The Historian casts his eyes back over the rich history of the DDS Universe.The Tarbotian War of 2097 is often forgotten about nowadays in lieu of more recent conflicts but it laid the foundations for the current astral-political environment more than any other.
The DDS had just come out of a successful campaign on Randalf 74 which saw the Clone invasion on that world repulsed (and the HCS lost nearly a million men). The tide of the Clone Wars appeared to be finally turning with the Clones suffering the first setback in their relentless spread across the galaxy. Then the Tarbotians launched a surprise attack on the Remedians and Starbotians, the DDS and Dinos were also drawn into the conflict. After months of bitter conflict the Tarbotian fleet was finally smashed and Dr Slow appeared to be killed.
The effects of the war were profound. Remedia's existence as an independent galactic power was ended and they joined the DDS soon after the war. Ronald was nearly killed in the final battle and stood down as Emperor, although he later returned to the crown the series of events that have led to the current Dino Republic/DTA were put in place. The Tarbotians lost one of their best battle fleets and the chaos caused by the loss of their leader and other members of senior staff (such as Dr Fast) hurled the vast Tarbot Empire into a civil war. Although they emerged from it eventually its taken up until now for the Tarbotians to become a threat again.
The biggest effect was on the DDS though. The war was when the DDS came of age as a space faring superpower. New technologies such as the Pulsar were perfected during the war and new weapons developed like the Z Cannon because of it. The latter made its debut in 2098, and an amazing debut it was too. The DDS destroyed a large portion of the HCS fleet when the latter launched a surprise attack. Memorably the first shot in anger by the Z Cannon destroyed 2 Kalahati Tuuls with one shot. The shock of this loss forced the Clones to consider peace for the first time.
Although the DDS suffered massive setbacks the following year the trend was put in place for the DDS to become the premier space combat power in the Local Group and it has remained here until the present day. New technologies like the Z7 should ensure it remains at the summit for the near future at least.
