In the century since formal peace and diplomatic relations were established between the governing bodies of the Amarr Empire, the Caldari State, the Gallente Federation and the Minmatar Republic, the extraplanetary communities within the borders of their territories have seen a lot of change, and a lot of development.
Open borders and virtually free trade between the territories of these four empires did not only open the way for the exchange of goods and services, but also the exchange of ideas, of values, and of culture. During this span of one hundred years, extraplanetary citizens of all these nations have gradually influenced and been influenced by each other. They have met people who were born under foreign suns. They have tasted food from strange and faraway places. They have heard the song of voices a hundred light years away. And little by little, as they have come to know these things, they have made them their own.
Through these years, and through a continuous bond formed by mutual commerce, common legislation, the firm but kind hand of CONCORD and the unique nature of the environment in which they live, "strange" has become "commonplace", "exotic" has become "indigenous", "foreigner" has become "neighbor" and "stranger" has become "colleague". Ideas, customs and traditions which are unique to the extraplanetary environment are beginning to appear. The grandchildren of colonial pioneers are outgrowing their parental planetary cultures. They are no longer Gallente, Caldari, Minmatar or Amarr.
They are Astropolites. We are Astropolites.
There are obstacles faced by our fledgling people, however. While we have grown closer to each other, our ancestral planetary cultures have done no such thing. The concept of a common Astropolitan culture is not one which is recognized or acknowledged by planetside communities and administrations. Astropolites are still seen as "colonists". Extraplanetary space is seen as a trade route or a place to harvest resources at best, or a military buffer zone at worst. It is never regarded as somebody's home.
Sadly, they are successful in making many of us believe this, too. Planetary administrations continue to claim sovereignty over an environment and a culture whose nature they can't or won't comprehend. Throughout our existence we have killed for them, died for them, grieved for their losses, let them claim our victories as their own, and proselytized on their behalf.
Now there are rumors of war in the horizon, a full-scale interstellar war which threatens to lay our home in ruins and tear down everything our people have built over the past century. If the dirtlings have their way, we will tear each other apart until all we ever had in common is lost, until we are nothing more than broken and crippled bands of refugees, or the executors of another empty victory.
Only one major institution stands in the way of this happening. CONCORD was formed to be a bridge between the empires; a neutral body of diplomacy, the executor of a common currency and economic model, and an interstellar police and peacekeeping force. It has succeeded in this, and more - with a massive administrative infrastructure, a solid economy and a fleet which rivals those of the empires themselves - if not in numbers, then in firepower.
It is highly professional. It is highly motivated. And it is one hundred percent Astropolitan, with roots in all the empires, but loyalties to none of them in particular. Ever since it was formed, CONCORD has been tugging at its anchor chains. It has developed an identity of its own, and it has developed a taste for autonomy.
When the empires created CONCORD, they got more than they bargained for. If war is to happen, somebody will have to try and put the watchdog back in its den, or even put it down for good. The question is: Will it let them? Or will it bite the hand which once fed it, and come into its own?
We believe the latter. And we will help to see it happen, however we can. Every external enemy of CONCORD we put down will mean an increase in the resources they can bring to bear in the inward struggle, when the right moment comes. From that moment, we will have something we have never seen before - a true space-based government in the center of the cluster. A government born of our own culture. A government whose home is space.
It is time we woke up and realized that we who live out here are one people, and that the dirtlings on the ground are the true foreigners. We will not be ruled from the ground anymore.
This is not a void. It is home.
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