Claims

Claims over the leadership of colonies and factions are essentially casus belli. An individual may press a claim themselves or request a superior to champion the claim on their behalf. Claims can arise through an individual's connections via blood or marriage, or randomly as archaeologists and researchers uncover relics and data caches with lost information from previous centuries.

Codex
"When the power structure in a region has been stable for a long time, it comes to be seen as the legitimate authority for that region. Aggression aimed at usurping or conquering it away from its masters is seen as more dishonorable, since they have a rightful claim to that region.

A claim can be credible (weak) or legitimate (strong).

There are the following kinds of claims; - An individual can have a claim to rule a system - An individual can have a claim to lead a faction - A faction can have a claim to own a system - A faction can have a claim to be the master of another faction

When an individual dies, their legitimacy to rule a region is transferred to their children, facilitating a peaceful transition of power through inheritance.

An unexercised claim will fade over time. Individuals that have a claim, but are not themselves in power, will pass on a weaker version of their claim to their children (or no claim at all). Factions that no longer possess the systems or vassal factions they claim will lose those claims over time."