Vieneo Province

From Rise: The Vieneo Province

The Colony of Vieneo was chartered by the Colonial Council and Department of Expansion in 2220 as the principal colonial presence in the newly discovered Yonmaran System. The primary seat of government is Deois on Vieneo, a moon of Iomere. Vieneo's provincial transition was made in 2223.

Timeline

Founding to Modern Day
2218 USV Flying Mast charts Yonmaran system
2219 USV Aurora establishes OP-IV at site of Modern Deois
2219 Charting and cataloging of Yonmaran system begins
2220 Colony of Vieneo chartered by the DoE and CC
2220 Quentin Powell elected Colonial Governor (First term, partial, 3 year max)
2220 Alan Parval appointed Colonial Magistrate
2220 Deois construction begins
2220 Ancient, fossilized remains of life found of Iomere
2222 The Alamarian Reforms begin and end
2223 Vieneo Colony transitions to the Vieneo Province
2223 Quentin Powell's death
2223 Alan Parval elected Provincial Governor (First term, partial, 1 year max)
2224 Alan Parval re-elected Provincial Governor (Second term)
2227 Establishment of the Penal Pact
2228 Alan Parval re-elected Provincial Governor (Third term)
2229 Parval contracts Williamson Prefabrication
2229 Deois construction intensifies
2242 Williamson Prefabrication broken up, contracts ended
2242 Deois construction reduces to modern rates
2242 Alan Parval re-elected Provincial Governor (Fourth term)
2244 Alan Parval dies
2244 Andrew Iodal elected Provincial Governor (First term, partial, 2 year max)

History

Per the Department of Archives, the discovery of the colony is credited to Captain Ruben Evans of the USV Flying Mast, a paramilitary surveyor on charter with the Department of Expansion. Evans encountered technical failures in transit via spacelane A27-12 and drifted into the Yonmaran System on January 12th, 2218. This chance encounter resulted in the discovery of the Yonmaran System as a whole and laid way for the colonization endeavors that blossomed in the following decades.

The area which eventually became Deois, the first and only major city of the province, was a small surface outpost (OP-IV) utilized by the first of many expeditionary crews sent to Vieneo in 2219 by the DoE following Evan's initial discovery. It is ultimately unknown but widely believed that none of the original crew (including Evans) of the USV Flying Mast had any interest in the area which eventually developed into modern Deois (although a landing was made near modern Alphaville). Evans has nevertheless been credited as the 'founder' of the city, colony, and province in a proclamation by the Executive Council. Archive records have been altered accordingly.

Vieneo (and thus Deois) was chartered as a USR colony by the DoE in 2220 and Minister Quentin Powell was appointed the first Colonial Governor by the Colonial Council. He was assigned Colonial Magistrate Allen Parval by the Colonial Council the same year. The governorship saw only two years under the authority of the Colonial Council prior to Senior Minister Tom Alamar's colonial reformations of 2222 (The Alamarian Reforms). The reform drastically reduced the authority of the Colonial Council over existing USR colonies, introduced Executive Council oversight, and created the precedent for self-ruled provinces where applicable. At the behest and tireless lobbying of Governor Powell, Deois was chosen as the first of many colonies large enough, remote enough, or important enough to warrent self-governance outside of executive necessity. It was at this time that the Colonial Council, forced by the Executive, transitioned Vieneo to the state of province with Powell as its first Provincial Governor.

Powell would see Vieneo one last time, but not Deois, as he suffered a concussion and severe head trauma upon reentry into Vieneo lower atmosphere and died eight days later on January 17th, 2223 in the city he created. The incident was ruled pilot error, despite many conspiracies arguing to the contrary.

Magistrate Allen Parval would go on to leave the Board of Magistrates and take Powell's place as Provincial Governor following a short special election. While now infamous for his involvement with various local thugs and a virulent political machine (UVLF), he is still regarded as a local folk hero. Indeed, Parval would become a prolific figurehead for the entire Yonmaran System over the course of his tenure. Through the shrugging of ethics and bending of USR law, he rapidly expanded every social, economic, and infrastructural facet of the province and the system that rotated (figuratively) around it.

The first and easily most important source of this expansion (and the only one which cannot be associated solely with Parval, but was still cultivated by him) was that Yonmaran is easily accessible as the roughly half-way-point on spacelane A27-12 between Hontras and Zygus Major. This made Yonmaran an invaluable fuel and trade hub on the otherwise deadly spacelane. Vieneo and the Easy Dock station in orbit around it became a necessary pitstop for both commercial and military FTL vessels, opening the door for immigration. The opening of this door, however, did not directly lead to the province's population explosion in and of itself. Vieneo's position outside of traditional colonial law, in tandem with Parval's willingness to bend Stellar Common Law, allowed the province to 'compete' with other systems and made it an attractive destination for all manner of people. This included homesteaders, displaced colonists and refugees, scientists, reformed prisoners, and retired military personnel.

FTL-vessel stowaways also made up a small portion of immigration following the reforms. Since the province fell outside of USR executive jurisdiction, it did not take long for people fleeing the executive or the magistrates to find their way to Vieneo and settle there. To some it was a new start, to others a means of avoiding imprisonment and mental cleansing. Parval welcomed them both with open arms, stating on record that he "does care who comes here, so long as they come."

