raging, Rax and Yupe Tashu poured Sith relics down the planet's core in order to trigger a cataclysm. Rax then killed Tashu as part of the Contingency, pushing him into the borehole. Before Rax could escape offworld with Brendol Hux, his son Armitage Hux, and their child soldiers aboard a replica of Palpatine's yacht, the Imperialis, Rax was killed by a vengeful Grand Admiral Sloane with the help of the New Republic operatives Norra Wexley and Brentin Lore Wexley.

In his last dying moments, Counselor Rax told Sloane that she now served the Contingency in his place and told her to accompany the others aboard the Imperialis to the Unknown Regions, where the Emperor's flagship Eclipse was waiting in uncharted space. The group then began what they had expected to be a months long journey to their destination which instead lasted less than a minute and to their surprise not at their expected destination. They were not the only ones surprised as Bastion Military Control scrambled to mobilize Imperial forces to respond to numerous unauthorized ships arriving along with a Super Star Destroyer. Soon the chaos subsided when the flow of ships into the system stopped, though the chaos would soon be replaced with confusion as when communications were opened between the Bastion Imperials and the newly arrived Imperials as the latter's explanation made absolutely no sense. The newly arrived Imperials found themselves detained with some more willing than others about this.

On the surface of Bastion Sloane, Hux, Moff Gideon, Grand Moff Rannd among others were interrogated and pressed by their interogrators to stop lying. The interrogators though began to wonder if they were telling the truth as none had deviated from their version of how Galactic Civil War unfolded. While this was going on the Moff Council and Supreme Commander Gilda Pellaon were receiving updates about this bizarre situation, they found themselves dealing with two new crises. The first the lost of contact with the wider galaxy and that it seemed someone or some group had somehow managed to hack into all Imperial Navy navigation computers and changed it to show the Empires eight remaining sectors now being located in the Unknown Regions as well next to some Deep Core systems and quite a few systems that no one had ever heard of before. While the Moff Council argued and debated among themselves, the Supreme Commander decided that they needed to see if this was some New Republic plot or if something else had happened.

On Pellaons orders, several scout forces were dispatched to the supposed Deep Core systems and the new unknown systems. What they found were confused Imperial warlords and as well the equally confused Empire of the Hand, a series of colonies and military bases and other facilities established by Grand Admiral Thrawn nearly three decades ago. As well some captains found worlds with shipyards, factories, research facilities etc. and when contacted were greeted by Imperial personnel welcoming them and expressing their hope to quickly begin the work of building a new empire. These reports and the fact they were clearly no longer in the Outer Rim lend increasing credence to what Sloane and the others had told their interogrators. While Imperial authorities worked with the IGBC to limit any economic damage from the "event", the Supreme Commander and the Moff Council discussed what their next steps should be.

It was decided that the various Imperial factions would need to be brought under their control so as to begin the rebuilding of the Empire, colonize the vast territories nominally under Hand control in order to fuel both the Imperial economy and its war machine which would soon begin expanding once more. Third and finally to figure out if they were still in their galaxy, the Contingency Imperials galaxy or in a completely different galaxy. To achieve the first step and by extension the second one, a conference would be held on Bastion with the Imperial factions invited and convinced to bring about this Second Imperial Reunification. Of course this Imperial unification would be far easier than what Daala had gone through as it was judged the Hand would be easily convinced as both the Hand and the Imperial Remnant shared similar ideas while the warlords and Contingency Imperials were heavily outnumbered and outgunned. The latter groups were well aware of this when they received the invitation to the Bastion Conference and as they made their way to Bastion.

As expected Admiral Voss Parck, leader of the Hand agreed to rejoin the Empire while the warlords were reluctant to lose their independence though could see their lives depended on agreeing and so re-pledged their loyalty to the Empire. The Contingency Imperials were interesting, some easily agreed like Sloane, liking how this Empire worked compared to theirs. Others were motivated by power such as Moff Gideon and the nobles and various officers. Scientists were excited at the prospect of far more resources at their disposal and being to draw upon universities for young and talented additions to their staffs. Hardliners were not easily convinced though figured they could work with their fellow in this Empire to eventually roll back some of these Daala Reforms and so agreed as well.

Such an assumption would turn out to be incorrect though to this day they are still a sizable and influential faction within Imperial space. With step one complete, step two was put into motion as Imperial fleets and armies were deployed into what was former Hand space and the systems under Contingency Imps control and beginning the process of solidifying Empire control over these sectors and systems. The arrival of these fleets and the armies they carried meant for the aliens worlds allied with the Hand, an end to life as they had known it. The Hand had allied and recruited from various alien species in order to repel various hostiles and as well for the security of the Imperial colonies established in the Unknown Regions. With the forces at the disposal of the Empires combined with the additional fleets gained, such arrangements were no longer viewed as necessary.

Therefore newly promoted Grand Admiral Voss Parck was put in charge of communicating this change in policy and to make those worlds accept the coming Imperial annexation. Grand Admiral Voss himself was unhappy with this change viewing it as a betrayal of the sacrifices his allies had made over the years. Still he would carry out his orders and convince those worlds better to peacefully accept Imperial annexation with its benefits versus being a bomber out world under Imperial military control fighting a futile struggle. As well he pointed out that one day their sons and daughter may be among those deciding Imperial policy if their worlds are loyal to the Empire. Voss diplomatic efforts would end up being a success and the Empire garrisoned the worlds of the Hands former allies without incident.

The Empire soon began to invest into education, infrastructure among other things while local businesses were boosted by spending from Imperial military personnel. That's not to say these people didn't miss their independence or liked paying additional taxes but they begrudgingly went along with this as this was how things were now. While this was going various corporations began to negotiate to build a mine here, buy vast tracts of farmland on a planet and so forth, swelling Imperial coffers which combined with new loans allowed increased spending on the military among other things. Colonists were recruited and dispatched to build up existing colonies while others established new ones on worlds previously surveyed by the Hand with Moffs assigned to oversee the sectors containing and some of the Moffs being the Deep Core warlords. Resources flowed back to Empires eight as a boom time began, sometimes the first ever experienced years for some of these worlds and for others the first in years or even longer for others.

Some of these colonial convoys however were not to settle inside Imperial space but rather outside and to establish a route back to galaxy proper and to determine which galaxy they were in. Guided by navi data provided by the Contingency Imps and guided by the experienced captains of the Hand colonies traveled over the course of most what remained of the year back to the wider galaxy while establishing colonies, supplies bases, communication and repair facilities among other things. With only minimal losses, the Imperial explorers finally reached Galactic proper and tapped into the Holonet to send back info on current events and to ascertain which Galaxy they were in. They now knew they were in the galaxy Grand Admiral Sloane and her fellow Imperials were from. As well they updated Bastion on the current status of the galaxy

The Galactic Civil War had ended with the signing of the Galactic Concordance, placing various restrictions and sizable reparations upon the Imperial remnant stretching from the Core Worlds to the Inner Rim, though some of the systems and sectors of these regions being members of this galaxy's New Republic. There is another Imperial Remnant in the Outer Rim but it controls only a small fraction of the it is heavily fortified so the New Republic has made the very controversial choice to leave it alone, deciding that they posed too minor of a threat to justify the high cost in life that liberating them would require. Said New Republic who only covers a far smaller fraction of the galaxy than the two preceding Galactic governments and was focusing on ensuring compliance by the Coreward Imperial faction of the Galactic Concordance, reconstruction and aid to many of its members' worlds among other duties and finally working to downsize its military till only ten percent is left. The latter throwing Imperial leadership for a loop as in the Outer Rim pirates, warlords, cartels etc were running roughshod over the Outer Rim in a way not seen since the days of the Galactic Republic. In this vacuum left by the Empire collapse and New Republic failing security strategy in the Outer Rim likely fueling the rise of such states as the New Separtist Union, Confederacy of Corporate System and the Sovereign Latitudes of Maracavanya among many others. Though there is hope that the New Jedi Order founded by Luke Skywalker after the unexpected arrival of his apprentice Grogu will be able to in time to reduce some of this suffering in the Outer Rim.

With this information in hand the Empire began to work on a plan for the rest of the year and into early 6 ABY that would allow them to regain galactic control. Of course it would include the ongoing military build up though even with the New Republic downsizing its military, an even greater build up would be needed to deal with the various defenses forces, rising nations, and the inevitable rebellion as they occupied much of the galaxy. New military academies and officers schools were built though this was not the only way the Imperial military to increase its size. The growth of the Army and Stormtrooper Corps was also sped up by the recruiting of Imperial soldiers that had turned to mercenary work after the fall of the Empire. There was as well a sizable number of officers that were recruited as well due to the New Republic branding those that had not retreated to the Core Imperial remnant as war criminals.

To accelerate the acquiring of weapons, star fighters, warships etc it was decided they would invest into criminal groups via shell corporations and proxy groups and then take their share of profits to invest into the Imperial military, increase domestic spending, begin building a new welfare state to take of and keep the Imperial citizens happy and therefore less likely to rebel. As well, anti New Republic terror groups would receive funding to strike at the New Republic and would use untold amounts of credits to investigate, hunt them down and repair the damage they caused and therefore weaken the New Republic. While the people of the Empire would enjoy an ever increasing standard of living, their prosperity would come at the expense of people across the galaxy. To ensure they were not lacking for recruits and a workforce, pro family policies were adopted to boost population growth and as well they would recruit humans from the poorest worlds and as well buy and then free human slaves, with this recruitment policy resulting in countless loyal and patriotic families. This only human recruitment policy being a concession to the Imperial hardliners to make them agree to it.

Still it was a boost to the population growth rate and as well helped to fuel colonization of what people had started to call the Imperial Rim. Another source of troops for the Empire being Spaarti cloning cylinders provided by the Hand colony which combined with Ysalamiri could create elite clone units in less than a month or an additional source of crews for ships. Imperial Intelligence would as well receive an ever increasing budget which it used to keep an eye upon the Imperial citizenry and operations across the galaxy to further the Empires interest. This included destabilizing or causing civil war on planets that might be a threat when the Empire returns, fueling the growing gridlock in the New Republic Senate by bribing senators such as Erudo Ro-Kiintor or recruiting ex Imperials to the Imperial cause and that who would go on to dominate the Centrist faction. They would as well recruit agents of the fallen Empire that would provide them with contacts and informants across the galaxy.

There were various other things they would do over the coming decades though one of the most important would be infiltrating governments, militaries, corporations etc across the galaxy which would pay many dividends when the Empire would return. The New Republic was of course a major target along with rising regional governments and as well secretly gaining the loyalty of countless planetary governments including both human and alien planets. As well, bringing the two Imperial remnants under Empire control was a very important goal. The Outer Rim Remnant would within a few years fall under their control via recruiting certain important figures and assainitating others to facilitate their rise. It would send resources to fuel the growing Imperial war machine in the Unknown Regions and would serve as the staging area for campaigns into nearby sectors.

Bringing the Coreward Imperial state under their control would take far longer though by the time of Imperial return, its vast population, industry and financial resources would be at the disposal of Bastion. While the initial steps of these operations and schemes were taking place, the Empire was also turning some of its forces and resources to exploring the wider Unknown Regions. Countless species would be encountered, some hostile and some not. The hostile would include a number of alien kingdoms that would clash with Imperial forces over the next few years. The most notable of the non-hostile met would be the Chiss, Grand Admiral Thrawn's people. The Chiss initially would assume the Empire to be some small warlord state though would eventually realize this to be not the case and began a military build up of their own.

For the next few years the Empire would grow, shipyards would expand, new ones built along with new factories for both military and civilian needs, with increased funding for research creating new weapons, technology and certain weapons long lost to the Imperial arsenal. The Empire would enjoy over six years of relative peace until the Imperial war machine would be unleashed in 11 ABY. The Supreme Commander sought to test the doctrine reforms that were instituted after the annexation of the Hand colonies and the ability and skill of his rebuilding military and they would find convenient targets in the alien kingdoms that had repeatedly clashed with Imperial forces. The Imperial military would easily overrun these kingdoms with many present Imperial leaders having their careers begin during these campaigns including Jagged Fel repeatedly achieve "ace in a day" in these rapid campaigns. With the campaigns concluded the conquered kingdoms were reorganized into a new Oversector with newly promoted Grand Moff Soontir Fel placed in charge with the hopes he could one day turn these conquered into loyal and productive or at the very least lay the groundwork for a future Grand Moff to achieve this and while beginning the extraction of valuable resources from these sectors.

Supreme Commander Gilad Pellaeon would rule four more years overseeing a number of minor campaigns but finally in 15 ABY he would retire after 61 combined years of service to the Galactic Republic and the Galactic Empire. His successor would be Grand Admiral Rae Sloane having taken an interest in her during the Bastion Conference. She would quickly settle into her new position largely continuing the policies of her successor for the first two years of her rule with the exception of her abolishing slavery as she had long believed it turned countless species against the Empire. It would not be till 17 ABY that she would deviate from previously policy with first a rapid conquest of the Chiss Ascendancy to the shock and surprise of many though others were not surprised at all. While they would fiercely resist this unprovoked aggression by the Empire, in the end they still fell.

Chiss space and the nearby sectors were grouped together into only the second Oversector established in the Unknown Regions and placed under the control of now Grand Moff Voss Parck believing him to be the best pick to oversee the Chiss. The next change was her reorganization of the Galactic Empire into the Second Imperium with her as the first Imperator, acknowledging the reality they were no longer that but making it clear that one day they would resume their position as rightful masters of the galaxy. The next thirteen years would see continued expansion of the Imperium border, the occasional conquest, development of ever more advanced tech. The Imperium Navy would continue to grow ever larger while adding to its fleets the Imperial III class Star Destroyer with a focus on being a carrier though even more deadly with more weaponry and other changes to correct past mistakes of the Imperial 2, the Turbulent class Star Destroyer for a more agile warship and the Resurgent class Star Destroyer/Battlecruiser designed to take on the strongest enemy ships, among other updated version of older ships, some other new ships designed and of course new TIE models. The other branches of the military would as well receive new weapons, armor, gear and vehicles to replace aging designs.

By 30 ABY the Iron Lady of the Imperium felt that she had done her duty and that it was time to retire. Not to mention she was feeling every one of those 71 years of her life. She would just be the latest member of the Old Guard retiring and making way for the younger generations composed of moderates, hardliners and those with a mixture of those views. So who would succeed the Iron Lady? That would be war hero Jagged Fel, who came into public attention with his service during the 11 ABY campaigns serving under the command of the then Grand Admiral Rae Sloane.

Imperator Sloane ensured it would be a smooth transfer from her to Fel and in a grand ceremony on Bastion with Fel family and countless important Imperium figures witnessing Jagged Fel being crowned the second Imperator. Within a few years one would see across Imperium space, industry now working day and night upon the military buildup as the day of return came ever closer. That day would finally come in 35 ABY. On the 30th anniversary of the Battle of Jakku after nearly three decades of preparations they made their return with a massive invasion of the galaxy. The New Republic Home Fleet was rapidly destroyed by the arriving Imperium forces with Hosnian Prime quickly falling under Imperium occupation with the New Republic senators present captured. Across the galaxy, New Republic task forces were destroyed however some escaped destruction.

The other defenders of the New Republic, the New Jedi Order which had greatly rebuilt its numbers would suffer heavy casualties in this sudden new Jedi Purge though many would survive such as Grandmaster Luke Skwalker, Jedi Master Grogu and Jedi Knight Ben Solo who would rally the survivors to fight on even as the Imperium sought to finish them off and bounty hunters sought to collect sizeable bounties now placed on the surviving Jedi. As this was happening the Imperial Remnants of the Core and the Outer Rim and countless systems across the galaxy would declare publicly their allegiance to the Second Imperium, massively tipping into its favor an already very favorable balance of power. Other systems would fall to Imperium control via militia uprisings such as Coruscant though some of these uprisings would fail. While a sizeable focus was placed upon the New Republic, the various other powers that had risen since Endor were not spared with them suffering numerous bombings at miltary bases, ships and their industrial base to cripple their war effort and soften them up as Imperium armadas invaded their territory. Within a few weeks the major systems of the invaded nations had fallen to the Imperium though much of the galaxy outside of their control. In the space outside of Imperium control, the surviving fleets and armies of the fallen governments such as the New Republic among others would rally together, reorganize and strengthen by a flood of new recruits and ships would come together as a new Rebel Alliance though this time called the Resistance lead by figures such as Leia Organa and Admiral Ackbar.

As warfare spread across more and more of the galaxy, the Second Imperium began a campaign to win the hearts and minds of the people galaxy with the Imperium working to quickly replace the various government and welfare services and repair the damage caused by their invasion. Aid and investment as well came to planets long ignored by the New Republic and the wider galaxy. It was also quickly noticed by the galaxy, the sizable numbers of non-humans serving in the ranks of its military, government agencies and leadership in contrast to High Human Culture of the Empire and with figures such as Palpatine and Tarkin now viewed in a very negative light, with even most hardliners no longer seen as figures worthy of adoration and respect. The Imperium as well took a less oppressive approach to ruling planets as long as they did not rebel. There was as well the massive crackdown on criminal groups bringing the biggest shakeup of the criminal underworld since Jabba's death and terrorists as well feeling the wrath of the Imperium.

These combined policies and actions generated great support for the Second Imperium across the galaxy while others will never tolerate a new Empire after the countless and many crimes of the Galactic Empire. Then there would be those who took a wait and see approach to see how things would shake out, waiting to see who would win in this new Galactic conflict. Will it be the ascendant and powerful Second Imperium or the righteous and newly formed Resistance?
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This has been an idea I've had in my head since 2019, though it was only today that I was finally able to write it. Also an ASB made Exegol and old Palpy vanish, so no Dark Empire 2.0.
 
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A History of the NCR 2097-2176
Yeap another ISOT scenario. Really like ISOTs.
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The first step in the eventual creation of the New California Republic can be traced back to the founding of Shady Sands by a group from Vault 15 seeking to behind the overpopulation and turmoil that had gripped the Vault. Using a GECK and hard work they would become a thriving and completely self-sufficient community with crops, water via a well and finally a Brahmin herd. As well large enough to withstand raider and radscorpion attacks for many decades. While willing to trade with others, they still had a good amount of suspicion for outsiders, which understandable for people living in a post apocalypse wasteland. Though the threat by raiders such as the Khans and radscorpions escalated over the years with growing concern about the future of their settlement.

Shady Sands would weather these crises via the legendary Vault Dweller who eliminated the radscorpion threat and nearly wiped out the Khans, ensuring Sands continued survival and the development of new trades routes as a certain measure of stability spread across parts of California. Various goods would be carried along these trade routes along with an exchange of cultures that had been developed over the past few decades. Eventually this would result in the rise of a movement that called for the unification of the settlements into one state. This movement would become increasingly popular with Shady Sands spending three years crafting a constitution for the proposed state. In 2189, years of work would cultimate with the founding of the New California Republic.

As the people of the newly formed NCR celebrated this historic event, the entirety of the just founded state was consumed by green mist as fierce storms clouds raged above. When this odd weather cleared nothing remained of the NCR and a power vacuum now existed that would in time be taken advantage of by others, though that is a story for another time. For the people of the New California Republic no damage was done though very rapidly it became clear that every NCR settlement had been jammed right next to Shady Sands along with a village founded by the Vault Dweller and everything and everyone in Vault 15 including even the entire Vault itself in various. Finally a year worth of canned food with guns, ammo, medicines, water, six GECKs etc. Naturally there was confusion and panic about the whole situation, though this confusion deepened when the people of Vault 15 informed the now enlarged population of Shady Sands that as far as they were aware it was 2097.

Luckily the strong leadership of President Aradesh prevented a major panic and chaos from engulfing the now city and quickly moved to figure out when they were by dispatching heavily armed convoys to the Hub and Junk Town as they both existed in 2097. The convoys would soon return confirming that the current year being 2097. They also brought back knowledge of the existence of settlements that would've been wiped out or had vanished by 2189. With this knowledge in hand the President quickly formulated a plan for the New California Republic to adapt to their changed circumstances but as well to thrive. The first step was to send an expedition to the Mariposa Military Base, to prevent another figure like The Master creating a new mutant army and eliminate a source of mutant wildlife attacking settlements and caravans.

Second the establishment of new settlements to put less stress on Shady Sands resources. Third, using the GECKs and the knowledge, equipment of Vault 15 to ensure they have an ever growing amount of food to feed the growing population of the NCR. Fourth, reach out to the settlements of 2097 and convince them to join the New California Republic which would provide more resources and manpower for the new nation. Fifth and finally with the NCR army now well armed and supplied, send out detachments to clear the raiders and dangerous wildlife from the territory that would've been the five founding states of the NCR. Which would also make trading more safer and as well show that membership in the NCR came with protection from the many threats of the Wastelands.

The Mariposa Expedition under the leadership of an aged but still capable Vault Dweller would soon depart as many convoys would as well depart under NCR Army protection to establish or reestablish settlements such as Dayglow. As what would later be called First Great Migration began, word was already spreading from settlement to settlement about this New California Republic which did not seem to be lacking in numbers, weapons or supplies. Speculation and rumors abound about how such an army could've of formed, or been supported along with a government capable of such things. Word would soon arrive about them being from the year 2189, though this was at first viewed as pure fantasy or disinformation. This view would become hard to hold if one visited the NCR capital with its size, resources and knowledge, not something any known group of survivors has managed to accomplish in the last twenty years.

As this fact was becoming apparent, the NCR was army busy killing or pushing out any threats in the areas they arrived in with settlements and outposts soon began construction with merchant caravans and diplomats in time arriving as well. Of the two groups that would arrive later, the merchants seeking of course trade and the diplomatic wishing to establish relations and offering membership in the NCR. Struggling or failing settlements would quickly take up the offered membership in order to receive much needed aid which in turn provided taxes for the NCR and new sources of recruits for the NCR Army. The NCR as it expanded discovered settlements which there was no previous knowledge of which for whatever reason had destroyed or had failed. By late 2102, the NCR had brought under its control much of the territory it had claimed in 2189, with even some new territorial gains such as the outpost outside the Mariposa base keeping it under close watch while protecting nearby settlements that had joined seeking protection from nearby raider tribes.

There were some settlements that for some years would resist joining but even they minus a few exceptions would finally join either due to them needing food, water etc or because the people of these towns wanted to see their standard of living increase rather than just surviving. While this slowly increasing standard of living for the NCR was still far, far below what was enjoyed pre Great War it was still a major improvement over what life had been like four years earlier where countless goods and food were in short supply and your life expectancy massively dropped if you left your settlement. While there are still threats such as raiders attacking border settlements, these are a far less common occurrence and the major raids coming from the raider groups that had been driven into Imperial Valley county. Even then most of their attention is focused upon fighting each other and the already established raiders and tribes. The NCR would leave this country alone for years to come as it did not see the cost to liberate it being worth it, Aradesh not wishing to overstretch the NCR Army

Industry and manufacturing has begun a revival of sorts supported by a growing consumer demand and government contracts to supply an ever expanding NCR Army. These new government contracts have led to another revival, this being lobbying. Farmers, Brahmin herd owners and groups such as the Gun Runners worked secure contracts and as well arguing for government resources to be directed to their particular sector of the economy to boost its growth. Resources to develop them however were not plentiful so this efforts had only minimal gains at the times but in later decades as the New California Republic grew and with more resources at its disposal, this lobbying in the future would pay major dividends. Other development that took place at this time was in the realm of education, as the President Aradesh daughter Tandi, would oversee a push to build across the NCR schools using the knowledge of Vault 15 to ensure that future generations to be more knowledgeable than previous generations and to be able to adapt to an ever changing NCR.

The remaining years of Aradesh presidency were for the most part uneventful besides the occasional debate in the NCR Senate over if the NCR should be expanding faster. Aradesh presidency would end after ten years in 2107 when he peacefully passed in his sleep with the NCR mourning the passing of the great statesmen. He would be succeeded by his daughter Tandi as President, with her first three years in office being largely a continuation of her fathers policies with only noteworthy legislation of this period being a law limiting the amount of farmland and Brahmin one person could own. This would result in the formation of the Republican Farmer Committee and the Stockmen's Association who would spend the rest of Tandi presidency working to have the law repealed. The next major event in the Tandi Presidency would come in 2110.


While the raider tribes of Imperial Valley were the greatest continuing threat at the time, they only did major raids once in a while. The raider groups in the lands west of the NCR main states, on the other hand were launching regular attacks on border settlements and trade caravans with the cost of these growing as the years passed Unwilling to continue to tolerate this, President Tandi would convince the Senate to provide funding for a campaign that would see these western raiders wiped out. It proved to be an easy task to get the Senate to agree as every state except Dayglow was suffering these particular raiders. The expansionist faction had been pushing for nearly a decade for another major expansion, while lobbyists for the arms makers such as the Gun Runners saw that the army would be seeking extra ammunition and that their would be even more arms contracts in the future with NCR Army undergoing a major expansion in order to hold the newly gained territories. With support and funding secured, plans were drawn up with supplies and arms stockpiles and additional units moved to border territories.

The order was given and the army surged into and smashed one raider group after another while liberating countless slaves. The NCR Army of 2110 was far different from the army circa 2097, with it having begun working towards standardizing its equipment and armor, production of arms and ammo regularly and in good quantities, far more personnel including experienced officers with as well far more potential recruits. With the lands conquered, the army would establish new outposts to secure them as NCR diplomats went to the towns in these areas not yet members of the NCR seeking to add them to the growing nation, which was easily accomplished as the benefits of NCR membership were clear by then. Two years later in 2112, Mariposa State would be added as the sixth state of the New California Republic with its capital at the settlement that would in the future be called Mariposa City and the seventh state of Wasco being added in 2117 with its capital being the similarly named Wasco City. Also of note during this period was the Gun Runners setting up shop in San Francisco to have another source of scrap and materials to fuel its operation and unintentionally laying the groundwork for the eventual NCR annexation of San Francisco.

The twenty years after the Western Pacification Campaign the NCR would have a major focus on clearing roads and rail lines, support to establish new farms and greenhouses to ensure an ever expanding food supply to among other things ensure an emergency reserves of food. Another focus being to ensure every citizen of the NCR was housed and that there would not be a shortage of firewood. All of this was preparation for the Great Winter of 2130. These preparations paid off, as the NCR relatively comfortably rode out the winter. Other regions were not so lucky with this fact being demonstrated by the refugees and tribes that poured in from the north, south and the east.

There were complaints about the sudden influx of people into the NCR and this immigration feeding the lately growing feeling of the NCR being overcrowded. This was not at all true and President Tandi was aware of this but saw in this and the Great Winter an opportunity. Not for anti-immigration measures as the NCR has always been open to immigration but rather a northern expansion to add Northern California to the NCR. The people as expected were easily convinced as was most of the Senate with the expansionist of course being among the biggest supporters of Tandis proposed northern push. So in the spring of 2131, an NCR Army boosted by a new increase in its budget pushed north and began the Second Great Migration.

As with any part of the wasteland, there are raiders and they do not respond well to people moving into territory they view as theirs. This is normal and a given. What is not normal is alliances between raider groups and some raider bosses having an army at their disposal. As the NCR would learn despite their wishes, not all of those raiders they had driven north all those years ago had died. Some had survived, rebuilt their numbers and a few raider bosses had even built their fiefdoms.

So unlike previous campaigns against the raiders, these conflicts would be far bloodier hence them gaining the name Raider Wars. Even with such organization, NCR numbers and industry meant that the raiders were steadily pushed back. As the NCR pushed deeper into Northern California they found themselves competing with New Reno and Vault City for the future of the region. Each faction would use its particular advances to advance their interests as various plots and assassinations added to instability of the region. While most settlers were following the advancing NCR forces, some instead headed south establishing a few settlements in Northern Baja and beginning the NCR colonization of what was once Mexico.

The other notable event of the 2130s would undoubtedly be the addismison of San Francisco as the eight state of the NCR. The process began with the Gun Runners establishing themselves there back in early 2211 and their early interactions with the communities descended from a Chinese submarine crew and those that had managed to make it to San Francisco. While the leadership of these communities wanted nothing to do with the growing number of NCR citizens in the city, the younger generations were rather fascinated as they learned more about this NCR. As they learned more about this NCR and compared it to their life's in their developing but still struggling communities they found themselves increasingly disastfied. Some would immigrate to the NCR while others decided to remain but believed that their communities would be better a part of the NCR than apart from it.

As the years passed, the older generations would pass away from various causes while the younger generations eventually became in charge of the communities and with said communities for the most part supporting joining the NCR, so in votes held in 2133 a majority of each community approved joining the NCR. It proved to be a temporary but useful distraction from the ongoing difficulties in expanding north. Back south in Baja, NCR towns would continue to grow as new ones would be established. It was a largely peaceful life but towards the end of the 2130s, attacks on these settlements began picking up and with NCR Army focused upon conflicts in the north, there were not many troops they could afford to spare. By 2140 however the frequency of attacks was growing with the Baja settlements pleading for more help and Senators from Dayglow expressing concern at the deteriorating situation.

With it clear something needed to be done, President Tandi would dispatch General Becca Sanders, daughter of the legendary Vault Dweller, to Northern Baja with all the troops fresh out of boot camp that could be spared to stabilize the area and reduce the number of raiders. The general however found that she did not have enough to accomplish. As well, with it clear in the short and medium term there would be no further aid outside of normal resupplies and some rookie troops. General Becca decided to take matters into her own hands and began recruiting militias from the Baja settlements and local towns along with volunteers from Dayglow. As well, guns, ammo and other supplies were donated by wealthy individuals from Dayglow seeking to protect their property.

With her mixture of NCR troops and militia, the joint force left their outposts and went out in search of raider bases, of which they quickly found and destroyed. Soon enough they had achieved but then complications arose as a local settlement would contact the NCR forces not long after they had secured areas near the NCR colonies, asking for assistance which General Becca decided to grant and then they would wipe out the raiders. They would then get contacted by another settlement and once again wipe out more raiders. This process would repeat over and over with NCR troops assisted by local volunteers pushing ever deeper into Baja till they found themselves in control of most of Northern Baja. It was this point that the general halted the advance over concerns of overstretching her forces and moving her forces around to be able to repel any attacks from the south while establishing new outposts and fortresses to give them extra defenses.

While what would come to be called the Northern Baja Campaign was raging, in the NCR Senate and military a debate was raging over what to do about Sanders' actions. There was how she went far beyond her orders, as it had been expected she would add some land to the NCR, not de facto annexation of more and more of Northern Baja. As well there was the matter of what some viewed of her raising her own private armies. Those that supported her said she simply adapted to a changing situation and when had the NCR ever punished a general for expanding the borders of their nation? There was also growing evidence that the people of Northern Baja clearly desired to join the New California Republic.

There was also the factor that many politicians and generals felt it would be unwise for future career prospects to punish the general that had won many victories for the NCR in Northern California and who as well is the daughter of the Vault Dweller. In the end those who supported her actions outnumbered those that didn't and she was given a medal and put in charge of the territory of North Baja. In 2145, when North Baja was admitted as the ninth state, General Sanders would retire after 31 years of service and run for one of the newly created senate seats. To the surprise of no one she absolutely crushed her opponent and would soon arrive in Shady Sands to advance the interests of the newest NCR state and her adopted home. Back in the north the Raiders Wars dragged as while NCR Army pushed ever northward, the raiders would receive help from their counterparts in Nevada and Oregon while receiving guns, ammunition etc.

The NCR suspected that New Reno was providing such aid but it was never proven. 2148 would end up being the year in which the struggle for Northern California would turn decisively in the favor of the New California Republic due to mainly the actions of one man. That man was William Sander of the NCR Rangers, son of Senator Sander of North Baja. In the course of his duties he would cripple several major raider groups, convince several major settlements such as Redding to join the NCR, secure an alliance with New Reno and finally lead raids destroying several bases of a group known as the Enclave that sought to exterminate anyone not part of their faction and claim the wastelands for themselves. The Raiders Wars would largely conclude in 2150 with the last major groups either wiped or fleeing north like so many before them.

The NCR had greatly changed during these nineteen years of conflict with two states added and the nation now stretching from North Baja to southern Oregon. The NCR Army had as well changed with it now being a mixture of volunteers and draftees now using standardized armor and weapons with new tactics and specialized units having been created in response to nearly twenty years of war. The next few years would be peaceful or rather peaceful as living in the wasteland is while the NCR consolidated its control over Northern California while the NCR military took a well earned respite from nearly two decades of conflict. The next major shake up for the NCR would come in 2256 with the death of President Tandi. She had led the NCR for 49 years and had brought it to new heights and to this day counted among the most popular presidents of the NCR.

Even outside the NCR, her reputation was such that was called the "Great Mother" by many tribes. With Tandi's death the Vice President should have served out the remainder of her term, but said person was instead looking to retire and so began the first ever competitive election for the office of the presidency. Many would compete for the office but there was one that quickly took the lead in the race when she announced her candidacy and that being Senator Becca Sanders of North Baja. Senator Sanders' military record combined with her basically being responsible for North Baja being added to the NCR allowed her to rally major support especially in the states of Shady Sands, Dayglow and of course North Baja. Feeling however this would not be enough, Sanders would do what any politicians would, make promises to secure more support.

One of those promises that she would make would be allowing an increase in the size of farmland and Brahmin one could own. A stance popular with the Stockmen's Association and the Republican Farmers Committee and those small farmers looking to sell for a good price to the bigger landowners. When Election Day came, a mixture of these special interest groups, support of the previously mentioned states and many veterans gave her the largest share of voters and therefore victory. Now President Sanders quickly set to fulfil the promises she had made on the campaign trail and one of the first ones she would fulfill would be the weakening of the anti-monopoly law. While there was opposition to this in the Senate she would still gather a majority to modify the law.

This would only be the first modification to the law which in time would be whittled away until it would finally be repealed in the 2160s. This process in turn gave rise to the agri-barons and brahmin barons and made them immensely rich and their spending leading to the rebirth of luxury and cottage industries. They would as well seek to dominate NCR politics but found their efforts to control NCR politics contested by their counterparts in mining, industry and weapons making. This all came at a time of rapid economic and cultural change. As survival ceased being a major concern for many of the NCR citizens, people began to focus upon their own wants and needs at the expense of communal welfare. People providing services free of charge became increasingly rarer in the core regions of the NCR with skilled workers routinely charging for their services, from tailors to surgeons.

What people would come to call the spirit of '97 would continue in newer regions of the NCR and on the frontier. Still the tides of civilization would push ever outward and eventually even in these places those offering their services for free would become the exceptions rather than the rule. Moreover, after decades of scavenging, the wastelands of Southern California are becoming picked clean of salvageable goods. NCR citizens who can still make a living exclusively by scavenging and hunting were becoming a less common sight. The combination of these cultural and economic factors led to the rebirth of wage labor.

Most citizens would now have to seek employment at a farm, factory or mill and work to earn the money necessary to survive. Jobs available at the latter two became ever more plentiful since the early 2130s as the needs of the army fueled industrial growth in the major cities and in turn attracted migrants. The cities would at first be able to house the new arrivals but by the mid 2160s slums would begin re-emerging for the first time in decades which in turn led to demands for better living conditions and wages and at times strikes. There would be as well the emergence of a proto middle class from among the skilled and long established families in the cities whose spending along with the other social classes fueled a boom in consumer goods. The reemergence of class divisions would as well add to the growing complexity of NCR politics as politicians sought to court voters and advocate for their needs.

The people have a variety of opinions about these developments but what all agree is that there's no going back to what life was like under Tandi and Aradesh. The first two years of the Sanders Administration would pass with the only really notable event being the adding of Redding and Jefferson as the 10th and 11th states. Though this era of uneventfulness would come to an end in 2159 with the campaigns in Imperial Valley and southern Baja. These campaigns came about for two reasons, one to end the raids from these regions and two adding territory is very popular if the costs of it are cheaper compared to the long drawn out Raider Wars. The NCR Army easily steamrolled the various raiders and rapidly brought the two regions under NCR control and as a boost to the President's popularity.

An unintended side effect of this well allowing for those brave settlers or foolish as others would call them, to begin settling northwestern Sonora in the coming years. In this same year a major boon would fall into the lap of the Sanders Administration when they were approached by the Desert Rangers, a group protecting settlements in Arizona, Utah and Nevada seeking admission into the New California Republic. The Rangers could see which ways the winds were blowing and that many under their protection supported the idea of joining having either heard about what they accomplished in the last few decades or seen all that perks and benefits from living in its cities while part of trade caravans. The resulting negotiations would see the Treaty of Phoenix signed in 2160, adding parts of southern and eastern Nevada, and parts of Utah and Arizona to the NCR. As well, the Desert Ranger would merge with the NCR Rangers who would then assist the NCR Army in securing the borders of the new eastern territories from various threats.

By the end of the year the states of Phoenix, Yuma, Flagstaff, Tucson, New Canaan were organized out of these territories and bringing the total number of states in the republic to 16. As the new states were admitted various NCR businesses would begin arriving in these NCR lands to begin investing, mining, building factories and tapping into new markets with some marking this as the beginning of the Third Great Migration. Combined with aid and security provided by NCR troops and police life was rapidly changing and improving for many of the NCR newest citizens' lives. The NCR military found while it was patrolling and defending new eastern lands, they found themselves dragged into local tribal politics. Though instead of being dragged into some quagmire the Sanders Administration would use this to the NCR advantage.

With the support of the Senate they would adopt a policy of secretly admitting a tribe and if that now NCR tribe was attacked, the attack would be repulsed and then a counterattack launched into the territory of the attacking tribe, annexing it and offering citizenship to willing to remain under NCR rules. While some would accuse this policy of being imperialism and while there being some truth to this charge it was and continues to remain a policy utilized by the government of the NCR to achieve expansion. In 2161 there was of course the opening of Vault 13 with this Earth's Vault Dweller emerging into the wastelands and to their surprise and confusion being met by numerous NCR officials led by a bearing a box full of water chips who as well is technically their daughter. Understandably a lot to take in but made things a lot easier for Vault 13 and who a few years later would join the NCR. The other notable event in that year was the NCR presidential election.

There were far less candidates in this election but no less determined to win even though privately they admitted that the odds of the incumbent being unseated was low. Which turned out to be correct as President Sanders achieved an easy re-election victory on the back of a massive expansion of the NCR eastward, continued prosperity and killing lots of raiders. Her Administration would oversee continued expansion northward, eastward while working to bring all of the former states of Arizona, Utah and Nevada under NCR control. As part of this long achieving this long term goal, President Sanders would order an army into the Mojave Wasteland in 2163 upon having received word that Hoover Dam was intact and to see if it can be brought online. As well to protect the growing number of NCR settlers in the Mojave.

To their surprise they would discover the dam under the protection of an army of Securitrons and tribals to discuss the terms for handing the dam over to NCR control. Word of what had occurred would be quickly sent back to Shady Sands where this offer was mulled over by the government. It was decided to to make a deal with this Mr. House as the risks included damage to Hoover Dam, backlash in the NCR and abroad such as in the Sonoran Wasteland, where the NCR was working to see some local settlements to join and finally it not being clear how many tribes and other groups were allied with Mr. House. The resulting Treaty of New Vegas saw the NCR recognizing Robert House control of the Vegas Strip henceforth known as the Free Economic Zone of New Vegas. The NCR would also not restrict its citizens from entering the Mojave and the Vegas Strip.

In exchange, administration and maintenance of Hoover Dam is left to the New California Republic, which is legally permitted to send 95% of the electricity and water produced by the dam to the home states to its territory and various local projects. The remaining 5% being allotted to the New Vegas Strip and its casinos. In addition, the republic was granted rights to establish military bases at Hoover Dam, McCarran Airport, Nellie Air Force base and as well additional military outposts and camps as needed. As a supposed sign of good faith, House also provided facilities for an NCR Embassy on the Strip though the personnel assigned believed it was because he didn't want to renovate the building. With the treaty signed, the NCR Army would settle into its new bases and establish sharecropper farms to help feed the troops stationed in the Mojave.

For New Vegas this was the beginning of an economic boom as off duty soldiers and people from across the NCR would flock to spend their hard earned wages on booze, gambling and prostitutes. While Vegas began returning to its former glory days and the treaty working out for a time, life continued on in the NCR. 2165 would see South Baja added as the 17th state and 2166 would see another easy re-election for President Sanders. 2167 would see a coup in the Bishop family by the 19 year old Sean Bishop, considered rather strange as he is nothing like the other Bishop and liking to explore the wastelands. Strange or not he was able to seize control of his family's criminal operations and would then launch a bloody purge of the other New Reno crime families.

After this he would reach out to the NCR and hashed out the Treaty of New Reno in which New Reno and the various communities in its sphere of influence would join the NCR in exchange for being exempted from a number of its laws. With this New Reno was added as the 18th state and as well granting Mr. Bishop influence over the wider NCR via New Reno senators. Two years later the Treaty of New Vegas which had worked out rather well for both sides collapsed due to the discoveries of one NCR Ranger. Said Ranger being William Sanders who by sheer chance would uncover the numerous plots Mr. House was working on to destabilize and destroy the NCR and then he would swoop to pick up what he could when the dust settled and the rest controlled by proxies aka NCR traitors, allied tribes and raiders. Unwilling to see the nation he spent so much of his life protecting torn apart, General Alliston commander of the NCR forces in the Mojave would lead the majority of the NCR troops to seize the Strip in the bloody Battle of New Vegas while other units dealt with the Mojave tribes allied with Mr House.

After a week of bloody fighting the whole of the Mojave now flew the flag of the NCR and while it would take time to restore New Vegas to its former glory, it would be restored and become even more grander than before. With the NCR in control, the Mojave was admitted as the 19th state. As for the Ranger that set all of this in motion by accident? He would retire after 30 years of service and then run for and win his mother's old senate seat in North Baja. Said mother would win her fourth and final term in 2171 and declined to run in 2176 leaving many to believe it would be a competitive race for the presidency.

This would be an incorrect assumption as William Sanders would run and President Sanders would rallied much of the coalition that had won for her past elections, to support her son and combined with the support he was able to drum up, won the election in a landslide. As President William adjusts to his new office in Shady Sands, he is now leading a booming industrial nation expanding northward, eastward in multiple directions and has begun to push deeper into Mexico from its newest state of North Sonora. For much of the NCR, decades of hard work and sacrifices has brought about unprecedented prosperity with some even believing this to be the beginning of a golden age for the NCR. Whether that happens or not, it is clear to all the future of the wastelands will be decided by the New California Republic
 
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A changed Garrosh, a changed Azeroth
In the weeks after the death of the Lich King, the members of the Horde Expedition noticed a change in Garrosh Hellscream. Whereas once he was hot blooded and short tempered he was now patient and tempered. As well to the surprise of many he would apologize to Saurfang for his previous brashness and disrespect he had shown the elder orc and told him he would petition Warchief Thrall to replace him as commander of what Horde troops would remain in Northrend as he wished to continue receiving his counsel, wisdom and knowledge of strategy and tactics. This did much to repair relations between the Orcs and Varok did admit the sooner he could leave this cursed continent, the better. All of this sparked rumors and allegations of Garrosh being either possessed or under magical influence.

This would in turn cause brawls among Horde troops and adventurers as there were those that took strong offense at what they viewed to be falsehoods. Soon enough it became clear that such brawls were becoming all too frequent and far too violent and resolved to end them and the rumors about him. Garrosh would undergo a number of tests which showed without a doubt that he was Garrosh Hellscream and under no one's control, though privately he knew the former was technically not true though a fact he would keep to himself. With that resolved Garrosh would focus during his remaining time on Northrend, overseeing the drawdown of troops, reading over old reports and speaking with troops and adventurers to learn more about their lands and peoples. Eventually Garrosh and a final group of soldiers would depart with the arrival of a ship with one Cairne Bloodhoof aboard.

