K'Nes Occupation

This pretty much sums up how the K'Nes felt about the human Occupation.

In K'Nes history, the Occupation refers to the eight-year period between the fall of the K'Nes Tor after the Second Vulthra War in 2257, and rise of the K'Nes Llan after the Caal Invasion in 2265. During this time, all K'Nes space had been conquered and annexed into the Earth Federation, and K'Nes planets were occupied and ruled by humans.

From the human perspective, the occupation was relatively peaceful and went quite smoothly. After the Federation captured the K'Nes Tor's capitol on Urrin, Emperor Horrath VI surrendered quickly and unconditionally. Looting was kept to a minimum among the disciplined Tech Infantry (although the Imperial Crown Jewels were stolen). Armed resistance to the human occupation was initially light, scattered, and sporadic, then gradually ceased altogether (with the exception of the K'Laek system, which was declared a K'Nes Quarantine Zone). Despite Emperor Horrath dying in prison and the royal being pride exiled, the K'Nes corporate clans were still willing to work with the new Federation government.

From the K'Nes point of view, however, the Occupation was traumatic, triggering massive upheavals in K'Nes politics, economics, and society. At first, the K'Nes assumed the Human Occupation would be like any other corporate takeover – there would be some turnover among the political executives at the top, and perhaps some economic patronage would shift to different companies, but otherwise not much would change and business would continue as usual. By the time the K'Nes realized they were terribly mistaken, it was too late to organize any effective resistance to their human occupiers.

As the K'Nes were now part of the Federation, Chairman Clarke implemented the Five Acts in the K'Nes systems. Industry and transportation were placed under military control, communications and media was tightly monitored, consumer goods were rationed, and the human government directed the entire K'Nes economy towards supporting the Federation war machine. For the K'Nes, traditionally a libertarian society with a near-religious devotion to free-market capitalism, this seizure of private property and centralized regulation of the economy was tantamount to an economic atrocity.

Many of the ancient and honored corporate clans went bankrupt during the Occupation, either unwilling or unable to adapt to a new economic landscape where economic survival rested not on market forces, but on currying favor with the occupiers in order to earn coveted government contracts. Some old and established clans, like Gurrmew & Yeomurt LLP and Horrath Industries (the former royal company), managed to survive the Occupation, but are now a mere shadow of their former selves. Other clans survived only by drastically reorganizing themselves to adapt to the new market, such as Miao Mercantile. One traditional clan, Varrless Financial, collaborated immediately with the occupiers and actually managed to increase its wealth and influence during the occupation. Finally, many new startup corporate clans, such as Durmach Media and Tressmarr Technologies, were born and flourished from government patronage during the Occupation.

The Occupation ended shortly after the Caal Invasion triggered the collapse of the Federation. Human troops and ships were called away from K'Nes space to help prop up the remnants of the Federation against the Holy Terran Empire, leaving behind only a skeletal occupying force. The K'Nes quickly overthrew this, declared independence, and formed the K'Nes Llan.