The Capellan Confederation came together under the threat of military occupation by an enemy power, and nearly died in its first year under assaults from two different foes. Not surprisingly, absorption by a foreign nation is the greatest fear of the Capellans and their Liao rulers. Political instability runs a close second, as a divided realm is also a weak one. Ever since Franco Liao took control of the fragmented Capellan states, House Liao has done its utmost to create and preserve a nation where the political chain of command is unquestioned and the Liao family stands indisputably at the top. Only through ironclad internal stability could the worlds in this oft-contested region of space hope to survive the attentions of their larger and militarily more powerful neighbors.