Bloodhoof would spend a short time inspecting Warsong Hold and like many before was rather shocked by the personality change by Garrosh, but he could deny he much preferred this how he was now compared to the last time he saw him. The voyage back was peaceful despite the expectations of some of a Kvadir attack. Their return to Durotar kicked off a major celebration to honor Hellscream and that of his warriors' achievements. The celebration could have been far grander but Hellscream had pushed back against things he viewed as being frivolous spending when the resources of the Horde were not infinite and especially after such a major conflict. Every Horde veteran and those that labored in Northrend that chose to participate were honored in a massive parade stretching a good bit into beyond the gates of Orgrimmar with the various units and laborers being honored as they entered the city with Garrosh with him being the final to enter and with it being clear by him receiving the loudest cheers who the people most liked and a fact not lost among the Horde leadership present.

As the people celebrated, Thrall would honor Garrosh with a banquet held in his honor and present to him Gorehowl, the axe of Grom Hellscream upon Garrosh. Garrosh displayed a natural affinity for the mighty weapon, like his father before him. During the banquet Thrall would discuss the various issues afflicting the people of Durotar, such as the drought afflicting the Barrens and Durotar and the Night Elves having cut off trade, the people of Durotar faced famine. As a result Thrall, Cairne and Hamuul Runetotem resolved to negotiate peacefully with the night elves and that Hamuul would lead the Horde delegate. Garrosh respectfully pointed that negotiations at this time would be unpopular to say the least among the orcs as the Night Elves had cut off trade after Wrathgate, blaming them for the actions of traitors and doing this during a drought. Which as Thrall had pointed out earlier threatened famine which the Night Elves would use as leverage to get back what they want the most, Eastern Ashenvale.

Which if we're to happen would threaten unrest at best and revolt at worst, a fact that came up multiple times before in previous discussions and something that would impede the success of any negotiations with the Night Elves. Still Garrosh wished Hamuul success in his upcoming negotiations. Deep into the night, festivities would continue until bonfires combined with a conflagration that began to spread with the city sprinting into action to contain and put out the fires. Thrall himself tried to calm the flames using his shamanic powers but found that the fire was hell-bent on destruction, resolving to snuff out the flames forcibly, an act he regretted. He realized that something was very wrong with the elements and that they were out of control, and pondered the situation.

There were other troubles, such as an orc attack on a group of Sentinels in Ashenvale which was in direct violation of the Horde-Alliance treaty. The Sentinels had been skinned and then chopped up into pieces, left for carrion feeders. Whether or not they had been alive when they were skinned was debatable. The skins of the murdered night elves were hung on trees that had painted Horde symbols depicted on them; written with elven blood. Since the night elves had cut off trade with the Horde in protest of the incident at the Wrathgate, many orcs celebrated this attack.

Thrall as well received a letter from King Varian Wrynn demanding to denounce the attacks and turn over any attackers he could find to the Alliance for justice. Thrall refused to turn over violators of the treaty (he had suspects but didn't have proof and it would likely inflame tensions in Durotar) and also refused to apologize for the thievery of the night elves' goods, the murders, or the brutal methods in which they were performed. Though he did express anger that the treaty had been violated, his unwillingness to publicly reprimand those who had assaulted Alliance members only furthered worsened relations between the Horde and the Alliance. After a meeting with Jaina Proudmoore and Eitrigg and no longer able to converse with the now maddened elements of Azeroth, Thrall decided that he was going to have to travel to Nagrand in Outland to converse with the elements there and try to discover why the elements in Azeroth were so out of control. Before setting out on his quest, Thrall decided that an acting Warchief would need to be appointed while he was gone.

Giving it some thought he would decide upon Garrosh. Garrosh was massively popular even more so than Thrall and had led the Horde to victory in its worst crisis since the Third War. Not to mention unrest was gripping Durotar and now was not the time to appoint the first non-orc as Warchief. As well with his views having Summoned to Grommash Hold, Garrosh was appointed with him swearing to lead the Horde honorably and defend its interests. With leadership of the Horde secured, Thrall would say goodbye to the people of Orgrimmar and depart to begin his quest.

Now as the highest authority figure within the Horde, Garrosh quickly put to use said authority meeting separately with Horde generals, admirals, peon overseers and quartermaster Nargol to issue new orders and then dismissed them to begin carrying them out. Activity and work within the city rose to a level not seen since the War against the Lich King as supplies were gathered, new weapons, armor forged as units and sailors were organized and readied for new deployments and finally outside of the Gates of Orgrimmar construction of a new massive system of fortifications named Dranosh'ar Blockade named after the fallen Dranosh Saurfang. Garrosh would then have Gazowle brought before him to inform his reconstruction contract for the city had been cancelled and then before he could protest this decision was then informed he would be given a contract to expand a nearby bay and as well to build a port and shipyard for it. This more than mollified the goblin and then became ecstatic upon learning additional contracts would be issued to his cartel in the near future. Gazowle quickly set out and began survey work for the newly named Bladefist Bay.

After sending a missive to Undercity, Sylvanas Windrunner would arrive via a portal for an hour long meeting with the new Warchief and then would depart with multiple groups of Horde adventurers in tow back to her realm which just like Durotar became abuzz with activity and work. While all this was going on the peace summit kicked off in western Ashenvale though this quickly would end in tragedy when a group of Orcs invaded the gathering and slaughtered all those present except for Hamuul Runetotem though greatly wounded would survive due to being mistaken for dead and sent an owl to inform Cairne of what had transpired. Who then in turned informed the Horde and Alliance of what had occurred which of course worsened night elf and orc relations. Garrosh to the surprise of the Alliance would denounce the attack as dishonorable, placing the largest ever Horde bounty on the leader of the perpetrators, Gorkrak. He also sent letters to inquire about a joint Horde-Alliance effort to capture those responsible and to hold a tribunal joint tribunal for those captured alive. Finally he also informed them of his intentions to annex certain parts of Kalimdor and Northrend to avoid any potential misunderstandings about the upcoming movement of Horde troops and fleets.

While Velen, Jaina and Gelbin approved of Garrosh suggestions the other Alliance leaders were far less receptive to them but eventually did agree begrudgingly. As for this new Horde expansion, the only way to prevent this would be miltary action but that inevitably mean the start of a Fourth War and being Alliance would be acting to keep the Horde from possessing lands to prevent a famine, Velen, Jaina and Gelblin made it clear such a course of action was taken they would not take part in any offensives against Horde forces. The various factors of weakening Alliance unity, bad optics, and war weariness among their people made the other Alliance leaders even more begrudgingly accept the upcoming Horde expansion. Garrosh to the summit massacre was as well supported by the people of Durotar and the wider Horde, with even most of the hardliners agreeing with Garrosh decision as this action was simply indefensible. His announcement of the Horde expanding the lands under its control and to end the threat of famine with the resources of those regions had sent his popularity in Durotar skyrocketing as this pleased pretty much every orcish faction.

As the manhunt across Kalimdor for those responsible dragged on the first phase of Hellscream's plan began as three armies marched through the Barrens with one heading west to Stonetalon Mountains and the other two headed southwest. A fleet would carry a fourth army south, its destination being southern Tanaris and several squadrons of ships heading east. As the western marching army arrived and began its rapid conquest of the eastern part of Stonetalon, the other two armies arriving in the southern Barrens, with half an army splitting off to establish new bases and fortifications including at the pass into Dustmallow Marsh, something that Theramoore had recently been informed of. The rest of those troops would arrive in Feralas and fought the most difficult and bloodiest of the campaigns happening at the time. Horde troops would battle gnolls, harpies, yetis and the most dangerous of all the Gordunni clan.

Such resistance would prove to be futile against the might of the Horde with the first three groups wiped out and the surviving Gordunni forced to join the Stonemaul in their new settlement in the southern Barrens. In southern Tanaris Horde troops would come ashore as peons began building the Horde newest port city Drakmar, named after Thrall's mother Draka. With some quickly built fortifications manned by a detachment of troops with the rising settlement as well under the protection of a fleet, the rest of the army would march into Tanaris proper with adventurers as guides. The Hordes arrival does not however go unnoticed, with Farraki scouts rapidly bringing word back to Zul'Farrak of this Horde invasion and throwing it into a frenzy. To Chief Ukorz Sandscalp it was clear if the Horde were to establish a presence in Tanaris and able to dig in, than any chance to reclaim Tanaris for the Farraki would be gone.

In a gamble, Chief Ukorz rallied nearly every warrior he had and marched south with the goal of crushing the Horde army and with the assistance of his new allies to repel any Horde counterattack while giving his people time to rebuild their empire. Overconfident they would make a detour to Gadzetan which would see it brutally sacked though the defenders of the goblin settlements to the surprise of Chief Ukorz had killed far more of his warriors than expected. Still he believed he had more than enough warriors to defeat the Horde and resumed pushing south at a rapid pace. The Horde army meanwhile was focused on bringing southern Tanaris under its control and that meant dealing with the Dunemaul clan and the Wastelanders. The Wastelanders raiders were easily dealt with, their families were marched to Drakmar and shipped north and basically dumped onto the docks of Theramoore to the confusion of Jaina and the rest of the island.

The Dunemaul on the other hand would not be expelled and instead a Horde adventurer would kill Chief Sandscraper in one on one combat and the rest of the clan would join the Horde after some threats by the Horde general in command of the army. With the Horde now the only power in the south of the region, they prepared for the arrival of the Farraki army that Horde scouts had been tracking with makeshift defenses rapidly thrown up and cannons pushed into position. Soon enough the two armies clashed and it would be where Chief Ukorz dream of an imperial rebirth would die a bloody death. While the Farraki did have an advantage somewhat of an advantage in numbers they were not at their best and had little after their march through the desert and had little experience besides fighting Horde and Alliance adventurers. Fighting them was a Horde force containing veterans of past wars supplemented by cannons, Dunemaul ogres and experienced adventurers.

While the Horde would suffer sizeable losses in the end they would prevail while the remnants of the surviving Farraki army would flee back north though without Chief Ukorz who had lost his head during the course of the battle. General Glubgok quickly wrote a report summarizing what had taken place and included a request for reinforcements and sent it south with the dead and wounded to Drakmar. The general would then reorganize his forces and then marched north, establishing a few outposts but keeping most of the troops with the army before finally arriving in the ruins of Gadestzan where they would make camp. Additional supplies, adventurers and mercenaries would be hired from Steamwheedle, with their forces strengthened somewhat they would march west leaving only a few dozen soldiers to man the camp and easily seizing the Sandsorrow Watch and cutting off Zul'Farrak from the rest of the region. Speaking of Zul'Farrak, panic had broken when the remnants of the army had returned and it quickly became apparent the disaster that had happened.

The surviving leaders of the army had formed a council to rule the city and tried their best to prevent anarchy but met with little success. Instead they shifted focus to preparing for a siege and armed everyone they could. A week later a Horde fleet would anchor at Steamwheedle Port, offloading an army and everything needed for a siege. They would join up with the forces at Sandsorrow and while the Glubgok was pleased with additional supplies and siege equipment, he was far less pleased with the soldiers who were largely fresh recruits. Still he had more than enough to take the city and marched his troops to its outskirts and began the Siege of Zul'Farrak.

For seven days, the Horde pounded the city before storming it in a bloody assault. The city's inhabitants put up a fierce resistance but nonetheless the city fell to the Horde with the flag of the Horde raised from the highest point in Zul'Farrak signaling the end of the Farraki as independent people and the Horde as the dominant power in the region if one did not count the Bronze Dragonflight. General Glubgok had the survivors gathered up and marched them to Steamwheedle to be loaded up into the waiting fleet. Horde troops unexpectedly had to defend the trolls from Gadzetan survivors though one could understand them not being pleased to see the Farraki. As the Farraki boarded they are convinced that their destination will be a slave market and destined to spend the rest of their lives in servitude.

Instead they found themselves at the Echo Isles with Chieftain Vol'Jin and Warchief Garrosh before them. As soon as word had reached Durotar of the shattering of the Farraki army, discussions were held between Garrosh and Vol'Jin over what to do with them after they had been conquered. Various ides were considered but in the end Garrosh suggested them being assimilated into the Darkspear tribe. While there would be issues that would arise, Vol'Jin saw it as a chance to solve a long standing problem for the Darkspear. That problem being his tribe having only a fraction of the size it was during the Third War.

Various wars and Zalazane betrayal had greatly depleted their numbers and their taking part in the Hordes current campaigns to add new lands to their control was only further depleting their numbers. So while there would be complaints about a sudden influx of foreign trolls into the tribe, such things were trivial compared to ensuring the future of the Darkspear. For the surviving Farraki they were given two choices, either swear loyalty to Vol'Jin as their Chieftain and To the Horde as new members of the Horde or death by combat. Only a few would choose combat while the rest pleaded their allegiance to Vol'Jin and the Horde. The swelling of the tribes numbers as expected caused friction though with time two tribes became one.

With the campaigns over, the Horde turned its attention to settling, developing and protecting its new lands. Forts, outposts and settlements popped up across eastern Stonetalon and new lumber and mining operations were established becoming the backbone of the region's economy. In Feralas lumber camps and farms were set up by orc settlers who poured into the region along with new forts in case the Centaur struck from their territories in the Desolace. As well two major cities would be built in Feralas with the ruined city of Dire Maul becoming Gromgard, named for Garrosh's father. It would eventually become a version of Dalaran for the Kalimdor Horde races on the orders of Warchief Garrosh seeking to ensure the Horde would not be lacking for mages in case the Blood Elves and Forsaken left the Horde.

The other city established was Golkar on the coast, named for Garrosh mother with Golkar becoming the largest Horde port on the western side of Kalimdor and its shipyards becoming a major source of ships for the Horde navy along with the other newly built shipyards. In Tanaris the Horde would purchase the ruins of Gadgetzan and the surrounding lands from the Steamwheedle Cartel while also moving into Un'Goro Crater with the settlements built there exporting lumber and exotic goods to Drakmar helping to fuel its growth. New trade routes would form and connect to existing ones as the Horde colonization progressed. Though it was not without its negatives as it greatly decreased the population of Durotar and shrank the economy there. This would be somewhat countered by the development of Bladefist Bay and the settling of the Farraki among the Darkspear. Around this time the Warchief announced rules to establish new clans and one of the rules being that the income of the new and old clans would be taxed to help makeup for some of the lost tax revenues.

It was a move approved of tradinalists and those that never found their place in the society established by Thrall. Many new clans would be established of varying sizes with the Rageroar clan led by Karga Rageroar having one of the more interesting names and unique in that it would be the only clan to have Darkspear trolls among its members. Rules would as well be set up for adoptions by clans which the Warsong would benefit the most from as they would use it to greatly replenish their numbers after so many had died during the Third War. With the shrinking of the population, meant less people that could serve as warriors in case Durotar was invaded, so new defenses and forts were built to counteract this as the population recovered to its previous peak. Observing these events unfolding was Jaina Proudmoore who wondered if there was an opportunity in this and sent a courier to Orgrimmar requesting a meeting with the new Warchief.

Garrosh suspected why the meeting was requested but still gave his consent to the meeting. Jaina and a small teleported to a short distance from the Gates of Orgrimmar where she could see much had changed since her last visit. There were the defenses and fortifications being in front of the entrance to the city and in the distance she could faintly see some of the construction going on at Bladefist Bay. Entering the city it was far less crowded and far less buildings as ones damaged by the fire had been torn down along with vacant ones. That latter as part of Garrosh new edicts to reduce the spread of any future fires and to reuse to build new buildings or used as firewood.

Later a dinner was held where Garrosh would talk about Draenor and surviving on Outland against first the Burning Legion and later Illidians forces. In turn Jaina would talk about what Kul Tiras, Dalaran and Lordareon were like before the Third War. The others were dismissed leaving only the two leaders at the table to discuss the reason Jaina had asked for this meeting. Garrosh point blank asked if this meeting was to ask him to restart negotiations with the Night elves which she confirmed. Garrosh then shattered her hope for new negotiations as he told her that he had no interest in any further talks with the Night elves as their major demand would be the return of Eastern Ashenvale and that is a non starter as he would not evict his clan from their homes and that he would not risk the internal stability of Durotar or any of the orcish provinces just for the hope of better relations with the Night Elves and for supplies that they could now provide for themselves.

Jaina then tried to argue that talks were necessary to help keep the peace between the Horde and Alliance. Garrosh did prefer the peace would last but pointed out that a failed conference could worsen tensions which would not be helpful for the peace. He felt that trying to keep the peace was noble but that there is too much hatred and bad blood between the two factions for any peace to be lasting though he would try to the best of his ability as acting Warchief and later as an advisor after Thrall returned to make the peace last as long as possible. Jaina could see Garrosh's mind was made up and so thanked him for the meal and departed back to Theramoore. Not the result Jaina wanted but better than the alternative and as she teleported home she couldn't help but think about the drastic personality change of Garrosh.

Across the Great Seas, the Forsaken embarked upon their own conquests to expand their borders. A large army commanded by the Dark Lady herself would liberate Andorhal from the Scourge warlord Araj the Summoner. The Forsaken with Andorhal under their control would as well annexing a sizeable chunk of the Western Plaguelands as they pushed into Eastern Plaguelands and landing forces on the coast leading both the Alliance and the Argent Crusade to understandably conclude that was the focus of the Forsaken. This in turn led to a surge of Alliance resources and recruits to the Argent Crusaders in order to deny as much territory as possible from the Forsaken which in turn would allow it to sustain campaigns in the coming months to liberate the northern part of the Eastern Plaguelands from the Scourge warlords that had begun to carve it up. Sylvanas in fact had far greater ambitions than just the Plaguelands.

This would become apparent with her invasions of Alterac and southern Silverpine with nearly all of the latter falling rapidly facing little resistance besides some Worgen packs. What the Forsaken didn't conquer was Ambermill and some lands connecting it to Hillsbrad Foothills at the insistence of Warchief Garrosh to avoid a crisis with Dalaran and the Alliance while the Horde is consolidating control over new territories. In Alterac the Forsaken first blows would come via Horde rogues wiping out Syndicate patrols and what few bases known to the Horde allowing Forsaken troops to enter the former country unopposed though not for long. Soon the Syndicate became aware of the invasion and began launching hit and run strikes upon the invaders causing some losses though their ability to fight an insurgency was crippled when what remained of the Alterac civilian population became aware of the Forsaken and promptly fled south to the Hillsbrad Foothills. If it had been the Alliance who had invaded, they would have stayed and fought, but the Forsaken is a different altogether matter and saying there anti-human would be putting it lightly.

As supplies began to dry up, desertion began to plague the Syndicate as their numbers dwindled as the Forsaken sought to hunt down every last one of their members. All of these issues combined soon caused the organization to collapse with its remnants in Hillsbrad reorganizing as new gangs that would plague the region for years to come. With the Syndicate taken care of the Forsaken would turn their attention to the other power in Alterac, the Crushridge ogres. Unlike the Syndicate which tried to fight an insurgency, the Crushridge would make a stand in the ruins of Alterac City. The Forsaken would march into the city under the command of Sylvannas, recently returned from the east and while she of course sought to bring all out of Alterac under her control she also had a personal reason and being to kill the Crushridge leader, Mug'thol for breaking away from her control all those years ago.

For every ogre that died, several Forsaken would be lost but the odds were simply stacked against the Crushridge and the Forsaken would emerge victorious with Sylvanas slaying Mug'thol and having his head carted back to Undercity as a trophy. The final Forsaken campaign around this time would be them along with forces from Hammerfall securing eastern Stromgarde not for themselves but rather for one of the Hordes newest members, the Witherbark Tribe. A controversial choice due to them abandoning the Old Horde and later betraying the Horde under Thrall rule, but Warchief Garrosh felt they could be a useful ally in Stromgarde but made it clear another betrayal would not be tolerated. There were those opposed to readmitting the Witherbark as a member to the Horde however such opposition was no match for the massive popularity of Garrosh and so the Witherbark Tribe rejoined the Horde. The Witherbark themselves were not enthusiastic about this but it was clear they only had the choice of Horde membership or that of annihilation and that was a rather easy choice.

In a bit of irony the Witherbark would betray an ally, though not the Horde but rather the Boulderfist. Like other ogre clans defeated by the Horde recently they would put up a fierce resistance but against the combined might of the Forsaken, Witherbark and Horde troops they stood no chance. The Horde built new forts to better defend its once again ally and make clear what it's border was with the other powers in Stromgarde. As well, construction began on Port Zalas named after the Witherbark leader to provide a base for the Forsaken fleet and to make it easier to bring in supplies by sea. With so much of the northern Eastern Kingdoms falling to Horde control an emergency summit of Alliance leadership was quickly organized and held in Stormwind.

It was agreed that resources and manpower would be provided to strengthen Alliance holdings bordering Horde territory in case it decided to go after Alliance lands with less and lands not part of the Horde or the Alliance. Those holdings chiefly being Theramoore, Hillsbrad and Stormwind colonies in Northrend. On the matter of Stromgarde it was agreed that the Alliance had failed the League of Arathor and the people of Stromgarde despite all the blood they had shed for the Alliance in recent years. While the Alliance had been in disarray for much of the period after the Third War and focused on various internal matters and foreign threats, the League should have been provided with far more resources so as to be able rebuild their nation instead of just enough to fight skirmishes with Horde forces. Now the League would be given what it needs to rebuild and as much as assistance to expel groups such as the Syndicate occupying land in Western Stromgarde.

To lead this reconstruction and what remained of Stromgarde, would be Danath Trollbane, last living member of House Trollbane. The final thing agreed at the summit was to withdraw the Stormpike Guard with the fall of Alterac making its continued presence in the Alterac Valley untenable. All present of course were aware such a move would be unpopular with so much recent Horde expansion and as expected protests erupted at the decision with the worst disturbances being in Ironforge territory in the form of small riots started by drunken dwarves. It was a time of growing tensions and skirmishes across Azeroth as generals and admirals updated war plans and to many it felt like the period before the Dark Portal reopened. The eruption of war between the Alliance and Horde was averted though only due to another eruption and that being Deathwing violently emerging from the earth.

His return would soon be called the Cataclysm for the death, destruction and displacement it would cause across Azeroth. Relief operations rapidly began to rescue and assist those in need. An unexpected example would be Horde ships acting on earlier issued orders from Warchief Garrosh arrived to provide assistance and assist in repelling a Naga attack on what remained of Feathermoon Stronghold. For the surviving defenders of the fortress it was a bit of an odd experience but the assistance was appreciated and even Tyrande Whisperwind would express her thanks to Garrosh in a letter. It would be the first example of Alliance-Horde cooperation in this new era.

There would be another group that would as well receive assistance, Gilneas. In the aftermath of the Cataclysm, Sylvanas would receive a letter from the Warchief requesting that she establish contact and render assistance if they needed it. Also advising the the greeting party should be solely blood elves for rather understandable reasons. An unexpected request but a reasonable one in her view. She could send some ships along the Gilnean coast to try to make contact with the Gilneans. She could see two benefits from doing this, trade with wealthy Gilneas and gain some favor with the only Horde leader willing to give some benefit of the doubt to her people.

If the Gilneans were hostile and fired upon the Forsaken, they would simply retreat. A squadron of ships would be dispatched traveling south along Gilneas western coast till they finally made contact with its people. The town they arrived not surprisingly panicked at their arrival with the local militia scrambling to take up position near the dock while word was sent out about the arrival of a foreign fleet and to call for reinforcements. The blood elven diplomats were however able to defuse the situation before bloodshed erupted, though the town remained suspicious and distrustful in large part due to the Forsaken sailors with the diplomats informed to stay on their ships. For several hours they would remain on the ships watching along with the Forsaken as militia and soldiers poured into the town which in turn would put the crews on edge as the Gilneans marshaled an army in the town and nearby.

The ambassadors would eventually be informed by the town mayor that they would be escorted to meet King Genn Greymane where they would be guests of His Majesty. Which the elves knew meant that they would be hostage to ensure the Forsaken fleet did not try anything. None of the Horde members were happy with this but they had orders and complied. They were escorted across the countryside, where they saw countless patrols, fortified towns and the refugee camps till they finally arrived at Greymane Manor. They would be wined and dined by the Greymane royal family and explained what had happened since Gilneas had closed themselves off from the rest of the world part way through the Third War.

The King in turn told them about the civil war, the Worgen curse and their exodus which saw what was left of his kingdom crammed into a small southwestern chunk of the country. He then tentatively asked to what extent did the Hordes aid constitute. The ambassadors could clearly read between the lines and saw that the king was asking if the Horde would be willing to provide military assistance to help him reclaim the rest of his kingdom. The Horde would provide food and humanitarian assistance, though on the matter of troops that would be up the Horde leaders and most of the troops would likely be Forsaken due to the various crises facing the Horde. The king considered this and decided he had rather take help from the Horde then go crawling back to the Alliance for help.

The Blood elves would send aid to alleviate the starving and famine afflicting the Gilneans, while the Forsake would send an army. The combined Gilnean-Forsaken force would sweep across the country, while Horde druids would help those afflicted by the Worgen curse ensure they did not become feral, while returning the humanity of the feral Worgen that would be captured alive. With their country reclaimed the Gilneans would begin the long process of reconstruction. It quickly became apparent that there would be a major unemployment problem but in this problem nobles saw an opportunity. It quickly became apparent conflict was spreading across Azeroth, piracy was surging and the Naga were attacking coastal communities. So they pooled their resources to found new mercenary outfits which they saw having three main benefits.

Decrease number of unemployed in the country, who in turn could support their families, reducing the threat of revolt, rebuild their wealth and in turn invest it in new business opportunities. So countless Gilneans found themselves serving on numerous battlefields, defending settlements and ships or to simply provide security. Great wealth would be generated for these outfits and sizeable revenue tax for the Gilnean government at the expense of many dead and crippled Gilneans. Few of these merc groups shut down due to the wars, a few have remained operational and profitable and waiting for the day war would return to Azeroth.
...........

Across Azeroth many found themselves refugees due to the Cataclysm, with the goblins of Kezan probably the most affected with them forced to flee due to the eruption of Mount Kajaro. The Kezan exodus would see them fleeing across the sea with many settling in Horde provinces of Kalimdor seeing opportunity there in comparison to the debt bondage they could expect in the remaining goblin ports. Stranded goblins would as well be rescued by Horde ships settling islands with most notable group being rescued was the Bilgewater cartel who would settle settle in Azshara with Bilgewater Harbor becoming their new capital and new leadership headed by Trade Princess Mida Silvertongue following the ouster, trial and execution of Jastor Gallywix. These goblin immigrants quickly adapted to their new homes looking for opportunity and establishing businesses. Their arrival would form one of the foundations for the transforming economy of the Hordes Kalimdor territories ensuring strong growth for the Hordes economy in the coming years.

Warchief Garrosh would as well hire the service of some of them to establish the Bank of Durotar to sell government bonds to Horde members, primarily purchased by goblins and blood elves in the early days of the bank. The Bank of Durotar as well helped to fund various reconstruction and settlement efforts and of course helped fund the Horde war efforts. It would also be useful in funding his post war initiatives in Durotar. Besides goblins, the Horde would also soon add as members the Highmoutain Tauren, Dragonmaw Clan and San'layn. The Alliance on the other hand would only add the Dark Iron dwarves having substantial numbers but in turn suffering defections to the Twilight Hammer.

New sources of soldiers that would be very appreciated as the two power blocks found fighting in numerous battles Twilight Hammer and others allied with Deathwing such as Ragnaros, Al'Akir and the Naga. Other groups such as the centaur, quilboar, gnolls of Redridge would take advantage of the Horde and Alliance forces being spread across Azeroth. The long disunited centaur clans would be united and rallied by one known as Aratas who then commanded small forces to raid farms and settlements across Kalimdor to keep the Horde off balance before unleashing his armies. The Horde would hold its ground against this resurgent centaur threat, rally and then counter attack against centaur holdings outside the Desolace before turning their attention to the centaurs homeland. The Horde invasion would be overseen by Warchief Garrosh and the newly promoted General Nazgrel with Horde forces in Stonetalon striking south and their counterparts in Feralas striking north into the Desolace.

The centaur under Aratas made the Horde pay dearly for every advance but in the end Horde was victorious claiming much of Desolace though the Horde had to deal with Naga, the Burning Blade and satyrs before the region was under Sole Horde control. The surviving centaur and those captured before were marched and then settled in newly built settlements guarded by a new militia force known as the Garad'kra in the now Northern Barrens with the Warchief implementing policies to hopefully one day make the centaur into willing members of the Horde. This of course generated great controversy among orc farmers who had suffered repeatedly at their hands and among the Tauren who had nearly been driven to extinction by them. Garrosh made it clear there was no honor in slaughtering a defeated people, a position few were willing to argue against and Cairne made public his support of the Warchief decision regarding the centaur believing they should be given a chance at redemption. While some agreed with the High Chieftain, others would use this controversy to make political gains such as the Grimtotem.

Like the centaur, the quilboar tribes sought to take advantage of the opportunity created by the Cataclysm in order to expand their territory but their successes would be short lived before they soon conquered by the Horde and like the gnolls and centaur before them, were sent to settlements with the hope of them one day becoming part of the Horde. A far less controversial decision as most simply did not care about the quilboar. Then there were the gnolls of Redridge who would be unified by General Fangore though it was suspected by SI:7 that the Twilight Hammer was involved though that was never proved. Whether or not they were involved, what was unarguable is that this opened up yet another front, an under pressure Stormwind army would have to fight. Like the Horde, despite being spread across various fronts, Stormwind would emerge victorious, shattering the gnolls army and then capturing the survivors and their villages though this created a new problem in what to do with all these gnolls.

A solution came via Jaina bearing an offer from Garrosh to resettle them in Horde territory with the Horde covering the expenses of moving them across the sea. If the Horde wanted them King Varian was happy to dump this problem into their lap and gave his consent and the gnolls were marched to Westfall with ships hired from Booty Bay waiting for them. They loaded up, shipped up across to and unloaded at Golkar and then settled with the remnants of the Woodpaw. Then there was the Zandalari War which brought yet more war to Azeroth. Years before the prophet Zul warned King Rastakhan of a terrible Cataclysm. For Zul had seen a vision of a great armored dragon clenching the world in his ferocious jaws.

Months later Zul returned, bearing more grim news from his visions. He saw a legion of serpents pouring forth from a gaping fissure that tore open the floor of the ocean. Still, King Rastakhan did nothing. Finally, mere months before the Cataclysm, Zul returned. Tearing his clothes and throwing his staff to the ground, Zul spoke of earthquakes and tidal waves.

He described the golden capital of Zandalar slowly sinking beneath the waves in the aftermath of the Cataclysm, its once-great people drowning as their mighty works slipped forever beneath the sea. He advised the council and the king to unite with the other troll tribes and to abandon their doomed homeland. Despite Zul's infamy, the council refused to believe in the scope of the disaster to come. Many felt that Zul was grandstanding to increase his own status and power. King Rastakhan tired of Zul and his troubling nightmares.

To be rid of the prophet, he granted Zul the use of his largest ships, so that he and his followers could seek a new land if his visions came to pass. They scoffed as he and his followers began assembling a war fleet and reaching out to the lesser troll races. The old prophet sailed all around the oceans, meeting with the other tribes like the Farraki or the Drakkari. But Zul's visions were true. Deathwing's Cataclysm rocked Zandalar to its foundation.

The spine of the land broke in two, and soon, the city and all its riches began to slide into the hungry sea. The Zandalari people turned to their King for help, but there was only one Zandalari equipped to help them: The prophet Zul. Even now the mighty and enigmatic troll empire slides into the sea, and Zandalari peasants and warriors alike flock to Zul for guidance on what to do next. But though Zandalar was indeed damaged and sinking, it did not sink as Zul predicted. While Zul and the Golden Fleet left Zandalar believing themselves to be the saviors of their people they would instead be the downfall of the Zandalari.

Zul would send out a call for the various tribes to meet to discuss the future of troll kind. Six other tribes would attend, Darkspear, Frostmane, Amani and the tribes of the Stranglethorn. Zul would talk of the grand past of their peoples and then how much they had fallen from the peak of their power and that they were now facing extinction. Though such a fate could be avoided by uniting under the Zandalari who would provide them with aid, reclaim their long lost lands and a golden age they could've never dreamed of. Five of the six representatives would agree to Zul's proposal though Vol'Jin made it clear his people's loyalty was to the Horde.

Conflict would quickly erupt with the Frostmane supported by an Zandalari army threatening Ironforge while the Vilebranch allying with the Amani would attack the Wildhammers, Witherbark and Revantusk. The Zandalari while having great ambition and much power, what they had of the latter would pale into comparison to the combined power of the Horde and the Alliance. Garrosh seeing an opportunity in this crisis to improve relations between the two power blocks and benefit in ending this new threat and as well reached an agreement on the fate of the various tribes. The first to fall would be the Frostmane at the hands of Ironforge with support from Stormwind, with the survivors being expelled to the Witherbark lands. The next to be defeated would be the Amani by armies composed of Darkspear, Forsaken, Blood Elves and High Elves, followed by the remaining Amani given a one way trip to Witherbark territory.

After that there was the Vilebranch whose early gains were quickly reversed as the Wildhammers, Witherbark and Revantusk with assistance from adventurers would crush them in several battles while a Forsaken fleet would crush what few ships opposed them before landing their troops on the coast who then joined together with their allies in the west for a siege of Jintha'Alor. The city would hold out for a time but still none the less fell. The Vilebranch, unlike the other tribes, would not be expelled but instead lose some lands to the Wildhammers and Revantusk. Instead they would be annexed by the Witherbark with Horde troops helping to keep the peace in their ally's new dominion. Finally there were the tribes of the now split Stranglethorn Vale.

A joint Horde-Alliance invasion was launched into the now two regions with the local trolls fiercely resisting and making the invaders bleed as they advanced ever deeper into their lands. The tribes would even attempt to drain the power of Hakkar but were foiled by a strike force of adventurers though Hakkar in the Veil was released. Like the tribes before them, Zul'Gurub would fall to the combined forces of the allied powers. In line with the agreement previously signed the tribes were sent north to the Witherbark expanded realm while Stormwind colonists moved in to start taming the kingdom's newest territory. With this concluded the fighting in the Eastern Kingdoms, the war would however continue on a different and very unexpected continent.

Soon after the new Warchief had taken up his position he had ordered a portion of the navy to head east, claiming islands for the Horde which would become a source of contention with the Alliance later on. More importantly was that one of these squadrons would discover or rather rediscover the long hidden continent of Pandaria. The Alliance would be informed of this major discovery and would send an expedition to learn more about this continent and as well to ensure their interests in these new lands. Unfortunately a third power would as well become aware of Pandaria, the Zandalari who seeing an opportunity would invade and reestablish their ancient alliance with the Mogu. Adventurers would be rapidly dispatched to delay the plots of the Zandalari while what forces that could be spared would make their way to the continent.

This war would have a number of consequences for Pandaria, the most dangerous would see the sha rise to menace Pandaria again. The sha would corrupt many of the insectoid Mantid and their Grand Empress Shek'zeer driving them to break through the Serpent's Spine into Pandaren lands while also displacing the Yungol whom would seek new lands spreading yet more war across the continent. Eventually these various threats would be ended though at a great cost to the people of these lands. At the same time the war against Deathwing and his forces raged on with famous campaigns and battles such as the Defense of Mt. Hyjal, Firelands Invasion, Battle of Darkshore among others being fought. Near the end of the war the aspects would gather to discuss how to end Deathwing once and for all, though there was only one weapon that could do it, the Dragon Soul and it had been destroyed years ago.

There however was the option of going back in time to retrieve a past version of it and bringing to the present, though to do so would need the permission of Nozdormu. After some convincing and Murozond death, a group of adventurers would travel over 10,000 years back into the past during the War of the Ancients, retrieved the Dragon Soul and returned to present finding Wyrmrest Temple under siege by the remainder of Deathwing forces. The adventures would assist the defenders of the temple to hold off legions of attackers to give the aspects time to charge the Dragon Soul. Wave after wave would attack, but the defenders held firm buying precious at a great cost in blood. When Deathwing became aware of what was occurring, he threw everything he had left, but by then it was too late as he would suffer a blast from the Dragon Soul wounding and forcing to flee with the defenders of Azeroth following right after him.

In a battle above the Maelstrom and later within it would finally see the end of Deathwing and the end of the war. With the death of Deathwing, Thrall now known as Go'el would return to Durotar after a year plus and found it to be very different and changing. New defenses and fortifications to protect the peninsula, learned new peoples such as goblins from Kezan, Farraki and Gilnean humans living within Orgrimmar. Speaking of the city it was smaller but growing fast with new homes and buildings made of iron and stone being built to allow the city to grow to its former heights without the previous risk of a fire consuming it. As he approached the now fortified entrance to the city he was greeted by Garrosh and the city's inhabitants, with many of the latter having mixed feelings about Go'El return.

While they were proud of his actions during the war, they knew his return meant the end of Garrosh tenure as Warchief and that was a prospect few were happy about after Garrosh successful reign. All of this was a fact not lost upon Go'el who had kept tabs on what was going on in the Horde. Garrosh welcomed the Warchief back and asked for his new orders. Go'el looked at those before turning his attention back to Garrosh thanking him for his service as Warchief and wished him continued success as Warchief to the shock of those gathered with exceptions such as Garrosh. Said orc would honor his predecessor with a retirement feast while minor celebrations were held in the city.

The next day Go'el would leave the city to enjoy retirement in Nagrand with his new family but promised to return to defend the Horde if called upon. Roughly three months later, armadas of Alliance and Horde ships would descend upon Zandalar to hold them accountable for the actions of Zul. The Golden Fleet would sink many ships during the invasion but in the end they were simply too outnumbered to win. The warriors of Zandalar would slay many but once again the Zandalari were overwhelmed by the numbers of their enemy and in the bloody fall of Zuldazar which would conclude with the death of God King Rastakhan. The invading powers however were not done with Zandalar as they would soon have to deal with the blood trolls and their god G'huun.

The Horde as well would defeat the Sethrak and liberate the Vulpera who in thanks for this would join the Horde as its latest members. The Alliance and Horde would depart with the riches of Zandalari and countless native animals while the Horde would have additionally the Vulpera aboard watching as their doomed island became ever more distant while looking forward to a new life in Kalimdor. For many of them this would be the last they would ever see their now former home. With the return of the Horde warriors a massive celebration was held like after the defeat of the Lich King though with far more luxury.

For the Zandalari now under the rule of Queen Talanji it is an era of decline. Little of the capital has been rebuilt with the queen viewing such resources better spent supporting the needs of her people after having paid severe reparations to the Horde and the Alliance via being looted and with more of the capital being consumed by the sea. With many seeing no future for themselves and their families has given rise to immigration to Witherbark territory and joining the Darkspear on the Echo Isles or settling in one of the Hordes Kalimdor cities. Others have taken to the seas as pirates giving rise to a new surge in piracy. With her kingdom shrinking and sinking, Queen Talanji must find a new homeland lest her people fade into history like so many troll empires before them.

In the kingdom of Gilneas it is a time of reconstruction and healing from recent conflicts. For the recovering economy, its three pillars are mercenaries, industry, and trade. Concerning the former, many Gilneans are under contract by the Alliance and the Horde protecting distant holdings such as in Northrend or too shore up troop numbers along the borders of the two power blocks. Said mercenary work helped fund the reopening and rebuilding and expansion of factories which in turn provides many of the goods that are exported. Finally, neutrality has made it a popular destination for some Alliance and Horde merchants to bypass the trade embargoes and restrictions between certain members in order to obtain certain goods. This neutrality has drawbacks as factions have begun to form with some calling for renewed Alliance membership, others pushing for Gilneas to join the Horde and finally those that believed the nation should stay neutral with the dispute largely limited to drunken brawls so far. If the nation did join one of the two factions it would shift the balance in the Eastern Kingdoms

For a majority of the orcish people, they no longer have to eke out a living among deserts now having a variety of places to live and various jobs to make a living. As well there have been other changes with schools having been built to educate orcish children, engineers trained to help manage factories owned by the Horde and finally new units using guns, artillery and explosives have been established to help modernize the way orcs wage war. This has caused protests among orc traditionalists feeling these and other changes is seeing them straying from orcish tradition, though they are far outnumbered by those that approve seeing no reason to doubt the man that has led them to victory over the Lich King, DeathWing and had ensured the current era of prosperity.

For the Bilgewater Cartel under the peace was a profitable time though still far less when they controlled Kezan. Under the leadership of Trade Princess Mida Silvertongue is determined to return to making such profits and surpassing it. They are making steady progress towards that from the various commercial and illicit activities at Bilgewater Harbor, Kalimdor mining operations and having turned Zul'Farrak into a city sized beach resort with a tunnel now connecting the formerly landlocked city to the sea. The latter being something that greatly angers the surviving Farraki but something they can do nothing about. Though there profit margin for the latter two is smaller they would like with the Horde collecting a portion of the revenue due to leasing agreements.

There are also environmental protection rules they must agree to though despite their complaints they are aware they are rather weak. Though as far as Mida is concerned, such loss profits and various rules are trivial considering the contract issued to them by the Warchief not long after Bilgewater Harbor was established. That being rocket ships could safely carry Horde colonists to other worlds for a variety of reasons including to get ahead of Azeroth becoming overcrowded or facing destruction. Good reasons to be sure but for Mida she sees the potential to exploit other worlds resources and new businesses opportunities. It will take many years but one day the Horde flag will set foot on other worlds via a fleet of Bilgewater rocket ships.

Then there is the Ratchet Cartel which of courses operates out of Ratchet which joined the Horde as a free city nearly a year after the Cataclysm following the Steamwheedle Cartel being thrown into chaos following the assassination of its top leadership and attacks on several of its holdings. It is also where a sizable portion of the Horde resources from mines, lumber yards and farms are exported to Port Bladefist to help sustain the ever growing city of Orgrimmar and other settlements on the peninsula. Then there are the goblins from Kezan not members of either cartel, who run various businesses, help man the naval and merchant fleets and assist the orcs in industrializing. While there are a few that miss Kezan, most former refugees rather prefer living in the Orcs provinces with its lack of corruption, loan sharks and far less pollution.

Lor'themar had served as regent for nearly ten years and in the view of many including himself that it is time for it to end. So as his final acts he appointed a new Convocation, far larger than the old one and resigning as regent. The new Convocation first decision would be selecting a new king. There was much arguing before finally they elected Halduron Brightwing as a compromise candidate. The nearly first three years of King Brightwing reign would be a time of renewal for the Blood Elves as their population saw a major increase.

This population recovery in turn has led to a debate among the Blood Elves if they should remain a member of the Horde considering it risks dragging them into a war with the Alliance. The pro Horde camp so far has been winning the debate citing mainly assistance if Quel'Thalas is attacked and providing the troops to finally defeat and expel the Amani though the isolationist faction remains strong. The king himself supports remaining in the Horde but is well aware of his peoples fragile recovery and so has made sure his diplomats defuse any situation that arises between the Alliance and Horde to ensure it does not spiral into war.

The Forsaken now rule a nation stretching across much of Lordareon and all of Alterac. As well the Forsaken numbers have been swelled by the use of Val'kyr To make countless from Alterac graveyards into new Forsaken. With this expanded population, Sylvanas was able to build and crew countless ships and as well expand her army. As well with industrial knowledge gained from Horde goblins has built factories to make sure her lands are defended with new and deadlier weapons and that her army is not lacking when it one day fights the Alliance. Though despite this not all was well in Forsaken society. There were those unhappy with the unchanging nature of Forsaken society and a lack of reforms.

