Part I. A Quiet Planet

Before the crisis, LS-746b was unremarkable. A modest Fuel Refining (FR) CoGC designation kept a handful of bases running. What made the planet notable was its environment: 3g (“triple green”), meaning its temperature, pressure, and gravity were all ideal for colonization.

Triple green worlds are rare prizes. Bases can be built and maintained cheaply, making them perfect candidates for large-scale industrial colonies. To the Manufacturing bloc, LS-746b was a blank canvas—a place where factories could thrive.

To the refiners who had lived there quietly, however, it was home.

II. TRUEnterprises’ Bold Gambit

On 7th August 3025, TRUEnterprises made his move. He proposed flipping the CoGC designation from Fuel Refining to Manufacturing. To smooth the transition, TRU offered eminent domain payments to the established refiners, encouraging them to vacate.

The offer was poorly received. On 8th August, TRUEnterprisess announced he was en route to LS-746b to take over already.

Many refiners saw it as a hostile takeover in disguise. Gravy, the universe’s largest fuel producer, happened to be away on vacation and had not responded yet. At the same time, Governor OptimizedFunction, head of the Stella Foundation and a founder of New Benten politics, was withdrawing his base, leaving Stella Prime leaderless.

Seizing this vacuum, TRU and allies moved in without consensus, planting their own bases and preparing to sway the CoGC vote.

III. Backlash and the Rally of Refiners

The reaction was immediate and fierce. Messages flashed across faction channels. Refiners, independents, and allies of Benten rushed to place bases on LS-746b, not to profit, but to defend its Fuel Refining identity.

OptimizedFunction returned as governor the following term to protect the interests of the refiners. Under his leadership, the planet became a symbol of resistance to forced CoGC flips.

Many feared a successful CoGC flip against a planet’s longstanding inhabitants will set a dangerous precedent for further CoGC flips.

The CoGC chambers were filled with debate. On one side, TRU and his backers argued that Stella Prime’s 3g conditions made it wasteful to leave as a refinery backwater. On the other, the refinery bloc insisted that planets should not be torn from their settlers by opportunistic outsiders.

The votes were close. The anger was not.

IV. Tax Wars: Symbolism Over Substance

During his single term as governor, TRU attempted conciliation. He abolished FR taxes, claiming this as compensation for his push to flip the CoGC.

When OptimizedFunction reclaimed governorship, he answered in kind: Manufacturing taxes were set to their maximum, while FR taxes plummeted.

Because Stella Prime lay in faction space, where tax caps restricted financial effects, neither policy significantly changed day-to-day operations. But that missed the point. These measures were ritual acts of politics, signaling loyalty to one bloc or the other. To settlers, taxes were banners, not budgets.

V. The Great Fuel Crisis

The economic war escalated when Gravy entered the fray. Producing more than a quarter of the galaxy’s FTL Fuel (FF), Gravy commanded unmatched leverage. In protest of the attempted Manu takeover, he:

• Withheld FF from the open market.
• Bought out Helium-3 (HE3) on every Commodity Exchange (CX).

The result was chaos. FF and SF prices spiked to Market Maker (MM) ceilings, crippling logistics and sparking panic.

The shock rippled further when EvoV1980, one of the galaxy’s premier shipwrights, declared solidarity with the refiners. EvoV1980 announced that all ships would henceforth be sold only for fuel, converting vessels into weapons of economic leverage.

The message was unmistakable: the refinery bloc was united, and they were willing to destabilize the galaxy itself to stop a CoGC flip.

VI. Names and Nations

In response to the christening of KW-688, a Benten system, to New Antares last year, on 26th September 3025 OptimizedFunction named the LS-746 system New Benten, with LS-746b itself becoming Stella Prime—a homage to the Stella Foundation and to its history as the largest fuel refining hub during the Stella Foundation’s fuel empire days.

To Antarean loyalists, this was provocation. Delvetron denounced the renaming as a violation of the “Antares convention” and vowed to accelerate efforts to wrest CoGC control.

VII. The Boom Scandal

Phase 1: Financial Corruption

While the CoGC votes were raging, another scandal broke out. On 24th Sept 3025, boom_badda_boom, a trader, privately admitted to OptimizedFunction that he had been monitoring bot command channels of other investment funds in the Capital Management (CM) discord server, front-running their trades to extract profit. He also mocked sellers who sold him cheap goods planetside for giving up on such great profits.

The revelation was damning. marshmallows72, owner of the CM discord server, was alerted. Within hours, boom_badda_boom was banned, and his fund liquidated. His clumsy public attempts to justify himself only deepened the sense of guilt.

Phase 2: The Stella Prime Gambit

boom_badda_boom resurfaced in GTU public chat a few days later, offering 0% loans to seed Manufacturing bases on Stella Prime. Incredibly, he pinged Governor OptimizedFunction directly, demanding immigration program support for his projects. This was widely seen as audacious and distasteful.

Boom, along with Forcas, then built a base on Stella Prime. On 7th Oct 3025, boom publicly admitted in Stella Prime planet chat to have been paid off to conduct this recruitment operation against the fuel refiners of Stella Prime.

Phase 3: Retaliation and Sanctions

Boom’s actions triggered GTU’s banuka and OOG’s sidepipe to establish pro-FR bases immediately to further bolster the anti-CoGC flip support.

Then came Evov’s hammer: he declared sanctions on all who voted Manufacturing on Stella Prime. Those under sanction—including Boom and Forcas—were cut off from trade, immigration, and ship purchases.

Phase 4: Retreat

The pressure was unbearable. Within hours, Boom capitulated, declaring Stella Prime “not worth the hassle,” and withdrew. Forcas followed soon after. What was meant as a bold return ended as an embarrassing rout.

VIII. Negotiated Peace: The Coleslaw Accord

With markets still reeling and sanctions biting, diplomacy emerged. CptColeslaw negotiated directly with TRUEnterprises to end the standoff. The resulting Coleslaw Accord contained six terms, of which the first one was redacted by agreement between Governor OptimizedFunction, CptColeslaw and TRUEnterprises:

1.                                                                                                   .
   

2. Base Transition – TRU may keep a base on Stella Prime until its population resettles.
3. Tax Parity – Stella Prime’s Manufacturing taxes capped, no higher than FR taxes on Antarean Manufacturing planets.
4. Embargo Mediation – Ask Evov1980 to lift sanctions.
5. Infrastructure Reform – A forum petition to convert REF planets into Chemical planets, expanding industrial options.
6. Population Growth – Active recruitment of fuel refiners to strengthen Stella Prime’s FR identity.

Governor OptimizedFunction accepted these terms, with the Parliament of Stella Prime passing the motion “Ratification of The Coleslaw Accord” on 2nd November 3025.

IX. Current Status and Legacy

Today, Stella Prime remains a Fuel Refining planet.

The refinery and anti-flip bloc—backed by Gravy’s fuel empire, Evov’s embargoes, countless other’s support, and Stella Foundation’s governance—holds sway.

TRUEnterprises retains a limited presence under treaty, but the Manufacturing bloc’s attempt at a flip has faltered.