Founded in Wy250, the Republic of Grove is the oldest human colony outside of Whistler. The colony was astoundingly successful due to the rich fruits of the Grove system and grew into the billions in subsequent centuries. The six year sleeper trip from Whistler allowed the colony to socially evolve independent from its parent state, causing the inevitable rebellion when The Council attempted to reassert control after the creation of the jump drive. The people of Grove knew a war was inevitable and had built a formidable navy that the WDF was ill-prepared for. It took nearly forty years for the Unification War to end. The back of the Republic was finally broken in 590 after Jack Cartwright crashed the WDF Indomitable into the Cheyenne Drive Yards and Colonel Cara Burton’s Marines took the capital city of Laurel. The battle marked the first deliberate targeting of a manufacturing base in wartime since the colony’s founding, shattering a sacred taboo. The subsequent twelve years of occupation sent the former government into hiding, emerging as the Grove Independence Army. In Wy602 they overthrew the provisional government installed by The Council with overwhelming public support and are attempting to negotiate sovereignty.