When it was clear nothing would change, some Forsaken would depart permanently for Durotar, while far fewer would settle in Gilneas, Theramoore and Stormwind among families that were willing to look past their undead status. While this did anger Sylvannas, to her those leaving are inconsequential as she makes her plans and schemes.

A new era has begun for the Tauren with the retirement of Cairne with his son Baine taking his place as High Chieftain of the Tauren. Though it will not be an easy reign. There is growing tension in Tauren society over the damage caused to the lands of Kalimdor by Goblin factories and mining operations along with the Orcs growing industrialization efforts. Though some Tauren point that the Warchief had put in place measures to limit environmental damage and that it is necessary if the Horde is to remain compete even with the Alliance. The Grimtotem have used this growing divide to make political gains and it is something that Chieftain Baine will have to resolve sooner rather than later.

The Darkspear with the addition of the Farraki and those arriving from Zandalri now enjoy numbers not seen since Sen'Jin ruled the tribe. The Darkspear provide a sizable portion of Durotar workforce and many can be found working good paying jobs at Port Bladefist. While there are some of the Darkspear unhappy with being a minority in their own tribe, they cannot dispute that these are prosperous times and that the tribe's future is bright.

For a people at first very unhappy with being forced to rejoin the Horde, the Witherbark have benefited greatly from their renewed membership. Eastern Stromgarde along with most of the Vilebranch land is now under their domain. As well their numbers have been greatly expanded with the conquest of the Vilebranch, the settling of five foreign troll tribes and then there as well the continued stream of Zandalari immigrants. Finally there are the financial benefits such as Horde resources to build Port Zalas, rebuild the Vilebranch settlements, and hire mercenaries to partly man the forts along the borders with neighboring Alliance member states and to keep an eye on the various tribes. As well their share of loot from Zandalar was helpful in funding an expansion of their fleet.

Chieftain Zalas has worked to forge these eight tribes into a nation though so far only the Zandalari immigrants and his fellow Witherbark have been enthusiastic about this. That however did not deter him from proclaiming himself Emperor of the newly founded Witherbark Empire. Though Emperor Zalas is well aware his Empire's continued survival depends upon remaining a member of the Horde for outside the protection of the Horde they would be destroyed by a vengeful Stromgarde backed up by the Alliance. Independence from his perspective is a small price to pay in his mind as he enjoys luxuries previously thought impossible and commands countless trolls from Shadra'Alor.


As for the races the Horde that has recently subjugated, one race has begun to integrate into the Horde, the Gnolls. Some of their race taken to serving in the Horde military or merchant fleets. While success has been made in assimilating the Gnolls, the Quilboar and Centaur are expected to take years if not generations.



Stormwind following the Horde conquest of eastern Stromgarde and the resulting increase in tensions, would dispatch a large fleet to strengthen the garrisons of its Northrend settlements, bring new colonists and to build them into self sufficient colonies capable of defending and contributing to the treasury rather than being a drain on the finances of Stormwind. During the conflicts following the Cataclysm, Stormwind would conquer most of the Swamp of Sorrows and with the assistance of the Horde conquer most of the now divided Stranglethorn Vale and then expel the native troll tribes. Following these new conquests would see the kingdom pour funds, resources and manpower making them suitable for settlement with the colonists arriving mainly being the impoverished that had been congregating in Westfall. The next major development for Stormwind colonies would come when it started to become apparent from SI:7 reports that the various Horde shipyards of Kalimdor were working to build an armada of ships. The possibility of the Horde shifting the balance of power, caused panic that saw funding approved for a naval expansion larger than that of the Horde and the infrastructure to make it a reality.

Ports, naval bases and shipyards were approved for Stormwind colonies and the Admiralty as well successfully lobbying for a naval base on the coast of Westfall and with the fleets they would build securing Stormwind as the largest naval power in the Alliance and later the world. The colonies would not be the only parts of the kingdom to receive major investments as word reached the kingdom of the Orcs industrializing. The idea of the orcs being more advanced than Stormwind was viewed as utterly unacceptable and so the House of Nobles approved funding aka secured a new loan from Ironforge to hire goblins to train engineers and oversee the construction of factories for a new state owned company. Initially it was planned for this new industrial activity to be located in an expanded Stormwind City but King Varian pushed back against the current proposal as this concentrated the prosperity in one place and create resentment in the rest of the kingdom and risked a second resurgence of the Defias Brotherhood or creating similar groups. The military leadership would as well point out the unwise of concentrating it one location, as a successful strike would cripple their industry.

With these testimonies, the House would adjust the plan and begin the process of Stormwinds industrialization. The towns that would see factories and foundries built there would grow into the cities they are now attracting workers from villages seeking higher wages and others forced to due to farmers while Stormwinds then existing cities growing even larger. As well these cities would attract people from Outland, Pandaria and Khaz Modan further fueling the growth of these cities and their economies. The dwarves from the latter region were a major to the Stormwind economy contributing their industrial knowledge and increasing safety in working conditions. The mining industry would feed the ever growing industry of Stormwind seeing massive profits for the nobles who have recently begun to use this amassed wealth to purchase existing factories from the state company or loan it to other nobles so they can afford too as well.

Other nobles have taken to banding together to buy factories and splitting the profits among themselves. Though it would not only be nobles among the ranks of these new factory owners as they would be joined by wealthy retired adventures. A opportune time as the House of Nobles is hammering out the final details of a bill to fund the construction of networks of rail transport to better connect most of the kingdom and speed up the movement of people and goods. Which will require much steel to construct to the delight of many companies. The army as well embraced this innovation like they had the rifle among other things. The treasury meanwhile is hoping these factories and such can put a dent into Stormwind debt which hasn't shrunk since the end of the Zandalari War.

The Dark Iron Clan no longer under the tyranny of Ragnaros have begun to forge a new path as members of the Alliance, though it has proven to be a bloody path with part of the clan having joined Deathwing and fighting those Dark Iron that remained loyal to Queen Moira. While a bloody price was paid in the period following the Cataclysm, the Dark Iron have benefitted with all of Blackrock Mountain now under their control, and has allowed for the ongoing expansion of Shadowforge City, with the goal of a city even more grand than Ironforge. As part of its commitments to the Alliance, the Dark Iron have built a navy though a rather small one as most the military resources flow to the army, which in a future war with the Horde will reinforce the Alliance on any front needing additional troops. While the future is clouded by the potential of war, the Dark Iron look forward to the future as one of their own Dagran Thaurissan II, who in about ten years will take his place upon the thrones of Ironforge and Shadowforge unifying the two kingdoms and ensuring the Dark Iron place in this new realm.

The wealth of the Kingdom of Ironforge has propped up Stromgarde and Lordareon while Stormwind has been able to maintain both its military and domestic spending in large due to Ironforge loans. As well Ironforge provides the majority of the troops for Alliance legion and military units garrisoned in Alliance members bordering the Horde. Ironforge is the economic heart for much of the Alliance and its main land power. While the leadership of Ironforge and its bankers look favorably upon this, the common people on the other hand do not. The cost of propping up Stromgarde, Lordareon, so many soldiers overseas and the upkeep costs of Alliance bases and fortresses is an enormous sum.

As well Ironforge has expanded its army and navy in response to the increased threat respected by the Forsaken, with the latter seeing a shipyard built in the Wetlands to support an expanded fleet. As well another shipyard would be built in the Twilight Highlands following the migration of the Dragonmaw Clan to Feralas. All together this requires an eye watering amount of increased taxes and loans to afford. The latter being a major problem for many entrepreneurs as credit to expand or even start a new business is lacking as most goes to either Ironforge, Stormwind or those businesses supplying the military. As well exports to Ironforge largest trading partner Stormwind and certain other Alliance nations is on the decline as they make ever increasing progress on their industrialization, though the blow of this has been lessened by the increased military spending by Ironforge.

As well, not all dwarves are enthusiastic about a Dark Iron to one day sit upon the throne and so all of this combined is creating growing discontent in the kingdom, which the Council of Three Hammers is aware of but has been unable to largely resolve. With these various factors and the new economic opportunities emerging in Stormwind cities has seen growing dwarven immigration, with dwarven engineers the most sought after of these immigrants by the Stormwind government and businesses, with them making wages far higher than back home. For now the discontent is not a problem though if left to fester it risks the stability of the kingdom and that of Dagran succession.

For the Night Elves the peace was a very much needed respite after the horrendous losses suffered in the various battles following the Cataclysm. The Sentinels would replenish their numbers but this would greatly diminish their pool of potential recruits and would find them lacking in manpower in a drawn out war with the Horde. The Kalimdor Horde greater numbers is not the Night Elves only problem as under Warchief Garrosh a major naval build up was initiated giving the Horde a navy far greater than the combined fleets of the Night Elves and Theramoore. The odds being even worse when one includes their armed merchant ships. To counteract the Hordes various advantages in a war, the Sentinels have constructed new fortresses and are bolstered with Alliance troops, ships and mercenaries to hold off the Horde while hoping reinforcements from the Eastern Kingdoms will survive naval squadrons, gunships and privateers based from the Horde controlled islands of the Great Sea. Despite this the Night Elves have no doubts they can weather an invasion by the Horde.

Following Sylvanas expansion, the Alliance would pour resources into the development of the Hillsbrad Foothills, with Southshore port expanded, housing built for the Alteraci refugees and finally the creation of a military and defenses for it and the nearby Fenris Isle which would unify as the Kingdom of Hillsbrad under the leadership of King Henry Maleb and a senate based at Southshore. Though the latter held most of the political power with King Henry only power being to oversee relations with other powers. One example of this was him attempting to convince Ambermill to join but they weren't interested and who preferred remaining a neutral and heavily fortified vassal of Dalaran. With a military, the sons and daughters of Hillsbrad found themselves fighting mainly in the Twilight Highlands and Zandalar where they would suffer heavy losses. A major change for the people of Hillsbrad who had become used to adventures fighting for them.

Further changes would come with the rebirth of Hillsbrad oil industry for export to generate additional income and for local use particularly for the factories of places such as Southshore and Tarrens Mill, built to transform the Hillsbrad army into a force able to along with Alliance garrisons able to hold out against the larger and more militarized Forsaken. With this industrialization would see migration to the large towns turning them into cities. Other changes would be to the detriment of the kingdom, such as the rise of crime as new gangs were formed by Syndicate members contributing to increasing discrimation of the Alteraci. The people of Alterac would tire of this and would immigrate to Theramoore for a better life. Theramore Guard and businesses would appreciate the extra manpower while Stormwind and Ironforge were displeased to say the least at this shortsightedness. Still despite this setback, the Kingdom Hillsbrad stands ready to defend its lands.

Theramoore with an infusion of labor and resources from other Alliance members has gone from a city state with a few outposts in the Dustwallow Marsh to a nation encompassing swamp transformed into farmland, settlements and inhabited by refugees from Shattrath, Pandaria and Alteraci immigrants. With this expanding population allowed for an expanded army and fleet, with the former undergoing many changes as the hiring of Dwarven engineers was the beginning of Theramoore industrialization brought about by the wave of industrizing in both the Horde and Alliance, which would see factories built and in turn led to new artillery and musketman and necessitated doctrine changes for Theramoore army. The army as well would be supported by a new generation of mages trained by Jaina and paladins trained by Brother Karman. This would not be the only changes as the Assembly of Theramore would be expanded to represent the new settlements on Dustwallow and Alcaz island. While Theramoore has greatly changed since its founding, it remains dedicated to its founding ideas and to defend the Alliance be it from threats from Azeroth or beyond.

Once more Stromgarde is a member of the Alliance, though it has fallen greatly from the power it once was during the Second War. Few of the Stromic people live within the kingdom's borders with most preferring to live in the kingdom of Stormwind rather than live in a potential front of the next war. This has left its rebuilt capital largely deserted and leaving nearly all of its other settlements as ruins. The manpower shortage also meant the wars against Deathwing and the Zandalari has left its army depleted and unable to replenish its ranks and making it reliant on Alliance troops and mercenaries to protect itself making it a drain upon Alliance resources. Then there is the shame and anger from the occupation of eastern Stromgarde by the Witherbark Empire and the only way to reclaim it being war and that being a nonstarter for several reasons. As King Danath sits upon his throne with the kingdom in a never ending decline, ponders if this can be reversed or if it simply an inescapable fate of his nation.

The Kingdom of Lordaeron has reborn with the unexpected return of now Queen Calia and the Argent Crusade ceding the lands it had recently gained, though the realm she rules from a rebuilt Stratholme is far smaller than the one ruled by her father. It is also less of a state and more like an army with a state as few Lordaeronians left Stormwind for a kingdom trying to rebuild in a landlocked portion of the Eastern Plaguelands and would be one of the fronts with the next war with the Horde. Queen Calis would attempt to expand her kingdom by sending diplomats to the Kingdom of Hillsbrad though they were rebuffed as Hillsbrad liked its independence and did wish not to subsidize the rebuilding of Lordareon. While the road to recovery will be long, Queen Calia will see her kingdom restored

Three years of peace would follow the Zandlarli defeat, though soon relations began to worsen as skirmishes were being fought by members of the Alliance and Horde along some border with increasing regularity. While tension and paranoia threaten to plunge the world into a Fourth War, such a hypothetical conflict seems to have been delayed by the outbreak of war elsewhere. On Kul Tiras civil war has broken out following Priscilla Ashvane seizure of Borlaus. With her control of the capital Ashvane seeks to consolidate her rule of the Tiragarde Sound with her various criminal and pirate allies working to enforce her will before finally crushing the loyalist forces gathering on Drustvar. Adding to the Kul Tirian troubles, is refugees from Stormsong bringing word of the island fall to some squid looking monstrosities.

Unwilling to have her homeland fall to traitors and monsters, Jaina Proudmoore has convinced the Alliance leadership to intervene to save Kul Tiras from the threats that threaten to destroy it and perhaps a chance for Jaina to reconcile with her family. The Horde meanwhile observes these events and for the moment remains at peace Warchief Garrosh prepares his forces for what he knows will soon come and the unknown threats. Whatever the latter may be he is certain that heroes both old and new will vanquish whatever rises up to threaten Azeroth.

..........
So a mind insert I'd guess you call it into Garrosh which works out well for the Horde and for much of the Alliance on this now alternate Azeroth. For the various troll tribes outside the Horde not good times. Also wow this ended up being far far longer than I planned. Also the end time frame is around early BFA.
 
The park is open
In 1983 John Hammond while overseeing his Animal Kingdom park in Kenya, he would receive a call from his old friend Norman Atherton and very excitedly tell him he had made a major breakthrough. That being that he had clone a number of plant species in a major scientific achievement. Hammond then asked if some like an animal could be cloned. Norman reasoned it was possible but said far more resources would be needed than what he currently had at his disposal. Imagining the possibilities that this could entail, told the geneticist he would have whatever he needed.

While considering the implications of all this Hammond realized secrecy and discretion would be critical as the backlash to cloning and de-extinction from various groups would be immense. So began the search for a country able to respect a man's privacy and especially if he has a fortune. After looking at a number of countries, John would settle upon Costa Rica seeing them as especially receptive to new foreign investment. Mainly as they were recovering from a nearly ten percent contraction of their economy from 1980 to 1982. When contacted by Hammond seeking a lease for the The Muertes Archipelago, also known as The Five Deaths, they were rather surprised as the islands had nothing besides clouds, jungles and some natives but still more than willingly took the offered money and in turn approved a 99 year lease for the islands.

A facility was constructed on Isla Sorna where Atherton would continue his research while Hammond founded International Genetics Incorporated or InGen with its headquarters established in the Costa Rican capital of San Jose. Another organization would be established that year, the Hammond Foundation based upon the speculation of Doctor Atherton that DNA could be extracted from amber. Numerous dig sites would be funded by the Hammond Foundation and as well purchasing vast amounts of amber and various fossils which would attract some attention but such attention was short lived. The Isla Sorna facility would successfully clone the first animal, Dolly the sheep near the end of the year. While a major achievement Hammond felt something far more impressive would be needed to convince investors to invest into InGen.

Atherton and his team would in 1984 deliver with the birth of Manny the Mammoth via an artificial ovum. This more than significantly impressed investors who began investing large sums into InGen with the two largest investors being the Hamaguri and Densaka firms. Early 1985 saw Dr Atherton begin the first step to clone a dinosaur via the extraction of Dino DNA from through tragedy strike with cancer claiming his life. The project would continue under the direction of Dr Henry Wu, who had worked in Atherton lab at Stanford and was in the view of the late doctor, his best geneticist and was a natural replacement to continue his mentor research. Wu would however find his work slow going due to the incomplete DNA strands.

Wu saw there being two options to resolve this issue. The first was to create the whole genome from Dino DNA which would take years and would cost quite the bit. The second was to use frog DNA to fill in the gaps and would also be faster and far cheaper. Unsurprisingly the cheaper and faster solution would be picked by Hammond. Next Wu would write and submit a number of safety protocols to Hammond such as slower, tamer dinosaurs and to make all of them female, sterile and neutered to prevent unauthorized breeding among other things.

Hammond would reject the former, wishing to have as close to real dinosaurs as possible while approving the latter seeing them as sensible suggestions. As Wu threw himself into his work, Hammond had begun survey work to choose the location of his park, with him having decided upon the name of Jurassic Park. This would however quickly run into the problem of the Nima, Tun-Si and Bribri tribes who inhabited the islands variously did not like foreigners following negative experiences with the Spanish and later the Costa Rican's and so would do everything they could short of violence to sabotage surveyors efforts. With surveying efforts being disrupted InGen would turn to the Costa Rican government who dispatched troops to the islands and over the next two years relocate the natives, sometimes by force to the mainland and to a life of grinding poverty. This ethnic cleansing, while garnering little attention at the time, is a black mark upon the park's history and while years later the tribes would gain support across the globe, they to this day fight to regain their lands.

1987 would see the first dinosaur born in roughly 65 million years, Cera the triceratops and which greatly pleased investors who would pour even more money into the company. Money that was greatly appreciated as the next year would see construction begin of Jurassic Park on Isla Nublar. Jurassic Park officially came under construction in 1988, beginning with essential facilities such as the geothermal power plant built within Mount Sibo. The entire eastern third of the island was used for animal paddocks, separated from the rest of the Park using twenty-four-foot, 10,000-volt electric fencing. To keep track of the animals, motion sensor tracking systems and concrete moats were constructed within the paddocks.

Among various things built on the island for Phase 1 Park Drive, the Visitor Center, the Safari Lodge hotel. The latter would have considerable security measures with the entire hotel surrounded by a fence with inch-thick bars and a 12-foot height. The rooms in the lodge had pyramidal skylights, which were reinforced with metal bars for added stability and protection. As well security shutters for the windows. The doors were steel-clad and a rolling security gate for the entrance.

The final security measure being several security teams stationed in the hotel but out of sight unless a guest violated the rules or in the worst case one or more dinosaurs escaped in which case they would secure and protect the hotel. By 1988, InGen had added to its menagerie of de-extinct life. They had by that time hatched a new giant herbivorous sauropod, Brachiosaurus, and the famous predatory theropod Tyrannosaurus rex. The two herbivores were shipped to Isla Nublar from Isla Sorna this year, being introduced to their paddocks. InGen also expanded its staff, hiring veterinarian Dr. Gerry Harding out of the San Diego Zoo to care for the dinosaurs.

To oversee the construction of Jurassic Park, InGen hired John Raymond Arnold as chief engineer and Dennis T. Nedry as chief programmer. Though Nedry would leave the next year due to a bitter dispute with Hammond over his salary. Hammond would select Robert Muldoon who at the time was working at the Animal Kingdom to be park warden and would successfully argue for a sizeable security force to protect guest and employees in case of an emergency caused either a human or dinasour and for a number of security and safety measures. New animals continued to arrive at the Park over the next five years. The oldest Tyrannosaurus was introduced in 1989 at one year old; plans were to eventually introd.

By 1993, InGen had introduced Parasaurolophus, Gallimimus, Dilophosaurus, and Velociraptor with InGen pleased with nearly all these species. The exceptions being the Velociprators and the Dilophosaurus with the issue for the latter their attacks on the Jungle River Cruise boats that had seen the ride scrapped. The issues with the Dilophosaurus were nothing compared to Velociraptors. The first raptor was born in 1991 shortly after the Dilophosaurus and by 1993, eight of the raptors were introduced to their paddock. However, when the most dominant raptor was introduced, a violent restructuring of power left all but three raptors dead (the dominant animal, dubbed "the Big One," and two subordinates).

Hammond ordered replacements sent from Isla Sorna, which were housed in the southern quarantine pens; in the meantime, the Big One ordered her subordinates to attack their electrified fences at feeding time. They tested the fences for weaknesses, never striking the same place twice. Robert Muldoon identified this behavior and recognized the threat of a raptor escape, ordering the animals to be relocated to a secure holding pen near the Visitor Compound. In early June, the relocation took place. While the animals were being introduced to the holding pen, they managed to overpower their handlers and mauled a worker named Jophery Brown to death.

Though the raptors were contained without any further loss of life, Brown's family prepared to sue InGen for wrongful death and construction on the Park ground to a halt. Hammond opted to replace Velociraptor with Herrerasaurus, shelving the former until a better solution could be found for them. Four Herrerasaurus were shipped to the island and kept in a holding pen, and the raptors were kept in the pens they were already in. The Board of Directors demanded that a safety inspection be carried out on the Park before construction could resume its normal pace, and that experts be brought to the island to review the Park and endorse it. The board was concerned by others issues.

On the financial side of things the park had recently a lost a source of funding when Benjamin Lockwood had pulled his fund after Hammond and a majority of the Board had firmly denied his request to use the cloning technology for purposes other than de-extinction such as medical human cloning. This cutoff of funding by Lockwood however would not be permanent as he would resume working with InGen in 97'. Further problems occurred in the spring and summer of 1993. Jurassic Park was less than a year away from Phase I, which would see visitors come to the park, but the Visitors' Centre was still under construction and the computer system was still being debugged. Animals continued to cause problems, and an incident at the geothermal plant raised serious safety concerns on May 24.

The Park's other attractions (such as the Marine Facility, Aviary, and Bone Shaker) were of less concern as they would not open until Phase II, six months after opening day. The Board of Directors, under the advice of legal the lawyer Donald Gennaro, selected three scientists to endorse Jurassic Park: mathematician Dr. Ian Malcolm, vertebrate paleontologist Dr. Alan Grant, and paleobotanist Dr. Ellie Sattler. The Board itself toured the Park in early June shortly before the endorsement tour was invited. Gennaro would join the endorsement tour in order to inspect the park viability and security and if not satfised after his inspect, would shut down Jurassic Park. On June 11, the endorsement tour arrived on Isla Nublar.

The group as well gained two additional members in the form of Hammond's young grandchildren, Lex and Tim Murphy. The groups tour began with learning at the Visitor Center about the innovative process that InGen used to make de-extinction possible. This was followed by a meal and then the group boarding the vehicles for the Safari Tour. Much to Hammond relief the tour was nearly perfect and was only marred by a sick Triceratop. The three scientists in their taped testimony about the park, were greatly impressed though Dr. Ian Malcolm expressed great reservations about the park and if man could truly control dinosaurs.

The testimonies combined with Gennaro's report finding the park to be viable saw construction of the park resumed. As the months passed various issues that had long troubled the park were resolved such as the bugged computer system, safety issues at the geothermal plant corrected and various plant life that was poisonous to the dinsaours removed in an effort headed by Dr. Ellie Sattler, now an InGen employee. By the late spring of 1994 Jurassic Park was ready to open. On May 30th 1994 in a press conference John Hammond revealed to the world that dinasours once more walked upon the Earth. Following this announcement, the news cycle for months would be obsessed with dinsaours and InGen and reporting on the split global public opinion over de-extinction.

Opening day July 20th would see the park receive both the press and the general public with its first day of operations being a "smashing success" in the words of John Hammond. As InGen began moving towards profitability, Costa Rica saw a major boost to its economic growth with waves of tourists descending upon the country attracted by the worlds newest and most exciting park in the world. January of 1995 would see the Phase 2 rides open to rave reviews. InGen would achieve further success in April when it achieved the biggest IPO of the year. Now flushed with cash, InGen began surveying on the other islands as a prelude to construction of four additional parks with their development to be based upon lessons learned from operating Jurassic Park and feedback from guests.

InGen would as well fund a new research intiative led by Dr. Wu to create hybrid species and genetic engineering of animals. With the intiative bearing fruit by late 1996 with the quickly popular GloFish brand of genetically engineered fluorescent fish and the creation of the Karacosis wutansis which combined several species of plant life together. For John Hammond he was immensely proud of all that had been achieved by Dr. Wu, his team and all those employed by InGen that had made his dream a reality. Unfortunately Hammond knew he would not live long enough to see the hybrid animals created and the new parks finished as his life was drawing to a close as he health was rapidly declining. So the park founder put his affairs in order starting with resigning as CEO of InGen and having his nephew Peter Ludlow take his place so he could enjoy what was left of his life with family and friends.

On May 28th 1997 John Hammond would pass away peacefully in his sleep. While InGen mourns the passing of its founder, it under the new leadership of Peter Ludlow soldiers onto a new era full of endless possibilities.
 
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Got anything shorter which might fight into a short comic?

Things like this make me miss 'Reacts to' fics of canon seeing the AU, but they all end up dying off before getting to the really interesting parts.
 
Define shorter. Also thanks for the likes and checking out my thread. :3
 
Pax Kel Moria
In 2259, four supercarrier ships arrived in the Koprulu Sector after the shutdown of their navigation systems had seen them long ago miss their destination of Gantris VI. The far longer than intended journey had seen the engines destroyed and their life-support batteries nearly exhausted and so the ships engaged their emergency protocols and plummeted toward the nearest habitable worlds. For the Sarengo and the Reagan that planet would be Umoja. The Sarengo and the Reagan crash-landed on Umoja. The Sarengo unfortunately suffered massive systems failures during its atmospheric descent and smashed into the planet, killing all of its eight thousand passengers and cleaving a massive canyon into the planet.

The Reagan on the other hand would prove far more lucky and made a controlled descent and landed safely. The Argo landed on Moria and the Nagglfar landed on Tarsonis with those being much easier and safer landings. Once the supercarriers had landed, the 'cold sleep' chambers were deactivated and the surviving passengers slowly awakened and began to explore the surrounding areas to determine where to build settlements to establish farms to ensure a supply of food. A boost shared by all three of these unplanned colonies were a number of Earth creatures such as cows, chicken, pigs etc. But more there was the frozen embryos and fertilized eggs, and even had technology to support extensive cloning.

This allowed for massive population growth and ensured the genetic diversity of the three populations. Though by the early 24th century the cloning technology had been lost as the Terran colonists being mostly former prisoners did not have the knowledge or expertise to preserve the cloning facilities. In the coming decades three distinct cultures and societies would emerge on these planets and the nearby planets they would colonize. On Umoja, a fair and democratic system of governance would quickly form which would eventually become the Umoja Ruling Council. A major focus would as quickly emerge in the young Umojan settlements would be strong support for education, environmentalism and individualism which to these define the worlds settled by the Umojans.

Moria would see the emergence of countless guilds seeking to exploit the plentiful resources of the planet. Non corporate governance would as well emerge though such governments would be largely irrelevant with the guilds having the largest influence and impact on the people of Moria and its colonies. Tarsonis would see a government quickly organized by the Nagglfar's captain and using knowledge provided by ATLAS supercomputer gave them a scientific head start on the two other colonies and would give rise to a rapid campaign of urbanization and industrialization. As a result Tarsonis would have till the late 25th century the largest and most prosperous economy of the Koprulu economy. Such industrial and economic power would see Tarsonis develop second-generation subwarp engines which allowed their ships to make contact with Moria and Umoja in 2319.

Diplomatic relations were quickly established between the now connected colonies which was quickly followed by several commercial treaties to help boost trade. This ushered in an economic boom but as well concern among the Umoja and Morian colonies at the sheer population and GDP of Tarsonis who as well added to this concern with their diplomatically aggressive attempts to establish a government encompassing all the Terran colonies in the sector. Such a proposal was rejected by the other fearing such a government would be dominated by Tarsonis and the planet in turn dominated by the Old Families descended from the crew of the Nagglfar's. The Tarsonis government, incensed by this, responded with a military build up and the establishment of new colonies on seven worlds. The new colonies proved extremely successful which created further funding for military expansion.

While Tarsonis had failed to form a government encompassing all the Terran colonies, it instead unified its colonies and the older formerly independent Tarsonian worlds as the Terran Confederacy in 2323. This newly formed government as was expected became dominated by Tarsonis and with even more resources at its disposal began a new period of aggressive expansionism. The Umojan colonies would form an alliance to deter any potential future aggression by the Confederacy and as well expanded their militaries but unable to match the recent military expansion of Tarsonis let alone the new Confederacy. Great change had been going on Moria and it's colonies before the formation of the Terran Confederacy, as contact and trade had been established with the other colonies which had seen a mining and manufacturing boom take the Morian colonies by storm. Dozens of small family-run guilds scrambled to claim as much land as possible, and soon hundreds of refineries, factories, and mining facilities sprouted up across Morian space.

The ever expanding guilds were freighted by the formation of the Terran Confederacy and so sought protection for their operations and so as well saw the rise of PMC to protect themselves from the Confederacy and as well as each other. For nearly a century and half a tense peace held among the colonies. By the early 2470s the peace began to fail and the cause being the competition and conflict between the Confederacy and Morian guilds over resource worlds. Major flashpoints in this period were Char and Redstone III with heavy losses on both sides and considered the unofficial beginning of the war. In response the Confederacy would adopt a new tactic by sending intelligence personnel to scout mining claims, then manufacturing excuses (such as claiming one of the miners was a wanted criminal, or that the claim was illegal), then attack in order to in their words "rectify the situation".

During the process, the claim would be taken and generally handed over to an Old Family and guarded by Confederate forces. Areas such as the Paladino Belt and the desert world of Sonyan were subjected to such tactics and would see tensions rapidly surge. In 2475, out of fear the Confederacy might attempt to invade Morian space and seize its resources, the Morian Mining Coalition and Kelanis Shipping Guild merged to form the Kel-Morian Combine. With the combined resources of the two guilds the newly founded corporate partnership pledged military aid to any mining guild threatened by Confederate policy. The theft of mines would still continue and further fuel Kel Morian hatred of the Terran Confederacy. As well the formation of the Combine saw the thin line between corporation and government vanished by the end of the decade.

Despite Kel Morian propaganda about it being different and better than the Confederacy, it was just as corrupt and oppressive. The latter being demonstrated by its heavy handed response to miner protests. By the mid 2480s, Confederate Intelligence Corps would begin receiving intel about preparations by the Kel-Morian for combat major operations. In late 2485 the Confederacy suspecting the Combine to be planning something big on Onuru Sigma and so sent a detachment of Confederate Alpha Squadron led by Captain Edmund Duke and a detachment of the 33rd Ground Assault Division — Dominion section — led by Captain Arcturus Mengsk to investigate a vespene refinery at the Noranda Glacier. It was a trap by the Combine which quickly became a disaster for the Confederates due to the reckless tactics by Captain Duke though the actions of Captain Mengsk allowed them to retreat and soon evacuate from the planet when they received word of Combine reinforcements.

This would be quickly followed by the Kel-Morians capturing several worlds and declarations of war exchanged. Despite the bad start to the war for the Terran Confederacy, it's leadership was still confident about winning the war. The Confederacy armed forces ground units were better armed and greatly outnumbered their Kel-Morian counterparts. The Confederacy space based forces as well outnumbered their counterparts though not to the same extent. The Kel-Morian military was composed of irregulars, as well as pirates and PMCs with the manpower it could draw upon being far smaller than the Confederacy though boosted by volunteers from the Umojan worlds.

With the lacking status of KMC forces would see it throughout the War of 2485 stripping Confederates of armour, weapons and equipment. Despite these disparities the Confederates did poorly throughout the war as its armed forces were not prepared for the guerrilla warfare tactics used by the Combine and what victories they did achieve usually came as a result of overwhelming numbers. As well the Confederate armed forces found itself with a manpower shortage as few wanted to join and die so the Old Families could get richer. The Confederate military in response would launch targeted recruitment drives aimed at those graduating from secondary level education, the recruitment goals for said drives increasing as the war drew on. Enlistment bonuses were offered as well to entice people to enlist.

The quality of some of these ground troops would decrease as Advanced infantry training (AIT) was cut short in some cases in order to meet to ensure sufficient troop numbers for various operations. Limited use of illegal conscription and neural resocialization to help fill the billets though the post war era would see far more usage of the latter. As well, increased taxes would be levied to fund the Confederate war effort which in turn bankrupt some small Confederate farmers. Combined with rationing saw the Confederate grow less supportive as the war dragged on and even some anti war protests and in turn brutally suppressed by Confederate authorities. The situation on the Kel-Morian home front was far different with KMC recruitment centers not lacking for recruits and not taxed to the same extent as their Confederate counterparts as the KMC having planned for years had ensured it was not lacking for financial resources.

As for rationing very little took place due to its extensive resources and far smaller population consuming less resources. While not all were
satisfied with KMC governance, your average KMC citizen was far happier than their counterpart in the Confederacy. Perhaps if the war had dragged on the Terran Confederacy larger industry, population and GDP would have eventually seen the conflict turned decisively in the favor of the Confederacy. This however is only speculation as the Confederate war effort would suddenly collapse on July 8th, 2486 when suddenly the star of the Tarsonis went supernova and rapidly killed nearly two billion people. Despite how fast it occurred some were able to jump out of the system and informed the Confederacy of what had occured.

What followed could be best described as simply chaos. The economy rapidly collapsed as part of the economic depression that would grip the sector for the rest of the decade. Banks would fail following bank runs and businesses would fail with the drying up of credit. As this was going on, rebellions would erupt in the Outer Colonies and Fringe Worlds taking advantage of the crippling of the Terran Confederacy. Rebellion would not be limited to the outer lying regions of the Confederacy, as the Core World of Korhal IV would declare itself independent as the Korhal Republic after an eight year long insurgency.

Arguably the biggest winner of this horrific tragedy would be the Kel-Morian Combine which saw the Confederate military rapidly fall apart with some going rogue, some recalled and many defecting to the KMC seeing as the Confederacy could no longer keep the paychecks coming. With these defections by the end of the month, the KMC now had the strongest military in the sector. It would then use its newfound military strength to conquer the worlds contested because of the war, those previously seized by the Confederacy and even worlds which the KMC had no legal right but now had forces to occupy and annex them. The latter would be completed by the near end of the year which at the same time saw the Combine send diplomats to what remained of the Confederacy to present their terms. These terms included legally recognizing the annexation of countless mining colonies, accepting responsibility for starting the war and a limit on the size of the Confederate armed forces among others though with a time table recognizing the current instability affecting the remaining Confederate worlds.


With what remained of the Confederacy facing total collapse, a new recently formed provisional government signed the treaty bringing the War of 2485 to an end. For the people of the Koprulu Sector, Tarsonis Cataclysm had radically changed the balance of power. For the Kel-Morian Combine, the remainder of the century was dominated by them as they practically had a monopoly on countless resources and would reap massive profits as the prices for them rose as the sector's economy recovered. This economic domination was further secured by KMC fleets and armies protecting its various interests across the sector and with said forces allowing them to either stake claim to any resource rich areas and to even ironically seize the claims of small independent miners who now viewed the Combine as locusts. The KMC would as well make investments to maintain their newly enlarged military and to expand as needed with the building of new shipyards, military academies, munition factories and everything else necessary for a late 25th century military.

A wise investment as they would find themselves dealing with rebellions, terrorists and hostilities by Umoja. Speaking of Umoja they naturally panicked at the Confederacy collapsing and the Kel-Morian Combine gobbling up numerous colonies and gaining a good portion of the Confederate armed forces. As a result to prevent total KMC domination of the sector and to ensure better security for their resource worlds, the Umojan Protectorate was formed by Umoja, allied colonies and even some former Confederate worlds near the end of 2486. Militarily it began as rather weak and this would continue until the 2490s when a new economic boom began and allowed for increased military spending. Despite this pooling of resources, the Protectorate is outspent and out numbered by the KMC and so has turned to robotics and the fact that Umoja is now the leader in new and innovative technologies to turn the odds more in their favor in case conflict broke out.

As well the Protectorate has been funding various rebel groups in KMC space in order to weaken and keep their new foe distracted. Then there were the remnants of the Terran Confederacy centered in the Core Worlds gripped by protests, riots and a collapsing economy. While the Confederacy would linger into 2487 it was recognized that great changes were needed to adapt to a very changed Koprulu sector. So a new constitution with a much more decentralized style of government and seeing the Terran Confederacy with the Commonwealth of Independent Systems or the C.I.S for short. Of course doing this would simply only exchange one unstable government for another so the old Confederate dollar was replaced with the C.I.S dollar and loans and investments from banks and companies from KMC putting them on the path back to economic growth and stability.

This also had a downside of combined with their dependence on resources exported by the KMC making them highly dependent and influenced by the KMC. While there was talk of establishing new colonies in the early 2490s to reduce such dependency they end up going nowhere mainly due to costs and people prefer such credits be spent fixing the various problems afflicting their worlds rather than risking them on some colonial ventures. There were other attempts to increase its strength by trying to convince the Korhal Republic to join though each try would be firmly rebuked with the Republic building up its armed forces and instead taking up a strategy of neutrality but still seeking friendly relations with the various nations of the sector. Finally there were the Outer Colonies and Fringe Worlds where the post Confederate era was very much a mixed bag. While those former Confederate worlds found their economies no longer being ruined by the policies of the Old Families and dealing damaging Confederate policies, they were greatly devastated by the economic depression that followed the Tarsonis Cataclysm.

Then there was the wave of piracy that would hit the regions fueled in part by the collapse in security for large parts of the two regions. 2487 would add to the misery in this case to the Fringe Worlds, as the population of several worlds would be wiped out by a bizarrely deadly variant of cholera and which the KMC would take advantage of to establish new colonies on those worlds further strengthening their position in that region. To add to their troubles the two regions would become the primary battleground for the Cold War between the KMC and the Umojan Protectorate and seeing assassinations, coups and proxy conflicts adding to the locals misery. As the century draws to a close the Cold War still continues though far less intensive with KMC having for the part triumphed over their Protectorate nemesis. Though tensions have recently spiked in early November of 2499 following the KMC suddenly ordering mobilization of its armed forces which the Umojan Protectorate reacted to with their own mobilization.

While some speculate this to be the prelude to the next major war, only a select few know that the Kel-Morian Combine is not preparing for war with the Protectorate but rather with the alien species reported on Chau Sera. The KMC high command is highly confident that their expeditionary fleet will be able to eliminate the xenos like they did back in 2487 and then to resume the general peace that has held for the last nearly thirteen years.

…….
So an ASB caused the supernova and so sending the history of the sector on a different path.
 
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A Different Federation
What would eventually become World War 3, can be traced back to a series of eco-terrorism attacks targeting multiple economically critically industries in several Third World countries. Economies collapsed in these already unstable countries and resulted in civil wars which were fueled by various powers in a new struggle for geopolitical dominance. Whenever a new conflict broke out it swiftly became a part of this growing global conflict further worsening tensions between the various power blocks. For a time this seemed like just a new Cold War and that its battlefields would be limited to those unlucky countries which found themselves pawns in this game of global dominance. People would be distracted from the suffering and the portions caused by their countries by various things such as movies, sports and a new space race.

The space race between the New United Nations and the Eastern Coalition would reach its peak with a number of exploratory and colonial missions beyond the solar system though with all ending in failure. These high profile failures and with a devastating recession at the end of the 2030s saw funding for space agencies severely slashed and directed to various other parts of the budget and some militaries seeing some of funding now directed towards them. Relations would increasingly deteriorate between the two power blocks in the for much of the 2040s as increasingly more hardliner positions were taken on even the smallest of issues. Though to the surprise of many the last portion of that decade into the next decade saw a period of detente as a number of leaders managed to lower the tensions leading many to hope for a peaceful end to this Cold War. This hopes would die with a new generation of hardliners being elected and with a number of coups putting a number of controversial figures including Lee Kaun in power in the Eastern Coalition

The final catalyst-events for World War III were a series of confrontations between the New United Nations and the ECON over oil fields located in Antarctica and Taklamakan, a few months before the first major nuclear salvos were launched. Rioting broke out in cities during the days immediately leading up to the war, with fires and looting prior to the nuclear strikes as people attempted to flee the impending target zones with their lives. At precisely 0230.26 hours Eastern Standard Time, on 1 May 2053 (an event later known as the "May Day Horror of '53"), the Eastern Coalition launched a first strike comprised of intercontinental ballistic missiles, bomber attacks, and portable nuclear weapons, against major North American and European cities, combined with a simultaneous Interface viral assault against the New United Nations computer infrastructure. For unknown reasons, the ECON political leadership was surprised that the New United Nations immediately retaliated with nuclear launches of their own, as well as bomber and satellite-based attacks against targets in the Middle East and Asia. Many Pacific nations sided with the Eastern Coalition against the United States when fighting finally broke out.

Other political groupings, such as the Islamic Bloc, were likewise hit extremely hard during the nuclear exchanges due to various members being allied with the major nations of the two great power blocks. Excluding the deaths caused by radiation and other factors, hundreds of millions of people lay dead as governments and societies rapidly collapsed across the planet. Historians would later term this period as the Post-atomic horror as people struggled to survive and warlords using leftover armaments and military made narcotics to control their soldiers as they carved out new states and waged war upon each other and terrorized the survivors. While humanity despaired at what was lost and at the nightmare they were enduring, humanity's salvation resided in an unlikely location and that being Bozeman, Montana. At that small American town, it was here where the scientist Zefram Cochrane relocated his team to escape the collapse of society and set up shop in a missile complex.

Throwing themselves into their work Cochrane and his team would spend nearly a decade making various ground breaking discoveries though these were simply stepping stones to their greatest invention, warp drive which they speculated would allow for space travel at faster than light speeds. This theory would be tested out on April 5, 2063 with the launch of the Phoenix, a converted Titan II missile. Despite concerns about the launch and testing of the warp drive, everything went off without a hitch with the Phoenix making a successful and the most rapid trip across part of the solar system in human history up to that point. The flight of the Phoenix as well attracted the attention of a passing alien ship called the T'Plana-Hath which decided to investigate the unexpected nearby warp travel. Their sensors would lead them to Bozeman where First Contact was made between humanity and Vulcan.

With assistance from Vulcan, humanity began to recover, rebuild and had remarkably by the early 2100s had largely eliminated poverty, disease, war and hunger. As Earth recovered, exploratory vessels built by reestablished governments ventured beyond the boundary of the solar system seeking to learn more about nearby star systems. This would unintentionally draw the ire of one of the local powers, with the Kzinti Patriarchy waging four wars on humanity over the rest of the 21st century with humanity emerging victorious in each war due to a number of factors including luck and sheer dogged determination. Finally this period of conflict was brought to a close with the signing of the Treaty of Sirius and the peace established by it held till the 2150s. This aggression resulted in some proposing the establishment of a fleet of starships to defend Earth though this was rejected as the Earth population had taken a turn to a sort of pacifism that would last for decades,

While the wars with the Kzinti were being waged, humanity began to establish mining colonies on the Moon to harvest various resources. Humanity would not restrict itself to the Moon, with colonies being built on Mars in 2103 along with the beginning of the terraforming of Mars. Though discontent would soon begin to grow in these colonies due to various oppressive acts by the Consortium, the business interest in control of the Martian settlements. This discontent would eventually boil over in 2105 with the assasination of the activist leader Rayla Gundersdotter which would cause a revolt in their dome settlement and spread like wildfire to many of the colonies on the planet and beginning the War of Martian Independence. The war would rage through the rest of the decade and would even shake Earth's economy via the Red Planet general strikes. In late 2109 the Mars colony finally managed to evict the last of the Consortium forces and the independence of Mars.

