Lore:Narion War

The Narion War was the first interstellar armed conflict in history, between the and.

Background
Prior to the Narion War, the United Colonies was firmly established as the dominant state in the, with by far the largest population and most powerful military as well as the backing of the major governments of. The Centaurus Proclamation had allowed the creation of independent colonies, outside of UC jurisdiction, but none of them were large or powerful enough to challenge the UC. The only other interstellar government was the newly-born Freestar Collective, an alliance between the and  systems, and the Collective was untested in real conflict.

In 2194, the UC began work on a medical research station,, in the previously independent. The inhabitants of Narion saw this as a violation of the independence they had been promised under the Centaurus Proclamation, and demanded the removal of the station. The UC refused.

The people of Narion sought assistance from the Freestar Collective, which mobilized its fleet to protect the system's independence. The UC responded in kind, and the war began in earnest in 2196.

Events of the War
The Narion War lasted for two decades and saw great upheaval in galactic politics, including the final collapse of Earth's magnetosphere and the birth of the. While the UC had the stronger military, the war was extremely unpopular, and the Freestar Militia proved surprisingly capable. Eventually, the war came to a close in 2216 with the signing of the Treaty of Narion.

Treaty of Narion
Beyond simply establishing a cease fire, the primary goal of the treaty was to prevent the sort of unchecked expansionism that had resulted in the war in the first place. The UC recognized the sovereignty of the Freestar Collective over Narion, and both powers agreed to restrict their borders to three star systems -, , and for the UC, and Cheyenne, Volii, and Narion for the Freestar Collective.

While neither power was allowed to establish colonies outside these borders, the Treaty did allow for the establishment of "outposts", and did not strictly define the distinction. This led to a period of cold war and brinkmanship known as the Great Game, in which both powers attempted to toe the line of the treaty without actually violating its terms. Ultimately, this resulted in the breakout of the Colony War in 2308.