Prikki-Ti.
Jakly Heralds of Death.
For many, these represent not great military victories, but mildly successful campaigns. The Prikki-Ti may be subjugated and reduced to slaves, but the end of their one-planet empire was a quiet undertaking, for the destruction of a small, inconsequential empire in the corner of the galaxy was a matter ignored by virtually every galactic power – the Prikki-Ti’s ethics concerning the purification of the galaxy no small help. The Jakly Heralds of Death lost nothing more than a couple systems in the short-lived war with the Commonwealth, though now suffer a fate of obscurity thanks to a handful of brief but hot conflicts with their Slerpanor neighbors.
In the wake of these petty conflicts, many political scientists across the galaxy question the Commonwealth’s nerve. Its fleets, on par with most galactic powers, do little except patrol major shipping lanes and guard border stations. The military dictatorship has done surprisingly little warmongering in its quadrant of the galaxy. Though some blame the two decades of economic hardship seen after the subjugation of the Prikki-Ti, and others blame the rise of isolationism in the nation, the true answer to the reasoning behind this odd policy lies in a far more complicated spot.
It was 2253. The Commonwealth-Jakly War was in full swing. Strike Force Cerberus had claimed Jumast and Alioth, thundering towards the Jakly capital system of Anaxador. The Jakly, fanatical purifiers, were shaken by the loss of their border systems and, after the destruction of their navy, feared the worst. But in 2253.11, Strike Force Cerberus merely stayed in orbit of Alioth as a Commonwealth diplomatic envoy offered peace to the Jakly, sparing them from certain annexation.
In the aftermath of the truce, the decision made by Grand Marshal Beauclair befuddled political scientists everywhere. Why would a nation, within reach of an easy victory, give up on it so early? The Slerpanor, for one, paid little mind to the Human’s choice, swiftly taking advantage of the disadvantaged Jakly and carving up their space in months. The Commonwealth’s fleets retreated back behind their borders, and a decade later were busy bombarding Gish as part of the Prikki-Ti subjugation campaign.
So why did the Commonwealth ignore such easy prey? Doubtlessly there were members of the political structure practically begging the Grand Marshal to go all the way, and it is a mystery as to why the star nation, so hell-bent on subjugating alien races, would… not.
To fully understand the answer to this question, one must understand the situation the Commonwealth was in at the time. In the 2250s, the Commonwealth’s economy was growing from the recent Gridwood colonization, and the establishment of the Galactic Market had begun a flow of credits that boosted the federal reserves to seemingly endless heights. Its navy, bolstered by recent shipbuilding reforms, was swelling in size and ready to fight, led by a recently appointed Jurgen Müller, an expert in war tactics.
What the Commonwealth lacked, however, was a capable bureaucracy. Thus far, the Commonwealth had only needed to deal with home turf – obedient citizens of the same species and ethics, planets of the same type, buildings of the same technology – little to no experience was yet had with alien technology, at least civilian. After the assessment of Jakly ships after the Alioth Skirmish, the Commonwealth political-military strata concluded that the subjugation of even a single alien planet would take an unparalleled administrative capacity, especially with the unchanged pro-xenoslavery policy instituted by Sidney Beauclair decades prior. Not only would new technology, architecture, and infrastructure need to be assimilated, but the support structure for potential slaves, mining systems, and trade routes would also need to be considered. The claiming of any xeno-colonized world would mean years of restructuring on nearly every level of the planet, as well as a brand-new support structure for tens of millions of slaves. Taking the listed obstructions into account, it would be a gargantuan undertaking to subjugate even a single Jakly colony, let alone their home planet.
Though this avoidance would spare the Jakly from man’s rule, it would not spare the Prikki-Ti. After a decisive battle in Scipiton during the 2275 subjugation campaign, Commonwealth armies quickly secured control of the bombed-out planet, clapping the natives in electro-irons as new workers as a brand-new human populace swooped in to take control of the planet. Immediately, the Commonwealth economy took a plunge in response. Prikki-Ti technology, although highly sophisticated, was an immense drain on Commonwealth resources. The xenos operated buildings far beyond normal Commonwealth technological know-how, meaning that the state was hard-pressed to keep them functioning. Massive unrest sprouted from the new 25 million slaves, and crime spread like summer weeds in the unregulated cities dotting the surface.
The Commonwealth quickly took action. Martial law was briefly declared as precinct stations popped up around the planet, and Prikki-Ti structures were demolished in favor of cheaper, easier to operate Human buildings. Robotics factories were constructed to gradually phase out the Prikki-Ti, and unemployed slaves were placed on the galactic market in an attempt to get them off-planet. Despite these measures, the planet continued to be a thorn in Commonwealth’s side. Minerals were sold en masse to keep federal funding afloat, and large cutbacks were made to military fleets to compensate for the credit drain of the subjugated planet.
In 2278, Grand Marshal Gauthier appointed Martina Dominguez as planetary governor and charged her with reducing the rampant crime, unemployment, and overcrowding on the planet’s surface. Despite the creation of dedicated enforcers and the enacting of strict crackdowns on organized crime, it took another five years for the planet to rid itself of major crime organizations and get back to a stable level.
This is, of course, why the Jakly-Human war of 2334 was itself short-lived. Though Commonwealth fleets went so far as to disable the Jakly starbase in their home system, acting Fleet Admiral Liang stuck to orders not to prepare the planet for eventual invasion, but to instead claim surrounding starbases on both sides of the Slerpanor divisor. The short war led to the Jakly losing major tracts of territory and potential colonies, but retaining their sovereignty despite a precarious position. Again, Commonwealth rulers noted that their infrastructure could not support the complete subjugation of the Jakly, despite the recovery of the economy by this time.
Though the current Slerpanor-Human War begun in 2243 seems to contradict the Commonwealth’s previous war policies, it is worth keeping in mind the objectives of the Commonwealth and its economic situation when analyzing any past conflict of theirs.
Last updated 2343.5.19
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