THE FREE RASALHAGUE REPUBLIC: History

Kuritan war against Rasalhague,
times of Principality

Though the campaign against Rasalhague would go poorly for many years, Shiro would see the other areas of his dynasty expand to include more than 60 major worlds. The approximate borders ranged from near Terra to the Draconis Rift, and from the edge of the Principality of Rasalhague to the border of the Federated Suns. By 2348, the Draconis Combine was perhaps second-most powerful interstellar power of the ten existing states. Only the Terran Hegemony stood above it.

After consolidating the worlds immidiately surronding his Draconis Combine, Shiro Kurita again looked towards his neighbours in his plan to expand the Combine's influence. Though the Federated Suns controlled a number of attractive worlds, Kurita felt that Davion might be too distant for an easily won campaing. At this time, in 2330, the Draconis Combine did not yet share a common border with the Federated Suns.

Meanwhile, the Protectorate of Donegal, the Tamar Pact, and the Federation of Skye were in the midst of discussions to unite their three territories. Instead of directly attacking any of the three before the group had joined together, Kurita made one of his very few strategic errors. For unknown reasons, he shied away from that region and dispatched his brother Urizen, now Warlord, to move against the Principality of Rasalhague. Had he attacked the Tamar Pact at this stage, before it helped to form the Lyran Commonwealth, House Steiner would likely never come into existence. Instead, Rasalhague fell victim.

During the first three years of the campaign, Urizen encountered only token resistance. After a few months, he even sent his sons Victor and Isaac, also warriors in the Kurita tradition. Urizen's health was slowly deteriorating, and he wanted to ensure the Kurita bloodline would remain in battle. The younger Kuritas relished combat and quickly rose within the ranks.

Several Rasalhague member-worlds fell in a matter of months, with Combine advances limited more by logistics than by the minimal opposition. Using "Leap-frogging" techniques, the Kuritans seized planets in a seemingly erratic sequance. In this way, Urizen would continue to keep the enemy off guard while always creating an advance staging base for upcoming attacks. Other planets would then be taken during a second wave, sometimes two or four years later.

Moderately large Combine garrisons and enormous weapon caches were stationed on the advance bases, as Urizen and his forces seized worlds and continued to penetrate deeply into the Principality. In fact, by late 2333 they had actually bypassed the planet Rasalhague, having seized and subjugated New Bergen in it's place. This move surprised even the Rasalhagians, who felt sure Urizen Kurita would strike for their capital. In retrospect, he should have.

In January 2334, Victor and Isaac Kurita made up a small part of the Draconis Combine occupation force on New Bergen. The troops there were preparing for an action against the planet Outpost, but, for the moment, were enjoying an extended R&R period before the next battle. During this state of lessened attention, a powerful defending force dropped onto the world and combined their might with a prearranged uprising of local citizens. In an unprecended massacre, the defenders wiped out the occupation force to the last man. Huge stocks of armoured ground vehicles, personal weapons and artillery, munitions and equipment, and even a handful of parked JumpShips were captured and quickly distributed among the Rasalhagians.

Combined with the natives' own resourcefulness and sense of economy, these new weapons provided them with a means to fight the Draconis Combine on their own terms. In fact, the seizure of this single supply depot prolonged the fighting at least two full decades. On a more personal note, the loss of his sons at New Bergen nearly drove Urizen Kurita mad. Though he was coordinating plans elsewhere, it did not take long for him to hear of the debacle. Some say he turned almost purple upon receiving the news. In view of his heart condition, this is entirely possible.

Urizen never saw his revenge fulfilled, however. Though he did continue to lead his forces for the next two years, his health continued to worsen. In April 2336, he died from congestive heart failure. Upon learning of his brother's death, Shiro took the news with characteristic stoicism, reportedly saying: "Branches of the tree die, but the tree lives on." Fortunately for that side of the Kurita family line, Urizen's third son Adam was safe at home on New Samarkand, as was Victor's own son Vladimir. The Kurita dynasty was never seriously jeopardized, to the disappointment of its enemies.

After Urizen's death, Shiro's son Tenno personally took command of the Combine forces in Rasalhague. Though he was no general, Tenno maintained tenous control until Urizens son Adam replaced him in 2342. This freed Tenno to return his training for the position of Coordinator, which he took over in 2348 upon his father's death. Adam Kurita held the position of Warlord of Rasalhague until 2385.

