After the broadcasts concerning the bioweapon testing on b-Exagora shocked humanity, things took a turn for the worse for the Elysian Empire's war efforts. The press not directly controlled by the Board of Directed Truth condemned the government and the group Liberty or Death resurfaced. Regions of the Elysian Empire began to defy orders to contribute to the war effort and the Empire soon found itself firefighting multiple small-scale rebellions. Rates of consciousness objection increased and some warships simply committed treason and set up as pirate vessels or fled to Bel-Ashan.
Bel-Ashan, a small but prosperous nation, had the resources to enter the war on behalf of the Tel. Rather than pro-Tel, they were anti-Elysian, and their public sentiment was that with such devastating weaponry and such lack of morals, it was only a matter of time before the Elysians turned their attention elsewhere. The war became known as the Tripartite War.
By the time the Six o' Spades arrived at LanDriChin in 665PE, the borders of the Empire were slowly but surely crumbling. Two planets had 'liberated' themselves and set up as free states. Almost all the territory formerly held by the Tel had been retaken. In retaliation, the planet killing weapon was turned on one of the 'liberated' Elysian planets in 660PE and on one of the Tel reclaimed planets in 663PE. The bioweapon was never released: the Tel government made it known that they had sufficient data to implement a cure before the plague reached catastrophic proportions. Indeed, they broadcast the data publicly to the whole of humanity, to prove they were not bluffing and doom the government's effort once and for all. It was not worth the Elysian government's effort to mass-produce the PAR-AC3 virus.
The testimonies and vaccine samples brought by the Six o' Spades to LanDriChin provided further fuel for Bel-Ashan to invest in the Tripartite War. Work by notable escapees contributed to the peaceful defection of multiple Elysian colonies, ships and planets. For example, the pacifist Adrian Kilworth was a figurehead of Tel-Elysian diplomacy. With joint citizenship, personal experience of the cruelty of the Elysian authorities, and the ability to give passionate bilingual public speeches, he eventually rose to such prominence that he was naturally chosen to be a delegate at the first peace negotiation summit.
The political situation of the Elysian Council and unrest in Elysium contributed to the faltering defence of the Empire. By the 678PE election, it was clear that there was no significant chance of Elysian victory in the Tripartite War, particularly due to the destruction of the planet killer, and an informal ceasefire was reached. The Elysian fleet were consigned to strict boundaries, but their opponents did not move in. Restricted to defending the core Empire, the Elysian military remained in limbo for the next decade.
The total overhaul of the Elysian government system and revolutionary success finally precipitated the agreement to end the war.
The Consortium hosted the initial peace process meetings after the stabilisation of Elysian government in 680PE. For the first time, the Elysian government – new representatives – were publicly forced to answer questions in detail about the two WMDs they had developed over the last century. The newly made Parliament issued a formal apology for the actions of its predecessors and assured the summit that all knowledge of how to make the planet killer had been wiped out in the destruction of the Weapons Development Programme in 678PE. Most responsible for its production had already been executed during the Period of Unrest from 678-680PE, and the new government, under the leadership of Imogen Childs and Harper Lockwood, pushed for the few remaining to stand trial before an inter-galactic tribunal. Adrian Kilsworth was the primary advocate for merciful justice; imprisonment rather than execution.
The process of agreeing on demilitarisation, citizenship and reparations took over a decade to come to conclusions. Through that time, however, no lives were lost as a result of direct conflict.
In 669PE the b-Exagora Interactive Experience was founded by Env Do Jhyl Dri. The space ship offered sanctuary to Elysians fleeing the crimes of their government. It also acted as a test environment, placing participants under the strains of the victims of the b-Exagora experiment, in order to teach Tel values to Elysians who wished to join Tel society. The spaceship helped to foster the beginnings of cultural understanding. After the War, it was used primarily as a Museum and continued to aid cultural exchange as part of an effort to ensure intergalactic war would not break out again.
Gabrielle Sheer and her crew - notably Asher Segal of the b-Exagora experiment and the aforementioned Adrian Kilsworth - were also influential in the cultural exchange. Shortly after their arrival, the Six o' Spades was modernised through contributions from Tel citizens, and the remodelled ship became well known for travelling between empires and facilitating inter-galactic trade. Several key trading routes still used today were established under Captain Sheer. Her and her crew continued travelling centuries after the end of the War and became somewhat of a good luck symbol. It is now one of the oldest trading ships still in commission.