2256, An Ominous Beginning
11 BBY, Year 9 of the Galactic Empire, Year 24 of the Galactic Republic's Great Resynchronization calendar.
The Galactic Empire had been established in 20 BBY, making this its ninth year.
The Duchy of Dawn used the Galactic Republic's Great Resynchronization calendar. The Great Resynchronization had begun in 35 BBY, the very year Tang Xiao had transmigrated. Thus, after Dawn Star Planet joined the Galactic Republic, it adopted the Great Resynchronization calendar, which it still used to this day. The Duchy of Dawn also sometimes used its own calendar internally, and this was likewise Year 9 of the Duchy.
It was rather interesting, because the Duchy of Dawn and the Galactic Empire had been founded in the same year.
And this year was destined to be an extraordinarily special one, because from its very first month, the political situation across the Milky Way Galaxy began heading down a deeply bizarre path.
First, the Hutt Space civil war abruptly came to a halt. Led by the Goresla Family, the Hutts began planning to establish a unified regime. A tradition the Hutts had maintained for thousands of years had been broken, and an unprecedented upheaval now faced them.
Then, the Galactic Empire and the Duchy of Dawn began trading barbs from afar, each accusing the other of violating human rights in the Trade Federation and Chiss territory. Yet even as they argued, both sides continued their suppression and steadily strengthened their rule over those regions. The Galactic Empire's attacks on the Trade Federation had not paused for even a moment.
This war of words had only escalated. The two sides, who at least maintained a facade of cordiality a few years ago, had now reached the point of closing their borders to one another.
Yet the most astonishing