The Julian Protectorate: The Sack of Gashikan and the Vargr Race Wars
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In -1658 (Imperial), a Vargr corsair attacked the garden world of Gashikan,
using nuclear weapons and pillaging the world.  The human inhabitants of the
world suffered global holocaust.  The resulting reaction included reprisals
against neighboring Vargr communities, and a series of bloody wars inflamed
racial hatred between Human and Vargr as far away as Antares.

In -1646, human worlds uniting against the Vargr formed the Second Empire of
Gashikan, whose founding principles focussed on the extermination of the
Vargr as a race, on the basis of a perceived threat posed by the Vargr to
the very existence of Humaniti.  Early efforts to expel the Vargr from
Gashikan sector fell short of full success, and Vargr retaliations inflamed
fears of the humans in the area.  Fear and hatred of the Vargr persisted and
became rooted in Gashikan society, and influenced human states to rimward.

The Second Empire of Gashikan, taking advantage of anti-Vargr xenophobia,
embarked on a campaign to bring other human planets under its domination,
in the guise of offering them protection.  Many planets accepted; others 
who refused were brought into the Empire by force, in a fierce war of
unification.  Eventually, the Second Empire of Gashikan controlled most of
Gashikan sector, much of Trenchan and Mendan sectors, and had minor holdings
in Meshan and Gzaekfueg sectors.

Although the Gashikan Navy continued to operate vigorously against the Vargr,
the Race Wars are generally held to have ended in -1000, and the anti-Vargr
prejudice, while still dominant, now had the opportunity to die down.

