Freehold And Aruli

"Outpost of Empire."

Freehold, two hundred light years from Terra, was colonized by human beings before the Terran Empire was founded and initially remained independent of it. Merseia had modernized Arulian technology. Freeholders traded with Arulian mercantile associations. Many Arulians settled on Freehold where the Nine Cities granted them extraterritoriality. 

Arulians have:

pheromonesharing mutuality, not property;

three sexes and a breeding cycle, not marriage;

Eternal Aruli, not Imperial fealty.

Conflicts escalated between Terra and Merseia. The industrialized Nine Cities, now a potential military asset or target, applied to join the Empire and were accepted against the will of the Arulian minority. Meanwhile, on Aruli, Merseian-backed revolutionaries overthrew and replaced the legitimate Bearers of the Horns. Freeholder Arulians back Aruli, thus Merseia. The Empire, not recognizing the extraterritoriality originally granted by the Nine Cities, imposes security regulations and the Arulians revolt.