Gaian Ascendancy
24-01-2005, 01:21
The Gaian Ascendancy (Planets-I version)
Our History of being:
It's an Eon's beyond time elder civilization, but one that doesn't function as a normal civilization does.
Guardians.
A whole way of life based on the evolved premise that someone has to protect the infinite realities, so that each and their contained civilizations can garner a chance to ascend beyond the physical limitations of their own reality. They do this, preventing external forces from alternate realities and dimensions beyond imagination from preventing this basic progression of evolution at it's penultimate.
To accomplish this task, they accepted rather than true ascendance themselves, they instead garnered powers that transcended normal planar immortals. They exist outside the rules of normal realities, not simply tied to any law or govern normally.
They made their own code instead. One almost older than the ancient of the existing realities. These days and in this Dimension, it's called the Col`shrenth, simply Knight's Code.
The interesting facet of this 'civilization', is that not a single soul is native or borne as a Gaian. Even those born of parents of the Gaian Pillar way aren't born within Gaian confines. Every soul is brought in from a reality, a world native, and tested to see if initial qualities garner them the honor of training to be a Knight.
..and 'every' soul that accepts to be a part of the Gaian way, is a Knight. 'Every'....
After indoctrination, as well as physical acclimation as a Gaian aspect, they decide for themselves what path as a Gaian they will take. And as any other normal civilization has it's numerous aspects. Name one (constructive), and they accomplish thus.
============
Pillars and the Facet Pillar Fleets.
The sheer expanse and majesty, engrossing in 'all' is eternal wonderment, is the Dim`narth`shen, The Eternal Expanse. This encompasses the Dimensions and various Realities that is born from the Aspect Nexus that Creation watches over.
But she cannot guard all of it, only mother new realities into stability.
The Ascendancy is the Shield, even without an active Excellency, or a stable Dimension of their own, which at times was extensive, they still guarded the realities from forces that cannot be comprehended easily, if at all. When they settled in the Entrara Dimension Eons ago, the Shield grew beyond expectations. Having existed for so unimaginably long in this Dimension, their numbers had grown 'just' as expansively.
The Pillars were grouped in the pattern upon their planar reality, in the pattern of fives. Five Knights comprise a usual team. The higher ranks are based on this format. But in practice, there is no 'actual' limit to how large a Pillar Sect can become. The usual number is kept at five million or so per legion. Not because of logistics... (you kiddin?) But because there usually was no force that could equal per legion of any rank or structure of world or civilization that can match on an 'equal' level, the Gaians had little problem asserting this idea, allowing the affected regions to witness very long periods of peace and prosperity.
'Usually' though tends to have it's exceptions, as shown later on in this summary.
The Pillar Sects are accompanied by the Facet Fleets. Also grouped similar to the Legions, they employ ever larger types of war vessels to supplement whatever conventional force that decides to 'ploy' with them. Any size or sheer power could be matched. And numbers were not a problem.
The remaining fleet though is a immense mishmash of vessel types that can be 'easily' recognized by many other native star fleet. It's in the nature of the Pillars to use technology created by other civilizations, enhanced quite obviously, to better interact tactically with their guarded, or opposed.
The exception is the Ascendancy Class. They are wholly created by the Excellencies themselves. The current Flag Pillar Eternal Destiny was the creation of the previous Excellency. Eventually, the current Lord will be required to create his own new vessel, thereby enhancing the size, as well as the ancient legacy of the Ascendancy Class.
A legacy that has not seen a single vessel ever destroyed throughout time, prior to the Genocide. It's was that legacy that the Pillars and the Facets looked upon when devising all technologies and tactics for their strategies.
The technology was and still is so hybrid, too much that is seen 'as' technology, can be easily an empowerment by a mystical source. The reverse can be easily said as well.
It's here that the 'conventional' aspect is beyond blurred. It's a living misnomer, when one sees Knight's with powers akin to demi-gods, pilot Warmechs and Battlesuits, Starfighters and Mecha-suits, and command living machines that embody life as their own, yet give that life willingly to defend the way of the Gaian they both serve and partner with. Even the largest of the Siege Mecha and smallest of nano-units embody this mystical-technological spirit.
But all of this, however expansive and far-reaching the Pillars are, are secondary as a whole to the Prime Objective: Peace.
It was Law of Word by the First Excellency so far beyond time past in a reality long since broken, that the Gaian was a soul of peace.
---------
“~ The life of a soul, one that chooses our way, cannot be allowed of oneself to not look upon each new sun that crests a horizon, and not breathe that new dawn
There is a new dawn at every moment, at every sliver of time upon each cycle of horizon each soul witnesses. There will 'never' be a moment so as long as a Gaian breathes, that no dawn can ever exist.
As much as there is always a moment upon each sliver of each cycle upon all, that there is a sunset, there is no such thing so long as the Gaian breathes, that there is no 'total' dusk.
There is always the dawn.
There is 'always' the moment of the pure, new, virgin..
..peace.
So as long as there is a Gaian to breathe in that dawn. Anywhere.... ~”
That was preamble of the First Law. What was set afterwards, was that the Gaian Way was to be patterned as of those that they guarded over. Since each and 'every' Gaian was non-native, they brought with them the Menph`lai, simply put: Melting Pot.
To guard properly what they watched over, they acted just like them. At first acted..
..nowadays, it's impossible to differentiate.
