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• Lyrans begin yet another Civil War
• Klingons have an abortive war with the LDR. They withdraw from the war after losing several warships in exchange for several minor LDR elements. Historians suspect this was a local effort, perhaps aggravated a band of pirates operating in that area at the time, rather than a real war sanctioned by the Klingon Emperor. Nevertheless this tension between the Klingons and LDR would would have repercussions on the Four Powers War

• The Lyran civil war winds down. Sensing weakness in their enemy, the Hydrans take this opportunity to launch an offensive strike. The Hydrans assumed (with good reason) this would be an isolated incident; that the friction between the Lyran counties would allow keep them from uniting. The Hydrans hope to quickly force the Enemy's Blood Duchy to the negotiation table for a favorable settlement. They were not prepared for a long-term war.
• Faced with an external threat, the Lyran nobility is able to put the bad blood of their civil war behind them. All the counties units save the Far Stars County, citing their need to build up their distant domain "for the future of the empire". This conflict is known at first as the "Fifth Lyro/Hydran War".
• Seeing the Hydrans engaged, the Klingons sense a chance to rid themselves of their ancestral foe, the Mirak. The Klingons hope that the Hydrans will be busy with the Lyrans and thus will not be able to honor their mutual defense pact with the Mirak. this proves to be a mistaken hope.
• Still holding the initiative, and still holding several grudges against the Kligon Empire, the Hydrans shift forces and launch a spoiling attack upon the Klingon southern provinces.
• The LDR are anxious to join in the fight against the hated Hydran enemy. However, they sense an alliance forming between the Lyrans and Klingons. Unwilling to work with the Klingons, they declare themselves neutral for the war.
• The War reaches its maximum scale when the Klingons put political pressure upon the Lyrans to attack the Mirak. This is in large part a technicality. The two empires had already been giving assistance to one another for some time.

• The Lyrans reach an agreement with the LDR. Empire ships may now use LDR facilities for repair and rearm, and the LDR pays a small tribute to support the war. (On the map, LDR bases are Lyran bases, but LDR hexes provide very little economy The Hydrans are annoyed by this move, but fear a full invasion of the LDR would pay little, and might drive the rebel county fully back into the arms of the Lyran Empire
• The Federation wishes to end the war, but does not really want to become involved. Rather than actual action, they instead threaten the Klingon empire with attack if they do not cease hostilities "soon".
• The Klingons counter the Federation threat with the Treaty of Smarba. They sell tactical warp technology to the Romulan Star Empire along with scores of mothballed cruisers. The Federation must redeploy units to guard against the vastly increased Romulan threat and are in no position to invade. As a result, even more Klingon units are released to fight the Mirak and Hydrans. (On the board, the eastern Klingon provinces produce no economy. The economy and ships supplied by these provinces were required to guard against any Federation incursions.)

• The Coaltion begins to take the initiative in the war.

• The Coalition (Kligons/Lyrans) make further gains inot Alliance space.
• The Hydrans begin fielding more hellbore-armed ships. These prove to be deadly deadly to both Klingon ships and Lyran ESG.

• In the spring, the Mirak introduce the Advanced Attack Shuttle (their first "fighter") using Hydran technology. This is probably the single largest reason the war ended. Deployed on planets and bases, these fighters made any Klingo/Lyran assaults too expensive. As more hellbore ships continued to appear in Hydran space, the Coalition found itself on the bad side of a technology shift on both fronts. They begin to fear that they cannot win the war. They begin to fear that they are indeed facing an eventual major defeat.

• As the year progresses, the Alliance begins to receive hints that the Coalition may be willing to enter armistace talks. The Mirak and Hydrans know that it will be years before they can recover all of their space and launch any major new offensives, and view a continuing war of attrition as a waste. They offer a cease-fire terms which are quickly accepted.

FALLOUT In the following years, each race put into practice what they had learned from the war. The Mirak and Hydrans began aggressive production of carriers, and the Hydrans even developed a (rare) hellbore-armed fighter. The Klingons (after paying off reparations) quickly began an upgrade program on their shields and to produce their own fighters and carriers. The Lyrans (after paying their own reparations) also increased their shielding and upgraded their power plants. They continued to shun fighters, however, as their engineers promised them an ESG that would make them immune to Hellbores. This project never payed off.

All the seeds of the General War had been sown.

Last updated 10/5/2002