Together the colonies would form the Confederated Martian Colonies and hopes for its future were as it soon received a rush of immigration of various groups from Earth seeking among other reasons an escape from growing government centralization as various nations reasserted their authority across their territories. This led to high hopes among the people of Mars about their future, those hopes dimmed as the migration slowed down and became a trickle with Mars finding itself relegated to the status of a cosmic Canada and a fact even acknowledged by Mars leaders such as Qaletaqu and Katowa. As the early 2110s began, Earth's various governments debated the establishment of a colony beyond the Sol System with various arguments for and against being heard for years. By 2115, there was growing frustration among the proponents calling for Earth to establish colonies beyond the Sol system at the lack of progress toward achieving that. Tired of waiting, the famous Zefram Cochrane would lead a group to Alpha Centauri III and establish the settlement of New Samarkand and the new government of Alpha Centauri Concordium to govern the new colony.

In the decades that followed, the colonists began the terraforming and taming of the harsh world, but not without many casualties. Several large cities and countless outposts would be established on the planet along with a number of research facilities as to be expected when your founder is Zefram Cochrane. Such efforts would be repeated on the other borderline-habitable worlds around all three of Alpha Centauri's component stars, and enough of a space infrastructure to deflect any asteroids. Said infrastructure would eventually have a significant number of starship building facilities which by the early 2150s would receive contracts from both Earth, alien corporate interests and governments. Out of partly a sense of embarrassment, colonies would soon be established on Tau Ceti IV by Earth's governments.

As the 2110s they would have two last major events in 2119, the first being the establishment of Warp Five Complex, a research facility dedicated to the development of a warp engine capable of reaching warp factor five, a speed which would grant Humanity the ability to explore deep space in a practical manner. Or in the words of Zefram Cochrane he gave in his last public speech before vanishing "On this site, a powerful engine will be built. An engine that will someday help us to travel a hundred times faster than we can today. Imagine it - thousands of inhabited planets at our fingertips... and we'll be able to explore those strange new worlds, and seek out new life and new civilizations. This engine will let us go boldly... where no man has gone before." The other major event of the year however would not be known for decades. Of course these early colonies would not be humanity only presence beyond the stars being the men and women of the Earth Cargo Service plying trade routes and bringing new resources and tech to Earth. In the realm of politics, the 2120s would be a momentous decade with the rise of the Earth unification movement as a growing number of people that humanity would be stronger united rather than divided. This would cultimate in 2130 with the founding of United Earth composed of a large part of Earth's nations and would grow over the next 20 till the last holdout, Australia would join on July 14, 2150.

United Earth's Warp Five program would make sizable progress over these twenty years though with a number of setbacks. A notable one being the Daedalus disaster in 2140 where the ship cascading ion drive had a meltdown and resulted in the complete destruction of the ship and loss of all hands mere moments after its launch. From this disaster would arise the NX Project under the direction of then Commodore Maxwell Forest to design and build a class of starships capable of using a Warp Five Engine. Major strides would initially be made though the program would hit a major roadblock in the form of being unable to hit Warp 2. Then came the destruction of the NX-Alpha and the barely avoided death of pilot A.G. Robinson.

On the advice of the Vulcan Advisory Council, the NX Program was indefinitely suspended which would have resulted in a new engine design and pushed back the launch of Earth first Warp Five ship by several years if not longer. This would however be averted by Commanders Jonathan Archer and A.G. Robinson in an unauthorized flight of the NX-Beta and we're able to reach a maximum speed of warp 2.5 by use of a manual intermix ratio control system, and return to Earth safely, the first Human vessel to do so. With the engine design proven to be reliable would see the resumption of the NX Project and twenty months after the unauthorized flight of NX-Beta would see the NX-Delta piloted by Commander Duvall hit Warp Three. The next major success of the project would be the USS Franklin hitting Warp 4 in 2147. Finally in 2149, the keel of Enterprise NX-01 was laid, and in April of 2151 the ship was launched with Earth finally having its Warp Five ship thirty two years after the beginning of the Warp Five program.

It's missions and explorations from April of 2151 to March of 2153 would be a major source of pride for United Earth but it would also be a source of controversy. Examples of the latter being the worsening of relations with a number of species and the denying of a cure for the plague afflicting the Valakians. At the same time in United Earth the belief that Vulcan was holding humanity back was becoming an increasingly popular view and further fueled when diplomatic spats between the two nations became public. All of this would be overshadowed by a momentous First Contact on March 22nd of 2153. During what was supposed to be an uneventful patrol, Captain Carlos Ramirez of the UES Intrepid was approached by and contacted by the USS Wasp, a starship somewhat matching Earth designs commanded by a Captain Linda Ramirez and with a very aged Jonathan Archer present seeking permission to enter United Earth space and to establish relations and begin negotiations on behalf of the United Federation of Planets.

Not really sure if this was some plot or the real deal, Captain Carlos sought instructions on how to proceed from Starfleet Command. Contacting them, he found it to be rather hectic with reports coming in from across the Alpha Quadrant of this Federation establishing contact with numerous governments lending credence to this United Federation of Planets being the real deal and not some complicated scheme. Prime Minister Nathan Samuels and his cabinet would for a time debate what to do. Eventually it would be decided to allow the Wasp to visit Earth while recalling what Starfleet ships could be brought back to Earth just in case. The Wasp would arrive in Earth orbit after a stop at Mars to drop off another ambassador and then beam down to London and the building housing the Prime Minister office.

Following an expedited version of diplomatic protocols, Ambassador Archer would debrief the UE cabinet explaining the events from the Xindi Crisis, end of the Vulcan-Andorian Cold and most importantly the Romulan War. Whereas the casualties from the Xindi attack had been horrifying, they paled in comparison to the billions killed by the Romulans. Archer then explained the United Federation of Planets and that of his presence. He explained the date was May 2159 in midst of the war with the Romulans when suddenly and the best they could guess some higher level power had transported the United Earth and its remaining colonies along with certain humans outside of its authority, Mars and the Xindi to 2119 in the Delphic Expanse. When it became apparent they were in 2119, they began preparing for the last nearly 34 years to fight the Romulans again.

As for the United Federation of Planets that they came about because of his and others successful efforts to convince their United Earth, Mars and the new Alpha Centurion colonies that they would be stronger together than apart. A much easier message to convey following the devastation of the Romulan War. Now after so many years they were ready to fight the Romulans and to assist the people of the Alpha Quadrant in the coming war. To dispel any remaining doubts he presented an alliance treaty which if signed would see their Earth and its colonies defended by Federation Defense Force fleets. As well he provided various ships, orbital defense schematics etc that would advance their tech to what it would have been in 2159.

Finally he presented them with an offer for United Earth to join the United Federation of Planets after its government and people had debated and decided if they wished to join. While the United Earth government considered what they learned and debated, Federation Defense Force fleets were pushing deep into Romulan space having invaded hours before the Federation had revealed themselves to the quadrant. Unprepared patrols had been easily crushed and while the Romulan Star Empire attempted to push the Federation back. It's navy was spread across its territories and against an enemy well versed in Romulan tactics with greater numbers and more advanced starships making the Romulans counter attacks futile though inflicting sizable losses on the Federation. What forces that survived the failed counter offensives pulled back to the Eisn system to defend Romulus while ships assigned to the border were recalled.

The pulling back of ships from its southern border was quickly noticed by a small Kingon House with holdings along the border and was quick to seize the opportunity with its forces seizing several systems while other border Houses via their spies became aware of what was transpiring and soon countless Kingon ships were flooding across the border conquering one Romulan colony after another. The Federation Navy meanwhile was regrouping, repairing what it could, reassigning crew and sending the dead and wounded back to the nearest Federation world onboard the starships no longer fit for combat before resuming its advance towards the suspected Romulan capital. On Romulus the Colonial Battalions, Compliance Division and other security forces attempted to control a panicking Romulan population in the worst civil disturbance in centuries while dissident elements prepared for the day they thought would never come. Within less than a week of its invasion of the Romulan Star Empire, Federation forces entered the Eisn system and quickly engaged the Romulan Star Navy in what would be the bloodiest fleet action of the war as Federation ships slugged it out with their Romulan counterparts. The Romulans put up a fanatical defense of their home world and even resorted to kamikaze tactics to take out as many Federation starships but in the end the Federation bloodied but triumphant fleets now controlled the space above the two planets amidst the wreckage of countless Romulan ships.

With orbital supremacy secured, Federation ground and air units began their invasions of Romulus and Remus with uprisings quickly breaking out on both planets. Romulan forces on Remus were quickly overwhelmed by the Reman people seeking freedom and retribution after centuries of oppression by their now former overlords. Federation troops after landing on the Q Class planet would come across the aftermath of many grisly massacres and make contact with the initially suspicious Remans though they soon warmed up to Federation forces as they learned more about their liberators. On Romulus the uprisings had nowhere near the same success though saw many poor districts seized and some successful jailbreaks, while hit and run attacks were launched on Romulan troops and security forces. The rebels would soon gain Federation air support when it became apparent to the Federation generals that some type of civil war had broken out along with many ground units landing in the unexpected landing zones and beginning a number of breakouts as the Romulans struggled to hold back the advancing enemy forces.

As Federation troops and their allies fought across Romulus, they ironically found themselves welcomed on Romulan colonies in the path of advancing Klingon forces which saw Federation starships rushing to secure Romulan sectors bordering the ever changing Klingon border. In a number of skirmishes and some even full on battles the Federation managed to bring the Klingon advance to a halt. It would also lay the seeds of future conflict between the United Federation of Planets and the Klingon Empire. Meanwhile the Siege of Romulus would drag on for nearly five months though with ever more Federation troops arriving on the planet along with Reman forces which in the end proved too much and saw the Romulan Star Empire remaining troops finally overwhelmed and defeated on August 14th bringing the major fighting to a close. The invasion of their territory and loss to the Federation was massively traumatic for the Romulan people as their myth of superiority was shattered into a thousand piece and quite a few Romulans unable to accept the new order beginning to take shape as a new record for Romulan suicides was set in 2153.

As the Federation began gathering evidence of crimes committed by what few Romulan leaders that were caught, the Romulan rebels now organized as a provincial government signed and agreed to the terms dictated by the Federation in the Treaty of Romulus. The major terms of the treaty included ceding most of what remained of Romulan space to the United Federation of Planets leaving only a small rump state left. It would also be accepting an indefinite occupation of its remaining territory with the Federation overseeing the establishment of a new government which would be a protectorate of the UFP. Finally the Romulan military would be dismantled with only a lightly armed security force allowed to help maintain order on the Romulans remaining worlds. With the Federation-Romulan War brought to a formal close, the people of the Alpha and Beta wondered what this new era would bring.
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For the Romulans it was a major adjustment, no longer being one of the major powers as Romulus entered reconstruction and the Romulan Star Empire no longer existed. In the place of the Star Empire now was the Romulan Republic, a government which the Romulan people would be able to influence and for its representatives in the new Romulan Senate. As well for years to come they would have to deal with insurgents that still believed in the ideas of the Star Empire. Eventually the Republic would stabilize and become prosperous once again under Federation protection not to say many Romulans didn't wished to be more than a satellite of the UFP. It was planned for the Remans to be part of this new government but unexpectedly they requested to settle in Federation space and were granted Federation citizenship. The Remans had seen the equal treatment non-humans received among Federation forces and learning about the good standard of living in the UFP and while aware of the Federations flaws, believed they would have a better future in the Federation than as part of the Romulan Republic or independent. This would be a major controversy in the Federation over whether to accept them but the influence of Archer among others would see by a slim majority the granting of the Remans request.

The unexpected fall of the Romulan Star Empire had seen the Klingon Empire make major territorial gains including countless resource rich worlds along with countless slaves. As the Romulans fell, a new threat arose in the form of the United Federation of Planets as the forces of the border Houses were prevented from advancing further into Romulan space with hundreds of Klingon warriors killed in a short conflict with the Federation. The border Houses called for war but were denied by Klingon High Chancellor M'Rek as the Empire before had been stretched but now after these new conquests was now dangerously overextended. Instead the Klingon Empire would enter a period of consolidation and harvesting the resources of these new territories to build up the power and strength of the Empire for future expansions. As well, intel would be needed to be gathered about the Humans to determine how the humans had so quickly built up their forces and defeated the Romulans. For now the Klingons would bide their time but one day they would test the mettle of the Federation in glorious combat.

For the three regional powers of Andoria, Tellar and Vulcan was a major blow to their reputations when it became known they had in the other timeline they had abandoned and left humanity and their few allies to stand against the Romulans. So this left the other nations wondering if they could do that in the other timeline, would they do that in this timeline. It would take many years for the three powers to rebuild their reputations though helped by concerns over Federation expansionism and other issues arising from the UFP rise. Of these three, the most affected would be the Vulcans who saw the resignation of V'Las following information provided by Ambassador T'Pol of the Federation and proven by a mind meld of the illegal actions he was willing to do including starting a war with Andoria under false pretenses. To compound this turmoil was the previously mentioned leaving humanity to stand alone along with the fact that this came as a result of a closer following of Surak teachings leading some to reject Surak teachings and believing a balance between emotion and logic and this would be one of many movements arising on Vulcan and so began the Vulcan Reformation that would last for many years to resolve what Vulcan should do and be.

Finally there was the United Federation of Planets which had quickly made it clear with its war and victory against the Romulans to be a power to be reckoned with. It's strength would grow further following its successful convincing of United Earth, Alpha Centauri, Mars and Terra Nova to join the UFP bringing all of humanity under its banner and seeing for the first time all of humanity brought under one banner. As well, the Federation now stretched from Delphic Expanse to much of the former borders of the now defunct Romulan Star Empire with Starfleet busy exploring, making scientific discoveries and making First Contact with new species and going where no man has gone before. With an immense number of systems under its control, colonists from the two Earths and the more developed colonies in the Delphic Expanse were not lacking for choices for where to settle. This would bring about what would at the time be called the Great Migration as the colonies would rapidly pop up across Federation space and give it access to immense resources as these worlds were settled and developed.

New trade routes would as well be formed connecting countless worlds and seeing the greatest growth up to that point with the Federation ever growing merchant fleet working those routes, making a good living off it while the Federation Defense Force would patrol trade routes old and new from pirates seeing a potential payday. As while despite the elements of xenophobia in the Federation, aliens from many nations have immigrated to the Federation seeking a better life for themselves joining alien communities from the Delphic Expanse and the Remans and Orion's so far being the largest groups of the recent arrivals with the latter seeking to escape the corruption and crime of the Orion colonies. While the prosperity and reduction in piracy because of the Federation is appreciated there is great concern over its massive expansion, growing power and militarism. Of course not all nations are concerned by the rise of humanity as shown by Draylax and the People's Republic of Coridan allying with the UFP after learning about their fates in the other timeline and ever growing economic ties with the Federation. Then you have a special case like Valakians which provided a cure to their plague brought by the older Jonathan Archer and helped to heal relations between humanity and the Valakians as the two worked together to uplift the Menk.

While some would rest on their laurels after achieving such power, humanity knows from its own history and that of past fallen alien powers to remain ever vigilant to ensure their place and survival in the quadrants while looking forward to a bright future.
 
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Alias Double Feature
The Star rising from the Ruins

For over a century war raged between the nations of Rubinelle and Lazuria which by its one hundred anniversary, there remained no one who could remember peace between the two nations. Generations of propaganda along with families losing countless members to the never ending war saw many developed a deep for the people of the other nation. Then came the Day of Ruin when countless meteor strikes saw the bloodiest day in history and the end of civilization. The meteor strikes caused a massive cloud to blot out the sun, preventing photosynthesis and thereby preventing the growing of crops. Nearly ninety percent of the population would be killed within weeks as supply chains collapsed along with law and order.

Countless surviving soldiers would desert to become raiders and others to protect the survivors as they tried to eke out a living among the ruins. One such group among the latter being the survivors of Rubinelle 12th Battalion (nicknamed Brenner's Wolves), led by Captain Brenner whose goal was to reunite the shattered fragments of humanity and relocate them to settlements or places deemed suitable to maintain life. After having gathered a large group of refugees and receiving word of a new settlement established by survivors named Freehaven, would travel there hoping to resettle the survivors there. Expecting a newly built settlement, what the 12th would see to their shock and amazement would be the outskirts of an intact city. A city which quickly mobilized its forces to confront the 12th Battalion and demand to know their purpose here.

Before a dialogue could be opened the infamous bandit, the Beast would launch an attack upon the city not realizing the city had an intact army. This would be their undoing as the combined forces of the city and the 12th would wipe out the bandit group to the last ending the Beast reign of terror. With trust born from fighting together, the two sides would talk with the 12th, learning the city and its forces led by Commander Nell were from the Orange Star, a country from another world. Said city in fact being parts of countless cities that had been transported here and surrounding Freehaven. With the survivors settling into what was now being called Orange Star City, the 12th would after a vote decide to join the city seeing its numbers replenished with the elements of Orange Star units that ended upon this world.

After the forces of Orange Star City reorganized and new defenses built , various units including the 12th would depart on missions including rescuing survivors, wiping out bandit groups and making contact with new cities. The 12th Battalion during an attempt to gain an automated food factory which unfortunately was destroyed by a then unknown faction led by a mysterious teenager named Penny. While normally such a loss would be devastating for another faction, that was not the case for Orange Star which had come with a massive amount of food and odd seeds for crops which could grow with artificial light as a substitute for sunlight. In the next few months a new government would be established with the Mayor of Freehaven heading it after winning a competitive presidential election. The reestablished nation would see its population expand rapidly with the arrival of a never ending amount of refugees and the land under its control growing with settlements joining seeking resources and protection as a new economy began to take shape and grow.

Bandit raids would grow increasingly rare as for varying reasons including missions to wipe out the raiders seeing their numbers growing ever smaller and migrating elsewhere to seek easier targets. Though not all was good with an incurable disease affecting some of the refugees the disease and the only option for it at the time being euthanization. As the small nation grew over the next few months it would make contact with the New Rubinelle Army led by Admiral Greyfield who had rally what of Rabinelle was left while also forcibly conscripting survivors and captured raiders to replenish his forces. Life under the NRA was tough with the Greyfield regime being highly authoritarian and to be expected of a man seeking to rule the world. Though life would somewhat improve with trading opening between Greyfield's fiefdom and Orange Star.

With a stockpile of supplies, his forces built up and a recent influx of weapons and ammo, Admiral Greyfield resumed the war with Lazuria and the Admiral believing the combined remnants of the two nations would allow him to build a war machine capable of conquering Orange Star. Defending it was a reconstituted still rebuilding army coming under the command of General Forsythe, recalled to defend what remained of their nation from this new aggression. The resumption of war would be bloody and pointless as areas easily taken and hard to defend with how weak both armies are. The renewed fighting would as well see a new stream of refugees to Orange Star territory settling into growing refugee camps. This would be the course of the war until roughly a year after the Day of Ruin when the Lazurian army managed to surround and besiege a large part of the New Rubinelle Army in a ruined city.

This would however be a trap by Admiral Greyfield who would have a nuclear weapon detonated killing General Forsythe and his forces along with Greyfield's own troops. Leading what was left of the NRA in a invasion of Lazuria rapidly overwhelming the crippled nation and seeing a new wave of refugees along with what remained of the Lazurian Army flee to Orange Star seeking refuge. Lazurian officers such as Tasha and Gage during their debriefing would provide troubling information about how Lazuria was able to sustain renewed combat via the providing of arms by Intelligent Defense Systems, a private military contractor led by a Dr. Caulder had even offered weapons of mass destruction though the now deceased General Forsythe had turned down the offer. It was now clear to Orange Star leadership that IDS had as well been supporting the NRA, evidenced by its recent use of a WMD though why was not clear yet. With the clear and present danger represented by both the NRA and ISD, the armed forces of Orange Star mobilized for war with part of it advancing toward the NRA home territory seeking to cut off Greyfields forces supply lines before then advancing north to take out what remained of the New Rubinelle Army.

The other portion of the military deployed would focus upon finding and wiping out Intelligent Defense Systems before any more WMDs could be used. The NRA home territory easily fell as the units assigned to guard it had no love for Admiral Greyfield while the civilians there celebrated and welcomed becoming part of Orange Star. With the NRA homeland annexed, they then moved northward engaging Greyfields forces in occupied Lazuria in a series of battles that would see the NRA progressively grinded down in a series of battles. The NRA would as well suffer many defections as it's soldiers could see which way the winds were blowing and wanted to be on the winning side. The war with the NRA would draw to a close when a Lazurian unit of the Orange Star Army under the command of Commander Tasha would run down and kill what remained of the New Rubinelle Army including Admiral Greyfield and so ending his reign of terror.

As for the IDS there was no sign of them until a series of sneak attacks including use of a giant bomber known as the Great Owl with heavy losses inflicted upon the Orange Star Army. Still Orange Star forces weathered this great onslaught and with reinforcements would launch a counteroffensive pushing the IDS forces back, while several commando teams infiltrated and successfully destroyed the Great Owl. As they pushed into enemy territory they would learn that Dr. Caulder, leader of IDS, had taken advantage of the world's devastation to carry out horrific biological and psychological experiments that he would have been unable to undertake otherwise. One such example is creating and spreading a terrible new disease called the Creeper, which causes flowers to bloom from infected individuals, for the sole purpose of studying the survivor's reactions. With it clear now that Dr. Calder had to be stopped less he caused the extinction of humanity and so Orange Star forces would wipe out the remaining bases of IDS while pursuing Caulder eventually to his main laboratory and fortress, The Nest.

It would be a hard fought battle with the major turning point being the defection of the forces under CDS officers Penny and Cyrus, clones created by Dr Calder and convinced to defect by their clone sister Isabelle who had joined up with the 12th Battalion. Progressively the IDS forces would be overwhelmed till finally massive artillery barrage killed Dr Calder and destroyed what was left of The Nest. With Calder dead, Orange Star would celebrate the war being over while at the same time mourning all those lost in the war. As peace settled upon the wastelands, the Lazurians instead of reestablished their nation for a second time decided to make a life for themselves within Orange Star rather than struggle to rebuild their fallen nation. As the months passed contact would be made with distant settlements that had managed to survive the various challenges of the wasteland and working with Orange Star created an ever expanding number of trade routes and helped ease various shortages as people adapted to the new world taking shape before them.

Then two years to the day after the Day of Ruin the dust clouds began to part with the Sun once more shining down upon the planet. In the coming years new nations began to form as life for many no longer just surviving but to prosper as civilization was rebuilt and people looked forward to a brighter future made possible by the people of Orange Star.

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Darkest Days

Meanwhile the world from which the Orange Star citizens and soldiers were from was engulfed in a world war with the people of Orange Star fighting the forces of Green Earth, Yellow Comet and finally Blue Moon. The fighting at first was going in the favor of Orange Star and then a portion of each of its cities along with its best units and portions of other units crippling their war effort. This moment of weakness would be exploited by the other nations who would counterattack and shatter the frontlines forces of Orange Star. Orange Star attempted to turn the tide of war with rushing of troops from training and reserve units to form a new defensive line as conscription was increased to help speed up the military's recovery. This would prove to be only a temporary respite before Orange Star forces were routed as its enemies pushed into its heartland territories.

Soon enough the Orange Star government was forced to sue for peace with victory or even a stalemate no longer possible. The treaty signed by Orange Star saw its suffer the loss of sizable border territories, restriction on its military size and a massive war reparations along with accepting blame for starting the war. The celebrations by the victorious powers would not last long as war would soon break out between the three following a series of border attacks and the attackers being identified as soldiers belonging to the three nations. The war would be a long drawn out affair as trench warfare soon developed with countless men and women dying in bloody assaults for little gains. Eventually the three sides would exhaust themselves and return to their pre-war borders.

While a peace that was hoped to be a long one settled upon the world, a brutal recession as well took hold as government spending shrank from cuts to the military and welfare agencies while massive tax increases were enacted in order to afford the massive debt loads they had accumulated over the course of two wars. Over time the anger and resentment of the people built as radicalism and saw the rise of groups willing to use violence to enact changes as the number of assassinations, bombings and other types of attacks grew. At the same time Blue Comet and Green Earth found themselves fighting bloody insurgencies by Orange Star separatists seeking to rejoin their homeland. Insurgencies that would be quietly supported by both the Orange Star government and private citizens with arms, supplies and volunteers. As economic conditions worsened trust in government plummeted to record lows and the situation in the three countries were like power kegs waiting for some sparks to ignite it.

Said sparks would come in the form of some troops during particularly intense protests and without permission open fire on crowds with live ammunition and like that what social fabric that remained was now gone. Radical groups saw their ranks massively expanded as new recruits including war veterans rapidly joined them as massive uprisings began breaking out across the countries as sizable swaths of lands fell under rebel control as the three countries became war zones. Adding to the troubles of Blue Comet and Green Earth, Orange Star would reveal itself having rearmed in secret when armies, ships and fighter jets in a rapid campaign supported by separatists liberated the lands they had lost years ago along with taking some buffer areas in order to keep the civil war in Blue Comet from spilling over into its lands. Despite fears it would advance further, Orange Star was content to fortify its new holdings and watch as the other nations destroyed themselves and as well renouncing the treaty. While the governments of the other countries raged at these actions by Orange Star they were not in a position to do anything as they could fight both a resurgent Orange Star and their own position and so only issued some feeble protests.

The civil wars would rage upon for some time as conditions worsened in the three ravaged countries and Orange Star profited selling them various goods they no longer could grow or produce as the amount of dead and wounded grew ever higher. Then the course of the continent was changed when suddenly all four countries came under attack by a new force, the Black Hole Army led by an enigmatic figure named Sturm. It had been Sturm that had orchestrated the previous two world wars along with the current civil wars via the use of clones in order to trick the continent to fight amongst themselves. It had worked splendidly as rapidly both government forces and rebel groups were overrun by the forces of Black Hole as the continent rapidly fell under their control. Orange Star would end up putting up the greatest but alone they to fell to Sturm forces and whose regime now ruled the world.

Now the Third World War is over and the people are now ruled and oppressed by the Black Hole regime. Hope is not yet lost as former enemies across the continent have begun to band together and strike at where the occupying forces are their weakest. They will fight till their lands are liberated and the Black Hole Army.
 
The Great Kingdom of the North
Countless groups arose along the great Rhoyne river and its tributaries but without a doubt the greatest of them were the Rhonyar who arose at the same time as the Ghiscari Empire and the Golden Empire of Yi Ti. Famed as fishers, traders, scholars, workers of wood, stone and metal, the Rhoynar raised their elegant cities from the headwaters of the Rhoyne down to her mouth, each grander than the last. Among these cities the most notable were Ghoyan Drohe which was the northernmost of the cities, filled with groves and waterfalls. Ny Sar was famous for its many fountains and was filled with the sounds of music and the source of the Rhoynar most famous musicians. Sarhoy on the coast of the Summer Sea, famed for its canals and saltwater gardens and favored spot for romantic getaways.

Finally but not least was Chroyane, largest, richest and greatest of the Rhoynish cities and a center for festivals and location of the famous Palace of Love. The Rhoynar worshiped a number of river-themed nature gods. Their primary god was Mother Rhoyne, or Mother River, the personification of the river Rhoyne itself. Other gods include the Old Man of the River, a turtle god, and his adversary, the Crab King. While the cities were united by a common culture and shared geography, they were strongly divided politically; each major city had its own ruler, and they fiercely protected their independence from both outside peoples and fellow Rhoynar.

With the rise of these cities also the Rhoynar formed vital trade and transport links across Western Essos facilitating trade and contact between countless societies. One of the equally famous groups would be the Andals, long before their conquests in Westeros and the spreading of the faith of the Seven to those lands. According to some sources the Rhyonar taught the Andals though this is disputed by the followers of the Faith of the Seven. The Rhoynar practiced a number of customs that differed from many of the cultures of that era. These included equal primogeniture, granting inheritances to the eldest child regardless of gender and as well tolerated homosexuality.

Due to their origin in city-states, the Rhoynar titled their rulers Princes and Princesses. Eventually contact was made with the Valyrians who were beginning to expand into the western coastal regions of Essos. At first the new arrivals were welcomed by the Rhoynar at first, claiming that all men were welcome to share in the bounty of Mother Rhoyne. Valyrian adventurers, merchants, and settlers had been expanding into western Essos since the end of the Ghiscari Wars thousands of years earlier, but over time they began to exert more and more influence on the region. The Freehold had established the city of Volantis at the mouth of the Rhoyne and as the years passed they attempted to take further control of territory along the river.

They also founded two other cities - Norvos and Qohor - on tributaries of the Rhoyne much further to the north. Soon the Rhoynar grew to regret the graciousness of their predecessors and by around 250 BNA the two civilizations came into open conflict. The Valyrian-Rhoynish Wars lasted for two and a half centuries, but they were not a period of continuous warfare. rather they were a series of short, brutal wars fought over that time period. While the Valyrians won these conflicts more often than they lost, it was very slow going, as both sides had weaknesses as well as strength.

The settlers in Volantis and other colonies had few dragons at their disposal. While they could call upon dragonriders from Valyria when the conflicts turned dire, as soon as the riders left the fortunes of war turned once again. The Rhoynar possessed magical powers very different from those of the Valyrians, which were based on fire and blood. Instead, Rhoynar magic was based on water, and it was said that their water-wizards were capable of calling upon massive floods to destroy Valyrian towns or raising water-spouts to fend off dragon-fire. Perhaps most significantly, the Valyrian colonies worked together and aided one another in these conflicts.

By contrast, the individual Rhoynar city-states fiercely protected their independence and, for the most part, did not present a united front against the invaders. The conflicts came to an end centuries ago when three dragonlords from Valyria joined with the settlers in Volantis to completely destroy the great Rhoynar port city of Sarhoy. In response, Prince Garin the Great, ruler of the city of Chroyane, united the five independent Rhoynar city-states still remaining into a grand alliance. By putting a weapon into the hands of every Rhoynar child old enough to hold one, he fielded the largest land army Essos had ever seen, a quarter of a million strong. Garin moved south along the Rhoyne with his army inflicting defeat after defeat, and in a massive battle at Volon Therys, they slaughtered a Valyrian army 100,000 strong, killing two of the dragons they possessed and wounding the third.

His victory was short-lived, however, because the panicked Volantenes called upon mother Valyria to send aid, which came in the form of three hundred dragons. Against such a host, Garin's entire army was destroyed. Following Garin's defeat, the warrior-princess Nymeria, ruler of Ny Sar, assembled an immense evacuation fleet. According to myth, she guided ten thousand ships out of the Rhoyne Delta and into the Summer Sea. Whether true or not it was a sizable armada led by Princess Nymeria, which fled west seeking a new home for her people.

The ships however would soon be engulfed by an unusual storm with raging clouds and mists of various colors which seemed like it would never end, with many believing this to be a punishment by the gods for their failure to defend their homeland. Nymeria would attempt her best to calm her people but this only had limited success. Nymeria during this period would find herself having the same dream of a man among the snow and surrounded by giant wolves. Uncertain of the meaning of the dream, she worked to hold her fleet together and hoped this unnatural weather would soon clear. The storm would rage for days till finally subsiding and with a sighting of land not long after that.

The fleet would make landfall and scouting parties began wading ashore onto the beaches of this new land and noting the far colder temperature compared to Essos while determining if there were any potential threats to their people. With it judged to be safe for the moment, many of the Rhoynar would disembark with makeshift camps beginning to arise near the beaches while groups of volunteers ventured deeper into these unknown lands for more information about their new home. Soon enough they would make first contact with the villages and the locals who were rather frightened by large groups of foreigners trespassing on their lands. Luckily this did not spiral into violence and a rather limited dialogue was opened between the two groups. Within a few days hundreds of soldiers would arrive led by the leader of these lands, King Harlan Stark.

The two rulers were surprised when they first saw each other as they had seen the other in their dreams. This along with the North's food supply having magically grown to be overflowing and some of it being replaced if eaten, made quickly apparent that the gods had been responsible for bringing the Rhoynar to the North. With the will of the gods apparent, Harlan and Nymeria would quickly be married, uniting their two peoples with the new Queen of the North affirming her dedication and that of her people to their new home by the burning of their fleet. It is said that this marriage saw the strength of the North grow by at least twenty fold and come at a much needed time with House Bolton and others having risen up in revolt against the Starks. With his forces having been greatly bolstered, King Harlan would rapidly overwhelm the rebels with his far greater numbers and capture the rebel leaders with those willing to bend the knee allowed to return to their lands while those that refused were sent to the Wall.

To ensure the loyalty of the now subdued houses, many of their children would be wards of other houses and while treated with full courtly etiquette as noble guests they were still hostages. With the rebellion over, the King and Queen would turn their attention to the matter of feeding her people in the long term. While they were not lacking for food for the moment, eventually the food provided by the gods would be gone and the North simply did not have the ability to feed all of Queen Nymeria people. It was clear that lands would need to be cultivated and new sources of food acquired and it was clear where what they needed to acquire would come from, the Riverlands. Planning and preparations began with the latter including an expansion of the North's fleet for warding off ironborn raids while agents of King Harlan secured the support of unhappy Riverland with the nobility of the region having a penchant to switch sides due to a lack of loyalty to their kings.

Much of the North's enlarged armies would march south, while some remained to repel any attempted ironborn invasions and to keep an eye on the recently subdued rebel houses. As planned the North's forces would invade one of the Riverland realms, that kings forces would respond and then the houses that Northern agents had contacted would raise their banners and armies in support of their new liege, King Harlan and then overwhelm that Riverland king. This would be followed by consolidation of control over the territory including new forts and settlements built by the Rhoynar and allowing for economic development that previous kings had blocked out of paranoia over the nobility growing too strong along with exiling the fallen king and those unwilling to bend the knee. Once the King and Queen felt their hold over a territory was firm, they then invaded another minor Riverlands kingdom and repeated the previously established process. The conquests and the repeating of the process would continue for a few more years till the Kingdom of the North possessed nearly all of the Riverlands with the exception of some border lands that had been seized by the Stormlands and the Kingdom of the Westerlands.

Years would go by and to the surprise of the Riverlanders, their and lives fortunes improved as economic development was supported by the King and Queen and charters for the first ever Riverland cities were approved with mighty cities arising the rivers populated at first and built by the Rhoynar and later Northerners and Riverlands. As well, strong defenses and the loyalty of his new subjects allowed King Harlan to break the frequent cycle of noble revolts and foreign invasions and to build up his greatly enlarged kingdom into one of the major powers of Westeros with strong armies and fleets and with their merchants plying their trade far and wide. The King as well distributed areas of the Riverlands to Northern and Rhyonar nobles with some of the former establishing new cadet branches of their houses in order to do something with spare sons and ensuring better uses of these new lands. Otherwise Northern Lords had limited interactions with the lands south of the Neck. Nymeria would focus upon building a bureaucracy to help manage the realm and as well assuring her people's rights were protected when they clashed against Westeros cultural practices. As well she ensured her first born, Alarra Stark would succeed her father and not be passed over in favor of one of her younger brothers despite the dissatisfaction among Northern and Riverland lords over this matter. Many years would pass and eventually an aged King Harlan would peacefully pass away in his sleep with Alarra taking her place as Queen of the North, Riverlands and the Rhoynar.

The other rulers with their sexist beliefs did not believe a woman could rule and believed that the Kingdom of the North would crumble within a few years. Queen Alarra was well aware of this and would educate them on how wrong they were. The first to learn this the hard way was the Iron Islands who the Queen had grown tired of their piracy and unleashed her navy and in a series of crushing naval battles wiped out the Iron Fleet. This was followed by an invasion where the North's larger numbers easily overcame the remaining fanatical ironmen warriors. This was followed by many being sent to the Wall while a portion of the Iron Islands population forcibly being moved and settled in the cities of the Riverlands and turn replaced with settlers from Queens kingdom to ensure the assimilation of the Iron Islands into her kingdom and to prevent a native revolt and to wipeout the cancerous ironborn culture.

For a time peace returned to Westeros as the North integrated the Iron Islands into the kingdom and the Queen planned for her next conquest. Her next target being the Westerlands who, distracted by the potential of war with the Reach and having positioned part of its bannermen in the south, allowed Northern armies to overrun a portion of its eastern territories and hunkered down while Northern ships raided along the coastline and burnt the Lannister fleet at Lannisport. With his kingdom weakened and the threat of war to his south, the Lord of Casterly Rock was forced to sign an unfavorable peace with the North. Seeking to take advantage of the Westerlands' misfortunes, the Reach would soon invade though it would be a drawn out war. The North once again was at peace, though like before it was simply the interlude till the next war.

The final war of expansion her reign would be directed at the lands along Blackwater Bay and what of the Riverlands possessed by the Stormlands. This, unlike her previous wars, would be a long and bloody war as the North did not have the advantage of surprise and the Stormlands King unwilling to surrender to what his father had conquered. The soldiers of the Stormlands fought bravely but at the end of the day the North's greater numbers and resources carried the day and Queen Alarra now held the whole of the Riverlands along with a majority of the lands along Blackwater Bay. The Queen had made it clear without a doubt her will and strength and secured her place among the North's greatest leaders. There would be other wars during her reign but none would be able to undo the territorial gains she had achieved.

Years would pass and so great Queen Alarra passed away leaving a powerful kingdom to her son King Rodrick Stark. A successful ruler but overshadowed by his mother and grandparents achievements as no wars during his reign came even close to shifting the balance of power like Nymeria War or Alarra Wars did. A new status quo settled upon Westeros, very much like how things were before the Rhyonar arrival though with fewer kingdoms and the North as one of the major powers of the continent. Speaking of the Rhyonar, in the coming decades and centuries they increasingly assimilated into Westeros culture such as converting to the Faith of the Seven though keeping some of their culture. Not all Rhyonar would assimilate as some would continue to practice the traditions of their ancestors.

These groups are known as the "River Orphans", with communities constantly migrating along many of the rivers of the Kingdom of the North and consider themselves orphaned from their Mother Rhoyne. Of pure Rhoynar blood and still speaking the Rhoynish language and considering themselves the only true Rhoynar which often leads to brawl with those of Rhoynar descent do not react well to the view they are somehow not Rhyonar simply because Westerosi blood flows through their veins. Though if there is one thing that largely united the two groups it was the Doom of the Valyria and the wiping out the Valyrian Freehold and the hated Valyrians. In the wider continent of Westeros, life continued as it had before, with royalty waging war, nobles plotting and peasants for the most part suffering because of the ambitions of those above them. Now the present year is 1048 ANA and Westeros is nearing the end of a nearly generation-long peace with the various nations preparing for the next round of bloodletting and score settling.

Of course the threat of war among the bickering nations is the only threat as beyond the Wall, members of the Night Watch have gone missing while on patrol. Many blame the Wildlings for their disappearances believing it to be a prelude to another Wildling invasion as word spreads of the rise of a new King-Beyond-the-Wall rallying the various tribes, clans and villages behind his banner. Of course the true threat to all men is biding their time, building their strength and when they do strike, men best be united and prepared lest they all fall in the coming war.
 
Strength in Unity
Countries for much of the bloody era of the Warring States Period were uniformly small, constantly battling each other for land, power, and opportunity. Most of these battles were fought using poorly trained peasant conscripts, small forces of samurai and hired ronin. To win, a Daimyo needed to hire the services of one or more Shinobi clans whose loyalty ultimately belonged to the highest bidder. For if you did not have in your service Shinobi and your enemy did, you'd find your supply convoys would not reach their destination, food supplies poisoned, regular raids targeting war critical infrastructure, assassinations of commanders and even Daimyos themselves. Numerous wars across the lands were the norm and any peace was short and meant only to prepare for the next round of fighting and as a result creating an average lifespan of only 30 years.

The constant warfare meant for Shinobi clans, children would serve as soldiers in wars and conflicts between the clans and often be killed by older and more skilled opponents. Alliances between clans were almost universally short and betrayal to be expected. The Yamanaka-Nara-Akimichi alliance is very much one of the few exceptions to this rule. With ever changing alliances and resulting vendettas, Shinobi were in the habit of never divulging their family names to strangers in order to avoid conflict between missions. Two clans would stand above the rest in both strength and for the legendaries of their blood feud, the Senju and the Uchiha.

The Senju clan, famed for their balanced skill in all the shinobi arts, and the Uchiha clan, famed for their Sharingan which granted its holder the ability to copy almost any jutsu. As a result of the strength both clans wielded, if one side hired the services of say the Senju, the other side in the conflict would hire the Uchiha and vice versa. As a result of this dynamic, members of both clans would develop a deep hatred for their enemies for the countless loved ones killed at the hands of the other. It seemed that this cycle of hatred would continue until the end of time if not for the most unlikely of friendships. That of between Hashirama Senju and Madara Uchiha, sons of their respective clan leader and eventual heirs.

The two met as children and unaware of the others identity with the two bonding over the deaths of their brothers, their desire to protect their remaining siblings, and their dreams of a peaceful world where children wouldn't need to fight. Hashirama and Madara eventually learned who the other was and forced the two to end their friendship and the next time they met they were enemies on the battlefield. It would be the first of many clashes between the two over the coming years. In time the two would succeed their fathers as the heads of their respective clans and under their leadership the clans flourished as they expanded their lands and forced weaker clans to submit to them. Great fortunes were as well amassed by the Senju and Uchiha from missions from the Land of Fire Daimyo who would use would them to cripple bordering nations and then making his invasions of them quick and easy and saw the Land of Fire joining a small club of nations on the rise.

During this time Hashirama had made multiple attempts to broker a peace, but every time the long festering hatred would see each attempt fail. They were not for nought as slowly a growing number of both clans grew tired of the fighting and the idea of peace found ever more support. Eventually the warhawks in both the clans found themselves increasingly in the minority and seeing the way the wind was blowing reluctantly gave their support for a truce and talks. The talks would soon see peace established between the Uchiha and Senju though Hashirama had greater aspirations than simply just peace. He proposed an alliance and to establish a new settlement where the Senju and the Uchiha along with their various vassals would settle to ensure their collective security and prosperity.

Such a combination of their strength would make attacks from enemy clans a thing of the past as none would dare challenge such a concentration of power. Though such a proposition was a radical one and would take time to rally the two clans behind it as old hatreds does not fade easily. As for where to build it, it was eventually decided to build it somewhere within the Land of the Fire, which would require the approval of its Daimyo. So when both clans finally agreed to this, Madara and Hashirama would depart with some of their clansmen for the capital of Hi no Kuni and sought an audience with the Daimyo. The three men would sit down and the agreement they created would end one era and begin a new one.

With agreement in hand, the duo and their guards would return to their clans compounds to oversee their dismantling and followed by an exodus to the location of their new home. It would be here in a ceremony attended by the two clans, their vassals and some members of the Uzumaki Clan, would see the founding of the Village Hidden in the Leaves or otherwise known as Konohagakure. To lead the Hidden Leaf a vote would be held with Hashirama Senju and would add Hokage to his list of many titles. Followed shortly after this was his marriage to Mito Uzumaki, further deepening the bonds between the Senju and Uzumaki and as well allying itself with Konohagakure. A marriage that would yield five children and whom Hashirama would he would love and spoil, along with enjoying every moment he would have with them.