The second notable reason for expansion and one which Parval is wholly responsible for is The Convict Reformation and Relocation Agreement (est. 2227) between the Vieneo Province and the Executive Council, which became known coloquially as the 'Penal Pact' and jokingly 'Parval's Penal Population Pusher.' Negotiated using political tactics that had questionable legality at best, the agreement led to an influx of human capital via a joint custody and reformation endeavor that led to the 'import' of incarcerated men and women sourced from all over USR-controlled space. The operation also brought in executive personnel required to build and maintain infrustructure and order amongst the prisoners and the facilities they occupied. These prisoners immediately became a prime source of free, manual labor at mining camps and farmsteads across Yonmaran, allowing Parval to export commodities sourced directly from Vieneo with a high profit margin. Reformed prisoners were then coerced to stay on Vieneo by providing them with certain living expenses and guarenteed employment within local industries (typically at a fair wage). A significant but unknown ratio of prisoners put through the USR reformation facilities had their former memories partially erased through mental cleansing. These men and women almost all remained on Vieneo, but most settled far outside of Deois to avoid various cultural stigmas related to the cleansing process and effects it was known to have on the psyche.

Opinion on the penal agreement was mixed, especially within the Board of Magistrates. Surpeme Magistrate Aaron Garth said in 2238 that "the prisoners sent to 'Veeno' are little more than slaves." When asked for a retort by the Yonmaran Sentinel, Parval responded that "perhaps they are slaves, but they sold their own asses into it." He then continued with a statement that became a tagline amongst his voter base: "also, Mr. Garth, it's Vieneo," indicating the proper pronunciation. "IT'S VIENEO" became a famous phrase overnight that is used on immigration flyers to this day.

The third and arguably least important but still prevalent reason for Deois' expansion was Parval's family connections (through his sister Anna's husband, Ames Williamson) with the engineering conglomerate Williamson Prefabrication. The multi-trillion credit organization specialized in atmospheric-agnostic, deep-space, and colonial construction until it was broken into multiple firms by the Board of Finance's anti-monopoly endeavors of 2242. Regardless, the years between 2229 and 2242 led to tens of billions of credits worth of construction projects on Vieneo at greatly discounted rates, fueled chiefly by profits made from prisoner labor. Not all projects were funded by the province, however, as private colonial construction across the system was provided by Williamson. Deois saw spectacular growth in this period.

So extreme was the inflow of construction material and personnel that researches for the Department of Transportation lobbied the Executive Council to put a stop to it. They explained in Memo 42AF1F3 to the Council that "Vieneo is barely able to provide enough fuel for its rapid construction efforts through Williamson Prefabrication and has nullified the purpose of having a colony on the A27-12 route. FTL craft travelling the lane are now known to have to wait in orbit above the Easy Dock and those attempting to avoid delays are doing so at great risk. We recommend immediate action." As the Executive Council had little control over the behavior of the now exceedingly independent Vieneo Province, it instead worked with the Board of Finance and introduced the monopoly reforms that eventually broke up Williamson Prefabrication in 2242. Ames Williamson stated in an interview following the destruction of the conglomerate, "that job has ruined my name and my family forever."

Following this, Yonmaran, Vieneo, and Deois experienced a recession in most industries, although it was still outperforming most other colonies and provinces. Parval blamed the situation exclusively on the USR and "provincial-executive interference." The call for further colonial/provincial decentralization and BoM punishment of the Executive Council for its meddling in direct contradiction to The Alamarian Doctrine, section 2.3. Furthermore, Parval called for a reversal of the precedent set by the Executive Council meddling which resulted in the BoF monopoly reforms. In 2242, Parval was elected to a fourth term by a margin of 9 to 1, having been re-elected in both 2224 and 2228.

Parval died at 62 on January 3rd, 2244, from a violent heart attack while giving a speech announcing to the people of Deois and Vieneo that he would be running for a fifth term. His last words, according to an aid that caught him as he fell to the ground, were "it's Vieneo," followed by a chuckle. He was unmarried and had no children.

When asked for comment on Parval's death, Supreme Magistrate Aaron Garth (on camera) shrugged and murmured, "good riddance. The province will be better for it." Shortly after this comment, Garth's office was flooded by tens of thousands of physical letters, all of which read "IT'S VIENEO."

Yonmaran Sentinel reporter Lucinda Smith, author of the popular historical chronical "Deois: Light in Shadow," released in July 2244 and the basis for this summary, noted that "tens of thousands of lives were carved out in rapid but careful fashion through the efforts of Governor Parval and this should not be forgotten." She continued, stating that "despite the seedy source of many of the wonders we enjoy here on Vieneo and in Deois, none can argue that wonders did still befall this sullen rock and few have cause for anger but those focused unevenly upon questionable ethics and financial purity. But why should we focus on such things when life's justice has been done? Perhaps we can allow the fruits of such a life outshine what shadows this man cast in the past. We should respect that he created at least one beacon of hope and freedom amidst the darkness of this vile, corrupted, waning Stellar Republic."

Andrew Iodal, 58, Parval's long-serving Assistant Provincial Governor was elected Provincial Governor and honorary mayor of Deois on August 1st, 2244, following a short election cycle. Confirmation is scheduled for October 15th. Until then, the Deois City Council retains authority over the provincial government.