“For a unified and peaceful galaxy.”
– The motto of the GSP

From the moment the idea of the 'Seven Systems' came into being, it became clear to all involved that without some kind of unifying force, discord and mistrust would tear the systems apart. The Galactic Syndicate of Planets (GSP) was designed specifically to prevent such an occurrence, unifying each of the seven nations in a proposed neutral audience chamber.

The Galactic Syndicate of Planets, like any galactic organisation, was not founded without its fair share of controversy and debate. Initial attempts to delineate a neutral ground upon which interplanetary discussions could take place were opposed by many partisan groups, from staunch planetary isolationists to those who saw the GSP as little more than an opportunity for the ruling governments of the Seven Systems to strengthen their political positions within their respective systems.

Eventually, following a a succession of significant conflicts an uneasy agreement was formed in 1174 GC between the governments of the Seven Systems. This agreement created the GSP to act as a mediating body in in times of potential crisis, or in other affairs requiring the cooperation of multiple systems.

Prior to the War, the GSP enjoyed a degree of relative success - however, this was not in any way due to its strength as an organisation. Rather, the inherent weakness in the flimsy agreements that held the group together only went unexposed for so long because no threats existed that were significant enough to put the GSP for the test. The organisation was at its most effective when serving as a middle man for planetary trade agreements, and for organising harmless, deliberately inoffensive diplomatic meetings between delegates from the respective systems.

The Ananke Conference was very much intended to be one such event, but on a far, far bigger scale. Sadly, the records of the GSP meeting in which the Conference was proposed have since been lost in the war, so it's hard to tell which planet specifically was responsible for the idea in the first place (Selas and Eunomia both took credit prior to the event, only to point fingers at one another once it all blew up in their faces). Regardless of whose idea it was, however, the GSS (Galactic Syndicate Ship) Ananke was intended to be the GSP's greatest triumph, and the proof of its success as an organisation, as well as its chance to showcase the surprising advances in technology made by the CHRONOS project.

Shortly before the War, the GSP was led by Nuri O'Callaghan. After a series of minor scandals forced his predecessor to resign in 1261, Nuri was regarded as a safe pair of hands for the organisation, and it was hoped that under his leadership the GSP would become a more effective force for good. Tragically, he perished in the Ananke explosion.

You could perhaps argue that the War was more disastrous for the GSP than any of the Seven Systems - not only did it lead to as much carnage for them as the people on the planets themselves, it also demonstrated once and for all that the syndicate as an edifice was ultimately powerless to prevent real conflicts. Faith in the GSP to keep the peace disintegrated practically overnight, and any funding it received was slashed by all but a few die-hard supporters of the project. The greatest blow came when Eunomia took over a GSP-run station, the Prometheus, announcing that the GSP had outlived its purpose and removing their scientific capacity and legitimacy.

In other words, the outbreak of the war should have killed off the GSP. Some argue that it did.

However, the GSP in some form lives on, not as a peacekeeping organisation, but as a fringe group of rogue diplomats, scientists and historians who changed their own mission; to keep the peace of future generations by chronicling the war, saving individual lives where possible. Their work is hampered by the loss of many of their workers, and by their need to keep their work secret, but they have been involved in small rebellions and work throughout the systems.

As with anything touched by the war, today's GSP is little more than a shadow of its former self. Harried historians struggle to maintain the databases that keep records of both the events of the war and its instigators; intelligence agents try to fight fires where they can. If anything happened of the organisation's pipe dream time travel project, it isn't known.

The GSP in its original state is no more; it failed in its one task, and now its remaining few members struggle to retroactively make up for the syndicate's past ineptitude.