2600-2750 Tensions Clashes and the Colony war.
But the Colonies were about to find that their road was not without bumps:
While the rate of population increase had dropped from the incredible 4 percent of the early years, it was still quite high, ranging from 1.2 to 1.4 percent. Small numbers—until one realizes that by 2640, New Rio had over 650 million inhabitants. Now, the best parts of the world were no longer an issue—it was the decent parts of the world, and a culture which had been based on the idea that land was cheap and available, found that it was nothing of the sort. The successful corporations, such as MaxTech, rubbed their hands together as they constructed new transports—the visions of new colony worlds, and the fortunes they would create, made them eager.
All of them—and the 20 original Colonies had no higher government and suddenly their was a fear—quite unfounded, that the other worlds were going to grab the “Best land”. Among the corporations the question was who would gain the economic benefits of trade and customer base, and so it wasn’t surprising that on a world called, Daphne’s Choice, the first fights would break out between settlers from New Rio and Thompson’s Grave. The first battles were in 2600—and they lasted for nearly 150 years.
In the beginning they were marked by a floundering sense as none of the colonies had really had much in the way of serious battles. Equipment that wouldn’t have been out of place in the second world war was rushed to battle. The corporations worked to rectify that, and by 2645 the first fusion powered orbital fighters were being deployed, although they were in general poor flyers in the atmosphere. However, the Maxwell Consortium, an alliance of corporations based out of Maxwell’s world deployed the most powerful weapon ever seen—the bipedal, fuel cell powered Legionnaire class war walker. At 30 tons and with a hyper advanced autocannon, the war machine allowed them to score a number of victories—but it wasn’t long before most of the other Colony Worlds had their own variants.
The battles continued, mostly off the major Colony worlds, and became more vicious as time went on. The governments of the Twenty Worlds were largely incapable of reigning in the corporate interests or their own colonists, even if they had cause to do so…at least not until the Essex Atrocity.
It was in 2749, over the world of Johnson’s Purchase, where a number of Germanium deposits had been located. The Jumpship Essex was Hijacked by a group of terrorists, widely believed to be working for one corporation or another, and directed to hit the primary mining settlement. It was possible they didn’t understand or misjudged the course, but the 150,000 ton ship, impacted the planet at over 50 KM/sec, and the resultant devastation destroyed the city, mines, and killed just over 250,000 people.
Compared to the total population, the number ws tiny—but it had happened all at once, for a very minor reason, and the daysheets and online comment boards on every Colony were alive with discussion of what might happen if such tactics became widespread. Eventually, the Carstaris Corporation was implicated in the atrocity and dismantled, but the sense that things might get worse remained, even as the various Corporate and Colonial groups paused in their fighting.
