11-06-2004 08:43									#1
	Historical: The Ming Tran Revolution Support Apolyton, buy Galactic Civilizations: Deluxe Edition

This thread is set 160 years before the present day.


It had been 640 years since the gunships of Glenhaven had sailed into Wei Shang harbor and trained their guns on the palaces of the Tran. In the end the city fell without a shot fired. In the years that followed Glenhaven would extend its control from the islands onto the mainland. The Tang Mountains provided a perfect natural barrier and made the ‘Commonwealth’ of Ming Tran easy to defend.

The conquerors gave Ming Tran a unprecedented era of relative peace. There were wars aplenty for Glenhaven, and many of Ming Trans men were conscripted, mostly for naval service. But no battles were fought inside her borders.

The Covington family ruled the province as a Dukedom and as time grew on their rule became less and less restrictive. Native Tranians were given more and more rights as time went on until achieving full equality some 400 years after the conquest. The only position a Tran could not hold was the Dukedom itself. In recent decades, to the chagrin of traditionalist Havenites, a majority of the government was Tranian.

Connor Covington was the second Duke to bear his name and was a strict departure from any of his recent ancestors. A hardline traditionalist, Connor had been educated in Glenhaven and had fallen in with a nationalist political movement in the homeland. When Duchess Ariadne died Connor took the helm. In three years he stripped Tranians of just about all of the rights they had gained in the previous 637 years. He had created a House of Lords, a hereditary body composed entirely of the oldest and most conservative Havenite families in Ming Tran. In eighteen months he managed to shift legislative power almost in its entirety to the House of Lords. Tranian neighborhoods were given curfew and Tranian citizens were required to carry special registration cards.

In the summer of 640 the National Council and Colonial Assembly were formally converted to advisory legislative bodies. The House of Lords was given complete autonomy, they were required to send all legislation to the Council and Assembly, but they were not required to act on either houses ‘recommendations’. Within hours the House of Lords voted to rescind Tranian property rights, within hours of that the popular revolt reached the doors of the Ducal Palace. Duke Conner and his family were forced to flee to the hills of Wei Island. Connor II, Protector of the Commonwealth of Ming Tran was consigned to a series of Tents embedded with the 7th royal guard.

The revolution had begun.



Duke Connor II Covington, Lord of the Commonwealth of Ming Tran.

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	11-06-2004 08:50									#2
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Duke Connor II glared at the map arrayed on the table before him. He had been right not to trust any of the native savages. They had betrayed his rule at the first opportunity. Half of the military had fled the service, the other half had openly joined the rebel scum. Messages had been dispatched to his ‘friends’ in the Nationalist party in the city of Troid. Glenhaven would respond with force in support of him but it would take time. Until then he needed to secure a harbor and hold off the native unrest.

Tao was the obvious choice, it was on the opposite side of the island and had a deepwater port for the navy. Communications had faltered unfortunately. The rebellion had flared to the countryside and the telegraph lines were down. Riders had been dispatched but only about half of those sent were returning all with tales of chaos in the countryside. The one thing that was absolutely required was to get message to whatever elements of the Navy that had escaped the burning of Wei Shang harbor.

Wei Shang had turned into a nightmare, it was overrun with Tranian scum. Connor’s own brother Nathanial had been taken by the angry mobs before he could reach the palace. Connor fully expected a ransom note, but how it would reach him he had no idea. Connor made a mental note to have all Tranians expelled from Wei Shang when he returned, expelled and sent to work in the mines of the Tang mountains.

A strong-looking young lieutenant opened the tent flap and stepped inside saluting briskly. “We’ve reached the garrison in Tao, they hold the city, your grace.”

“Excellent, strike the camp, we will secure Tao and gather reinforcements.”

As the soldier left Connor began rolling up the maps. He would return to Wei Shang his boots red with the blood of the Tranian rebels. It would be renamed Conner City in recognition of his vision.



Norther Wei Island with the Duke's encapment.

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