The peace enjoyed by the Hidden Leaf however would be a short one as the Daimyo would call upon them to assist his armies in once again expanding his realm after having consolidated control over gains made years ago. A sizable force of Shinobi would depart the village in waves while Tobirama Senju and Izuna Uchiha were left to oversee the protection of the Hidden Leaf. Word had begun to spread of the village founding and envoys were sent to learn more about Konohagakure and the fact that it had been founded by clans that once waged war relentlessly upon each other. Unspoken was them waiting to see if this village experiment was viable or if it would collapse and see renewed war between the Senju and Uchiha. While discussions were held between the Leaf and nearby clans, Hashirama and Madara along the those under their command, would bloodily carved their way through countless countries as Hi no Kuni expanded borders ever further and terrifying other countries as they watched the increasingly fast rate that the Land of Fire was spreading across the continent.

So with Daimyo encouragement and growing fear among ninja, new Shinobi villages popped up in various countries and gave various Daimyo the ability to expand like Hi no Kuni. Though some would face great difficulties such as Mizu no Kuni as it sought to conquer the neighboring islands while Mizukage Byakuren expanded his new village via the defeating of other clans on the battlefield and forcing them into service as part of a growing caste system. Months would pass as one country after another fell to the Land of Fire till finally the campaign was declared over by the Fire Daimyo. The reason for the end of the campaign was not a desire for peace or guilt for the devastation it caused but rather the Daimyo being formed by his ministers and generals that the country was approaching the limits of what they could conquer without spreading their forces and resources too thin. As Hi no Kuni integrated its new conquests, the Leaf Shinobi would return to a jubilant village where a grand celebration was held in their honor.

They would also find the village far more established with clan districts built, basic but well patrolled walls along with a sizable tower from which the Hokage could oversee the village and his forces. While Hashirama enjoyed a well deserved break, it is a short one as he soon throws all his energy in order to further expand the village as word reaches of them of ever more ninja villages being established. Some small clans had settled in the village while he was away as talks led by Tobrima had convinced them of the benefits of joining the Leaf. Further growth would be necessary to ensure retaining the Leafs status as the strongest village in this new era. With his brother's previous successes in diplomacy and building up relations with the nearby clans, Tobirama is assigned to bring these clans into the fold.

With the stability of the village and the recent successes in expanding the borders of the Land of Fire now backing up his arguments, Tobirama has success after success in convincing clans to join the village and thereby seeing it growing even stronger than before. Within only a few months all the clans within Hi no Kuni and even a few clans outside its borders such as the Hatake Clan. While the village was growing during this period little changed about how the village operated. Members of clans rarely interacted with people of other clans if it didn't involve patrols, missions or long time allies. Children of the clans would be taught by their fellow clan members and joint training was limited to those like the Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi Clans.

Change for the young village would come from an external source rather than internally. That being the invasion of Kusa no Kuni by Tsuchi no Kuni. The Daimyo of Tsuchi no Kuni had long been known for his ambition and his gaining of Iwagakure had made him even more ambitious. In Kusa no Kuni he saw a weak country that would be easy to conquer and a base from which to launch further invasions in the future. As for Hi no Kun, his advisers based on their intelligence would be focused on consolidating their control over their new territory and would not interfere. So with these assurance the Earth Daimyo would order his armies to conquer the small nations while Iwa ninja would in the first strikes of the war strike at the capital, wiping the royal family along with generals, government officials and nobles to cripple the country as much as possible along with attacks on various forts and garrisons.

The war would see an exodus of surviving nobles and soldiers flee south along with a growing number of refugees displaced by the fighting. As well, the whole of Kusagakure would evacuate to escape their collapsing country and find refuge in Konohagakure. Despite the assurances of the Tsuchi Daimyo advisers, Hi no Kuni would not be passive while Tsuchi no Kuni annexed a bordering country and bide its time till it was ready to invade the Land of Fire. What armies it had were mobilized as resources were gathered and conscription and recruitment of mercenaries was undertaken as the Kusa nobles formed an unstable government in exile and recruited its own army from among the growing number of refugees. With war coming, the Hokage would begin deploying ninja to support the Daimyo growing armies in the northwest of the country while assisting the Kusa ninja in what was planned to be a temporary village built next to the Leaf.

These preparations would not go unnoticed by the Land of Earth whose armies quickly wiped out what forces had been assigned to protect the Land of Fire borders and rapidly began moving deeper into the country facing minimal resistance besides hit and run attacks by Konohagakure and some last stands meant to slow them down. The Land of Fire had decided upon a strategy of trading land for time as Hi no Kuni gathered and expanded its armies while also adopting a scorched Earth strategy including destroying crops, slaughtering animals and poisoning water sources. With its forces and that of its allies Kusa and Uzu ready, they would make a stand on a long front a short distance from Konohagakure. The number of Shinobi and soldiers involved in this were unprecedented up to that time and demonstrated to all the strength of the two of then three major countries. These various battles are of course famous but there is one that stands far above the others for its brutality and bloodshed, Shukuba.

It was here the greatest number of soldiers clashed along with ninja including their strongest. For those who would survive it, the Battle of Shukuba was hell on earth as arrows and jutsu were raining down constantly on both sides and the ground itself became soaked red from the blood of the fallen as both sides gave it their all and neither showed any mercy. It and the other battles were long and bloody but with bloody advances the Land of Fires began pushing the Land of Earth forces back with the latter forces who were tired from recent exhausting marches, lacking food and various due to raids upon their supply lines along with being spread thin due to needing outposts and garrisons to protect supply lines and keep firm control of their newly gained subjects. Hi no Kuni and it's allies did not have these and so began grinding down the enemy forces as tens of thousands lost their lives in the countless battles raging. Eventually the Tsuchi generals could see the inevitable and so began a fighting retreat in order to preserve as much of their forces as they could.

They were harried all the way back to the border and into Kusa no Kuni though part way across Kusa did the allied offensive ground to a halt as Tsuchi had rallied its shattered forces behind a defensive line and bolstered with fresh soldiers and ninja on top of occupation forces. With both sides tired by recent campaigns the war for several months would settle into stalemate as both rebuilt their forces with this phase of the war largely defined by missions carried out by Shinobi seeking to weaken the other side as much as possible before all out war once more came. Tshuchi no Kuni would reorganize the remainder of Kusa it still held into military districts and it's remaining inhabitants taxed in order to help fund the Land of Earth war effort. The Earth Daimyo would use this respite to shake up his government with dismissal of his advisers that were amazingly wrong about the Hi no Kuni along with ministers that had fallen out of favor with his majesty and making very clear that he expected them to do a better job than their predecessors and to his ministers to sure he was not lacking in funding for his war effort. His other focuses during this time would be working with his generals to formulate new plans and strategies to help win the war when it resumed.

Hi no Kuni would solidify its gains with new forts and as Konohagakure ninja patrolled along the border. In Hi no Kuni reconstruction of the devastated north west was underway as villages and cities were rebuilt with refugees from Kusa and Hi no Kuni settling there. The already dysfunctional Kusa government would grow even more dysfunctional as several of its members were assassinated by their fellows to secure more power and land for themselves in a fully liberated Kusa. The Hi no Kuni Daimyo was greatly frustrated by this but as long as they kept raising new troops from the Kusa refugee camps, funded of course by the Daimyo, he would tolerate them. In Konohagakure the recent losses were buried and grieved for as the Hokage levied new taxes to fund the village war effort while leading the effort to settle Hi no Kuni refugees within the village with funding from the Daimyo and integrate them into the growing village. The Kage brother meanwhile was overseeing the formation of bureaucracy, a chain of command and the formation of high command in order to ensure both a more efficient village and one able to function without the Hokage or those such as himself and the Uchiha brothers present.

The exiled people of Kusagakure were far more celebratory with half of their country having been liberated but well aware of how dysfunctional the new Kusa government and how that did bode well for their country's future. Pushing their doubts aside, they focused on doing all they could to contribute to the war effort while also assisting Kusa refugees to settle into the new Kusagakure with funding from the Kusa goverment(Though said funding from the Fire Daimyo) and switching to a supporting role with their recent heavy losses. With those losses in mind they would establish several academies with its students mainly provided by war orphans and poor families hoping their son or daughter might help to lift them out of poverty. Clans would donate some of their own knowledge and provide instructors with the hope that in four years time this would produce many high quality ninja. What was a revolutionary step in training large numbers of ninja was looked down upon by the other villages for training so many non clan children who were viewed as nothing more than cannon fodder though it would take till after the current war was over for views to begin Channing on ninja academies.

Months would pass with both sides having built up their strength and so the conflict would reignite as both sides' armies clashed as numerous skirmishes and battles fought by Shinobi raged. In the end however little would be achieved during this round of fighting before once again the fighting took a lull once with the exception of Shinobi missions behind enemy lines. This would define the rest of the conflict as a short period of open warfare followed by a lull in the fighting with the exception of Shinobi missions meant to tip the balance of power in their faction's favor. It would be these missions dominating the lulls in fighting, legendary Shinobi fights along with the fact that Shinobi had made this war possible and so gave its then name of the Great Shinobi War. Near the end of the Great Shinobi War would see yet more change for Iwagakure and Konohagakure as Madara Uchiha at the cost of his own life killed the Four Tails jinchuriki and ensured the capture of the demon it contained by his killing of countless enemy ninja to give the sealing team the time they need.

Hashirama was devastated by the death of his longtime friend and made it very clear how much he meant to him by killing over one hundred Iwa ninja before being confronted by the Tsuchikage Ishikawa. The resulting battle between the two saw them push themselves to their limits and beyond with the devastation from the battle transforming their battleground into what would be called the Valley of the End. In the end Ishikawa would die but it was a Pyrrhic victory for Hashirama as he would soon succumb to his fatal wounds but not before naming Tobirama as his successor. There was great opposition among the Uchiha and their allies at Tobirama succeeding his brother as Hokage with a growing fear among the villagers that the dispute could risk ripping apart the village in a civil war. Such a fear was averted by Izuna, new head of the Uchiha who while not a friend of Tobirama had come to respect him and vice stated his support for Tobirama taking the position and made it clear that while opposition to the selection was understandable, violence over it was not.

While there was much dissent in the Uchiha Clan and its allies over this none were willing to dare tempt the wrath of Izuna and so with threat of violence averted, Tobirama became the Nidaime Hokage while in Iwagakure, Mu had far easier time becoming Nidaime Tsuchikage. This was soon followed by the announcement of an armistice and after that peace negotiations with the sudden support for peace coming from the Daimyos. The question among the people of the four countries now soon to be at peace of course being why now after two plus years of war and the answer being rise to major power status by the Land of Wind and the Land of Water. One as well could not forget the Land of Lighting who had been gaining strength and the longer the Great Shinobi War had dragged on, the greater risk of the one major powers intervening into the conflict. Finally of course there is the fact that the conflict was a stalemate and would only waste more resources that could be spent elsewhere.

As the peace negotiations began, the Kusa government found themselves barred from taking part, outraged and sought an answer for why this was happening from the Fire Daimyo. The Daimyo made clear that he viewed them as incapable of leading the part of Kusa liberated and that the peace needed stability and an unstable not Kusa no Kuni would not be in the interest of the Land of Fire and so it would be annexed. So instead they would swear fealty to him and be given lands in the east as compensation. Kusa nobles accepted the offer seeing as trying to resist the will of the Daimyo would quickly kill them and neither could they rely on their soldiers or their ninja village as both were funded by the Daimyo and the two groups well aware of how outnumbered they would be. Speaking of Kusagakure, it was decreed by the Daimyo that they would be folded into Konohagakure believing them to be stronger together than separate.

The people of Kusagakure were disappointed but accepted the reality of their situation while the Hokage was greatly pleased as was he putting all his energy into rebuilding the forces of his village and strengthening it along with to distract himself from his sorrow over the death of his brother. New departments and organizations were founded by the Hokage to oversee various village functions, such as Konoha Intelligence Division, ANBU, Konoha Military Police among others along with applying lessons from the war to improve their functioning. The latter organization was given to the Uchiha and staffed by their allies and them and in charge of keeping the peace within the village. This was interpreted by many as a thanks by the Hokage to Izuna Uchiha for his recent support in securing his taking over as Hokage. Having inherited multiple academies from Kusagakure would decide to invest further into the new concept with him convincing his fellow Senju and new clan head Toka to add some Senju techniques while providing instructors and students for the newly planned academies in order to be able to recruit new Shinobi from the growing civilian population in the village.

Other clans would as well provide instructors and students for the new academies including the Uchiha. The Hokage would as well use this opportunity to direct students judged likely not to be suited for combat to be medica ninja in order to increase the chance of wounded ninja surviving missions and battles. To help further fill up each eventual graduation class, the Hokage would secure permission to recruit from across the country orphans capable of using chakra. Other changes for the village included a new rank single with the lowest being Genin and the highest being Jonin along with an Alphabet ranking system for missions to better clarify the potential danger of a mission. All of the work done by the Hokage and others would set the standard for a modern village and would be copied by the other villages.

The other focus of the Hokage would be to further increase the village unity by fanning the hatred of Iwagakure and something that proved easily achievable as all the clans had family killed by Iwa ninja. One area that did not require much work would be the economy due to his brother and the Kusa ninja leadership having provided loans to start businesses giving the now combined village a strong and growing civilian economy. Trade links would as well grow with other parts of the country as the purchasing power of the village grew and its economy boomed soon after the war ended and saw the amount of taxes collected rapidly grow. Whereas Konohagakure easily adjusted to the cuts made to the budget provided by the Daimyo that was not the case with Iwagakure who had a much rougher time adjusting to their smaller budget. Overall the Leaf village would enjoy the first months of peace but it would be tense due to concerns over what the intentions of the Land of Lighting were.

They had remained neutral during the war and as a result were not lacking for resources and soldiers and now having the strongest Shinobi village was free to launch a Second Great Shinobi War at a time of their choosing. Fortunately for the continent that war would be postponed by a series of devastating natural disasters in the Land of Lightning that forced the country to turn inward giving Konohagakure and Iwagakure along with their countries the time to rebuild their strength. For the Leaf, a boost to the rebuilding of its military strength would come with the settling of nomadic Uzumaki families in the village and forming a new clan under the leadership Mito Uzumaki and helping the widow in moving on after the death of Hashirama. An even greater boost to Konohagakure would come when during yet another civil war in the Land of Rice Fields, the Hokage would manage to convince the Fuma and many other clans to leave and join the Leaf village. Growth would soon come internally when one of the Leaf new ninja academies would graduate a small class of prodigies one year after the war ended.

The Hokage would from this small group take a team of Genin to instruct. First was Hiruzen Sarutobi, son of former Sarutobi clan head Sasuke who was killed during the Battle of Shukuba. The second pick for the team was Koharu Utatane, a first generation ninja from a civilian family that was displaced during the Great Shinobi War. Finally but not least was Kagami Uchiha, without a doubt the most surprising choice for the team but for reasons only known to the Hokage he had taken a liking to this Uchiha. It would be the first of many teams the Hokage would train over the years and some of the most powerful of that particular generation.

The next year would see far more graduate at the former Kusagakure academies, hundreds in fact becoming Genin and would see the Leaf village produce far more Shinobi than it had up to that point and in the future would even surpass this record. With four more years of peace, the various countries would consider themselves ready for war once more and so tensions would spike. One particular example was between the Land of Wind and Land of Rivers with the Land of Fire backing up the latter and moving forces in preparation for a possible war. With the Land of Earth Daimyo seeing an opportunity would launch an invasion into the Land of Fire rapidly overwhelming its border defenses and making good progress before finding themselves falling victim to a trap with the Leaf inflicting devastating losses on them and sending them retreating back across the border with Leaf forces in hot pursuit. It would become a two front war with the Land of Wind quickly seizing the Land of Earth southern border and began pushing into the country and making it clear the recent tension between Wind and Fire countries to be a ruse.

For several months the Second Great Shinobi War would rage as the Land of Earth forces were pushed ever deeper into their country though still confident in victory as they made alliances with the Land of Lightning and the Land of Waves who would soon intervene into the war. That confidence would soon crumble after Eight Tail jinchūriki could no longer contain the beast and saw it rampage across Kumogakure and the country till the next year when it was finally captured at a great cost to Kumo. With the Land of Lighting in no shape to fight, the Land of Water made it clear to the Land of Earth it would not join the war any time soon. With them now standing alone, Tshuchi no Kuni would send messengers to the invading forces what their terms for peace were. The terms were severe with much land, money and techniques going to the Land of Wind and far less land, the same amount of techniques but far more money being the terms presented by the Land of Fire. With no choice the Land of Earth would accept terms and the invading forces withdrew as peace once more descended upon the continent.

Twelve years after the founding of Konohagakure, Tobirama would look upon the village from his office watching the various goings on including celebrations over their recent victory over Iwagakure and wondering what the village would have been under different circumstances such as his brother still ruling. Likely a far different village but he suspected his brother would have been largely pleased with what the village had become.
 
The War of ‘64 and the new Cold War
In early January 2372, a Klingon fleet of 50 ships led by Martok aboard the IKS Negh'Va would arrive at Deep Space 9 with the stated goal of defending the station against a Dominion incursion. Normally this would have been welcomed by the Federation and the Bajorans due to the escalating tensions with the Dominion. The Klingons however quickly exhausted any relief their arrival had caused by harassments of visitors and inhabitants of DS9 along with illegal detainment of ships in Bajoran space. The latter nearly resulted in a skirmish between the IKS M'Char and the USS Defiant. Captain Sisko would attempt to de-escalate the issue with General Martok however the execution of Commander Kaybok for failing to detain the Xhosa had made it clear that the next incident would not be resolved peacefully.

Remembering some advice Curzon Dax had once told him, Sisko would contact Starfleet Command to have Lieutenant Commander Worf be temporarily reassigned to DS9. Reporting for duty Worf is quickly given his assignment by Sisko: find out what the Klingons are up to. His first course of action being to pick a fight with Drex son of Martok and to take his d'k tahg in order to force Martok to see Worf. The meeting however would be unproductive, frustrating and Worf's frustration at the situation would only grow with his contacts on Qo'nos refusing to speak to him. On the advice of Jadiza Dax, Worf searched the station for a Klingon who owed his family and eventually found Huraga, who's house honor was preserved by Mogh despite the schemes of House Duras.

With the assistance of a large quantity of blood wine, Huraga would reveal that Cardassian Central Command had been overthrown in a popular uprising and with the Detapa Council now in charge of the Union. While it was possible with the dissident movement growing in strength and the Obsidian Order no longer existing that the coup had happened without foreign assistance, Gowron and the High Council were convinced that the Dominion had orchestrated the revolution and replaced the Detapa Council with Founders. Therefore an invasion force consisting of one third of the Klingon Defense Force standing force had been organized and prepared who would then conduct a lightning thrust into the heart of Cardassian territory and conquer the Cardassian homeworld followed by the conquest of the rest of Cardassian territory. Despite some reservations of informing Sisko of what he had learned in the end Worf reported what he had learned. Sisko would call Martok to call off their attack with the meeting going poorly and afterwards Martok would return to his flagship and with his fleet departing for the Cardassian border at top speed.

The border colonies fell almost immediately with several fleets worth of warships destroyed in drydock as Martok's invasion force made rapid progress toward Cardassia Prime with any hastily organized Cardiassian Guard force being nothing but a speed bump for the Kingon advance. Meanwhile the Federation found itself unexpectedly drawn into the war as Federation patrols found themselves under attack by the Cardassians though in most cases were able to fend them off. When they couldn't due to more sizable concentrations of ships, they were forced out of Federation territory by detachments from nearby Federation fleets. At first confusion was rife in Starfleet Command and the Federation Council as while they were allies of the Klingon Empire it should have been clear to the Cardassians that the Federation was not involved with the Empire's invasion of the Union and that it was suicide to open up another front in this new war. The confusion would deepen as Starfleet ships would arrive at Starbases and civilian ships at colonies, claiming that the date was January 5th, 2364.

As well the leadership of the Klingon Empire was confused when they received an official protest from the Federation over the invasion of the Cardassian Union seeing as they had launched no such invasion. In the end it was the Department of Temporal Investigations that would clear up the confusion that it was in fact 2364 via their temporal tech. While the Federation Council debated the implications of the transferring of the UFP and Bajoran Republic to 2364, Starfleet Command would report another surprise to the Federation government. That being a growing number of Legate's requesting protectorate status for their newly independent nations. With information provided by the Legate's a much clearer picture of the situation in the Cardassian Union began to emerge.

From very early on it became clear to Cardassian High Command that the rapidly weakening and spread out Carassian Guard had no chance of stopping the Klingon advance in the short term. Instead it was decided to abandon large swaths of Cardassian space while implementing scorched-earth policy and to concentrate their forces in the south western part of the Union where they would adopt a defensive strategy. With some breathing space achieved, Carssian forces would reorganize and rebuild and then launch to slowly reclaim occupied Cardassian territory from hopefully overstretched Klingon forces. While many Legate's and below would follow their new orders, some of those closer to Federation space seeing quite a few flaws in their views unrealistic hopeful planning and seeing the Union as a sinking ship would carve out nations out of the systems they controlled and reach out to the Starfleet and to hopefully receive Federation protection. Others would take a wait and see approach for as long as they could to see if the Federation was willing to stand up to the Klingons or if they would need to join the retreat taking place across Cardassian space.

President Jaresh-Inyo initially attempted to delay having to make a decision on granting or denying protectorate status to the new Cardassian splinter nations as either choice would have major ramifications. Though the president found himself under massive pressure as a majority of the Federation Council supported granting protectorate status to them while Starfleet Command would give updates on the progress of the Klingon invasion and that the Cardassian homeworld would within hours would be under assault. With time being of the essence in this situation and how politically damaging being indecisive would be in an election year, Jaresh established that Federation policy would be to establish protectorates for the new nations and that Starfleet would dispatch ships to protect their sovereignty from any potential aggressors. Aggressors of course being a polite euphemism for Klingons. The Federation Council would one after another approve the protectorate requests as Starfleet coordinated the movement of the border forces and recently arrived fleets into Cardassian space.

Of course with word spreading of the Federation granting protectorate status to the new border nations, the fence sitters began to declare independence and the Federation received a flood of requests which as before were quickly approved. As a result Starfleet ships would arrive in a system or be enroute to a system only to receive new orders that majority of them were to move to another system, with this process repeated many times. Meanwhile the Klingons after nearly 29 hours of fighting would arrive at Cardassia Prime to find its massive shipyard destroyed, and various orbital space infrastructure destroyed with the exception of its extensive orbital defenses. The Klingons would after heavy losses achieve orbital supremacy followed by a quick occupation of the planet with an Imperial Overseer put in charge of the planet in order squash any resistance movements that would form to resist the Klingon occupation forces as predicted by Lieutenant Commander Worf. With the Union's capital secured the Klingon fleets would spread out seeking to conquer more Cardassian territory with great success in the northern part of its space but it's expansion in the south east was blocked by the Federation guarding its growing number of protectorates while the Cardiassans in their south western pocket would successfully repel repeated Klingon offensives.

Martok in a briefing to Gowron would note that while they made great successes in their invasion, further expansion would be ill advised with many of their ships needing repairs and their being the possibility overextending their invasion force might risk presenting an opptrunity for the Breen to expand south. Not to mention their arrival and knowledge from the future could risk a civil war in the Klingon Empire and the ships and warriors available for an intervention the better. To say Gowron was angry over being denied a complete conquest of Cardiassian space is understatement but accepted the situation as there will always be another war. As Gowron focused upon securing his recent gains and declaring victory while in the Klingon Empire the balance of power among the Great Houses had been shattered with the Klingon ambassador on Earth revealing to the High Chancellor of House Duras past treason and what they would have done. With this knowledge in hand, Chancellor K'mpec would act quickly with Discommendation of Duras along with making public all evidence of House Duras treason and collusion with the Romulans which saw even their long time allies abandon the Duras and seeing the family leave Klingon Space in disgrace.

While the Duras were dealt with a far more difficult problem that was the diplomatic fallout of Gowron invasion of the Carsassians with the Federation utterly opposed to such an invasion calling for the Klingons to withdraw had resulted in anti-Federation sentiment rapidly rising. With the need for stability following the downfall of the Duras and seeking to avoid a challenge to his position, he hailed Gowron and his warriors victories and publicly announced they would not withdraw from occupied Cardassian space. K'mpec was aware this would worsen relations with the Federation and that him deciding upon stepping down so that the Gowron from the future could take over would when he returned to avoid the possibility of civil war, would most likely see relations deteriorate to their worst since the late 23rd century but ultimately the good of the Empire must come first. Gowron return would come much sooner than expected due to Klingon forces on patrol in former Cardassian space discovering a wormhole which connected to another one in the Klingon Empire which allowed for supplies and reinforcements to flow to Gowron forces and to begin fortifying their gains. Much speculation about how this happened though the most common theory being it having something to do with the transportation of Bajor and Federation space to 2364.

When Gowron and those warriors selected to return to Qo'nos beamed down to the surface, the celebrations held in their honor were greater than any held in centuries with many songs sung of the recently fought battles and with a record amount of blood wine drank during the day's long celebration. During this time K'mpec would step down as High Chancellor and with Gowron now having authority over the 2364 Klingon Empire. His first few actions after this did not bode well for a long lasting peace with him promising the 2364 Klingon battles for them to gain glory and ordering a new military build up and withdrawing from the Khitomer Accords, no longer viewing the Federation as an ally over their total refusal to recognize his conquests. Colonists were as well sent to establish new colonies on the recently conquered Cardassian with much of the labor done by Cardassians forcibly conscripted to build homes and infrastructure for their occupiers and the irony of the situation not lost upon the Cardassians. Resources were also directed to develop new weapons that could make up for the Federation advantage in having more starships.

As well, Gowron would seek new allies in order to spread Starfleet thin in a future war. Klingon diplomats' discussions over the next few months with other powers would successfully secure alliances with the Breen, Tzenkethi and the Tholians while reaching out to smaller nations bringing them into the Klingon sphere of influence. Of course this would not be enough and so an alliance would as well be formed with the Romulan Star Empire. Gowron greatly despised the Romulans but could not dispute an alliance with the other great power of the quadrant's would help shift the balance of power more in favor of the Klingons. In late 2364, these separate alliances were unified as the Ty'Gokor Pact with the exchange of various technologies and the announcement of its creation being viewed by many as unofficial Cold War, official.

The United Federation of Planets was not passive as this was going on with a major diplomatic push seeking to rapidly improve relations with numerous worlds using their knowledge of what would have been the future with this quickly gaining results with the establishment of positive relations with the Talarians, Tamarians among many others. Alliances would be made with the Gorn and the Cardassian Union over concerns about Klingons expansionism, especially by the latter though such was greatly controversial to say the least both in the Federation and the Bajoran Republic. As well the Federation would donate Industrial replicators which would help to stabilize the Union along with the various new nations that broke away during the recent Klingon invasion and help them to support insurgencies in Klingon occupied space that would grow as the year progressed. With a sizeable expansion of the amount of territory Starfleet had to patrol and defend due to the rump Cardassian Union now being a Federation ally, the looming threats of the Dominion, Borg and as well concerns over future Klingon aggression being aimed at the Federation and its allies resulted in the hawks on the Federation council led by Min Zife would introduce a new funding bill for Starfleet. That among a number of things would give refits for the Miranda and Excelsior classes and a massive increase in the construction of more defense oriented starship classes along with the expansion of existing shipyards and the establishment of new ones along with new Starfleet Academy satellite campuses on various planets.

Elections in the UFP near the end of the year would see the Hawks becoming the majority on the council along with their leader Min Zife winning the presidency as the people sought a government that would ensure their security. As 2364 ends and 2365 begins, the new Cold War sees a growing number of proxy wars, spies seeking intel on the other power bloc and tensions rise along with growing number of starships assigned to border patrols. There is also the ever present threat that the Dominion and Borg Collective respectively represent to the Alpha and Beta Quadrants making the future of the quadrants the most uncertain it has ever been.
 
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The Mages of Dustwallow Marsh
In the lead up to the Second War, the city of Dalaran would pledge its support to the newly formed Alliance of Lordaeron providing gold to fund Alliance armies and providing mages to serve in said armies. The city would pay a dear price for this commitment with many mages killed during the war and the city suffering a Horde siege near the end of the war which would be abruptly terminated as part of the Horde retreat south. With the war's end saw the rebuilding of the city though with heavy fortifications built along new towers reflective of a militancy caused by the war. A militancy that would only grow in the future despite the desires of some. The other focus for the city during the two year peace was working with the other Alliance nations to build Nethergarde Keep which was used to monitor a rift left after the Dark Portal destruction in case of another invasion by the Orcs.

Two years after the end of the Second War, war would return to Azeroth with a new invasion by the remaining Orcs of Draenor. This war almost reached Dalaran in the form of Teron Gorefiend and his warriors but before they could begin their assault the Alliance garrison on the lake coastline when suddenly a wave of green energy consumed the garrison and nearly the entire Dalaran peninsula and when the energy vanished so did the Alliance soldiers and Dalaran. In an instant Dalaran would reappear with an understandable panic gripping the city when it quickly became apparent they were no longer along Lordamere Lake but rather now an island on the ocean opposite of an unfamiliar swamp. As well, some elderly High Elves would suddenly die while the rest found themselves cut off from the Sunwell. Antonidas and the Kirin Tor would soon restore order while mobilizing the soldiers to defend the city in case of a sudden attack while mages would attempt to teleport to attempt to reestablish contact with the Alliance though all such attempts would fail. Hours later an Alliance soldier would spot on the horizon an Alliance fleet including oddly Kul Tiras ships was approaching Dalaran which would cause a wave of relief to hit the city though such celebratory feelings would prove to be premature.

The Kirin Tor along with many of the city population would gather to greet and learn where they were. The leader of the fleet would introduce herself as Jaina Proudmoore which would throw many of those present for a loop as Jaina from their perspective should be in Kul Tiras and a young child. Not that confusion was limited to the Dalranese as Jaina and her soldiers were not at all expecting an odd looking Dalaran to suddenly be where their new home was supposed to be. Wanting to get the truth Antonidas would diplomatically ask the supposed Jaina and those with her to be subject to a magical lie detector which Jaina and her honor guard agreed to. All questions they were asked were answered truthfully and their answers proved shocking that they had not only been transported years into the future but this was a different Azeroth as there were a number of differences between the Azeroths including their Dalaran not being cross shaped and that Kul Tiras had not left this worlds Alliance following the Second War.

As for where they were, the Dalaran of the past was no longer part of the Eastern Kingdoms but now an island off the coast of Kalimdor which piqued the interest of the Kirin Tor that were aware of the mythical continent from which the ancestors of the High Elves had left millennia ago. With their situation a bit more clarified, Jaina would then fill them in on events such following her world's Second War, such as the Invasion of Draenor, the shrinking of the Alliance, the rise of a new Horde. Then the difficult part of talking about the plague, the Scourge and Arthas purge of Stratholme. That part horrified the Kirin Tor, especially Kel Thuzad as the other him was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands and likely far more. Jaina then told how on the advice of the Prophet Medihv she had gathered as many willing to follow her and went across the sea to Kalimdor and yet another shock for Antonidas and the others seeing as Medihv had supposedly been killed during the First War.

They then landed on Kalimdor where they fought the natives and the Horde before allying with the latter to fight the true enemy, the Burning Legion who were the ones who arranged the Orcs invasion of Azeroth and the formation of the Scourge. An alliance would as well be formed with the Night Elves, again piquing the interests of some of those present and it would be this unlikely alliance between the three groups that would see the Legion defeated at Mt Hyjal with their leader Archimonde killed. Jaina however cautioned them against thinking that the Legion was gone as some of their forces had survived and continued to plague Ashenvale while the bulk of their forces were still out there among the stars ravaging countless worlds and so a potential third invasion by the Legion being something they'll have to prepare for. With all those present
now caught up, Antonidas would propose that the people of Jaina's fleet settle here which would strengthen Dalaran and ensure they didn't have to build a settlement in a swamp or somewhere else where there would be the risk of an attack by one of the native races. Jaina would present the offer to her people which gladly accepted finding the idea of living in Dalaran very appealing after living in ships or hastily built bases.

With the resources collected by Jaina's expedition would be used for the construction of new docks and shipyards while Dalaran built upward to house its new citizens and to alleviate the sudden crowding being experienced. Merchant ships would travel north to establish trade with the Horde and the Night Elves and as well establish diplomatic relations. The Horde not surprisingly was confused but agreed while the Night Elves very much did not like that Kalimdor now had a magical nation ruled by mages. Malfurion Stormrage was not thrilled either with this but felt the Night Elves should not shun a possible ally with how weakened they were but despite his best efforts relations would be frosty for next few years. Ships would as well be sent south to give Dalaran more info about their home continent with the ships many small isles along with two decent size islands which if Dalaran so wished could establish settlements on them.

Finally a small fleet would be organized, supplied and sent east to see if any of the Alliance had survived or if the Scourge had consumed all of the Eastern Kingdoms. A few months would pass as the city developed into a port city with ships traveling to Durotar and back providing the city with some goods and some money from tariffs while also helping the Horde to fund the construction of their new capital of Orgrimmar and the first ever Orc city. This period of calm would come to a sudden end with the arrival of Rexxar and his companion demanding to know why Dalaran was attacking the Horde though no such attacks had been authorized. Rexxar claimed to have stolen a boat from a settlement in Dustwallow Marsh belonging to a group largely made of humans. Seeking to prove innocence, the Council of Six would have Jaina and four other mages travel with Rexxar to discover the origins of this likely group of Alliance forces.

Traveling to the settlement they would find it having been raided and it's inhabitants all killed by a race known as the Naga though the identity of that race unknown to Dalaran and the Horde. Even if none of its inhabitants had survived, the mages could easily identify based on the tabards and flags present that this settlement belonged to Kul Tiras. The groups would race back to Dalaran and arrive just as part of a Kul Tirian fleet would dock. Wishing to avoid a potential incident, Antonidas would have Rexxar and his companions leave immediately while seeing which Kul Tirian he would be greeting and said Kul Tirian would the Lord Admiral himself Daelie Prooudmore. Daelin was shocked to see Antonidas among the living seeing as he was killed months ago by the traitorous Prince Arthas while Antonidas was unused to such an older Daealin..

Antonidas would bring the Lord Admiral up to speed on Kalimdor events while Proudmoore would tell the Grand Magus of Prince Arthas return from Northrend murder of his father and rampage though Capital City with Lordareon rapidly collapsing. This he would follow up with the murder of his mentor Uther, wiping out most of the High Elves followed by an invasion of Dalaran where he killed this Azeroths Antonidas and helped bring about the Burning Legion invasion. With everyone caught up to current events, the Lord Admiral would then ask for Dalaran assistance in his war with the Horde which the Grand Magus would bluntly say Dalaran would be neutral in this conflict enraging the Lord Admiral who demanded to know why. Antonidas would admit that the people of Dalaran had no love for the Horde even those that fought alongside but the Horde had been a friendly neighbor these last few months and so they would not take part in this unjustified war which was clearly motivated by the Lord Admiral desire for revenge. Any civility on Daelin part was now remarking Kul Tiras would not forget or forgive Dalaran betrayal of its duties as an Alliance member and Kul Tiras would be reclaiming his ships which Jaina had taken without permission.

Speaking of Jaina, Daelin meeting with his daughter went even more poorly as those nearby could hear much screaming and would be the last time the two would ever speak to each other. The Lord Admiral would leave the island with an enlarged fleet and some new Kul Tirian recruits before then rejoining his armada which would sail north and make its base at the now abandoned Echo Isles. From there would launch an invasion of Durotar and there first target being Sen'jin Village seeing the Darkspear flee and for the third time in less than a year that they had been forced to from their homes though a group led by Zalazane would make sacrifice themselves to buy the tribe time needed to escape north to the safety of Orgrimmar. Rallying his forces Warchief Thrall would march south to expel the Kul Tirian invaders with them soon reinforced by Tauren warriors led by Chieftain Cairne Bloodhoof. The peninsula was soon engulfed by battles and skirmishes between the sides which at times would become multi sided with various native races sucked into the war.

Which also had the side effect of helping to clear the way for Orc colonization of the peninsula as said native races would be wiped out during the war. The Kul Tirian would fight fiercely and bravely but factors such as land warfare not being their strong suit along with being outnumbered saw them progressively pushed back and eventually forced to retreat to their bases on the Echo Isles. While trying to decide what to do next, the Kul Tirian would find themselves under assault not under assault from the air by bat riders and Wyverns riders but as well to their shock a Horde navy which had been built by goblin shipwrights during the land phase of the war. Valiantly the Kul Tirian would resist but their fleet was progressively chipped away by bat riders firebombing ships while Horde ships did their best sink enemy ships and to break through allowing transports to land warriors on the isles who showed no mercy to the Kul Tirians and in return received none with the fighting only end when every single one of the Kul Tirians on the isles was killed including the Lord Admiral. What remained of the Kul Tiras fleet would flee south to the safety of Dalaran with the Horde warriors cheering as the Kul Tiras survivors fled.

A celebration of their victory in Proudmoore's War was held in Orgrimmar while the Warcraft would pay the goblins to take what Kul Tirian corpses could be recovered including the Lord Admiral to Dalaran hoping this gesture would at the very least help to begin healing the emotional scars dating back to the Second War. Healing was the last thing on the mind of the survivors of Proudmoore fleet attending the burial at sea for most of those recently killed but instead an even greater hatred of the Horde along with a good amount of hatred for Dalaran for in their reneged on their commitment to the Alliance. Jaina would accompany the body of her father and a few other high ranking officers back to Kul Tiras found herself isolated with the crew wanting nothing to do with her. Her hope to spend some time with what remained of her family and attending her fathers funeral was dashed when her mother was informed of the events in Kalimdor. Jaina would soon leave Kul Tiras after a short meeting with her mother where while she was not exiled she was advised not to return to Kul Tiras and this day has never returned.

Following her husband's funeral, Katherine Proudmoore would assume the role of Lord Admiral with her first order being the rebuilding of her nation's once grand navy. Her second being to send diplomats to the remaining Alliance seeking support for an expedition to Kalimdor to wipe out the Horde and avenge those killed by the Horde. This offer would be rebuffed as they had their own problems to deal with and not interested in a pointless war of aggression like Proudmoore's War. This response caused an uproar in Kul Tiras who in response would withdraw from the Alliance and isolate themselves from the rest of the Eastern Kingdoms with the exception of trade needed to keep their economy afloat and make their nation strong once more. Though their attempts to strengthen themselves would hit an early snag with the hatred against Dalaran resulting in bigotry and sometimes violence directed against Kul Tiras small community of mages and not willing to endure it would immigrate and settle in Stormwind giving a boost to its growing population of mages.

Around this time Dalaran expedition would return telling the city about the expected confusion on the part of the Alliance which due to a number of issues including among other things an economic depression, absorbing a flood refugees from the north and various local problems meant that for intents and purposes the Alliance is basically nonexistent for the immediate future. The only exception this being the forces of Garithos fighting the Scourge though later that year, Garithos racism would see the Blood Elves withdraw from the Alliance and by his own stupidity trusting Sylvannas saw him and his forces killed with only a few soldiers managing to flee to Hillsbrad.
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In time following Proudmoore's War, the Orcs would finish Orgrimmar turning it into a true, bustling city though they would not restrict themselves to their capital with villages and outposts being established across the peninsula. As well in recent months the Orcs have expanded beyond Durotar with a wave of settlers having moved into the Barrens adding to what few Horde outposts that dotted the land in order to claim land for themselves and with Durotar resources no longer able to support the growing population there. Besides settlements, the Orcs would as well build shipyards using knowledge purchased from the goblins to build new ships to replace those lost, just in case Kul Tiras attempted a second invasion. With the growing trade with Dalaran and more distant trade partners would see the building of Zalazane Port in a bay near Orgrimmar in order to accommodate it. In the realm of diplomacy the Warchief would expand the Horde with the admission of the Forsaken though it was a contentious matter and it was only with Tauren support that the Forsaken were admitted to the Horde. Talks as well have begun with the Blood Elves that may see them join the Horde in the future.

The Darkspear following the war would not return to the now ruined Echo Isles but rather would remain in Orgrimmar desiring not to be forced from their homes for a fourth time. Instead the tribe would decide to settle in the Valley of Spirits and so became part of the social fabric of the growing city with members of the tribe working as merchants, black smiths, guards etc. along with their ties with Orc allies growing deeper. In the years since settling in the city the tribe has prospered with it, enjoying strong population growth and confidence about the future of their tribe. As for their former homes of Sen'Jin Village and Echo Isles they now host some of the Hordes naval bases.
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Dalaran following the departure of much of its navy would begin a new naval construction program to replace them though much wood would be required to build them. Said wood coming from lumber yards established on nearby isles and islands and from the Eastern Kingdom. Though these would not be like the ships that they would replace with Dalaran using enchantments and magic to improve the ships as much as possible and resulting in their ships being more durable and deadly than your average warship. The number of mages would expand rapidly with first mages from Dalaran making their way to the city followed by nearly the entire Alliance population of High Elves seeking help for their magical addiction following the destruction of the Sunwell. While no cure for their addiction has been found so far, various methods including meditation have made the addiction manageable and so new families have formed and caused the number of High Elves to rise giving them confidence that their civilization will not vanish into the pages of history but will endure.

Further growth for the population of Dalaran would come from Stormwind immigrants and specifically from Westfall who tired of being terrorized by the Defias Brotherhood and the indifference of the leadership of Stormwind City towards their plight with said indifference to this day fueling this ongoing arrival of immigrants seeking a better life in Dalaran. Of course with all this population growth fueled by immigration and births would see the city establish settlements on the various isles and islands south with the largest settlements being Alcaz and Theramoore housing a diverse amount of peoples. Those two would as well be granted a good deal of political autonomy after successful arguments by Archmage Jaina Proudmoore, now a member of the Council of Six about how it would help maintain stability within their growing nation. Further expansion would be directed at Dustwallow Marsh to transform it from a vast swamp to lands capable of supporting large settlements and farming. Soldiers would be dispatched to cleanse and claim the land though they receive assistance in the form of adventurers seeking to gain some wealth in the process, a phenomenon which had recently begun in both Alliance and Horde lands.

Speaking of the Alliance, life has begun to be breathed back into that organization with the recent admission of the Night Elves following growing skirmishes between their people and the Warsong Clan in Ashenvale and concerns about the growing strength of the Horde. This admission comes after a warming of relations between Dalaran and the Night Elves with the latter realizing that it would need allies while it was still recovering from the Third War. The risk of this dragging Dalaran into a war with the Horde is not lost upon them and so Jaina Proudmoore has recently overseen a number of talks between the Horde and Night Elves to resolve the issues causing the conflict but no diplomatic breakthroughs has so far been achieved. Whatever may come the people of Dalaran will stand by their new allies and that of the Alliance against any threats ve they from Azeroth or beyond.
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Ends at the beginning of Vanilla WoW. Would diverge more over time but especially during Cataclysm.
 
The Grand Plan Undone
In the waning days of the Clone Wars, the Separatists would launch a massive surprise attack on Coruscant which to the Galaxy seemed like a last ditch effort to turn the tide of the war back in their favor. In reality it was a ploy to get Palpatine off the planet as the Jedi were close to discovering that he was Darth Sidious and so had General Grievous kidnap as part of his assault on the planet. This plan would fail as Republic fleets would arrive before the Separatists could flee. With the CIS forces trapped, an operation meant to be quick one instead turned into a week long struggle on the ground and in orbit. Thanks to the actions of several squadrons piloted by a detachment of the 501st Legion, the Separatists ships defending their flagship the Invisible Hand being crippled or destroyed which cleared the way for Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi to board the ship where during the course of their rescue of the Supreme Chancellor, Count Dooku would be killed while Grievous would manage to escape with what little remained of his fleet.

