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For centuries, members of the genetically engineered
human subspecies known as Nietzscheans
lived as loyal Commonwealth citizens, obeying its
institutions, serving in its military and energetically
contributing to its welfare… until they decided to
destroy it.
By
most accounts, Nietzschean discontent with the Commonwealth
had been growing for decades, with many viewing it
as a decadent and insufficiently challenging environment
for a people as energetic as Homo sapiens invictus.
But this simmering unhappiness rose to a boil after
the Magog invasion of CY 9766 and what many Nietzscheans
regarded as an insufficiently aggressive Commonwealth
response. Long a frontier-dwelling people, many Nietzschean
worlds found themselves along the front lines of Magog/Commonwealth
confrontation, and suffered greatly from Magog attacks.
Dawkinstown, Hawking, Kagame's World—these are only
a few of the Nietzschean planets and settlements despoiled
and terrorized by the Magog.
Historical
accounts suggest that talk of Nietzschean secession
from the Commonwealth began in earnest during this
period, with the leading Drago-Kazov Pride beating
the drum for a full-scale insurrection. But many Nietzscheans
opposed such a radical course of action—until the
Treaty of Antares. This peace treaty signed with the
Magog in CY 9781
was viewed by the vast majority of Nietzscheans as
the ultimate betrayal of the losses they had suffered
and the burdens they had borne in the fight against
this implacable foe. The negotiators who made peace
with the Magog may not have realized it at the time,
but in the course of taming one enemy, they created
a far more dangerous one in its place.
With
the majority of Nietzscheans now backing a full-scale
assault against the Commonwealth, preparation for
the attack began in earnest. Nietzschean-owned shipping
firms went on a ship buying and building spree, always
choosing vessels which could easily be converted from
harmless civilian uses into lethal military ones.
Passenger liners became troop ships, cargo vessels
became cruisers and destroyers, and couriers were
converted into stealthy attack fighters.
Similarly,
the Home Guard units on Nietzschean worlds were beefed
up with new personnel and equipment, and even in the
elite High Guard Argosy and Lancer Corps, Nietzschean
officers and crew made plans to betray their ships
and units and turn them over to the enemy. In secret,
a vast armada of 10,000 vessels was assembled in the
Hephaistos system, with smaller strike groups positioned
throughout Commonwealth space, ready to pounce on
unsuspecting High Guard bases and Commonwealth seats
of power when the signal to strike was given.
At
Hephaistos System, a convenient rogue black hole allowed
the insurrectionists to send distress signals to a
large number of High Guard starships, summoning them
into a trap where they could be picked off one by
one. Over 200 top of the line vessels were destroyed
in this fashion, until the captain and crew of the
heavy cruiser Andromeda Ascendant managed to draw
off the fleet's fire long enough for much of the crew
to escape and reach Slipstream. Their veil of secrecy
about to be rended, the Nietzscheans struck, and struck
hard.
In
the opening days of the war, the attackers inflicted
devastating losses on the High Guard fleet and ground
forces. Despite the Commonwealth's overwhelming superiority
in ships and personnel (Nietzscheans comprised less
than 2 percent of the population of the Systems Commonwealth),
defeat appeared swift and certain, with the Nietzscheans
already planning to establish a post-Commonwealth
Nietzschean Empire.
But
rather than roll over and accept defeat after these
initial losses, the Commonwealth regrouped and fought
back fiercely. Interestingly enough, some of the High
Guard's few victories were actually achieved by Nietzschean
commanders, for a sizeable minority of Nietzscheans
remained loyal to the Commonwealth and fought bravely
to preserve its ideals.
A
war that was supposed to end in weeks lasted over
two years [see
timeline for details], and rather than resulting
in a Nietzschean triumph, ended in the two sides'
mutual annihilation. In fact, the brutal, anarchic
status quo in known space that persists to this day
can be traced directly to the power vacuum left at
the end of the Nietzschean Uprising. So in attempting
to ensure the survival of their people, the Nietzscheans
instead condemned themselves, as well as the rest
of known space, to three centuries of chaos and misery—an
historical irony that's not lost, even on some Nietzscheans.
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