ASTRAL EMPIRES: TERRAN CIVIL WAR-02400s

United in time of war...  Divided in time of peace....  As often had been the case in the history of the nations of Old Earth the coming of the 02400s was dominated by two major events.  The first was a civil war between the core worlds of Terra and her oldest colonies against the far flung worlds on the periphery of human space.  The second event was a result of the fragmenting of the Vanguard fleet in the Civil War that led to yet another incursion by the Pauk into the known worlds.  This would ultimately lead to a most devastating conflict between Terran humanity and this violent and sinister avian race and set back the exploration of the galaxy by centuries.

The ships of the Vanguard traversed the vast depths of space trying in vain to hold the worlds of humanity together.

Although lacking the massive ship construction facilities of the inner worlds, the Frontier Colonies were able to build their own capable warships by upgrading civilian vessels to military specifications.

Despite the impact of the conflict between the Terran worlds the Vanguard was still able to carry out some exploration during the 02400s, reaching as far as the Crux Galactic Arm.

Per their usual nature, the Pauk were quick to take advantage of humanity's crisis and their fleets penetrated deep into Terran territory before being repulsed by cooperative efforts between the Vanguard and Colony fleets.

The devastation of the Terran Civil War compelled many to pick up entire colonies and head out into deep space to find new homes far from the carnage.  This First Diaspora as it came to be called led to settlement of worlds far from mankind's core worlds and would affect the long-term history of the Mosaic Galaxy.

The remainder of the Vanguard fleet kept a lonely vigil during the late 02400s attempting to prevent the complete collapse of humanity's interstellar civilization.