With the battle over, the Republic forces pulled from the Outer Rim Sieges would return their theaters of operations though with some of the exceptions being the fleets folded into the Coruscant Home Fleet to bring it back to full strength. As well only a portion of the fleets assigned to the Yag'Dhul theater would return to rapidly conquer the Separatists planets there as it's CIS forces had been pulled to provide General Grievous his armada for the Battle of Corsucant. The CIS would temporarily see the war turn back in its favor though this would be short lived as the returning Republic forces swung the Outer Rim Sieges right back in their favor and resumed their push into Separtist space. As the war in the Outer Rim raged, Palpatine saw his power expanded with him now in command of both the Jedi High Council and Republic military which he quickly put to use by appointing Anakin to the Jedi High Council which the council greatly resented and which in turn further alienated Skywalker from his fellow Jedi. Following the departure of Obi-Wan to hunt down General Grievous and Master Yoda traveling to Kaskyk to assist the Wookiee to repel a Separatist invasion of their homeworld while Palpatine who had long cultivated Anakin as his next apprentice would reveal his Sith identity to Anakin with the young Jedi Knight nearly deciding to kill him but would instead leave to report this to Mace Windu.

This revelation from Skywalker of a Sith Lord and the mastermind behind the war was to say the least shocking. With the clear and present threat Palpatine represented, Jedi Master Windu would gather three other masters and prepare to depart the Temple to end this threat to the Republic. Just as they were preparing to word reached them of a bombing and the target of the bombing being the Supreme Chancellor office with Palpatine and his Staff Aide Sly Moore dead. By the time they arrived Coruscant Security Force and the Coruscant Guard had locked down the area while the former waited for word that it was safe to begin shifting through the rubble for clues to who had assassinated Supreme Chancellor Palpatine. As to be expected following such an event, an emergency session of the Senate which quickly devolved into shouting and demands for answers until Vice Chair Mas Amedda restored order to the proceedings.

Ameda made it clear that a new Supreme Chancellor needed to be quickly selected as fear was gripping the people and pre-market trading was rapidly tanking. With the Senate jolted into action, Mas Amedda would be nominated as the loyalist candidate while Bail Organa would be the opposition candidate with both only having a week to campaign and make their case to the Senate for why they should be the next Supreme Chancellor. During this an emergency session was as well held by the Jedi Council to discuss Palpatine assassination, him being the Second Sith they had long been searching for and whether to reveal he was a Sith had orchestrasted the Clone Wars and had manipulated both sides. The meeting was largely them reflecting on their various failures in stopping the Sith though two decisions were made. The first to launch their own investigation of how the Sith had managed to control the Republic and to undo any remaining plots Palpatine had or that began after his death.

The second decision and a controversial one being to decide for the time being not reveal Palpatine true identity and various actions as the Dark Lord of the Sith due to concerns over how such a revelation would affect the stability of the Republic and not wanting to affect the outcome of upcoming election. Speaking of the election, Mas Amedda would launch the opening salvo of the campaign with a press conference where he announced Shayla Paige-Tarkin of Eriadu as his Vice Chair candidate securing for himself a good number of votes in the southern Outer Rim. He would as well lay out his platform for the remainder of the war and the peace that followed. These included reconstruction projects from the Core to the Outer Rim and programs to develop the economies of the Mid Rim and Outer Rim and of course only for worlds that had remained loyal to the Republic or that had willingly returned to the Republic. Further increases to the Republic military budget for the remaining duration of the war and after the war while there would be cuts to that budget a strong military would be maintained to help keep the peace and to defeat any future potential threats.

Some funding would be restored to programs that had been cut to help fund the Republic war effort and moving toward a balanced budget though the latter likely to be years away from happening due to the many expected needs of the Republic. In recognition of their service to the Republic, active duty clones would be granted full citizenship after five years of service while clones no longer capable of combat due to wounds or other issues were to be given full citizenship. He also promised the Separatists would be held to account for their many crimes and to pay for the devastation they had caused and the rest of his platform continuing Palpatine's various policies. The Organa campaign in response moved into high gear which involved scrambling to find a Vice Chair candidate with numerous Senators saying no before they would find their Vice Chair in Tendau Bendon of Ithor and then holding his own press conference, Organa laid out his vision for the Republic. Similar to his opponent Bail supported giving the Republic military what it needed to defeat the Separatists and for them to pay heavy reparations.

Such hardline positions now a necessity following the recent attack on Coruscant and the suspected CIS ordered assassination of Supreme Chancellor Palpatine as retaliation for the recent death of Count Dooku. In private though Organa hoped within a few years after the Clone Wars that the scars of the war having time to heal and memories start to fade, to allow for a decreasing of reparations and to move toward policies of reconciliation in order to truly reunify the Republic. Other things similar between the two platforms were reconstruction and economic development programs and granting the clones citizenship. Where the two campaigns greatly differed was major cuts to the Republic military in the post war era in order to restore funding as close as possible as it was prewar for welfare and other programs that had been gutted in order to fund the Republic military. Finally there was the repealing of the various emergency powers given to the Supreme Chancellor over the last nearly six years and returning those powers to the Senate or dismantling those that are viewed as eroding the rights of Republic citizens.

With their views on various issues now on record, the two candidates and their supporters in the Senate would attend countless social events and parties in order to secure votes with various promises made as usual with elections. At the same time hastily made ads were created attacking the other side for both major policy differences and for the smallest of things while rallies were held by both sides though pro Amedda rallies quickly outnumbered Organa after the Commission for the Protection of the Republic (COMPOR) threw their support behind Mas Amedda with him viewed as Palpatine successor. While both campaigned as much as they could, it quickly became apparent as the week progressed that most Senators had already made up their minds mainly on the issues of military spending post war and the powers that the office Supreme Chancellor. Most opposition Senators firmly supported Bail while the loyalist having concerns over jobs in a post war economy and not interested in returning to a dysfunctional Senate strongly backed Ameda and with the latter group having a super majority, the election result would clearly end with Mas Amedda winning unless a massive number of Senators flipped their votes to Organa. Come Election Day as Senators casted their votes news analysts made various predictions quickly became clear that no such major flipping of votes had occurred and that by a clear majority Mas Amedda had been elected as the new Supreme Chancellor and would not be lacking for the votes needed to pass his agenda.

As Supreme Chancellor Mas Amedda and his supporters across the Republic celebrated his election, on Mustafar the Separtist Council debated their dwindling options while reading reports and watching news about the recent surrenders of Sluis Van and a number of other worlds in the Praesitlyn theater as civilian deaths from starvation and disease had grown too high too stomach any longer and so had surrendered. With Republic forces freed up, new offensives would soon be launched and likely the remainder of CIS space in that part of the Outer Rim would be over ran by the end of the year if not sooner. This on the heels of recent defeats on Kashyyyk, Myghetto, Utapau and other planets made it increasingly clear that to continue to fight the Republic would only delay the inevitable and while there was a faction on the council that wanted to fight on even they could not deny the futility of such an action. So a vote was called by their new leader, Nute Gunray and unanimously they agreed to ask the Republic for an armistice and to begin peace negotiations at a location of the Republic's choosing. Via backchannels the offer would reach the Supreme Chancellor in his temporary office and who quickly summoned his cabinet, senior Senators of his political faction, high ranking military and intelligence officers and members of the Jedi High Council for their opinions on the offer.

Most of those present advised that the offer be rejected believing it to be a trick to gain them time to build their forces back up while the Jedi and some of the others viewed it as a sincere offer and a way to bring peace to the galaxy without further bloodshed. To the disappointment of the warhawks the Supreme Chancellor would decide to accept it, feeling a quicker end to the war was in the best interest of the people of the Republic. So with the armistice accepted, several hours later battlefields across the Outer Rim went quiet with diplomats from both sides meeting on Caamas as the galaxy watched to see if three plus years of war was about to truly end. While the Republic diplomats laid out the Galactic Republic terms and the Supreme Chancellor allies began securing votes to approve the coming peace treaty, events were as well taking place within the CIS. Soldiers, scientists along with others were seeking new employment elsewhere in order to war crime trials while some high ranking and senior figures within the CIS were enraged that the Separatist Council was betraying the Separatist cause and dooming hundreds of billions of people of not more to more Republic tyranny and oppression.

Unwilling to accept this they got a hold of as much military and financial resources and then jumped away from CIS space and then hacking into the Holo Net where they denounced the Separatist Council betrayal and announced the formation of the Galatic Liberation Front to continue the struggle against the Republic dashing the hopes of countless that peace would soon come while Republic arms industry in private cheered the formation of the GLF as it meant any decrease in miltary spending will now be far smaller with the new threat of the GLF. Still the peace talks continued in the meantime and eventually resulted in the Treaty of Caamas with various terms but the main ones being the Confederate to hand over all its ships, weapons, battle droids over to the Republic military, along with other state property. The assets of all of companies and businesses interests that had joined the CIS with the exception of the InterGalactic Banking Clan and those assets sold off any paying for a portion of the heavy reparations that was to be placed upon the now former worlds of the CIS. The personal assets of the CIS leadership would be forfeited to the Republic and put into a fund to compensate Republic businesses and families for damages, injuries and deaths caused by the CIS. The IGBC however was not off the hook with them having to forgive a portion of Republic debt they were owed in proportion to the amount of damage they had caused to the Republic and as well required to lower interest rates for all existing loans to the Galactic Republic to a very low rate and all future loans issued to the Republic for the next century would as well have low interest rates.

The Separtist Council had managed one success during the negotiations in that they would not face the death penalty in their future trial. With the signing of the Treaty of Caamas, the people of the Republic celebrated for a week the end of the Clone Wars though such celebrations were tempered by the new threat of the GLF. In the criminal underworld there were celebrations over both the end of the last war and the beginning of a new one which would put their various services in high demand. The Hutts as well looked forward to the coming opportunities though they were in a sour mood as the Republic had taken advantage of the recent war to occupy much of Hutt territory which due to the Clone Wars had become war zones and had made it abundantly clear they would not return said territory and had the ability to enforce their claim with the strongest military the galaxy had ever seen. Of course their influence remained in their lost territories and the Republic would find itself having great difficulties ruling over these sectors.

As the Republic celebrated, clone troopers began the occupation of countless now former worlds asserting Republic control over them and ensuring collection of both taxes and reparations owed to the Galactic Republic with the latter being something few of these worlds could afford to pay in a timely manner or at all with a lack of payment resulting in local resources being seized temporarily till the Republic collected the late payments. The reparations as well squeezed most planetary government's budget and so saw cut backs to already limited governments services but as well harmed their economic development and saw countless former Separatist worlds sink into economic depression without access to the new reconstruction and economic development programs begun by the Republic and with the only aid they received being assistance from charities and humanitarian aid to slightly reduce the severity of their situations. This had three results with the first being those that could leave did shrink the tax base further harming the ability of occupied worlds to collect taxes and pay reparations and those immigrating very much unwelcome on many of the planets they immigrated due to anti-Sep feelings and competition over jobs as the Republic began shifting away from a total war economy and falling into recession. Second, it further fueled people's hatred of the Republic and that of insurgencies which the Republic forces would work to crush with their responses further radicalizing these populations and ensuring the GLF and later rebel groups were not lacking for sources of recruits. Third, this growing radicalization would see an ever increasing number of bombings targeting Republic troops and against Republic targets as far away the Core itself causing growing panic in the public and Senate and resulting in the newly appointed Moffs and governors for the occupied territories being granted additional powers by the Senate to quell these rebellions and further restrict the civil liberties on occupied worlds.

These bombing along with the countless insurgencies raging in the Outer Rim saw continued majority support for the continuation of various acts and amendments that granted the office of the Supreme Chancellor additional powers with them being as necessary for the security of the Republic. Then there were the GLF hit run attacks and raids in the Outer Rim which were and to this day remain very frustrating for the Admirals of the Republic Navy which work to hunt down the GLF. So far their losses to the Republic have been minimal with the greatest blow so far to them not delivered by the Republic but rather internal divisions. The CIS had been a mixture of various groups including radicals, moderates, corporations. While touting a message of equality it was in fact a government dominated by the corporations and as such worked to cement their control by marginalizing the other groups via measures and if that didn't work resort to other methods such as assassinations and suicide missions.

In the GLF it was a different situation with the corporates being far less powerful and able to control the other factions who in the months since the Galactic Liberation Front was founded who grew more radical in response to the Republic occupations and with corporates watching this with growing concern as the rest of the GLF vision of the galaxy increasingly differed from theirs. So as a result of growing paranoia that they might be purged they split from the GLF forming the Rebel Alliance though so far the Alliance has had a poor performance against the Republic Navy due to terrible officers and the misfortune of going up against the new and powerful Imperator class Star Destroyers in several engagements with these new Star Destroyers proving far more stronger than most ships in the two rebel navies and making adaptation all the more important for them. While the military deals with the countless rebel groups, Supreme Chancellor Mas Amedda works to guide the Republic into a new era and enact his various promises made during his election campaign such as a small increase in welfare and which while not much is better than nothing for those that are dependent on it. The military budget is reduced though that cut to its funding proves far smaller due to the ongoing insurgencies across the Outer Rim. Other changes to the military include the growing addition of non clones as part of a slow process to move away from the use of expensive to cheaper natural born soldiers though it will take years if not longer for non clones to become a majority of the Republic Armed Forces.

Further change at this comes to the military though not due to Republic government but rather due to the Jedi resigning as commanders and generals seeing many non-clones and clones receiving to fill the gaps in the chain of command. The other major focus for the Supreme Chancellor being the ongoing recession which unlikely previous ones the Republic has been proactive in responding to via stimulus spending from reconstruction and economic development programs while some of the newly unemployed are finding new employment at the growing number of scrapyard busy dismantling CIS warships, ground vehicles along with some Republic military equipment. Economists' predictions have the recession likely ending early next year and then the economy expanding at a faster rate than prewar. As a result polls show the Supreme Chancellor remaining very popular as the year ends among the public even as some accuse him of being a tyrant. Though not as popular as his predecessor Palpatine who is now viewed as something like a martyr and which was demonstrated as early as his funeral which was the most attended funeral in galatic history.

Then there was the Jedi Order which switched from its role as warriors back to that of peace keepers, investigators and diplomats. It was however apparent to the Jedi that things would never truly go back to how things had affected the Jedi and the galaxy with a major shock and shake up hitting them soon after the war in the form of the resignation of Jedi Knight and Chosen One Anakin Skywalker. Skywalker had not long after the Battle of Geonosis had married Senator Padme Amidala with the latter having given birth to twins on Naboo during the negotiations. Concerned that it was only a matter of time before people realized that Anakin was the father they decided to get ahead of announcing their marriage, the birth of his children and his resignation over him not being able to follow all of the Jedi Code. His resignation along with status as a hero of the Republic and the revealing of his marriage to a Senator quickly resulted in a media circus and a massive headache for the Jedi High Council.

Polls showed the public support for the Skywalkers marriage and many wondered why Jedi could not get married. It also kicked off a trend of trashy Holo Net romance novels involving Jedi and forbidden love. Skywalker resignation only intensified the growing debates that had begun before and during the Clone Wars involving numerous matters such as attachments, their role in the Republic and their relation to it as well as how the current method to train new Knights was insufficient to rebuild their numbers fast enough with a new Galactic civil war likely to happen within a generation or two. Concerned over these debates might lead to division and even possibly a schism along with feeling the Jedi Grand Master called for a Conclave at the end of the year in order to settle these disputes and decide upon what path the Jedi Order should take and being a momentous decision as the last Conclave had been held nearly four thousand years ago and with it being hoped this one will turn out far better than that one. As a new year begins the Republic works to rebuild and maintain its hold over the Outer Rom while rebels and insurgents fight to free themselves and while many uncertainties plague the galaxy, one thing is certain and that peace is unlikely to come anytime soon.
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Tiberium Earth 1995 through 2039
In 1995 near the Tiber River a meteor hit and from it spread an alien and previously unknown crystal material which would come to be known as Tiberium. Via underground "roots" it would leech ground minerals and soil nutrients from the earth and use these to sprout Tiberium crystal. Tiberium crystals were rich in precious metals and available for collection for a minimum of mining expense and because of this Tiberium was initially thought to be relatively harmless, and in fact, beneficial. In fact Tiberium would forever change the course of humanity and not for the better. One of the earliest negative would be it fueling the rise of the Brotherhood of Nod, an ancient secret society who smuggled samples of Tiberium out of Italy and to other parts of Europe and as well Africa where they would establish new Tiberium fields where they pioneered new and efficient Tiberium harvesting methods.

Within two years they control 49 percent of the Tiberium market giving the organization access to vast wealth which they used to fund terrorist attacks on Western targets and combined with hearts and mind campaigns in poor Third World countries along with much bribery which saw the Brotherhood gaining massive popularity and a growing number of countries aligning themselves with Nod. In response to this growing threat by the Brotherhood of Nod, the United Nations would approve additional funding and a reorganization of Special Operations Group Echo, Black Ops 9 into the Global Defense Initiative on the 12th of October 1995 with a mandate as an international peacekeeping organization. Eventually in 1997 Nod mysterious leader Kane would make the decision to contest GDI politically and via the media but as well open warfare as Nod began a military build along with absorbing the military forces of some of the countries aligned with Nod forces now publicly especially as they purged elements from these countries that were anti-Nod along with figures such as Nikoomba of Libya that threatened Nod hold over these countries. With it now clear now the true threat that Nod represented, the UN gave approval for GDI to begin military operations against the Brotherhood sparking the First Tiberium War. The two sides would clash primarily in Europe and Africa with significant advancements such as Ion Cannons and stealth tech in order to tip the balance power in their favor.

After three years of war, the First Tiberium War would end with the Brotherhood victorious in Africa and GDI in Europe with the destruction of the Temple of Nod in Bosnia and the suspected death of Kane though his body was never recovered leading to conspiracy theories that Kane to this day still lives. With Kane now gone, the Brotherhood of Nod would fracture and wage war upon each other bringing further devastation to an already war ravaged Africa. There were some in GDI aligned countries who argued for a new invasion of Africa and to wipe out the Brotherhood. There was however simply not the support for it as the world found itself entering a global recession as much of Europe was undergoing reconstruction, governments dealing with the growing environmental and health damage from Tiberium with tens of millions of people worldwide suffering respiratory, reproductive, immune system ailments and killing more than four million people due to inhalation of Tiberium spores by 2000. Then was the massive refugee crisis caused by the war with the most prominent example the Egyptian Refugee Crisis with millions if not more fleeing the country.

They would however score a small victory with the securing approval for a few liberating small but valuable parts of Africa. Over the next nearly thirty years Tiberium would continue to spread throughout the world at an alarming speed, almost completely unchecked. It especially flourished in tropical and sub-tropical regions near the equator, but its growth was slowed in the arid and frozen polar regions. As the number of Tiberium poisoning victims continued to grow, GDI began a massive global effort to evacuate unexposed populations worldwide from Tiberium-infested regions to Tiberium free regions including even the Artic but eventually even those regions would see Tiberium spread to them. Tiberium would as well massively accelerate climate change causing longer droughts, deadlier famines and ever worsening extreme weather events and the worst of it being when Ion Storms began to appear which would cause countless lightning strikes over an area and cause unprecedented economic damage.

It mutated and wiped out countless species, greatly weakening the Earth's biodiversity and wrecking ecosystems across the planet. Additionally the oceans would be consumed by Tiberium with Tiberium algae forming and spreading making sea travel impossible and combined with various factors previously saw the global economy collapsing even worse than it had during the Great Depression. The UN and GDI would work with various member states to weather this unprecedented global crisis as countries across the world collapsed though even governments that survived lost control over much of their territory with much of their remaining territory being only held due to the presence of GDI forces. Societies massively changed as governments used their ever shrinking budgets to adapt to the ever changing world funding programs for territories increasingly isolated from each other to be more self-sufficient along with the building of new manufacturing and industrial facilities which for many regions reversed a decades long trend of deindustrialization. As governments became increasingly unable to assist their citizens, more and more people turned to the UN for food, medical care and other needs with the United Nations even found itself forming new new governments in failed states staffed in part by local surviving civil servants in the portions of those former countries under GDI protection though with these new states being in reality protectorates reliant on the UN to perform various governmental services and some duties while GDI began recruiting from these territories with the Global Defense Initiative no longer solely reliant on UN member states to provide soldiers.

The UN however would not see the end of this era with various analyses finding that it would be more efficient and cost effective for it to be folded into the Global Defense Initiative. With the GDI having absorbed what was its parental organization and now was in charge of various protectorates across the world meeting their needs as best they could while defending these populations from Nod splinter factions and various warlords that have risen to power in various failed states. Further change for GDI would come when the people of these regions feeling a growing sense of loyalty due to service in GDI and the fact they would collapse without resulting in a new nationalism uniting diverse people across the world and would eventually result in them being united under a new federal government. With GDI now being its own government it issues its own currency along with it being more financially independent of various GDI aligned countries with it now having a tax base, control over a portion of Tiberium mining in GDI territory along with being able to issue debt now. The formation of a GDI government quickly has an effect on various countries around the world specifically in their far flung territories, the people there under the protection of GDI wonder why they should pay taxes or owe loyalty to far away governments that do increasingly less to help them if anything at all when it is GDI that protects, provide assistance and aid along with being one of the pillars of their economies resulting in growing protests against their governments and growing violence.

With GDI concerned about potential for this to cause a split between them and various allied governments and the possibility of Nod factions taking advantage of this, organizes and holds a conference in Johannesburg to resolve the crisis. What resulted was the Johannesburg Agreement in which GDI took over tax collection and various governmental duties in the Pro-GDI regions along with being able to mine and sell Tiberium to private companies along with being to recruit directly from the civilian populations. In exchange GDI would fund the various allied governments to keep them solvent though all are aware this is only a temporary solution. With its massively expanded financial resources, GDI during this era would able to fund countless different programs including research projects that would result in dramatic advancements resulting such as mechanized walkers, jet packs, Firestorm barriers, hovercraft, massive space stations such as the GDSS Philadelphia capable of sending drop pod infantry to reinforce GDI forces and finally using sonic waves as a weapon. Meanwhile during this era, the other global superpower Nod was waging war upon each other for years while some factions of Nod would migrate and take advantage of the world collapsing to spread into Asia, Australia, the Americas and re-established Nods presence in Europe.

The various Nod factions would advance their existing technologies such as stealth and laser tech along with the development of cybernetics and vehicles that could travel underground despite their bloody infighting. The First Nod Civil War would end in the late 2020s when they largely consolidated into two factions with one led by General Vega with much of Mexico, with part of the Caribbean and South America and some portions of the Continental US under his control. Vega as well maintained a vice grip on manufacturing and selling dangerous narcotics including Eye Candy which had been developed in the early 2020s and allowed a user to stay awake for days but cause severe side effects and dangerous to one's health. The other major Nod leader was General Hassan who was in charge of the Brotherhood of Nod territories in the Eastern Hemisphere and Europe though who was in fact a puppet of GDI and with intel from them eliminated any threats in his faction to the relative peace often or to his own rule. Finally there was the Forgotten, humans who had been mutated by their exposure to Tiberium who were discriminated against by the people of GDI while Nod sought to use them as test subjects including to be cybernetic soldiers and so these mutants became nomadic communities who turned against both though the Brotherhood continued kidnaping of the Forgotten eventually resulted in them declaring war on Nod in 2028.

With 2030 began a new decade and while GDI publically remained confident about finding a way to reverse the spread of Tiberium in private there is no solution and there is growing worry that Earth may become uninhabitable for non-mutants within the next 20 years if not much sooner at the current rate of Tiberium growth. In fact there were growing discussions and research over the feasibility of humanity living in space and on other planets. The urgency of these plans however was greatly lowered by what is now known as The Event on January 12th 2030, which replaced General Vegas territory in the US, and some parts of the Caribbean and Northern Mexico with territory from another Earth and when GDI forces by accident established contact with GDI of another Earth and quickly became apparent of it being similar but at the same time a very different GDI. On their Earth, the First World governments had collapsed with GDI picking up the pieces and unifying them under one and then later fighting a Second Tiberium War in 2024 following the reemergence of Kane. During that war, the alternate GDI would discover the salvation of humanity of the Tacitus, an alien data storage device and from which that GDI gained technology not only to contain Tiberium but to destroy it as well and to truly begin rebuilding.

To say the very least this was a massive game changer for the GDI of this Earth and when word of this spread it caused celebrations across the planet and saw the stock markets boom in a way they hadn't in decades. Now normally such an event and the fact that GDI had technology to destroy Tiberium would have caused a war with Nod whose religious mission is to spread Tiberium if not for assassinations of Nod leaders that began that day including Generals Vega and Hassan and which would last through the rest of the month which would throw the two major Nod factions into civil war along with various smaller independent Nod warlord states. As GDI civilian leadership drew up grand plans for reconstruction across the globe as GDI forces from the alternate Earth and some of those being units from Zone Operations Command or ZOCOM as GDI intelligence kept a close eye on the civil wars ravaging Nod territory. As days passed and then weeks, it became increasingly apparent that new Nod internal conflicts would not be ending anytime soon and as the Brotherhood massively weakened itself, GDI saw an opportunity emerging to evict Nod from Australia and Europe and the Nod warlord states in Canada and the United States along with securing some territory held by neither. Planning quickly began which would culminate in numerous GDI operations being launched on September 6th and quickly crushed Nod forces in the borders of these warlord states and then overwhelm what remained of the Nod forces in these various combat zones.

The operations were an overwhelming success securing all objectives with low casualties as populations in GDI and allied countries celebrated victory in what historians would call the War of 2030 while the public would name it the Second Tiberium War. Some Nod warlords would retaliate against some GDI border territories for these operations but these attacks were massive failures and simply left their territories open to conquest by other Nod warlords. As GDI forces hunted down any surviving Nod forces from the targeted regions to ensure they would not be able to rebuild to re-establish themselves elsewhere while keep out any Nod forces from elsewhere, reconstruction for these former Nod territories began along with a De-Nodfication and various aid and development as part of a hearts and mind program. While protests and insurgencies still plague these areas in the present, they are more than manageable with portions of these have begun to lean toward GD along with the proportion of the population loyal to GDI growing due to some GDI families settling in these regions though the majority of this growth coming from the migration of mutant communities into GDI territory. The latter came as a result of the alternate GDI having made a major breakthrough in reversing part of the Tiberium mutation and preventing further mutation.

At first mutant communities were wary of going to GDI remembering the bigotry but the Forgotten leader Tratos seeing the better life mutants in the Texas from the alternate Earth we're living even if they still faced discrimination and so reached out to GDI and negotiated his people settling on GDI lands. This would kick off the Mutant Exodus of 2030 giving a boost to the population and giving GDI access to a source of soldiers well suited for fighting on the modern battlefield. Life is not perfect as bigotry toward is still an issue as Tratos and other mutant leaders work to ensure the civil rights of their people but Tratos is confident about his people having a brighter future in GDI. Finally for the year of 2030 there was the unification movement which became a major issue again after having been bubbling for years after the Johannesburg Agreement due to The Event showing them another Earth where GDI was being a global super state and life rapidly improving under them. Those against unification in pointed out that was due to the Tiberium abatement technology but that and other arguments while making good points were simply not enough against trends going back years that had been supercharged by the Event and so by 2035 the various allied governments had joined GDI with it changed much from when it was just a peacekeeping organization back in 1995. Speaking of change, GDI military greatly transformed during the 2030s with major cuts to its budget and its transition away from the mechanized walkers and other costly military technology to adopting a military strategy that relies on a mix of very high-end weapons and command and control systems in space coupled with cost-effective force projection on the ground and major investment into space technology for military and civilian uses resulting in highly advanced space assets, including an upgraded and expanded Ion Cannon network, drop pods, orbital artillery deployment, and other space-based weapons and intelligence systems, supporting ground forces equipped with basic weapon systems that are rugged, reliable, and relatively inexpensive to produce and maintain.

ZOCOM from the other Earth would as well see it expanded to its previous size and further as one of GDI many spearheads in the fight to wipe out Tiberium and the development of armor that allows them to operate in the most hazardous and Tiberium infested portions of Earth. Of course despite the shifting of funding not all of GDI has moved away from experimental technology and this being exemplified by the Steel Talons, a division from the other Earth that has continued to push combat technology forward and developing new version of various mechanized walkers with the most recent example being a retrofitted and updated Mammoth MK. III which have served the Steel Talons well in their numerous Nod splinter factions during the 2030s. The shifting of funds as well toward various domestic programs along with investments into space resulting in a colony established on the Moon in 2037 and combined with Tiberium abatement efforts have caused an economic boom for GDI and the emergence of Blue Zones covering about 35 percent of the Earth surface which are increasingly wealthy and prosperous and its environments recovering now that there free from Tiberium contamination and the citizens of GDI enjoying the beach as they are now free of Tiberium algae and watching GDI growing navy patrolling the seas. Then there are Yellow Zones which cover about 40 percent of the Earth's surface and are divided between GDI, Nod and warlords. The infrastructure of the Yellow Zones under Nod and warlords tended to be old and decayed with many buildings near collapse unfit for habitation while power and running water were erratic at best; food and medical supplies were scarce while one had to as well worry about the endemic gang warfare.

Nod works to improve the living conditions for the people in the parts of the Yellow Zone they control in order to attract new recruits and prevent rebellions that can be exploited by GDI and other Nod factions though most funding goes toward their military and research efforts resulting in only marginal improvements but are better than life than under the countless petty warlord states. Then there are Yellow Zones that are under GDI control with a far higher standard of living thanks to numerous aid programs and charities as GDI pours money into their reconstruction, development and the destruction of Tiberium with several areas expected to become new Blue Zones during the early 2040s. Then there are Red Zones which make up the remaining 25 percent of the Earth surface which are contaminated by vast amounts of Tiberium and deadly to those not wearing armor and suits designed to protect them from Tiberium or are mutants. Much of the 2030s have prove to a prosperous and hopeful time though in early 2039 with the end of the Second Nod Civil War and the unexpected quick formation of alliances and tech sharing agreements between the major Brotherhood factions is leading to fears of a new Tiberium War during the 2040s leading to the major increase to GDI military budget for the first time in well over a decade. Though GDI remains confident with its superior economic and military strength that it will be able to repel any future Nod attacks.

……
So a somewhat AU Tiberium Earth further diverging from OTL with the 2030 isot and the isoting away of Kane and other threats and certain things like the Tacticus. This GDI is similar to how GDI was between the Firestorm Crisis and the Third Tiberium War but has far more territory and population due to not abandoning various Yellow Zones and the settling of mutants in GDI territory along with territory gained from isot and of course the War of 2030. Also its stronger economy due to being able to rebuild earlier and not being devastated by the Second Tiberium War, Firestorm Crisis and damage caused to Australia in 2034 by the massive Tiberium explosion. Also Steel Talons remain a prominent military unit unlike OTL.
 
A world in flux
Uncertainty has gripped the Elemental Countries and the ninja that serve them. The Village Hidden by Sand or otherwise known as Sunagakure has been destroyed in a surprise attack by Iwagakure. An attack that was only made possible because of the traitorous Orochimaru providing the location, patrol routes and defenses of Sunagakure to Iwa. The reason Orochimaru backstabbed Suna while his forces fought alongside them in Konohagakure is known only to Orochimaru. Whatever the reason a solution to this debacle was needed. The five major Daimyo's quickly organized a conference to hash out a new order for the continent and nearby lands. The first issue discussed at the conference was over reparations from Kaze no Kuni to the Hidden Leaf Village for Suna's failed attempt to destroy the Leaf Village. It was expected by the other Daimyo's that the ruler of Kaze no Kuni would pay for the deaths and destruction caused by his ninja who the majority of were currently being interned at Konohagakure awaiting the results of the conference.

Instead the Kaze no Kuni Daimyo made a surprising and rather shocking offer to the Fire Daimyo. In lieu of paying quite a few Ryo's the Wind Daimyo instead offered the surviving Sunagakure ninja to the Fire Daimyo as repartitions. While a Daimyo would normally want his or her ninja back, the Wind Daimyo did not have a good relationship with his ninja. For years he had been cutting their budget and offering more and more missions to Konohagakure. As well being something of a cheapskate he did not wish to pay for their return or build a new village for them. Also Sunagakure working with a rogue ninja like Orochimaru and violating the alliance treaty he had signed with the Fire Daimyo over a decade ago was the final straw and no longer believed he could trust them. The Fire Daimyo who normally was a rather indecisive man and would usually need to be convinced by his advisors to agree to something or decide on a course of action, quickly agreed to the offer.

With Kaze no Kuni now without a ninja village, it was decided that Wind Country would be neutral from this point forward and missions offered by Wind Country to be split evenly among-st the remaining ninja villages. Except for Iwagakure who would be denied any possible missions from the country for next five years as a punishment for destroying Sunagakure without the authorization of the Earth Daimyo. Following this, Hi no Kuni would then make a deal with the Earth Daimyo to end their alliance with the Land of Stone, seeing as without Kaze no Kuni's support, the country could not be defended and in exchange was given a free hand against the Land of Sound while the other Daimyo did not object especially to the latter as the idiotic Sound Daimyo had brought this fate upon himself. Not long after the conference concluded, the Land of Stone would sign an alliance with the Land of Earth treaty that totally had nothing at all to do with the massive Tsuchi no Kuni army that had massed on it's border while the Land of Fire would quickly invade, deposed it's Daimyo and annexed the country. The final act of the conference being all five Daimyo's agreed to a new massive and joint bounty on the head of Orochimaru and the agreement of sharing intel.

Following the Konoha Council had as well begun discussing with the Fire Daimyo who will replace the Third Hokage with a number of candidates being considered with only ultimately Tsunade of the Sannin being selected as the Godaime Hokage. While a war hero and granddaughter of the First Hokage her abandoning the village partway through the Second Great Shinobi War along with her various vices had seen her reputation had taken a great hit but with her being considered the best candidate to get the Leaf back on its feet. Her old teammate Jiraya would be sent to convince her to agree and would take with him Naruto Uzumaki along with a former Suna Genin Mizuho Asakura. The latter tagged along as part of an early effort by the Konoha Council to help unify the village by showing trust in the former Suna ninja by involving one of them in a very important mission. As expected by Jiraya, Tsunade did not want the job or anything to do with Konoha, a fact which did not sit well with the two Genin with Naruto also subjected to a number of insults resulting in him attacking her though that went as poorly as one would expect.

Jiraya would continue attempting to convince with her refusing and unwilling to change her mind until during a battle with Orochimaru and Kabuto where the two Genin risked their lives to protect Tsunade while she paralyzed due to her fear of blood which saw her her overcome her phobia to protect the Genin and and declares her acceptance of the position of Fifth Hokage. Working together Tsunade and Jiraiya would force their traitorous teammate and his apprentice to retreat. Returning to the village, their were celebrations as Tsunade officially became Hokage and quickly set to work restoring Konohagakure with the village fully rebuilt before the end of the year while integrating the Sunagakure ninja into the village ranks which not only restored it's number's but as well made it larger and stronger than before. Though there has understandably been friction between the former Suna nin and their now fellow Leaf ninja which would result in the reestablishment of the Konohagakure Military Police under the Nara Clan with them viewed as a good neutral choice and who would fill its rank with not just only Nara clan but other clans and non clan ninja as well. The extra manpower in the form of former Suna ninja would prove immensely valuable in quickly capturing Sasuke Uchiha who was attempting to join Orochimaru and killing the Sound Four.

Sasuke would spend a year under house arrest while receiving mandatory therapy and continued training from Kakashi before resuming missions and advancing to the rank of Chunin while 24/7 under surveillance by ANBU. Other events during this three year period included a change to the Academy curriculum in the form of a more rigorous ninja training regiment and academy students showing the required skill may graduate early while the Hokage whipped the medical ninja back into shape finding their standards had fallen in her absence and having recruiting a number of ninja that had been providing ninja for Otogakure. Konohagakure would as well intervene in Kaze no Kuni along with other villages to defeat an attempted conquest of that country by Warlord Haido. The village as well has seen its population rapidly grow as some Suna ninja have started families and the village is attracting new citizens due to its growing prosperity from both within Hi no Kuni and beyond and also Konohagakure has reclaimed its status as the strongest of the ninja villages with it gaining for the time in almost twenty years and it is a strength they will likely need as relations worsen with the Land of Earth and the Land of Lightning in large part due to one Naruto Uzumaki. Before and after he left the village for three years to train under Jiraiya would see them visit numerous numerous countries and which would followed by either good relations, trade treaties and or alliances with Hi no Kuni with Iwagakure and Kumohakure intelligence receiving word that these mainly came as a result of Naruto Uzumaki leading them to believe him to be diplomatic genius and part of plot to strengthen Hi no Kuni position before the next war by gaining additional trade and allies.

The most worrisome especially for the Land of Lightning being a friendships he has established with the new Mizukage Mei Terumi and the daughter of the new Water Daimyo quickly saw a rapid warming of relations and growth of trade between Hi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni and their respective villages as Kiri and its country sought to recover from their long civil war. As a result of this and of Naruto's many exploits over the last four years, he's found himself with an A ranking in the Bingo Book and with an ever growing bounty on his head. While deserving of his ranking due to his ever growing arsenal of skills and techniques he's gained from his teachers, teammates and allied ninja. On the other hand Naruto has no talent for diplomacy he simply has a talent for making friends with anybody and so this misconception fuels the paranoia of Iwagakure and Kumogakure and that of their respective countries and as result the world comes ever closer to a Fourth Great Shinobi War. The two countries are nowhere close to matching Hi no Kuni recent diplomatic gains and so amajor focus has been to secure the Land of Rain as an ally with it being the strongest of the minor powers. Growing further stronger after Hanzo of the Salamander has begun conscripting young children to strengthen his ninja forces and as well conscripting an ever growing number of men into Ame no Kuni's army.

Hanzo so far however has decided to stay neutral and so for now will wait and see how the international situation develops. Finally but not least there is Orochimaru, now the most wanted person in the world. The men who managed with his plans to upend the balance of power that had reigned in the Elemental Countries for over a decade. His location or current plans are currently unknown with him and his Oto ninja having abandoned the Land of Sound. Whatever his plans may be, they will most definitely bode ill for the world. The world is now in flux and it is not clear how long it will take for a new balance of power to form or if it will take another Great Shinobi War to shape it or not.
……..
So yeah an AU world where there's no Akatsuki and for example Obito died in the last war.
 
Great Power Stromgarde Part 1
The Kingdom of Stromgarde was what remained of the long gone Arathi Empire after the rest of the nation splintered away to form new kingdoms. Despite being only a remnant of Arathor, Stromgarde was among the stronger of the human kingdoms and it was a strength put to good use by the Alliance during the Second War to defeat the Horde. Despite King Thoras strong strong support of the Alliance, such support began to be eroded by the question of Alterac following King Aiden's betrayal of the Alliance by secretly supporting the Horde during the war and then after being defeated was put under house arrest while his kingdom was occupied by Alliance forces. Thoras wanted to divide Alterac between Stromgarde and Lordareon while King Terenas wanted to put Prince Aliden and then there was King Genn of Gilneas who supported Prince Isiden as the next King of Alterac. Despite the Alterac Crisis which would never be resolved, Stromgarde would continue to support the Alliance for a time providing resources to the Alliance and to help fund the rebuild of Stormwind while its soldiers fought the remnants of various Orcish clans and later with other Alliance nations the second Orc invasion and the following invasion of Draenor.

Still the lingering issue of Alterac, the ever escalating costs of operating Orcish internment camps along with smaller issues would eventually see King Thoras withdraw from the Alliance and focus on restoring it to the wealth and strength it held before the Second War. A process still ongoing when the Scourge invaded during the Third War with the majority of its armies mobilized and preventing the Scourge from advancing further into Stromgarde. As well, despite his withdrawal from the Alliance, King Thoras would provide 5000 soldiers and colonists for Jaina Proudmoore expedition to Kalimdor, concerned that the Scourge may overrun the Eastern Kingdoms and wanted to ensure his peoples culture would survive even if Stromgarde did not. Concerns about his kingdom survival were wise as he would soon be murdered by his son Galen seeking the crown for himself and then crowned soon after as the new King of Stromgarde with his act of regicide never discovered. His rule over Stromgarde would be a short one as the Syndicate and Boulderfist Ogres invaded not long after his coronation and ravaged the core regions of Stromgarde while scoring several major victories against what forces had not been deployed to fight the Scourge.

Stromgarde during this time would score a victory in forcing the Scourge out of their country but it was a pyrrhic victory as they had suffered massive losses to achieve and so with most of its armies dead or crippled, the kingdom was unable to repel these new invasions and began to collapse which prompted an exodus of much of the population to Kul Tiras and to the south began while what little remained of Stromgarde armies were pushed back with the fighting eventually reaching the capital itself. Seeing that trying to fight for a doomed city would be pointless and a waste of lives King Galen would order the entrance to his family crypt sealed, take heirlooms like the legendary sword Trol'kalar and gathering what remained of his soldiers and subject and would then proceed to fight their way out of the city and flee north with refugees joining the ever growing rag tag army. His people looked to their king for what to do now and he would decide upon settling in the Arathi Highlands with it being resource rich and some forts from which they hoped would allow them to begin rebuilding their fallen kingdom. First refugee camps were established which were soon replaced with new settlements while workers did various tasks such as hunting, gathering resources, preparing for the next planting season among other things. What remained of the Stromgarde army patrolled and guarded their new holdings and recruited from the population some new soldiers but recruitment was limited with their small population.

There were concerns that the Boulderfist and the Syndicate would soon attack but the two groups quickly came to blows giving the Stromgarde remnants a much needed breather. With the greatly changed situation King Galen would have what little remained of the Kingdom of Stromgarde join the Alliance seeking support from the Alliance whose soldiers and resources instead directed at Grand Marshall doomed New Alliance army. Surviving diplomats would as wellcreate the League of Arathor with its members traveling to the other Alliance nations seeking funding, resources and recruits from their populations and the Stromgardian diaspora. This however was largely a futile endeavor as the remaining nations of the Alliance had their own troubles and most average folk including even those from Stromgarde saw no reason to join and die for what was viewed as a lost cause. This would change almost four years after the end of the Third War when Horde forces entered the Highlands seeking its resources to help fuel the Horde war machine and as a springboard for the conquest of Stromgarde.

Now Stromgarde was important to the Alliance with soldiers, adventurers, gold and resources dispatched to assist King Galen people to repel the Horde. The assistance was very much needed but the people of Stromgarde still did feel bitter that it was only now that they warranted assistance but such discontent was largely kept private though this discontent with the Alliance became public knowledge via bars in Stromgarde settlements though this would not have an impact on relations. Despite this new Alliance aid, Stromgarde would have been destined to be a battleground for various factions for years to come had it not been for the event in the Hinterlands which in a flash saw all the Trolls and their settlements replaced with all of Stromgarde villages and cities from around the time that Stormwind people were fleeing across the sea. Understandably this situation caused a panic but order would be restored by this Stromgarde King Thoras and the nobles. As order was being restored accidental contact was made with Wildhammer and Quel'Danil Lodge patrols who were very surprised and confused to see the Stromgarde people and settlements in what was supposed to be Troll territory.

