What political, spiritual, and economic impact would losing Scintilla have on the Calixis Sector?

If something were to suddenly happen to Scintilla causing it to be separated indefinitely from the rest of the Calixis Sector (no communication to or from and no travel in or out), what would become of the Calixis Sector? With the sudden loss of the presiding sector government, the heads of the various Adepta (such as the Arbites, Administratum, Astra Telepathica, and the Ecclisiarchy) it would most definitely cause some major ripples.

I get the feeling that this could strain or even doom several planets due to lost tieth and other reports that were being tallied on Scintilla before sent for storage in the Proll system. Likewise, since the greatest bulk of weapons in the Calixis sector seems to also come from Scintilla, there could be some kind of backlash there as well. I feel that the nobles of Malfi would definitely seize this opportunity to take control of the Calixis sector (even if it's under the pretense of guiding it along the proper path until either communication can one again be established with Scintilla) but would they have any opposition?

What else could / might / would happen if Scintilla suddenly vanished?

The new Malfian government would need to find a new source of weaponry for the armies they will inevitably have to raise to cement their control of the sector, so where do they find it? The Lathe system is the likely choice, as three forgeworlds wouldn't have a problem making up for the shortfall in arms production brought on by the loss of Scintilla. However, the AdMech would probably see this as a golden oppurtunity to get major concessions from the new government, lower tithes, more influence, etc. So the coggies would probably prosper in this situation, and the Malfi-based sector governor would become very dependent on them.

There's also the question of just how strong and effective Malfi would be as a sector capital. The place is rife with intrigue and machiavellian infighting after all, and the new governor might have to spend much of his time and energy on taking care of his own backyard and trying not to be backstabbed by his rivals rather than reinforcing his grip on the rest of the sector. I imagine this could result in a weakening of central authority, maybe even outright secession in some places.

Eventually word about what has happened will filter back to the Segmentum capital, and just what the Cypra Mundi will do about it is a bit of a toss upp IMHO. They might decide to recognise Malfi as the new seat of government, giving it some much needed legitimacy, or they might be less than pleased and declare that the Malfians are usurpers. In the case of the latter it could lead to civil war.

Sorry, but why should the Admech pay tithes to the Administratum?

warpdancer said:

Okay then, feel free to substitute "lower tithes" with "more favourable trade pacts" if you like.

Graver said:

I know they say "Real generals talk logistics" but real generals need to fill out forms and get the Administratum to support him.

I think the worst effect would be the loss of control of the day to day workings of the sector. It would start slow, then food ships would stop ariving on hive worlds, tithe ships would get lost, black ships would not get sent etc.

A lot is depending on how you wanted the sector to recover. So you might have backup Administratum adepts ready in a place like Malfi to take over in event of a disaster. However if you wanted there to be a period of upheaval then have the restoration of the sector logicstics and Administratum could take 6-12 months or more! Think; there will be hundreds (if not thousands) of ships travelling through the warp at the behest of the sector goverment, if the orders to make those journeys or pay those wages dried up what would happen!

Happy Scintilla vanishing!