Thanks to New Bergen raid, guerilla fighting continued in the Principality of Rasalhague for three decades. In 2367, Tenno finally declared the Rasalhague menace "vanguished", and withdrew most of the Combine's armed units present. In reality, the Principality remained officially neutral and an independent state until 2510, almost a century and a half later.

Our reason for leaving were as much geopolictical as they were economic. It was not so much that we wanted to go, but that conditions forced our departure. Our nations had suffered extensively as a result of the Second Russian Civil War in the early 21st century. The hordes of displaced civilians fleeing across the border from their destroyed Soviet homes created severe economic dislocation and near-anarchy in our homelands. As late as the mid-23rd century, nearly 150 years later, these once-prosperous nations were still paying the exorbitant social and financial costs of rebuilding the splintered Soviet states. The assessments, assigned by Terran Parliament and cruelly enforced by Alliance authotities, ensured the economic and psychological bankruptcy of our once proud lands.

When our chance came, we chose to flee. At that time, the unexplored planet of Rasalhague was about as far away from Terra as anyone could imagine. Thus, it was the perfect refuge for a people who had developed a deep and lasting resentment for oppressive, impersonal bureaucracies supported by a strong military. The Terran homeworld seemed bent on depriving our people of their dignity and their means of survival. Thus, we found our sanctuary in Rasalhague and other nearby worlds. Here we looked forward to autonomy and as much physical distance as possible from the authority of Terra.

The worlds settled in this region during this time were organized into a loose structure of clan-oriented families. Family heads took responsibility for their own, and annually elected a single head for each planet, known as Världherre, or world-lord. In turn, each world-lord paid lip service to our Prince, but not fanatical.

The prince, often referred to affectionately as the "High Chieftain", was nominally responsible for the safety and well being of every Rasalhagian. In practical terms, though, this protection amounted to little more than vernal agreement to a mutual defense pact. For all intents, every family was on its own and would live or die but its wits and the resources at hand.

Aside from petty family in-fighting and inevitable minor disagreements in planetary politics, we minded our own business. Surviving, we found, was a difficult chore. It became a standard political joke for commentators to add that "the Principality of Rasalhague was generally consipicuous by its abcence." As a rule, our citizens showed little interest in interstellas politics, other newly formed governments, or the activities of Terra.

In fact, we might have kept entirely to ourselves until population pressure build up to the point that we needed to expand our vision and our territories (not necessarily in that order). Judging from current trends and left to our own ways, this might have taken several centuries. Unfortunately, our indepedence would be forever crushed in 2330 by the heavy boots of the armies of the Draconis Combine.

- From Under the Dragon's Claw: A history of Rasalhague, by Rebekka Rogers, Tamar Interstellar Press, 2561

Tragedy struck during the last week with the return of Jason Kurita. Why couldn't he have stayed on New Samarkand, or gone elsewhere?

He has replaced his father Vladimir as Military Governor, and the new reign of terror has already begun. One day a week, at dawn, randomly selected civilians are taken (or carried or dragged) to a field adjacent to the Governor's Palace in New Rasalhague. As soon as I heard about it, I hid myself there to secretly witness what was going on.

Jason was having the poor people executed, though they were not charged with any crimes. Some were not charged with any crimes. Some were still wearing their nightwear, trying to get their eyes focus, as they were placed back to back in rude huddle. Then the slug-throwers opened up. That patch of ground is already being called the "killing field". Last week, a dozen. This week, two dozen. How many next week?

Our esteemed Governor was in attendance, clothed entirely in black. Sources indicate that he plans to attend as often as possible. His expression showed grim determination rather than enjoyment, which is curious. One wonders why he is ordering these murders, but no one will question him directly.

Every day, Jason makes his two-hour planetwide radio address, making insults and veiled threats, then wailing and weeping at the loss of his family. Rumor has it that if the Military Governor learns of any citizen who does not listen to the address, he will add him to the executions.

With Jason Kurita as Military Governor of Rasalhague, we may soon think of Vladimir's Reign as the "good old days."

- Anonymous editorial from the Rasalhague Freedom Caller, [a subversive alternate media publication] December 2375