Initially there were suspicions but quickly it became apparent to all that it was not a trap while the humans were brought up to speed on current events. They were told about events such as the formation of the Alliance, the Second War, the Third War and the fall of Stromgarde among others. The last was the hardest to accept but they saw no deceit in the elves and dwarves and so decided that some of all three groups would to go to King Thoras to inform him about the current status of Azeroth while the Wildhammer and High Elves sent word back to their people they now had new neighbors. The group that sought to talk to King Thoras actually got lost at first and very understandable as the location of villages, towns and cities had been mixed all around while coastal settlements and the capital were now located on the Hinterlands coast. Within a few days however regular contact among the people of Stromgarde was reestablished and word reached the group of where the capital and the king were.

Soldiers patrolled the roads as garrisons found themselves with populations that were agitated and fearful of another event transporting some or all of them to any number of places with countless worse case scenarios often involving most or all of them dying or of various monsters one day suddenly appearing and tearing their way through their communities. Approaching the capital it was clear to see that the garrison for the city had been greatly expanded with soldiers and a group of soldiers at the city entrance stopping the group and demanding to know their purpose for visiting the city. The human leader of the group informed them they had made contact with the Wildhammer and High Elves which was and sought an audience with the king to bring him important information. The request would filter up the chain of command and a reply that it had been granted though they were required to be searched and then inspected by a Stromgarde mage to make sure they were who they claimed to be. The group consented and after being examined were allowed into the royal palace which they quickly was overflowing with gold and were as well informed that across the kingdom that various locations had become overstuffed with gold, food and other supplies.

Making their way through the palace with the king in his throne room along with generals, admirals, royal advisors and nobles present as several squads of royal guards and a handful of mages watched the every move of the new arrivals. The groups Wildhammers and High Elves gave a good summary of the various events with them answering many questions. While there were doubts among many of those present, King Thoras believed them, especially after the anger that could be observed in the High Elves as they recounted the invasion of their homeland by the undead. The king would decide upon sending a small fleet south to confirm what they had been told while having soldiers and supplies gathered in the west with plans to be drawn up to reclaim their lands be they empty or full of enemies. Within a few days the fleet would return, confirming that Stromgarde eastern coastal areas to be devastated and not a person to be seen.

Now having confirmation, the king would make sure there new lands were protected, ambassador's sent to their neighbors with accommodations prepared if they sent their own diplomats while he had part of the navy to depart south and begin patrolling along the coast of this Azeroth Stromgarde, reclaim their island territories and kill any hostile naval forces that they may encounter while he went west with many of his veteran soldiers to take command of the ever growing armies there. Finding his forces ready, King Thoras laid out the plan to his generals and officers for the coming campaign which would see four armies move into the Arathi Highlands with one army wiping out the Horde forces in the north east, another heading southeast to wipe out the troll and ogre settlements while his cousin Danath Trollbane establish contact with the Stromgarde remnants, kill any Syndicate members and secure the northwest. Finally he would lead the remaining army to liberate the remainder of the country including the capital with them storming out the Hinterlands and rapidly moving out to carry out their objectives. In the east Hammerfall base fell with relative ease with all Horde members slain while the Boulderfist and Witherbark villages were razed and all killed including even the youngest with the Stromgarde soldiers for the most part taking great satisfaction in these killings especially when it was a forest troll. Trollbane would make contact with King Galen and his people who, while confused, celebrated that their salvation and liberation of Stromgarde had come at last.

Galen and a hundred of his soldiers would join Danath army as they moved west though it'd be a largely eventual push across the country as the Syndicate forces fled rather than fight though they did come across a number of towns full of Stromgardians that had been forced to toil for the Syndicate for the last four years who cried tears of joy as they embraced their liberators. The bloodiest fighting would be over the capital as the enemy forces fought with all they had as they knew no quarter would be given but in the end they were no match for the forces of Stromgarde. As the victory celebrations and the adrenaline among Thoras and his soldiers faded, it was in turn replaced with sadness and anger at what had befallen this once great city. The king seeing this worked to boost morale by promising it would be restored and grander than before as they began garrisoning the ruined city while they gathered up the remains of the enemy to burn while proper burials were given to their fellow fallen soldiers and the corpses of this Stromgarde that were not able to flee during the fall of the city during the Third War. As the days passed news began to trickle into the ruined capital about how the rest of the campaign was going with casualties far lower than had been expected and before long the whole of the country including Tol Barad once more was united under the banner of Stromgarde.

As garrisons were established across the newly liberated territories and newly established supply lines from the Hinterlands kept their troops well supplied, some officers including Danath Trollbane were recalled while a request was sent to King Galen to discuss a number of matters. The welcome of King Galen was a grand event or as grand one could be considering the circumstances with the two kings meeting at its gate and rather emotional one with Thoras trying to adjust seeing his son as a grown man while Galen experienced a range of different emotions seeing his father once more since he had murdered this Azeroth Thoras. They would share beer and a meal as they discussed what happened to this Stromgarde among other things before Thoras eventually brought up that there could not be two kings in the kingdom and therefore he would step down so that the two Stromgardes could be unified under one crown. Thoras though had no intention of retiring to a posh estate to grow fat and lazy but rather to take over as supreme commander of Stromgarde armies and provide advice to the older Galen. The two kings along with some troops from each of the four armies that had taken part in the campaign returned to Hinterland Stromgarde capital where they took part in a truly grand victory parade during which Thoras officially abdicated his throne, uniting the two Stromgarde as one while the younger Galen now called Galen Jr was now the heir of King Galen the Senior.

The people of Hinterland Stromgarde were very much not thrilled by this with what happened to the other Stromgarde under King Galen though we're willing to give their new King a chance with Thoras having faith in him. King Galen was well aware of the lack of confidence in him and would acknowledge this in a speech but promised them that he would take their nation would be able to adapt to an ever changing world to new heights, make sure promised them vengeance against the Alteraci, Horde with the latter meaning the Forsaken. As well during this speech he would give a major boost to his popularity with his announcing of a five year long tax cut for everyone from the richest noble to the poorest with the nation seeing as they were not lacking for gold for the next several years. With massive resources and sizeable manpower at his disposal, King Galen began the transformation of an admittedly already changing Stromgarde with letters to the leadership of the towns of the Hillsbrad Foothills promising major investments into their communities along with protection from the Forsaken, Scourge, murloc and Syndicate raids which had become a growing problem in the last years if they joined Stromgarde. The people of Hillsbrad would debate the offer though it was not a hard choice as either it was to remain a poor farming province which the Alliance doesn't care about or joining a state offering protection and economic aid which clearly was on the rise based on accounts of their merchants that while at Aerie Peak that had visited the Stromgarde border cities and villages that had magically appear in the Hinterland.

They also correctly guessed that based on Stromgarde making this offer and not simply sending aid that they were soon leaving the Alliance and the Hillsbrad leaders were very much not interested in their province being fought over by multiple factions. With their consent to being annexed, Stromgarde troops under the command of Danath would move into the region setting up garrisons in the major towns along with the old internment camps such as Durnholde Keep which the Syndicate had abandoned along with their other bases in the region. Though the Syndicate would continue to trouble the region for next few months as Stromgarde sought to wipe them while successfully fighting off raids from various hostile groups. Stromgarde navy as well moved into the newest province of their nation moving into a long abandoned Alliance naval base and ruined village which would be rebuilt mostly using local labor. Another letter that was sent out at the same time as the other letters was to High Tinker Gelbin Mekkatorque offering to provide an army for the liberation of Gnomeregan and to cover a portion of its reconstruction costs.

In exchange King Galen asked to be able purchase gnomish services to train Stromics how to be engineers and tinkers along with learning gnome mining and building techniques with him also asking to hire gnomes to help build factories and other industrial facilities in order to make various aircraft, vehicles and technologies used by the gnomes. With Gelbin obsession to liberate his people home and to make up for his failure to protect Gnomeregan during the Third War, he readily agreed to the offer as he assembled weapons, supplies and put together an army composed of his people while hiring Alliance adventurers and dwarven mercenaries to further boost the size of the growing army as a Stromgarde army under now General Thoras traveled to join with Gelbin army. When the two forces finally met, plans were quickly drawn up for the coming battle which Mekkatorque would give it the oh so original name of Operation: Gnomeregan. With everything ready, the combined force stormed the city battling irradiated trogg and the mutated gnomes known as the leper gnomes led by the former advisor of Gelbin, Sicco Thermaplugg. It would be a fierce and bloody battle though the allied forces liberated much of the city while killing the traitor Sicco. While a portion of the city remained irradiated and under the control of the hostile leper gnomes, the gnomes under the High Tinker Gelbin once more had a capital which they began restoring helped by aid from Stromgarde and donations by gnome adventurers and those hired by Stromgarde to help it industrialize.

Concurrently Stromgarde began to send out convoys of workers to begin rebuilding the cities, towns, ports of the formerly fallen portion of Stromgarde along with Thoradin Wall which would in time as well see additional defenses of the mundane human variety which had been common for generations. Long abandoned farms were reestablished to ensure a growing food supply for Stromgarde's growing population. A royal commission was established to deal with any land disputes resulting from the fact that in some cases lands would have two of the same owners or two people having inherited claim to certain land. Taking advantage of the opportunity afforded by these reconstruction efforts, the kingdom would have the engineers it was employing to design safer, sturdier and stronger buildings to replace crumbling buildings and would be the standard that new construction would have to meet to be allowed. The restoration of the ruined former capital would be among the most notable of this period as ruins within the city were quickly torn down and replaced with construction projects as districts were completely redesigned with various buildings serving various purposes built while space were made for factories and industrial facilities with the city shaping up to be more grand than it had been in the past and a match for Stormwind City.

Paved roads would as well be laid down connecting the expanded kingdom and allowing for the quicker movement of soldiers, people and goods and resources with economic benefits of these new roads quickly felt. Surveys of the land would also take place to determine where to lay down railroad tracks in the future after its industry was further developed. In the realm of industry with funding provided by the royal government factories and such began popping up across the kingdom with its workforce provided initially by the unemployed though would grow further as the population from rural areas moved into cities and towns with growing industry seeking higher wages resulting in rapid population growth and providing the government with a large and cheap workforce. As well to feed its ever growing industry need for resources, old mines in Stromgarde territory were reopened while new mines were established while drilling for oil on land off the coast of Stromgarde began. To ensure the people of Stromgarde could continue its industrial efforts, research and repair what they had built without being reliant on gnomes would see the building and founding of the Technical University of Stromgarde near the Hinterlands Stromgarde capital where second or third born sons and daughters of Stromgarde nobility and wealthy merchants could be taught how to be engineers and tinkers with it initially staffed by gnome teachers which a year later the first class of Stromgarde graduates and begin assisting in Stromgarde growing industrial and research efforts.

In the realm of research, a number of buildings for researching new advancements were built a good distance away from Stromgarde capital as a safety measure and like the new Technical University staffed entirely by gnomes initially and which did not produce much in its first year besides a redesigned dwarven/gnome bomber for use by humans capable of flying longer distances and carrying far more bombs along with some minor adjustments to the steam tank. Though such places of research along with others built in the future would refine existing tech and produce ever advanced and complex inventions. Great change as well would come to the military with the addition of the bombers and steam tanks along with arming soldiers with blunderbuss rifles and trained by dwarves which necessitated a change in doctrine along with war games to figure what changes needed to be made. Then there were the investments made into bettering the lives of the people of Stromgarde which resulted from Kong Galen from living among his people in the Arathi Highlands for over four years and so wished to see their standard of living increased. This aid would flow through the Church of Light providing extra food for those in need along with educating children which would see the literacy rate for the kingdom begin to rise and seeing the popularity of King Galen grow ever greater.

As the months passed with Stromgarde rapidly developing, growing numbers of soldiers were deployed to the Hillsbrad Foothills and with growing speculation across the kingdom and beyond of who would soon be feeling the might of Stromgarde. Come the summer the answer would be multiple factions as Stromgarde would invade Alterac, Fenris Isle and Silverpine Forest. General Radulf Leder would the invasion of Silverpine Forest securing the southern portion of it cleansing it of various threats such as the Worgen of Pyrewood village while Alliance adventurers killed Archmage Arugal at Shaodwfang Keep with his remains burned and ashes scattered to ensure he could not be resurrected. Danath Trollbane would lead a successful naval assault on Fenris Isle wiping out the Rot Hide Gnolls and killing their leader Thule Ravenclaw with their remains like Arugal utterly destroyed. Finally there was the invasion of Alterac led by General Thoras with the Crushridge Ogres battling the Stromgarde and kill many Stromgarde soldiers for every Ogre but this only resulted in the complete annihilation of that clan while the Syndicate would fight guerrilla war launching hit and run attacks on Stromgarde patrols.

While these inflicted casualties upon Stromgarde they were however losses they could afford unlike the Syndicate whose tiny civilian population meant its mounting deaths saw its forces shrink. Adding to its trouble rogues hired by Stromgarde were taking out their outposts and bases adding to their losses and which eventually led to the killing of its senior leadership including Aliden Perenolde with what little remained Syndicate soon falling apart and another nail in the coffin of Alterac. Though the final blow to any hope of restoring Alterac would come with the expulsion of the Alteraci population by General Thoras on the order of King Galen with it being the culmination of the old hatred between Stromgarde and Alterac. With what few wagons loaded up and carrying what they could, the Alteraci began the trek to Southshore as they endured the humiliation of Stromgarde soldiers celebrating their expulsion and taking of their homeland which they would never see again as they received some Stromgarde gold to pay for their boat trip to anywhere else along with the Church of Light providing food, water and healing the Alteraci. Their destination being the only place whose leader would not be biased against them and that being Lady Jaina of Theramoore who would receive word to begin preparing for the arrival of her new citizens.

In contrast Stromgarde would work to win the hearts and minds of the people of southern Silverpine including Ambermill which would be a successful measure as the humans were aware of Stromgarde growing propensity and quickly rewarded with a new port and naval base established on their coast as Stromgarde soldiers established new forts to protect the region from the Forsaken that controlled the northern part of Silverpine who in turn were building new defenses and a lake navy as they warily watched Stromgarde rebuild Fenris Keep and protected by an ever growing Strom naval force. Over the rest of the summer the cities and villages of Alterac and southern Silverpine would be rebuilt like they had been in Stromgarde, increasingly called Old Stromgarde along with paved roads though only Alterac would see construction of factories and other industrial projects for the time being due to concerns over Forsaken sabotage. To help populate such a region especially Alterac and feeling that Stromgarde could now sustain a much larger population would send out word to the Stromic diaspora that if they returned they would welcome with open arms and with plentiful good paying jobs and as well homes for sales along with the new Bank of Strom offering loans to purchase lands in Silverpine and Alterac and providing loans for new and existing businesses. As Stromgarde growing prosperity, various recent successes and favor from a higher power had seen the nationalism among the diaspora supercharge and so when the offer reached them they were than willing to accept it and so merchants and boat captains quickly saw their holds filled with both various goods and Stromic people with these traveling to Stromgarde ports with the good unloaded, people debarking while loading up with Stromic goods and returning to various ports at Kul Tiras, Stormwind and Menethil to being the process once more as the Stromic diaspora shrank with a growing amount of them their returning to their kingdom. Though it was not only the people of Stromic descent that were immigrating as many of the Lordareon diaspora would seek opportunity and as well migrated to Stromgarde and were as well joined by Kul Tirian immigrants with similar reasons as the Lordaeronians.

As well joining these waves of immigration were Stormwindians tired of the economic stagnation, lack of security in many regions and dysfunctional rule and while such immigration from Stormwind was at first dismissed by Lady Katrana Prestor though eventually it would see the kingdom of Stormwind population shrink and along with other factors resulting in a shrinking of its economy and requiring a renegotiation of its debts with the banks of Ironforge. With its population rapidly growing, King Galen would order an expansion of the kingdom army and its navy along with the expansion of its shipyards and ports with the latter two now able to make use of Kul Tirian expertise. Galen would as well during this time make the long expected announcement of Stromgarde withdrawal from the Alliance no longer feeling it was in his country's best interest to remain a member which was a blow to those in the Alliance hoping that Stromgarde would provide some very much needed leadership for their faction. Stromgarde's rise as Azeroth's newest great power was one of the most talked about events of the year but where it had one of the biggest impacts was in the lands of the Blood Elves who by this time had reclaimed Silvermoon and a portion of their kingdom. Despite this attacks by the Scourge and the Amani along with those that succumb to their magical addiction becoming the deformed Wretched have seen their already small population whittled away even further and likely to suffer further painful losses despite aid and forces provided by the Forsaken and as a result more powerful allies would be needed if they were not only to survive but prosper.

The list of potential allies was however limited by those that could assist the Blood Elves and were interested in doing so leaving it a very small list. A list made further smaller as the Alliance was excluded from consideration by the racist actions of Grand Marshal Garithos and so at the time leaving only a single viable candidate as a new ally, the Horde. Without a doubt a controversial choice as the Blood Elves remember well the ravaging of their homeland during the Second War by the orcs though present needs outweighed old grudges. The Blood Elves seemed to be on their way to allying with the Horde till Stromgarde withdrew from the Alliance and seeing them reevaluate who to ally with. While the Horde was of the worlds two major power blocs it was not a faction with sizeable populations as its numbers had never truly recovered from the wars with the Kalimdor portion of the Horde focused upon various problems plaguing and trying to settle the Barrens while fighting off various native clans and tribes.

Meaning any assistance would be limited to adventurers where in comparison the new Stromgarde who had not been weakened and crippled by the Second and Third Wars and so saw their military strength on the rise and be able to provide large numbers of troops and naval support along with their own growing number of adventurers. There were concerns that attempting to ally with Stromgarde would see the Forsaken withdraw their troops as they were unofficially at war with Stromgarde though it was suspected that Sylvannas would not want to risk Quel'thalas moving into Stromgarde sphere of influence. So a team of diplomats was dispatched to Stromgarde to discuss forming an alliance between their two nations. The arrival of the Blood Elves and a very unexpected one at word of their spread rapidly across the city while they were quickly brought before the king to whom they delivered a letter from the Blood Elves Regents Lor'themar including various diplomatic formalities along with congratulating him for his peoples recent victories before finally informing King Galen that the elves before him were there to hopefully negotiate the formation of an alliance between their two nations. The king then informed the diplomats that he looked favorably upon the formation of such an alliance as the Scourge needed to be confronted wherever they held territory.

He also informed them he had three terms with the first being that Quel'thalas would place only small tariffs on Stromgarde goods. The second being that the Blood Elves would teach his people how they make and operate their magical golems and defense towers and third they would teach magic to Stromgarde mage apprentices and trained to the Blood Elven standard for mages and with him making it clear these terms were non negotiable. The diplomats would inform the regent about King Galen terms and agreed to them as they were not in a position with a treaty quickly hashed out by the bureaucrats of the country and signed. Troops and supplies were soon organized and gathered to assist their new allies though the first help from Stromgarde would come from Stromic adventurers that flooded into the country though near the end of the year an army commanded by General Thoras would land at Sunsail Anchorage whose forces soon clashed with Scourge and Amani with the latter quickly ceasing their raids and withdrawing into Zul'Aman as they began preparing for a future siege by the Blood Elves and their allies. The Forsaken as predicted by some did not withdraw their troops but relations between them and the Blood Elves took a hit because of this alliance with Stromgarde.

The Blood Elves would as well receive further support as Argent Dawn troops and supplies arrived which was a major around from being just a minor faction at beginning of the year and was rapidly gaining recruits and support from Stromgarde, Horde and the Alliance thanks to the Argent Dawn having discovered Scourge preparations for invasions of multiple parts of Azeroth and with the Argent Dawn organizing and leading a counterattack before these Scourge offensives could be launched. Across Azeroth grand New Year celebrations marked the ending of a by far eventful year with notable occurrences such as the Event, the counter attacks against the Scourge, Ahn'Qiraj War among others having taken place across the now concluded year while the peoples of Azeroth celebrated what had been gained and honored those who had been lost. For the gnomes it was the retaking of much of Gnomeregan and those who among their people and that of their allies that had made the ultimate sacrifice to make that a reality. For the Blood Elves it was toast to newly gained allies along with a boost to its economical growth from new trade with Stromgarde like much of the Eastern Kingdoms and beyond. Speaking of Stromgarde it's people ended they year with grand parties as they celebrated its growth prosperity, acquiring new lands and that their longtime enemies the Alteraci and the Forest Trolls of the Hinterlands would no longer trouble them and of course remembering the sacrifices that their soldiers had made in the past year and looked forward to what the next year would bring.
 
A Broken Galaxy
At the closing of the Clone Wars, the Jedi rebelled against the Galactic Republic and attempted a coup against Supreme Chancellor Palpatine which was foiled and followed by a purge of the traitorous Jedi at the their temple on Coruscant and across the galaxy followed by Darth Vader wiping out the Separatists top leadership and deactivating their droid armies which ended the Clone Wars. At same time the Republic was being reorganized as the first Galactic Empire to better ensure the security and stability of the galaxy. Of course what now Emperor Palpatine told the Senate during his Declaration of the New Order was almost all lies but you can do that when you've murdered almost all witnesses that contradict what you've said, converted the only remaining living one to the Dark Side and can suppress and or destroy any evidence that contradicts this at your leisure. So for the new Emperor despite the crippling of his new apprentice and the newly gained scars life is very good and he's about to get a very unexpected boon as strange reports begin to reach Coruscant from part of the southern Outer Rim which would claim that copies of Core World systems had suddenly appeared there and being seventeen years from the future. Eventually the sheer number of reports and Imperial forces making contact with the planets and Imperial forces of the future proved without a doubt what had occurred while people of the Galaxy would debate if the Force, gods or science had caused this to occur.

The Emperor, while curious why this occurred and would have resources dedicated to find an answer to this, his more pressing concern was how to use these newly gained worlds to increase his power and control over the galaxy which he quickly moved to do as these worlds were integrated into his new Empire. With information from the future, enemies of the Empire would be eliminated quicker than happened in the other timeline while future traitors such as General Gentis and Admiral Zsinj were killed while in the southern Outer Rim armadas of ships and armies from the future worlds were organized and then dispatched to assert Imperial control over the Western Reaches and wiped out nearly of all of the remnants of the Separatists across the Outer Rim by the end of the year whereas the other timeline asserting control over the Rim would take nearly three years. Meanwhile Imperial worlds such as Naboo, Kamino, Dac and Kashyyyk among others would see interventions to either put into power pro Imperial regimes or occupations if their populations would be a source of recurring rebellions and need to be actively controlled and suppressed. Such police actions as they were termed by the Empire greatly weakened opposition to the new galactic government with a major example being half the Delegation of 2000 removing their signatures from the Petition of 2000, afraid to continue challenging Palpatine while the movement would collapse with the recent disappearances of Senators Mon Mothma, Bail Organa among others. While the Empire's war machine was busy consolidating Imperial control over vast swathes of the galaxy an equally important task was the hammering out of the first Imperial budget and made all the more important by the need to feed the new worlds of the Rim now increasingly called the Southern Core and keeping it economically viable.

The Southern Core had a temporary reprieve from potential shortages of food, parts and various goods as the Event had made sure they were well stocked on all of this while the shipyards and factories that were arming and helping maintain the Imperial military of the other timeline ensured a guaranteed amount of future business but these supplies would eventually run out and military contracts would not make up for having to compete with the other Core for various markets across the galaxy. The Imperial budget as expected saw a sizable increase in military spending though with varying amounts of military production decreasing in the Core Worlds due in part to shifting to produce Imperial weapons from the future. Massive subsidies for farming and industry were granted along with funding for new colonies across the Outer Rim and a temporary increase in welfare spending, with all of this part of a grand plan to help the Empire adjust to its new circumstances. Funding for this budget would come from taxes, loans and as well the nationalization of former Separtist corporations with a major exception of the latter being the InterGalactic Banking Clan due to its importance to the galactic economy though the Galactic Empire would secure a sizeable minority stake in it and guaranteed low interest rate loans for the next century. The new colonies on recently settled and long settled worlds would of course provide locations to settle loyal human Imperials and refugees from the Clone Wars which as they developed would provide new markets for Southern Core exports and in turn provide various foods and resources and these new colonies would help tighten Imperial control in these sectors while creating new bastions loyal to the Empire in the Outer Rim.

Heavily fortified settlements would as well be established on alien majority worlds and populated mainly by fanatical members of Commission for the Preservation of the New Order or COMPNOR, an umbrella organization of various groups that as the name lays out being dedicated to maintaining support for the Emperor's New Order. Imperial Intelligence took full advantage of the new settlements to recruit armies of informants resulting in a shrinking of the number of places where dissidents and criminals could hide in known space on the Rim. Imperial colonization would not be limited to the Outer Rim as colonists and Imperial would be dispatched to the Empire of the Hand, Imperial colonies established by the then Captain Thrawn. As expected by many the Southern Core would fall into a deep recession with a major surge in unemployment with some planets hit far harder than others as factories retooled to adjust to the radically changed economic situation and with countless jobs eliminated due to redundancy of certain positions and the downsizing of Southern Core corporate headquarters into regional offices or outright liquidation. The worst hit planet in the Southern Core without being a doubt being Coruscant as it lost not only its status as the capital of the galaxy but it's place on numerous trade routes which as a result saw an exodus of the upper class, middle class, lobbyists and various corporations to across the galaxy along with much of its funding for Coruscant infrastructure is slashed as much as possible but still enough for living on the planet to be viable.

Imperial garrisons on the planet we're greatly reduced and remaining soldiers and personnel concentrated into a number of heavily fortified districts designed to hold out against any planetary rebellions while the Imperial Navy would bombard any rebellious regions and then Imperial troops would move in to eliminate any survivors. The largest and best protected of course being Coruscant Security Zone 1, formerly much of the Senate District and now former Imperial Palace with those and other locations radically transformed in order to host relocated troops and various equipment, vehicles and star fighters along with the building of additional bases in CSZ 1. Those of means that left are in turn replaced by the various aliens from Imperial Center[1] evicted for their species having supported the Confederacy of Independent Systems while other aliens displaced by the Empire and war are funneled to Coruscant. In to this void has stepped countless criminal organizations seeking territory and to expand various illicit operations with unprecedented gang warfare breaking out across the planet within a few months the wiping out of smaller outfits and deals between larger ones establishes new border between the surviving gangs and giving some much needed stability to the people of Coruscant though this relief is limited as living conditions deteriorate at a rapid pace and the planet once known as the Queen of the Core is becoming a new Nar Shaddaa. For the Coruscanti over the next nearly year, the two main source of work was either joining one of the gangs or at one of the many salvage yards that popped up across the planet but most prefer to take their chances with the gangs as safety standards are pretty much non existent at the salvage yards.

Recently however some corporations have begun weighing the various pros and cons of setting up new factories on Coruscant with how much wages have collapsed and worker rights largely being non-existent. The Event overall gave a major boost to this Galactic Empire though one of the early negatives of this for the Empire being the formation of the Rebel Alliance from the Separatists under the command of General Kendu Ultho presumed initially by the Empire to have vanished via the Event and a number of rebel groups from the other timeline who were united under the banner of Darth Vader Sith apprentice known then as Starkiller as part of a plot to bring the Emperor's various enemies to one location to wipe them out. Starkiller himself would soon after the Event turn against the Dark Side following a vision that showed him being betrayed by his Vader and so embraced the Light Side and would join the New Jedi Order formed by Order 66 survivors of both timelines that had all found themselves transported to this very unexpected meeting of past and future rebels. This merger of various rebel groups and the crushing by the Empire of various Separtist holdouts saw the Rebel Alliance, the largest and strongest force opposing the Empire as they struck at Imperial targets primarily the northern Outer Rim. Still the odds were impossibly stacked against the Alliance as they were gargantuanly outmatched in every metric by the Empire except in number of Force users.

Combined with much of the galaxy wanting peace after three years of war and sources of recruits limited to former Separtist worlds made an eventual defeat a near certainty. It would be war or rather two wars that would see the Alliance chance of victory rapidly increase. The beginning of Hutt-Imperial relations did not get off to a good start as the Empire officially annexed Hutt territory that had become war zones and had been occupied by the Galactic Republic. As well, the Empire's unexpected gaining of worlds and forces greatly worried the Hutt leadership who worried that the Empire now on a different path than their future counterpart would in the near future decide to conquer Hutts seeking more territory. Luckily for the Hutts they as well benefited from the Event gaining fleets, armies and mercenaries from the future while using their immense wealth to build their orbital and planetary defenses for many worlds controlled by the Hutts.

In the meantime the Hutts attempted diplomacy to try and curry Imperial favor along with bribing Imperial officers to ensure Hutt business interests were left alone. Of course Hutts being Hutts, they would as well sell to various rebel groups in order to make some nice profit and distract the Empire. This status quo would last over eleven months till devastating attacks on agriworlds and important resources which would cause rising inflation to skyrocket and the beginning of a galaxy wide famine. In response to the famine, the Empire would institute rationing measures, nationalize farming corporations and instituting price control measures with the overall result being a mixed bag. The Empire would also see that far less foods was went to alien worlds including some worlds that had been loyal to the Republic resulting in riots and rebellion but which the Empire would ruthlessly crush and from which the Alliance gain new sources of recruits and who would smuggle what food they could to these worlds building up support for the Rebellion and casting a stark contrast to the Empire.

Investigators under immense pressure from their higher ups would interview witnesses and collect evidence which all together seemed to implicate the Hutts as being responsible for these attacks on the Empire. To the non bigoted investigators and even some of the bigoted ones, the Hutts being responsible for this made no sense and asked for more time to investigate it but none were granted as this was the casus belli needed to conquer the Hutts. Supplies, ships, soldiers etc were gathered in staging areas near Hutt Space while a closed session of the Imperial Senate was held where the evidence of Hutt culpability for the attacks on the Empire and the ongoing food crisis that was gripping the galaxy with Emperor Palpatine finishing the presentation by calling for a declaration of war against the Hutts to avenge those killed and dying and ending the cesspool and blight that is Hutt Space on the galaxy. Every single Senator present would vote for war for varying reasons but most pressingly not wanting to be one of the top new stories on the Holonet for opposing retribution against the Hutts. With the declaration of war approved, the order was given and thousands of Imperial warships invaded Hutt Space from multiple directions with the belief that this would be a quick war and successful war.

Expectations quickly collided with reality as what was expected to be a quick advance turned into a slog as while the average Hutts warship was inferior and they were outnumbered still fought back fiercely led by former Separatists with Hutt forces bolstered by CIS droids, vehicles, star fighters and warships they had acquired since the end of the Clone Wars and their Republic counterparts[2] from salvage yards while the defenses that been built up helped to chew up countless Imperial ships while kamizake droid starfighters inflicted even further losses on the invading Imperials. Meanwhile the pulling of fleets from across the Outer Rim opened up quite a few targets for the Alliance to attack along with the new supply lines and lightning strikes against Imperial forces operating in Hutt Space. As well the Alliance would receive an influx of warships, weapons, supplies etc from the Hutts along with future discounts as the Hutts now viewed the Rebel Alliance as allies though the Rebels preferred to view the Hutts as co-belligerents. Still long term the Empire would have triumphed over the Hutts if not for the beginning of another very unexpected war and began their war with the Empire with a bang in the form of multiple sudden assaults across a swath of the northern Outer Rim with the most notable ones being the devastation of Muunilinst surface which would promptly see the galactic economy crash while the planet Sernpidal would be destroyed by crashing its moon into it. The Empire would scramble nationalize all the banks within its territory while Imperial forces from nearby attempt to repel these invaders gigantic organic warships and equally bizarre ground forces but would fail as world after world fell to them while ever growing numbers of refugees would flee south seeking to escape this onslaught by an unknown enemy to all but few such as Thrawn and Emperor Palpatine.

The rest of the galaxy soon learn the name of the species invading the galaxy, the Yuuzhan Vong. A race with an extreme hatred of mechanical technology and culture centered around sacrifice and their gods with a tendency to glorify pain not as a motive for action, but rather as a state of living. Sacrifice and pain being something the people on conquered planet found themselves becoming quite familiar as they were used as slaves, experimented on and sometimes killed as offerings to the Vongs gods. As the forces of the Vong advanced further and further coreward, fleets and armies began to be pulled from the war against the Hutts and redirected in ever increasing numbers as the Empires desperation to halt the Yuuzhan Vong but at best only some occasional and temporary against the Vongs seemingly endless numbers. The effect on the Hutt-Imperial was at first giving a much needed respite to the Hutts and their forces followed by successful counter offensives and eventually even began reclaiming territory that the Empire had annexed after the Clone Wars.

As Imperial losses mounted, pilot, naval and clone cadets would graduate far earlier with under construction ships pressed into service as early as possible while the Empire nationalized the galaxies scrapyard and put their inventories of both Republic and Separtist of ships, weapons etc back into service. The Empire would even abandon territory in the Outer Rim and sending those forces to ever changing frontlines of the war though Vong focus would remain largely coreward while the the Rebel Alliance would see an opportunity to avoid simply being the auxiliary forces of the Hutts but being able to build a new state in the territories abandoned by the Galactic Empire. One of the greatest gains during this would of course be Dac where the Rebel Alliance overwhelmed evacuating Imperial forces and preventing the destruction of the Mon Cala shipyards and combined with other victories in the Outer Rim saw them gaining control of several sectors. This meant now having to govern and dealing with countless challenges such as floods of refugees fleeing to Rebel territory and repelling Vong offensives which required the aid of Hutt forces to be able to do that. Still despite these challenges it has inspired hope, provided a place of refuge for countless and given some much needed morale boosts to the galaxy.

For the Empire at this time, hope is something that is considered a fantasy as they continue to lose ever more territory as shortages of everything become ever more common and what is available is too little for refugees and non refugees resulting in riots being a constant for the Empire. Such was the situation for the Empire they were forced to sign the humiliating Treaty of Nal Hutta with the Hutts and ceding territory to them while the Rebel Alliance agreed to a temporary ceasefire. Still the Vong continued to advance, reaching the Core and eventually with Vong armadas based at Borleias and Alsakan then assaulted the now former Imperial Center in a pincer movement. It had been an assault a long time coming and was expected with the Emperor, Imperial Senate and all those with either private transport or able to afford to get off planet having done so leaving only the poor, some militias and the unfortunate Imperial soldiers stationed on the planet and in orbit. These soldiers knew the Yuuzhan Vong would take the planet and that they would soon be dead and so had only one goal left in life, make the Vong bleed. The Imperial defenders would receive unexpected and the most unlikely of reinforcements as armies emerged from the underlevels of the planet composed of gangsters with varying reasons for joining with the Imperials but the primary one being not wanting to wait for the Vong to come for them.

Vong ships soon poured into the system centered at the OboRin Comet Cluster and while exact numbers are not known, estimates at the lower end at the very least placed it at least tens of tens of thousands of ships. The lead element of this immense force was not Vong warriors but rather countless captured refugee ships being used as shields for the forward elements of the Vong and planned to be used to attack the planetary shields of Coruscant. Upon which Imperial commanders reluctantly fired upon and began the largest battle of the war so far with titanic battle saw Imperial Star Destroyers trading full salvos with Matalok bio ships, dying ships of both sides ramming the closest enemy while orbital defenses continually pour fire into the Vong fleets while and TIEs and other star fighters battled Coralskipper fighters and with the latter having to at the same time fending off tactics the Imperials copied from the Hutts such as droid fighters being used for kamikaze strikes on Vong warships. With the refugee ships gone, the Vong commander Warmaster Czulkang Lah, would adapt to these changed circumstances by having his forces attack the non military orbital platforms which was saw them plummet and smashed into the planetary shields with this tactic eventually working, as whole shield-grids began to fail, and the surface-based shield generators were gradually destroyed. With these openings came the first wave of pod troopers to establish landing zones and when word of this reached the trapped civilian populations, it resulted in the invoking of mass murder-suicide pacts on a scale far greater that what had recently occurred at Alsakan.

While this saw the battle reach the ground it also saw the ground based turbolasers began opening fire on the Vong while soon a second assault wave consisting of thousands of Yorik-trema dropships, Tsik-Seru airskimmers, swarms of Yorik-vec assault cruisers and coralskippers, legions of Yuuzhan Vong warriors, and Chazrach slave soldiers that braved orbital mines and heavy fire to join the surviving warriors of the first wave to attack Imperial forces across the planet. COMPNOR suicide squads did their best to kill as many Vong warriors to give the defenders a better chance while wave after wave reinforced the invading forces. Imperial soldiers, battle droids and their criminal allies battled Vong forces as crashing ships and falling plasma marred the Coruscant skyline while space stations and other orbital infrastructure would crash into the surface with millions dying with each impact with the Imperials and their allies fighting to the last clip and then switching to using knives and if they did not have those they used their blasters and anything on hand to bludgeon Vong warriors to death. For a week, the battle would rage in orbit and on the ground with the defenders giving it all and then some but the Vongs greater numbers won them battle but they paid for it with a pound of flesh and then some. Précise numbers of military and civilian casualties for the battle are unknown but they range from hundreds of billions to well north of trillion dead giving the Battle of Coruscant the grim distinction of the bloodiest battle in galactic history.

Imperial propaganda would lionize the fallen though replaced the criminals with civilian militia and hailed this as a heroic last stand that temporarily halted the Yuuzhan Vong advance which would soon resume once more as all of the Core would fall along with the Colonies Region before then advancing into the southern Inner Rim and seeking to conquer Denon, Thyferra and Foless and with their fall would open the southern portion of the galaxy and so the Empire had fortified these systems and where they would make their last stands. The galaxy expectation is one of yet more Yuuzhan Vong victories but what the galaxy does not know is that the Vong warriors caste has been greatly depleted to achieve their immense conquests with forces now spread thinly across the galaxy which Warmaster Czulkang could see and sought a pause to operations to regroup and rebuild his forces. Which he was denied as it was believed the Empire would easily be sweeped away and for this hubris countless Vong warriors will pay with their lives as Imperial forces not only hold firm but as well smash the Vong fleets and force them to retreat. As word spread of the Empires victories with spontaneous celebrations on Imperial, Hutt and even Alliance worlds with their now being hope that victory against the Vong may be possible.
Slightly over seven months after Yuuzhan Vong invasion began, fighting has largely ended for the moment as nearly all galactic factions have been exhausted as at the very hundreds of trillions of people have died as a result of the war and so all will have a temporary respite before the blood letting resumes once more.
……..
The Galactic Empire that once stretched across much of the galaxy is now just a fraction of its former size and with its heartland now its heartland is the southern Outer Rim but its future is now looking up following the recent triple victories at Denon, Thyferra and Foless which has given the time they need to catch their breath and rearm. With the latter being number one priority of the Empire as factories crank out TIE Interceptors and T-65 X-wings which more than proved their worth when they had their baptism by fire at the battles that finally brought the Vong advance to a halt. Various other new weapons, vehicles and starships are entering active or soon will such as the Venator II-class Star Destroyers and Imperial II-class Star Destroyers and will be manned by both humans and aliens as with a threat like the Vong, humanocentric policies no longer have a place in the Empire. As for Emperor Palpatine he suffered many setbacks to his plans due to the Yuuzhan Vong but still remained firmly in control of the Empire as he has used the threat of the Vong to falsely accuse and critics or threats to his power of either being collaborators with intergalactic invaders or them being actual Vong infiltrators. As well he and Darth Vader are training a new generation of Dark Jedi for use against the Vong and one day against the growing New Jedi Order and the other galactic powers after the Vong have been defeated as he will not tolerate the existence of any nation but the Empire and will have control of all the galaxy.

The Hutts were once just gangsters albeit gangsters in control of a sizable chunk of the galaxy. With the Vong invasion of the galaxy and the Empire greatly weakened and the Hutts managing alongside the Alliance to prevent the Vong from overwhelming their territories and has seen the Hutts become one of the galaxy's four main powers. This has kindled in the Hutts a debate if they should limit themselves wondering if they should remain just kingpins or if they should expand the concept of the Kajidic and include in it empire building and with the Yuuzhan Vong territory they border being potential future conquests. In the meantime the Hutts oversee a massive military build up largely consisting of upgraded armaments once used by the Separatists though some new weapons have been built. One of the most prominent examples of the latter being the YVH 1, or Yuuzhan Vong Hunter One combat droid designed to fight the Vong and as well to look like them and programmed to say statements that will infuriate them and to increase the chance of them making mistakes. The war machine their building will also be needed for the day they once more clash with the Galactic Empire but the Hutts do not fear this day as they remain confident they will outlast this Empire as they have all empires that have come before it.

The Rebel Alliance, once a motley collection of rebels that once could only do hit and run strikes is now one of the four major powers of the galaxy with territory in the Mid Rim and Outer Rim and having reorganized itself as a nation called the Galactic Alliance of Free Planets aiming to avoid the various faults and mistakes of the Galactic Republic. A new senate has been elected by its various members while the Alliance Senate has elected as the leader of GAFP the younger Bail Organa as Chief of State though with far less power than the former office of the Supreme Chancellor. As the galactic part of its name suggests, it has sizeable ambitions though with its underdeveloped worlds and rather ragtag military it is far from achieving such an ambition and such has begun a crash industrialization effort to build up its economy and as well provide jobs for the countless refugees within its borders. As well it's been strengthening its military with a sizeable and development of new weapons and such like the Mon Cala MC80a Star Cruiser and the MC80b Star Cruiser subclass while to bolster its starfighter corps A-Wing, B-Wing and ARC-180 starfighters that are being tested and will soon enter full scale production. It is also defended by the New Jedi Order with its doctrine greatly changed from the previous order with age restrictions on recruiting gone and Jedi allowed to marry among other things. The Galactic Alliance exists for the most part due to the Vongs bloody invasion and it is a fact it is well aware and it also well aware that far more blood will need to be shed in order to defeat the Vong and the Empire and while a long road ahead, the people of the Alliance have no doubt that they will prevail.

The Yuuzhan Vong, once a people without a home to call their own, have now bloodily carved a huge chunk of the galaxy as their new home with Coruscant now known Yuuzhan'tar as the capital of their recently formed empire. Yuuzhan'tar like countless others has begun to be terraformed in order to better suit the needs of the Vong with an increasing of the temperature a growing amount of the entire planet wide city is covered beneath vegetation while immense rivers have begun to form where airspeeders had once roamed before. Of course to achieve has come at an immense price to their warrior caste and which Supreme Overlord Shimrra Jamaane now accepts to be an issue after previously dismissing the warnings of his Warmaster Czulkang Lah. As a result has ordered Domain[3] forces deep within the territory of the Yuuzhan Vong Empire join with that of Domain forces to have forces capable of both offensive and defensive operations as they bide their time for the next phase of the war and for next generation of warriors to be ready. To further boost his forces, the Supreme Overlord has approved additional resources for projects meant to create additional warriors to advance the cause of the Yuuzhan Vong. While there have been recent setbacks, Supreme Overlord Shimrra has no doubt that his people will emerge victorious as it is the will of the gods that all infidels shall be smited for the gods favor their children, the Yuuzhan Vong.
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  1. The Coruscant in OTL Core Worlds or the Northern Core as it is known in this TL.

  1. The Empire in both timelines wants to get rid of symbols of the Old Republic as fast as possible. In this TL were able to replace Republic military vehicles, ships etc at a faster pace than OTL.

