Jack of Harts

San Santiago itself was the center of unrest in the sector. Nearly a century of investment from rich Corporate interests and Colonists looking for a better life on the edge of civilization butted heads with Central Council administrators who wanted to maintain Homeworlds control. San Santiago had long since crossed the threshold into self-governance, but the Presidency had passed back and forth between Council and Corporate candidates that generally compromised with each other over the exact nature of their governance. But as Colonial unrest grew, the young and rich son of a Corporate magnate ran for President on a platform promoting the interests of the forgotten Colonists. Everyone treated him as a joke candidate until the election returns came in and he won.

The San Santiago Sector became prosperous and heavily populated as the decades went by. One colony after another petitioned for and gained a seat on the Union Council, until they had a clear majority on the Council. But the Central Council vetoed far too many of their initiatives, promoting Homeworlds projects over distant Colonial projects. The colonies did not appreciate that dynamic, and after much protest the Central Council invited some of the most populous colonies into the Central Council. A few. Not enough to lose Homeworlds control of the Central Council. They claimed they were following simple population guidelines, but the outer colonies did not miss the trick. They knew it was meant to keep them in their place, and they did not appreciate that.

The South American Union colonized most of the star systems around San Santiago and San Andres, but they optioned out certain systems to others. They needed money to fund their own great expansion after all. Probably the largest of the options they sold was the system that became Felicity. It orbited a star too strong for Union hyperdrives to reach. Even the Western Alliance couldn’t map the hyperspace run from Alpha Centauri, but they had been researching ways to localize those rapids from closer stars like San Santiago or San Andres. A proposal for Alliance and Union cooperation to map and colonize the system soon appeared, and Felicity became the next core Alliance World colonization effort. All nations welcome. Especially their friends from Union space.