There were still many misunderstandings of gate technology at the time, especially the capacity for self-repair. During the planet Hermione’s colonization, its side of the gate suffered an accident which stopped gate travel. With neither side able to communicate, both sides went to work trying to fix the problem.
Unbeknownst to anyone involved in the rescue efforts, each subsequent patch actually exacerbated the damage, stalling the repair systems. Theories of the day were in endless supply but slow to implement, and when a new patch was ready, nobody checked to see if the gate was working again before applying the latest ‘fix’.
It just so happened that the colony was also subject to the bad luck of poor timing. The self-repair process had been discovered back on the parent side of Alpha Centauri (now known as the well-traveled Centauri Hub). But, when they went to activate the Hermione gate, it was after the colonials had damaged theirs yet again with the latest hare-brained idea. On Centauri, it was assumed the colony gate was a total loss and it was shut down.
On the Hermione side, colonials set to work with survival while the best minds worked on reestablishing contact. The world was readily habitable, plants taking to verdant soil maintained by the local wild-life. Many local plants and animals were discovered to be edible and sometimes quite tasty.
The colony grew and thrived. The ineffectual repairs to the gate continued. After three generations, tales of old Earth and her gate colonies were mere bedside stories. The leaders of Hermione voted to give up on the gate and accept that they were cut off from the rest of humanity.
Centuries passed. The Colony expanded. Governments changed in the various cycles of power until a world-wide civil war created the latest government, the Republic of Triax. More of a class-stratified oligarchy, it has remained in power with an interesting mix of illusory freedom for the masses and cunning indoctrination through its public education system. But, its grip over the world wasn’t yet complete. Small pockets of resistance still remained, and they were gaining influence. To the leaders, it seemed they were starting to lose ground, until one special day.
The gate opened and a small, belligerent force came through, breaking generations of galactic isolation. The hostile attitude of the clan trying to stake a claim to the world stirred the nationalistic pride indoctrinated into the entire Triax populace, and the government finally won control of the whole world by the invasion of an unknown outside threat. They mobilized their armies and crushed the aggressors by sheer overwhelming numbers.
Survivors were interrogated, then allowed to go back, given a warning about the scope of the people’s resolve and their nation’s capacity. What was supposed to be a deterrent to other would-be conquerors turned out to be a challenge that other clans would quickly undertake.
Raids now seem to be a constant event for the Triax gate. Reports have come back of the region on the Triax side being fortified and turned into a giant killing zone. Bunkers show signs of hardening against nuclear attacks – an early tactic of some clans to clear a beachhead in the sea of seemingly endless conventional troops.
However, not all gate travel to Triax has been violent. Traders have managed to get passed the huge blockade, seeking new markets to ply their wares. Some have been rebuffed. Some have been welcomed warily. It is through their efforts that the colony’s history has become public in the last half century. They’ve even brought back rumors of an extensive search for other gates on planet Hermione. So far only one other has been found, and where it links is a highly kept state secret that no amount of goods or money can extract.
On the flip side, Triax has sent its own emissaries through the gate to explore the galaxy beyond. Mostly they come in the form of Duelists leading a small entourage of scribes and other researchers. But, these seem to be few in number.
So far, the Triax gate is a choke point, with focus of the Triax armies on one side, and the limited capacity of gate travel and the societies styled off it on the other, making it a very tough nut to crack.
Submitted by Ben Parker# 712090