  1. Domain are what the Yuuzhan Vong called a clan or family.
 
Rise and Fall of Arathor
In the history of man no figure can match the accomplishments of King Thoradin of Arathor with his unification of the many tribes into one strong kingdom and a feat he would accomplish in the span of just six years. Some of the methods he would use included marrying his children to the leaders of other tribes and others he would use their greed for wealth and land to bring them within the fold. On other occasions he would use deception and trickery to see rivals wage war on each other and with exhausted tribes bending the knee to Thoradin lest they were annihilated or enslaved by other tribes. Then there were times these methods did work on some tribes and so were conquered but to the surprise of those he defeated, he did not rule as a tyrant but instead would instead treat them fairly and honorably with the defeated leaders made generals in his growing armies and securing their loyalties. Once he had brought all the tribes under his banner he named his new kingdom Arathor and sought a capital worthy of his people and according to legend the location for this was revealed to Thoradin in a dream by his father wearing the wearing the pelt of a black wolf, and told him of an arid region southeast of Tirisfal Glades where his people would prosper.

The king would travel to this region and according to tales told by those present with him that he saw a black wolf roaming the terrain. On that spot, the king used his sword Strom'kar to carve out the boundaries of a city in the dirt and ordered his masons to begin constructing what became Strom, capital of the first human kingdom while as well ordering the construction of a great wall in order to protect what he intended to be the core territories of his new kingdom from Amani raids. As he feared soon the Amani began probing the Arathor border to test the mettle of the united humans and found any attempt to move deep into the new kingdom to be fiercely contested and forced to flee especially when they clashed with warriors led by generals Ignaeus and Lordain. King Thoradin however was not content to reside in his growing capital and would ride north and fight alongside his warriors in numerous skirmishes with Amani warbands. One story tells how ambush that separated the king from his warriors and though he was outnumbered ten to one, Thoradin did not flee or cower and sharpened Strom'kar's edge on the skulls of his enemies and painted its steel with their blood and when his guards reached him, they found the king standing over ten broken Amani corpses.

Scouts soon brought word to Strom that a bloody war had broken out between the Amani and the high elves of Quel'Thalas far to the north and while unsettled by this, Thoradin and his generals agreed they would not risk the kingdom by sending aid to the reclusive elves though resources were directed to increase the defenses of the border regions. This opinion changed when high elf ambassadors sent by King Anasterian Sunstrider arrived in the city and told the humans of vast the troll armies and the dire situation of their people and that after Quel'Thalas was destroyed, the Amani would turn their attention to Arathor and invade. Well into the night Thoradin, his generals and advisors would debate the matter before agreeing to the need to stand with the elves though would need magic in order to be able to defeat the Amani even though the king deeply distrusted sorcery in all its form. Once word was sent north of an alliance had been agreed to, elven magi quickly traveled south to Strom and selected one hundred humans and began teaching the ways of magic to them. Meanwhile, Thoradin would have the stronghold of Alterac Fortress at the base of the Alterac Mountains to serve as a staging point for the offensive against the trolls.

Once the elves had finished tutoring their human students, Thoradin personally led over twenty thousand human soldiers from Alterac Fortress toward Quel'Thalas while the human magi stayed behind, hidden within the fortress.Thoradin led the Arathi host to smash into the Amani territories in southern Quel'Thalas and then ordered his forces to slowly begin retreating back to Alterac while the trolls led by Warlord Jintha pursed them. At the foothills the sides would clash again with the humans and no matter how many waves of trolls Jintha would throw at Alterac Fortress repel every attack upon while to the north the high elves led by King Anasterian would arrive and forcing the Amani to fight on two fronts. For days the battle would rage as both sides knew what defeat would bring, so they fought as the soil of Alterac was turned red from their blood and arrows blotted out the sun while King Thoradin personally waded through the Amani ranks with the rest of his soldiers, hacking through troll after troll with Strom'kar. Once the humans and elves were confident they had whittled down the Amani ranks, they unleashed their secret weapon as the human magi emerged from the fortress and along with elven sorcerers, pooled their power and unleashed magical fire from the skies to incinerate the Amani armies.

Jintha would be among the first killed along with countless of his warriors as tired humans and elves celebrated at the sight of their enemy being swallowed by hellish fire until the wind turned upon them. General Ignaues Trollbane would attempt to save the king but it was too late as flames utterly consumed Thoradin and so turned his efforts to saving as many warriors as he could while an enraged General Lordain rallied what troops were near him and led a suicidal charge into the heart of the storm to slay the magi and avenge their fallen king as countless magi both elven and human slain tried to regain control of the fire storm but Lordains Final Charge doomed this effort and so the surviving warriors of the three armies would flee while the firestorm would rage for a week before finally it was extinguished. The nearby Alterac Fortress would gain the new moniker of Thoradins Folly which is now haunted by the spirits of the fallen warriors of Arathor that now walk its halls and man it's walls as they endlessly wail in sorrow. Relations between humanity and elves was forever poisoned with the elves believing the humans had attempted to wipe out both the elven and trolls in order for Thoradins to build an empire stretching from Strom to Quel'Thalas while the humans theory was that the elves had conspired with the human mages to destroy Thoradin's army and would then divide Arathor into vassal kingdoms and be ruled by the traitorous human magi. Of course belief in each side's conspiracy theory varies but at the end of the day it matters not their belief in these false theories as it used to demonize the other side and that no other race can be trusted.

After returning to Quel'Thalas, King Anasterian would order his remaining warriors to reclaim territories recently lost and would go into seclusion and has not been seen in public in time and his various duties to his eldest son. The prince working with the Conclave has begun the training of a new generation of warriors to replenish the depleted ranks of its armies and its border defenses greatly strengthened with these being critical for their kingdoms continued survival as their heavy losses especially among the magi means it will be years till they recover their lost strength. As uncertainty grips the lands, a close and vigilant eye is kept on the borders with the Amani as it is commonly held belief that it is only a matter of time before another Amani invasion, though they'll be waiting a long time for that to happen. The Amani for millennia have been a divided people and infighting a common fact of life for the Amani till the recent arrival of emissaries from Zandalar and using their an unofficial position of leadership over all trolls, the Zandalari helped the Amani coordinate a plan to begin revitalizing the fallen Amani Empire while teaching them the long lost art of voodoo magic and directed loa allies to invigorate the Amani warriors with their presence. To lead this new incarnation the Zandalari would select a young but strong troll named Jintha to lead the Amani as their warlord and so when died so died as well the Amani Empire with troll turning on troll and fighting consuming Zul'Aman, Shadra'Alor and the other great troll cities with the disgusted Zandalari withdrawing back to their island home and left the Amani to their fate.

Finally there is humanity and like the trolls, Arathor died with King Thoradins death as civil war rapidly spread and the realm shattered into countless different kingdoms and chiefdoms as the once safe trade routes now require a sizeable while troll tribes have begun migrating into former Arathor territory seeking to escape the bloodshed in Amani lands. Human tribes have as well been on the move with some settling in the southern peninsula while others under the leadership of former General Belrog traveled across the sea to the southern mountainous region before making their home in snowy land where they have established the oh so originally named Kingdom of Belrog. Other notable kingdoms include Alterac led by King Ignaues Trollbane from his recently established capital of Thorgard with it controlling half of the Alterac Mountains with its King seeking reunify the Alteraci homeland and to tear that fortress which besmirch the honor of his former liege and to allow the souls there to rest while the Kingdom of Strom led by the ambitious King Veran Stormbreaker from a rebuilding Strom seeks not only to annex the nearby lands but to reunite all of Arathor

As for the human magi not all were killed or burnt to death during the disastrous battle with many of the remaining magi in service to some of the successor kingdoms with its King either believing in the innocence of the human magi or simply desiring the immense advance powers to be used against their rivals. Even among the rulers who believe in the magi innocence keep a close eye on them and have marshaled the shamans and druids in their lands and organized them into new orders to serve as a potential counter to any treason by the growing strength and numbers of the magi. Not all magi have entered into service of kings with some driven insane and hiding in the wilds and a hazard to all while a few sought far more than their fellow magi. Such as group naming themselves the Kirin-Tor who would settle on Caer Darrow and seeing an opportunity in the locals' dissatisfaction with their ruler. So formented a rebellion and murdered the local chief via most foul magic and assumed ruler ship over the island. Any who opposed the Kirin-Tor would be used for crude experiments to learn how to use their magics in cruel new ways and to research how new spells affected their victims.

As well they would slowly expand their membership with the taking of apprentices from the sons and daughters of the island tribes leaders which would keep their parents in line with the unofficial hostages they had. The Kirin-Tor however did not limit their actions to sorcery and expanding their ranks as they would order raids on nearby settlements bringing back slaves and various valuables to strengthen the magis new kingdom and giving some of the gains from the raids to their most loyal supporters and demonstrating that loyalty will be rewarded. Of course the Kirin-Tor are not content with ruling just a small island and are making plans for the conquests of the nearby villages and settlements which will be the first of many planned conquests. It is a bloody and cruel era for most and as a result many wonder what could've been had the Battle of Thoradins Folly ended in the favor of the humans and elves but at the end of day it is speculation and is only a temporary distraction from the harsh world they live in.
 
A Shifted Balance
With peace signed between the three remaining major villages in the war and their respective countries, the long and bloody Third Shinobi World War had finally concluded and now was the time to rest and rebuild to rest, rebuild and to replenish financial and military strength for the next war with the expectation that the peace would last for some time. This belief would be soon shaken following the Nine Tails attack on Konohagakure killing many including the new Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze with a grieving and most reluctant Third Hokage taking up the hat again after having giving it to his successor and now also predecessor less than a year ago. A daunting challenge laid ahead for him having to rebuild a demoralized village with its military strength still recovering from the recent war further depleted and as word spread its enemies saw an opportunity with Kirigakure the first to pounce, launching raids on Fire Country eastern coast and a small but growing number of attacks on Leaf Shinobi. To the west the Daimyos of Kaze no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni held daily meeting with advisors, generals and leaders of their ninja villages weighing the pros and cons of going to war while the Daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni rapidly began preparing his country for war. Konohagakure seeing that the Fourth Shinobi World War would start far sooner than anyone had expected, prepared for war bringing retired Shinobi back into service including those wounded both physically and mentally along with speeding up the education of academy students while sparing what Shinobi it could for escort and protection missions for clients in other countries out of both a financial need and to project an image of the village being stronger than it actually was.

There was also internal tensions in the village with suspicions among Konohagakure leadership that the Uchiha had orchestrated it and in turn had all the Uchiha relocated to a compound along the village's outskirts to monitor them more easily while the excuse given that it was a necessary step in Konoha's reconstruction which in turn outraged the Uchiha to have their loyalty to the village doubted despite the decades of service and countless Uchiha that had given their lives and so once unthinkable and treasonous ideas began to be considered. Adding to these tensions was the rest of the village's malice resulting from no Uchiha having died in the attack and a rapidly growing number of conspiracy theories with the Hyuga more than happy to fuel this as part of their never ending quest for influence and power in the village. All this added together made it seem that dark days were ahead for Konohagakure but then two months after the Nine Tail attack fate favored the Leaf village and the course of history changed in a flash as suddenly a village smaller but similar to Konohagakure outside its walls. Naturally this caused a panic as ninja from both villages rapidly rushed to the walls separating the two Leaf villages with tense stand-off as two Hiruzen came face to face at the central gate and had a friendly chat to the confusion of many of the nearby Shinobi and then ordered their respective forces to stand down with both noting that creating a fake village would have taken an impossible amount of chakra and skill for a genjutsu user and if another village could do something like this they would have just attacked instead of some elaborate scheme and likely a god or some being of immense power being responsible. The two Hokage then began meeting with their various department heads seeking to merge the now duplicate departments and various organizations to free up Shinobi for other positions and missions while squads were dispatched to the borders of the Land of Fire primarily the north and the east with the latter deployments seeing multiple Kirigakure squads killed.

This show of strength saw the Fourth Mizukage deciding to end the raids for the time being and ordering a new purge of the lower caste of the village as a release valve for anger over no gains made during the recent war and now the costly failure of the raiding campaign. In Kaze no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni support for war began to drop rapidly as Suna and Iwa agents began sending word back of Konohagakure doubling in size by some act of divine power and now having thousands of more Shinobi at its disposal. In reality Konohagakure had only gained slightly over a thousand ninja, just a fraction of Konohagakure now combined forces but not a insignificant force and much needed boost to the village military strength though that did not stop Konohagakure Intelligence Division from fan rumors of its military strength being far greater than it was and would see the Daimyos of Wind and Earth now seeing war as a folly taking a wait and see approach. Then there was the Daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni who found himself with a conundrum as unlike his counterparts he simply couldn't not go to war having spent a sizable amount of money preparing for war with Hi no Kuni and then there were the political considerations. His country had been the first major power to exit the Third Shinobi World War, him having judged that there would have been no benefit to continue fighting which with the country having spent immense sums of wealth and blood for no gain had been a deeply unpopular decision among the nobles, generals and Shinobi.

Now however with Konohagakure having regained a portion of its lost strength, as well now having two extra jinchūriki and word reaching his court that the new smaller Konohagakure from six years in an alternate future had fought Kumogakure to a stalemate did not make him confident but he needed a victorious war lest he risk the possibility of coup to replace him with a member of his family willing to start a war. With war with Hi no Kuni and the buffer countries no longer an option as well going after Mizu no Kuni would be suicide with the strongest navy in the world and so that left only Tsuchi no Kuni, so he ordered his generals to draw up an invasion of Tsuchi no Kuni eastern coast while ordering the Raikage to gather intelligence about the coastal regions to plan and execute operations in the lead up to the landings of the Daimyo armies that would speed up the pace of their invasion. A build up of forces along the border with Shimo no Kuni continued as a ploy to misdirect other countries where the Lighting Daimyo actually intended to unleash his forces though there were concerns that Kirigakure might attempt raids on Lightings eastern coast while the majority of their forces are away to make up for their recent embarrassment in Hi no Kuni but those concerns did not last long after the failed coup attempt in Kirigakure and the following events saw Kirigakure no longer able to afford foreign adventures. After a few months of preparations, Land of Lighting forces boarded their transports and departed with a portion of the invasion force breaking off part way and heading to the Land of Waterfall to keep the ruse going while the rest continued onto their destinations temporarily detaining some foreign vessels while sinking any Land of Earth ship they encountered. As the invasion force approached the north eastern coast, sailors and soldiers on the decks of the ships could at multiple locations see smoke on the horizon and as they could get closer they could Kumo ANBU awaiting them at the docks having secured the port cities after killing the local garrisons and any Iwa ninja who had the misfortune of being present.

As the troops and supplies were unloaded along with a sizable portion of Kumo forces led by the Raikage, new orders were issued as the Daimyo armies assumed control of the northeastern port cities while numerous platoons of Kumo Shinobi rushed out to secure strategic locations. They be meet by other Kumo ANBU teams returning from various missions such burning Tsuchi no Kuni ports and fleets in the south, destroying bridges to slow down local forces, sowing instability with the burning of various nearby provinces food sources along destroying nearby garrisons and razing noble estates, stealing all they could and killing all found within to weaken the image of the Land of Earth Daimyo and his ability to deploy the full resources of his nation. As reinforcements would pour across the sea to reinforce Lightings new and expanding territory, panic would sweep across the nation as the Daimyo and Tsuchikage Onoki rushed to mobilize and deploy forces capable of first preventing further sizeable loss of territory and then regain loss lands and eventually push out the invaders. The early weeks of this new war do not lend confidence that will happen with the Raikage having smashed Iwagakure forces in several major victories and while Iwagakure has scored victories, the momentum of the war clearly does not favor them. Adding to their troubles is having to prosecute a war while protecting the immense borders of its nation with a depleted military force and having to deter other hostile villages has limited what forces it can deploy against Kumo while the growing skirmishes with other villages may soon join the war.

…………..
A year has passed since what is increasingly called the Event and for the Big 5 villages it is now a far different world. In the east, the Land of the Water knows only war as numerous provinces have risen in rebellion and fighting for independence and in turn seeing a number of nobles seeking to overthrow the Daimyo and each seeking to claim the throne for themselves while conspiring with traitorous elements of the military and certain Kirigakure rebel groups and further bolstering their forces with hired foreign missing nin. Speaking of Kirigakure, it's civil war has flared back to life with the ranks of the many rebels groups swelled by ninja who were involved in Zabuza failed coup that didn't flee to other countries along with an uptick of Kiri nin defecting to the rebels with Kirigakure forces fighting on numerous islands and while smashing a few of the rebel groups its civil war is far from being over. Notable desertions further weakening Kirigakure include its other jinchūriki Utakata, along with swordsmen Ameyuri Ringo and Raiga Kurosuki reducing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to just the Four Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. As well due to the twin civil wars plaguing the Land of Water, the number of domestic clients hiring Kiri nin has greatly decreased and even more so for foreign clients increasingly preferring to hire ninja from Konohagakure instead of from Bloody Mist.

With their mounting losses Kirigakure commadere convinced a very reluctant Yagura to pull back and consolidate their forces to territories they can defend while the village rebuilds their forces and pulling in an increasing number of students from the growing slums fueled refugees fleeing from other parts of the country. The Daimyo raged over ceding territory to the various rebel groups but forced to go along due to his ever weakening position and if the Mizukage is overthrown he will meet a bloody end as well. In these troubled economic times, vast numbers of ships have departed from loyalist Mizu no Kuni ports though not to to collect the bounty of the sea fish or seeking to trade but rather to capture the cargo and goods carried by other nations with these acts of piracy being unofficially state sanctioned and when it became apparent via bloody interrogation of pirate captains by Konoha Intelligence saw Hi no Kuni organize a naval coalition with a response led by Hi no Kuni to make seas once safe for trade and as a side benefit it's sphere of influence begins to swallow up countries once firmly under the sway of Mizu no Kuni. Other blowback from this unwise piracy policy has seen other countries open their ports to trade with rebel territories for those captains brave enough to make the trip across pirate infested waters. Though not all have shunned the Land of Water, with the Land of Lightning Daimyo concerned over Hi no Kuni growing influence and seeking to take advantage of the weakness of Mizu no Kuni secured a lopsided trade deal in its favor along with an alliance which naturally include its merchants being exempt from the ongoing loyalist piracy raging.

For the Land of Lightning, times are good as the Land of Water grows increasingly dependent on it for trade due to the increasing isolation of the latter while Kumogakure has gained a number of jutsu from Kiri though Kumo has provide some limited aid to their new ally and with the approval of the Daimyo providing loans to Kirigakure and as for further aid will depend on how quickly the war in the Land of Earth ending and how the civil wars in the Land of Water develop. Speaking of the war against Iwagakure and it's Daimyo has gone very these past few months with even more land having been conquered while new fronts have been opened due to the successful diplomacy of Kumo Shinobi acting on the authority of the Raikage and Daimyo were able to convince several villages and their countries to join the war stretching and stretching the forces of the Land of Earth thinner. The Lighting Daimyo with the ongoing and successful war has stabilized the political situation in his country and awarding valuable land to his allies in the nobility with nobles dispatching spare sons and part of their household staff to oversee their new lands and recruiting workers from the cities and rural areas in mainland Lighting due to labor shortage in recently conquered lands resulting from the war. Which will also be helpful in the long term process to assimilate the conquered territories as Lightings ministers and bureaucrats have been hard at work carving out and organizing new provinces as tax collections begin along with selling seized mines to help subsidize the cost of the war while keeping some of the mines to naturally enrich the Daimyo and his family. Kumogakure has paid a sizeable price to achieve the ongoing expansion but has been rewarded with a sizeable increase of the budget provided by the Daimyo and has used some of the new funds to successfully entice more families and merchants to settle in Kumogakure increasing its tax base and an small but growing increase in the size of its academy sizes while postwar plans to recruit missing ninja postwar to boost the strength of the village as the people of Kumo look toward a bright future.

While Kumo looks forward to the future with hope the same can not be said for Iwagakure as the war against Kumo ever worsens with the village especially once other villages poured their forces across the border to seize territory during this current time of weakness for the Land of Earth. The Earth Daimyo knows the war is lost and to continue it would be futile and so plans to ask for an armistice that will lead to negotiations that will without a doubt see the country suffer heavy territorial losses and sizable reparations to the victorious powers. The Daimyo knows he will be heavily reliant upon Iwagakure retain his throne and to stabilize the country with a growing number of conspiracies to overthrow him recently exposed and bloodily dealt with while banditry has exploded to unprecedented levels across the country with a long and difficult reconstruction ahead for the nation. As Iwagakure struggles to hold the line against Kumogakure and its allies, it is already planning for the next war as it recruits orphans and from refugee families that stream into the village every day to replenish their exhausted ranks while Onoki approves research once considered too far for Shinobi as he will need every possible advantage in the inevitable Fourth Shinobi World War. As well Onoki seeks new allies in old enemies as relations with Konohagakure and Sunagakure improve largely due to the village they hate the most now being Kumogakure but as well due to the two villages pulling back some of their forces from their borders with the Land of Earth allowing him to move some troops to the other fronts and so they will bide their as they regain their and one day they will have their vengeance.

Sunagakure at the end of the Third Shinobi World War while having failed to conquer the Land of the Rivers had managed to conquer some territory in the west and so found peace far more acceptable than most other villages. After the Nine Tails attack on Konohagakure it seemed that there was a chance to expand east though as quickly as that opportunity appeared it was gone and five months after that Suna jinchūriki unexpectedly died unleashing the One Tail and at a heavy cost he was sealed into Kazekage Rasa newborn son Gaara. The Wind Daimyo seeing his ninja village already the weakest of the Big 5, further weakened and a shifting international situation would establish an alliance with the Land of Fire and the alliance looking even more wise with the Land of Lighting establishing alliances with countries on Wind western border. Sunagakure at first saw this alliance as beneficial but that did not last long as the Land of Wind Daimyo began outsourcing missions previously given to Suna to Konoha who could do for them a cheaper price and to further worsen matters Kazekage has received word that the Daimyo will reduce their budget for the upcoming year. To make up for this loss of funding the Fourth Kazekage has reduced expenses for the villages where he can, selling gold dust to make for lost of funding and decided that Suna needed to increase the strength of its individual Shinobi to make up for the lack of its numbers while making heavy use of its ninja puppets to disguise how great their manpower shortage truly is with its immediate future to be challenging.

As the other major villages have weakened, Konohagakure has been building up its strength and enjoying a peace it should not have as its Shinobi reinforced and with intel from six years in the future, smash numerous bandit and criminal syndicates and arresting corrupt government officials across the Land of Fire resulting in trade flowing across the country much quicker and safer while many businesses no longer find themselves extorted by gangsters corrupt while more funds flow into the coffers of the government now that not as much is being pocketed by corrupt officials. Money and valuables seized from various criminal groups helps to massively speed up the reconstruction of the part of the village now called Inner Konohagakure or the Inner Ring finishing recently while the part of the village from the future now known as the Outer Ring has seen the majority of the refugees, immigrants from countless nations along with migration from across the Land of Fire settling there attracted by the size of Konohagakure new and unprecedented economic boom as a far larger village is taking shape and best exemplified by the expanding of the Outer Ring wall to ensure the villagers of Outer Konohagakure are not exposed to any future attack on the village. Leaf Shinobi in the last year have taken missions far and wide and without a doubt the most notable of these missions being the Kakashi Hatake from the future visit to the Land of Snow which proved both memorable and famous. That Kakashi had traveled to the Land of Snow with his assignment to protect the Snow Daimyo and his family due to suspicions that there would be an attempt on his life quickly morphed into foiling a coup attempt by the Daimyo brother and fighting a war with Yukigakure and receiving unexpected help from survivors of a recent Yukigakure civil war and some Yuki Shinobi disgruntled with Nadare Rōga new regime. Kakashi and his allies after several battles would emerge victorious killing Rōga and crippling Yukigakure with the ANBU teams dispatched to reinforce Kakashi and to wipe out Yuki would discover a burnt and razed villages with numerous unburied bodies with the ANBU Captain in charge of that mission in her report to the Hokage speculating that the remaining Yuki Shinobi after learning of Rōga death had turn upon each with any survivors having scattered.

With mission in Land of Snow and the country now firmly in Hi no Kuni sphere of influence Kakashi would depart and with twenty one ex Yuki Shinobi in tow seeking to join and gladly welcome while naturally being extensively monitored like any new members of the village till there is no doubt about their loyalty to Konohagakure while Kakashi is immensely amused by how the mission turned out and the reactions of others as he tells the story. Politics within the village has changed for several reasons but most importantly with the Outer Ring part of the village brought with it a powerful Senju Clan which saw many clans align with them dissatisfied with the Uchiha and Hyuga clans duopoly on village politics though the Uchiha are not without benefits in this new era of village politics as the Hokage has spoken publicly out against rumors doubting the Uchiha. For international politics, the village is now allies with Suna and may soon be allies with Iwa, something once impossible but made possible by Iwagakure number new enemy being Kumo and the decision of the Hokage to move some of his forces away from the border with the Land of Earth and pressuring the Kazekage to do the same. The shadow war with Kumo has numerous fronts with undoubtedly the bloodiest being in the Land of Water where Kumo is backing Kiri while Konoha backs various rebel Kiri Shinobi and with Mei Terumi rebels being the strongest faction receiving the largest share of Konoha aid. As well with Konoha growing ties to the rebels this has also allowed them to contact Zabuzua and make use of him and his band of ninja to undergo missions where Konoha wants to be absolutely certain targets will not survive they hire Zabuzua, which is fine with him as gets to kill, paid for it and send funds back to assist Mei and her rebels.

A year ago in Konohagakure it was feared what the future would bring but now once more it is the strongest of the Big 5 villages and while it is hoped that there will be a long peace, the village stands ready at any time to go to war with its experienced Hokage expecting to lead the village through one final Shinobi World War and afterwards retire for a second and hopefully final time while the younger generations and coming generations guided by the Will of Fire lead the village to new and even greater heights.



[1] The younger Hokage while the older Hokage from the future retired.

So decided to take one element from a scenario I've been tinkering with, an AUish Leaf Village from six years after the Nine Tails attacks and isot it next to another AUish Leaf village and result is this. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
 
With peace signed between the three remaining major villages in the war and their respective countries, the long and bloody Third Shinobi World War had finally concluded and now was the time to rest and rebuild to rest, rebuild and to replenish financial and military strength for the next war with the expectation that the peace would last for some time. This belief would be soon shaken following the Nine Tails attack on Konohagakure killing many including the new Yondaime Hokage Minato Namikaze with a grieving and most reluctant Third Hokage taking up the hat again after having giving it to his successor and now also predecessor less than a year ago. A daunting challenge laid ahead for him having to rebuild a demoralized village with its military strength still recovering from the recent war further depleted and as word spread its enemies saw an opportunity with Kirigakure the first to pounce, launching raids on Fire Country eastern coast and a small but growing number of attacks on Leaf Shinobi. To the west the Daimyos of Kaze no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni held daily meeting with advisors, generals and leaders of their ninja villages weighing the pros and cons of going to war while the Daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni rapidly began preparing his country for war. Konohagakure seeing that the Fourth Shinobi World War would start far sooner than anyone had expected, prepared for war bringing retired Shinobi back into service including those wounded both physically and mentally along with speeding up the education of academy students while sparing what Shinobi it could for escort and protection missions for clients in other countries out of both a financial need and to project an image of the village being stronger than it actually was.

There was also internal tensions in the village with suspicions among Konohagakure leadership that the Uchiha had orchestrated it and in turn had all the Uchiha relocated to a compound along the village's outskirts to monitor them more easily while the excuse given that it was a necessary step in Konoha's reconstruction which in turn outraged the Uchiha to have their loyalty to the village doubted despite the decades of service and countless Uchiha that had given their lives and so once unthinkable and treasonous ideas began to be considered. Adding to these tensions was the rest of the village's malice resulting from no Uchiha having died in the attack and a rapidly growing number of conspiracy theories with the Hyuga more than happy to fuel this as part of their never ending quest for influence and power in the village. All this added together made it seem that dark days were ahead for Konohagakure but then two months after the Nine Tail attack fate favored the Leaf village and the course of history changed in a flash as suddenly a village smaller but similar to Konohagakure outside its walls. Naturally this caused a panic as ninja from both villages rapidly rushed to the walls separating the two Leaf villages with tense stand-off as two Hiruzen came face to face at the central gate and had a friendly chat to the confusion of many of the nearby Shinobi and then ordered their respective forces to stand down with both noting that creating a fake village would have taken an impossible amount of chakra and skill for a genjutsu user and if another village could do something like this they would have just attacked instead of some elaborate scheme and likely a god or some being of immense power being responsible. The two Hokage then began meeting with their various department heads seeking to merge the now duplicate departments and various organizations to free up Shinobi for other positions and missions while squads were dispatched to the borders of the Land of Fire primarily the north and the east with the latter deployments seeing multiple Kirigakure squads killed.

This show of strength saw the Fourth Mizukage deciding to end the raids for the time being and ordering a new purge of the lower caste of the village as a release valve for anger over no gains made during the recent war and now the costly failure of the raiding campaign. In Kaze no Kuni and Tsuchi no Kuni support for war began to drop rapidly as Suna and Iwa agents began sending word back of Konohagakure doubling in size by some act of divine power and now having thousands of more Shinobi at its disposal. In reality Konohagakure had only gained slightly over a thousand ninja, just a fraction of Konohagakure now combined forces but not a insignificant force and much needed boost to the village military strength though that did not stop Konohagakure Intelligence Division from fan rumors of its military strength being far greater than it was and would see the Daimyos of Wind and Earth now seeing war as a folly taking a wait and see approach. Then there was the Daimyo of Kaminari no Kuni who found himself with a conundrum as unlike his counterparts he simply couldn't not go to war having spent a sizable amount of money preparing for war with Hi no Kuni and then there were the political considerations. His country had been the first major power to exit the Third Shinobi World War, him having judged that there would have been no benefit to continue fighting which with the country having spent immense sums of wealth and blood for no gain had been a deeply unpopular decision among the nobles, generals and Shinobi.

Now however with Konohagakure having regained a portion of its lost strength, as well now having two extra jinchūriki and word reaching his court that the new smaller Konohagakure from six years in an alternate future had fought Kumogakure to a stalemate did not make him confident but he needed a victorious war lest he risk the possibility of coup to replace him with a member of his family willing to start a war. With war with Hi no Kuni and the buffer countries no longer an option as well going after Mizu no Kuni would be suicide with the strongest navy in the world and so that left only Tsuchi no Kuni, so he ordered his generals to draw up an invasion of Tsuchi no Kuni eastern coast while ordering the Raikage to gather intelligence about the coastal regions to plan and execute operations in the lead up to the landings of the Daimyo armies that would speed up the pace of their invasion. A build up of forces along the border with Shimo no Kuni continued as a ploy to misdirect other countries where the Lighting Daimyo actually intended to unleash his forces though there were concerns that Kirigakure might attempt raids on Lightings eastern coast while the majority of their forces are away to make up for their recent embarrassment in Hi no Kuni but those concerns did not last long after the failed coup attempt in Kirigakure and the following events saw Kirigakure no longer able to afford foreign adventures. After a few months of preparations, Land of Lighting forces boarded their transports and departed with a portion of the invasion force breaking off part way and heading to the Land of Waterfall to keep the ruse going while the rest continued onto their destinations temporarily detaining some foreign vessels while sinking any Land of Earth ship they encountered. As the invasion force approached the north eastern coast, sailors and soldiers on the decks of the ships could at multiple locations see smoke on the horizon and as they could get closer they could Kumo ANBU awaiting them at the docks having secured the port cities after killing the local garrisons and any Iwa ninja who had the misfortune of being present.

As the troops and supplies were unloaded along with a sizable portion of Kumo forces led by the Raikage, new orders were issued as the Daimyo armies assumed control of the northeastern port cities while numerous platoons of Kumo Shinobi rushed out to secure strategic locations. They be meet by other Kumo ANBU teams returning from various missions such burning Tsuchi no Kuni ports and fleets in the south, destroying bridges to slow down local forces, sowing instability with the burning of various nearby provinces food sources along destroying nearby garrisons and razing noble estates, stealing all they could and killing all found within to weaken the image of the Land of Earth Daimyo and his ability to deploy the full resources of his nation. As reinforcements would pour across the sea to reinforce Lightings new and expanding territory, panic would sweep across the nation as the Daimyo and Tsuchikage Onoki rushed to mobilize and deploy forces capable of first preventing further sizeable loss of territory and then regain loss lands and eventually push out the invaders. The early weeks of this new war do not lend confidence that will happen with the Raikage having smashed Iwagakure forces in several major victories and while Iwagakure has scored victories, the momentum of the war clearly does not favor them. Adding to their troubles is having to prosecute a war while protecting the immense borders of its nation with a depleted military force and having to deter other hostile villages has limited what forces it can deploy against Kumo while the growing skirmishes with other villages may soon join the war.

…………..
A year has passed since what is increasingly called the Event and for the Big 5 villages it is now a far different world. In the east, the Land of the Water knows only war as numerous provinces have risen in rebellion and fighting for independence and in turn seeing a number of nobles seeking to overthrow the Daimyo and each seeking to claim the throne for themselves while conspiring with traitorous elements of the military and certain Kirigakure rebel groups and further bolstering their forces with hired foreign missing nin. Speaking of Kirigakure, it's civil war has flared back to life with the ranks of the many rebels groups swelled by ninja who were involved in Zabuza failed coup that didn't flee to other countries along with an uptick of Kiri nin defecting to the rebels with Kirigakure forces fighting on numerous islands and while smashing a few of the rebel groups its civil war is far from being over. Notable desertions further weakening Kirigakure include its other jinchūriki Utakata, along with swordsmen Ameyuri Ringo and Raiga Kurosuki reducing the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist to just the Four Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist. As well due to the twin civil wars plaguing the Land of Water, the number of domestic clients hiring Kiri nin has greatly decreased and even more so for foreign clients increasingly preferring to hire ninja from Konohagakure instead of from Bloody Mist.

With their mounting losses Kirigakure commadere convinced a very reluctant Yagura to pull back and consolidate their forces to territories they can defend while the village rebuilds their forces and pulling in an increasing number of students from the growing slums fueled refugees fleeing from other parts of the country. The Daimyo raged over ceding territory to the various rebel groups but forced to go along due to his ever weakening position and if the Mizukage is overthrown he will meet a bloody end as well. In these troubled economic times, vast numbers of ships have departed from loyalist Mizu no Kuni ports though not to to collect the bounty of the sea fish or seeking to trade but rather to capture the cargo and goods carried by other nations with these acts of piracy being unofficially state sanctioned and when it became apparent via bloody interrogation of pirate captains by Konoha Intelligence saw Hi no Kuni organize a naval coalition with a response led by Hi no Kuni to make seas once safe for trade and as a side benefit it's sphere of influence begins to swallow up countries once firmly under the sway of Mizu no Kuni. Other blowback from this unwise piracy policy has seen other countries open their ports to trade with rebel territories for those captains brave enough to make the trip across pirate infested waters. Though not all have shunned the Land of Water, with the Land of Lightning Daimyo concerned over Hi no Kuni growing influence and seeking to take advantage of the weakness of Mizu no Kuni secured a lopsided trade deal in its favor along with an alliance which naturally include its merchants being exempt from the ongoing loyalist piracy raging.

For the Land of Lightning, times are good as the Land of Water grows increasingly dependent on it for trade due to the increasing isolation of the latter while Kumogakure has gained a number of jutsu from Kiri though Kumo has provide some limited aid to their new ally and with the approval of the Daimyo providing loans to Kirigakure and as for further aid will depend on how quickly the war in the Land of Earth ending and how the civil wars in the Land of Water develop. Speaking of the war against Iwagakure and it's Daimyo has gone very these past few months with even more land having been conquered while new fronts have been opened due to the successful diplomacy of Kumo Shinobi acting on the authority of the Raikage and Daimyo were able to convince several villages and their countries to join the war stretching and stretching the forces of the Land of Earth thinner. The Lighting Daimyo with the ongoing and successful war has stabilized the political situation in his country and awarding valuable land to his allies in the nobility with nobles dispatching spare sons and part of their household staff to oversee their new lands and recruiting workers from the cities and rural areas in mainland Lighting due to labor shortage in recently conquered lands resulting from the war. Which will also be helpful in the long term process to assimilate the conquered territories as Lightings ministers and bureaucrats have been hard at work carving out and organizing new provinces as tax collections begin along with selling seized mines to help subsidize the cost of the war while keeping some of the mines to naturally enrich the Daimyo and his family. Kumogakure has paid a sizeable price to achieve the ongoing expansion but has been rewarded with a sizeable increase of the budget provided by the Daimyo and has used some of the new funds to successfully entice more families and merchants to settle in Kumogakure increasing its tax base and an small but growing increase in the size of its academy sizes while postwar plans to recruit missing ninja postwar to boost the strength of the village as the people of Kumo look toward a bright future.

While Kumo looks forward to the future with hope the same can not be said for Iwagakure as the war against Kumo ever worsens with the village especially once other villages poured their forces across the border to seize territory during this current time of weakness for the Land of Earth. The Earth Daimyo knows the war is lost and to continue it would be futile and so plans to ask for an armistice that will lead to negotiations that will without a doubt see the country suffer heavy territorial losses and sizable reparations to the victorious powers. The Daimyo knows he will be heavily reliant upon Iwagakure retain his throne and to stabilize the country with a growing number of conspiracies to overthrow him recently exposed and bloodily dealt with while banditry has exploded to unprecedented levels across the country with a long and difficult reconstruction ahead for the nation. As Iwagakure struggles to hold the line against Kumogakure and its allies, it is already planning for the next war as it recruits orphans and from refugee families that stream into the village every day to replenish their exhausted ranks while Onoki approves research once considered too far for Shinobi as he will need every possible advantage in the inevitable Fourth Shinobi World War. As well Onoki seeks new allies in old enemies as relations with Konohagakure and Sunagakure improve largely due to the village they hate the most now being Kumogakure but as well due to the two villages pulling back some of their forces from their borders with the Land of Earth allowing him to move some troops to the other fronts and so they will bide their as they regain their and one day they will have their vengeance.

Sunagakure at the end of the Third Shinobi World War while having failed to conquer the Land of the Rivers had managed to conquer some territory in the west and so found peace far more acceptable than most other villages. After the Nine Tails attack on Konohagakure it seemed that there was a chance to expand east though as quickly as that opportunity appeared it was gone and five months after that Suna jinchūriki unexpectedly died unleashing the One Tail and at a heavy cost he was sealed into Kazekage Rasa newborn son Gaara. The Wind Daimyo seeing his ninja village already the weakest of the Big 5, further weakened and a shifting international situation would establish an alliance with the Land of Fire and the alliance looking even more wise with the Land of Lighting establishing alliances with countries on Wind western border. Sunagakure at first saw this alliance as beneficial but that did not last long as the Land of Wind Daimyo began outsourcing missions previously given to Suna to Konoha who could do for them a cheaper price and to further worsen matters Kazekage has received word that the Daimyo will reduce their budget for the upcoming year. To make up for this loss of funding the Fourth Kazekage has reduced expenses for the villages where he can, selling gold dust to make for lost of funding and decided that Suna needed to increase the strength of its individual Shinobi to make up for the lack of its numbers while making heavy use of its ninja puppets to disguise how great their manpower shortage truly is with its immediate future to be challenging.

As the other major villages have weakened, Konohagakure has been building up its strength and enjoying a peace it should not have as its Shinobi reinforced and with intel from six years in the future, smash numerous bandit and criminal syndicates and arresting corrupt government officials across the Land of Fire resulting in trade flowing across the country much quicker and safer while many businesses no longer find themselves extorted by gangsters corrupt while more funds flow into the coffers of the government now that not as much is being pocketed by corrupt officials. Money and valuables seized from various criminal groups helps to massively speed up the reconstruction of the part of the village now called Inner Konohagakure or the Inner Ring finishing recently while the part of the village from the future now known as the Outer Ring has seen the majority of the refugees, immigrants from countless nations along with migration from across the Land of Fire settling there attracted by the size of Konohagakure new and unprecedented economic boom as a far larger village is taking shape and best exemplified by the expanding of the Outer Ring wall to ensure the villagers of Outer Konohagakure are not exposed to any future attack on the village. Leaf Shinobi in the last year have taken missions far and wide and without a doubt the most notable of these missions being the Kakashi Hatake from the future visit to the Land of Snow which proved both memorable and famous. That Kakashi had traveled to the Land of Snow with his assignment to protect the Snow Daimyo and his family due to suspicions that there would be an attempt on his life quickly morphed into foiling a coup attempt by the Daimyo brother and fighting a war with Yukigakure and receiving unexpected help from survivors of a recent Yukigakure civil war and some Yuki Shinobi disgruntled with Nadare Rōga new regime. Kakashi and his allies after several battles would emerge victorious killing Rōga and crippling Yukigakure with the ANBU teams dispatched to reinforce Kakashi and to wipe out Yuki would discover a burnt and razed villages with numerous unburied bodies with the ANBU Captain in charge of that mission in her report to the Hokage speculating that the remaining Yuki Shinobi after learning of Rōga death had turn upon each with any survivors having scattered.

With mission in Land of Snow and the country now firmly in Hi no Kuni sphere of influence Kakashi would depart and with twenty one ex Yuki Shinobi in tow seeking to join and gladly welcome while naturally being extensively monitored like any new members of the village till there is no doubt about their loyalty to Konohagakure while Kakashi is immensely amused by how the mission turned out and the reactions of others as he tells the story. Politics within the village has changed for several reasons but most importantly with the Outer Ring part of the village brought with it a powerful Senju Clan which saw many clans align with them dissatisfied with the Uchiha and Hyuga clans duopoly on village politics though the Uchiha are not without benefits in this new era of village politics as the Hokage has spoken publicly out against rumors doubting the Uchiha. For international politics, the village is now allies with Suna and may soon be allies with Iwa, something once impossible but made possible by Iwagakure number new enemy being Kumo and the decision of the Hokage to move some of his forces away from the border with the Land of Earth and pressuring the Kazekage to do the same. The shadow war with Kumo has numerous fronts with undoubtedly the bloodiest being in the Land of Water where Kumo is backing Kiri while Konoha backs various rebel Kiri Shinobi and with Mei Terumi rebels being the strongest faction receiving the largest share of Konoha aid. As well with Konoha growing ties to the rebels this has also allowed them to contact Zabuzua and make use of him and his band of ninja to undergo missions where Konoha wants to be absolutely certain targets will not survive they hire Zabuzua, which is fine with him as gets to kill, paid for it and send funds back to assist Mei and her rebels.

A year ago in Konohagakure it was feared what the future but now once more it is the strongest of the Big 5 villages and while it is hoped that there will be a long peace, the village stands ready at any time to go to war with its experienced Hokage expecting to lead the village through one final Shinobi World War and afterwards retire for a second and hopefully final time while the younger generations and coming generations guided by the Will of Fire lead the village to new and even greater heights.



[1] The younger Hokage while the older Hokage from the future retired.

So decided to take one element from a scenario I've been tinkering with, an AUish Leaf Village from six years after the Nine Tails attacks and isot it next to another AUish Leaf village and result is this. Hope you guys enjoyed it.
It is alway strange when other villages get treated as equal to Konoha when it was never the case.
 
In Shippuden. Hokage is often so muc stronger than others.
Eh the other villages have their own gimmicks, sealed tailed beasts and #S# grade shinobi.

Its just that they are either often killed off ofscreen, purged in civil wars,skullfucked by the Akatsuki or actually defect to the Akatsuki.

The period covered in Naruto and Shippuden is exactly the period where all villages are severely weakened by these factors.

Konoha is simply covered by Plot Shields to a degree and even they are coming of from purging the Uchiha's, having Orochimaru defect, internal politics forcing Kakashis father to suicide or Tsunade turning renegade...
 
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