===============
The Gaian Ascendancy Warships (at the time of the Escape)
Warship: Eternal Destiny
Class: Ascendancy Class Super-Star Destroyer (Five remaining class vessels)
Size Ratios ~
Length: 500 Standard Kilometers
Width: 275.52 Standard Kilometers
Zenith/Nadir Depth: 205.73 Standard Kilometers
Crew Compliment: 5 Million Mortal ; 2 Million AI-Type Sentient ; 3 Million 'other'
Shield Generator:
~ 20 High-Ion Yield Dimensional Distortion Field Generators
~ 40 Standard High-Amplification Gravity Distortion Fields
Weapons:
~ 1,000,000 Heavy Naval Lasers
~ 500,000 Heavy Naval Zero-Point Fusion Torpedo Launchers
~ 500,000 Naval Ion Pulse Cannon Batteries
~ 250,000 Medium Anti-Capital Vessel Pulse Laser Batteries
~ 15,000,000 Close Support Capital-Ship/Starcraft Pulse Laser Batteries
~ 8,500,000 Anti-Starfighter/Mobile Suit X-ER Pulse Laser Batteries
~ 5,000,000 Heavy Zone-Field Tractor-Energon Units
~ 16 Gravity-Blast Cannons (10 Turreted; 6 Fixed)
~ 9 Dimensional Cannon SuperLasers
Standard Compliment Assets: (At Maximum capacity docked)
~ 6 Super Class Star-Destroyers
~ 30 Imperial Class Star Destroyers
~ 25 Victory Class Star Destroyers
~ 15 Dreadnought Class
~ 10 Modular Task-Force BattleCruiser Class
~ 20 Escort Carrier Class
~ 10 Jump-Interdictor Class
~ 40 Strike Cruiser Class
~ 1,000 Assorted smaller Capital Class
~ 15,000 Assorted Non-Combatant Classes
~ 100,000 DropShips
~ 350 Star-Universe Wing Starfighters/Mobile Suits
Standard Compliment Ground Assets: (Normal compliment)
~ 5 Army Knight Groups (Infantry Type)
~ 7 Army Knight Groups (BattleMech ; Mobile Suit)
~ 3 Standard OZ-DropShip CoreBases
Standard Compliment Support Assets:
~ 5 Modular StarDocks
~ 3 Class-D StarBases
~ 5 Molecular-Recomposition Foundries
---------
The Ascendancy gave this Class it's name, as well as the choice of archetype, due to the fact that they were efficient warships of the smaller class at their sizes. The Gaian size and power of it's Guardianships, or Territory Fortresses were of such an expanse once, that the economic cost of building such immense vessels, not to mention the sizable fleets, were a non-issue.
As it is, of what the five Ascendancy Class vessels carried with them, including the 'savable' portion of their once immense holdings, was a bare 0.5% of what they could take with them. The Soltana, Illiad, Odyssey, Eternus and Eternal Destiny are all that's left.
Also, the 'compliments' carriable were by equative, technological and tactical standards, the broken down remains of once proud Facet Fleets and Armies. The StarFleet, Knight Group, and Aero-Starfighter assets were literally shells, with almost 90% of the escapable compliment non-operative. Also, with 95% of the survivors still in stasis, much of the functions of the ships are handled by holo-computers that are being overtaxed on powerfunctions. Eventually even these will breakdown without major diagnostics.
In the end however, the assets contained on these five vessels could overrun any planet they wished in under a day.
Fortunately, the Gaians loathe conflict except in the case of the Gaian Knights Code. Their honor forbids such blatant measures. But to presume they are pacifist is the 'last' thing an enemy would make a mistake over. The technological edge, despite their grievous state, would repel most any fleet attack.
..everything about them though is severely strained due to the battle they managed to escape.
Indeed, crew space is lavish, but much is also dedicated to power leylines, normal corridors, Mech/Mobile Suit logistics corridors, Gates, Generators, Core Mainframes, and the immense support function sections that basically allow it to be run like a Death Star sorta-type set up.
More, many of the decks are not directly attached to each other, rather 'linked' with holo-gangways, light-bridges, and a powerful ship wide stasis field that's 'almost' immune to power shortage. (Normally..)
Along whole hundreds of meters of multiple decks are immense glasssteel viewports that round amid whole sections. The Primary Corridors however are directly connected to the hull, usually running between the Fleet Docks and Storage Zones.
This allows for manic-sized starscape views. In fact, entire sections of the Command Core Section has entire 'bridges' of multiple levels with the same effect. Added, the said decks on these levels don't interfere view from another, except where the hull obviously protrudes forward. This works for both forward and rear views, for immense displays. Some as wide/expansive as 10 kilometers. The size of these views 'also' allow for expansive tactical eye-views of the battles the Gaian Fleets were used to...
...several hundred thousand at a time at the height of the Dark Enemy war the Gaians lost.
Given time, the Gaians will return to proper form.
If their Dark Enemy doesn't find them first.
===============
Worlds and Territories..
..they don't need to claim worlds..
..they make their own.
It has been within the ability since learned, that the Gaian's would literally shape worlds from dead husks, planetoid belts, even the very matter of nebulae that wouldn't amount to much naturally, to craft whole star systems, even fusing into existence the appropriate type(s) of stars necessary for their needs.
This is not to say they made whatnotcare and parked their creations wherever. Even 'they' still had to abide by the Laws of Physics of the Dimensions they operated in. They also respected the natural progression of civilizations by however means formed, as not to be interacted with on a stellar level, unless invited.
In so, much of the Gaian System Architect, the star system network that exists now, exists within another of the Gaian creations..
Stable Dimensional pockets. They in the grandiose, yet simplistic sense of the word, acted as immense, trillions of light-years expansive operations ‘bases’. They even had the ability, by only the Excellency, and The Powers of the Excellency Family, to move a Dimensional Fortress Pocket into and out of any reality as they saw fit, for any purpose that may have/had arisen.
The word territory though, only extends in the Gaian mindset, to only one star system as actual, valid 'territory'. The Facet Nebulae. Here, the core of the Gaian Civilization, Facet Forces, and the Excellency's personal array was kept. It was also the Secondary Capital System of the Gaian Ascendancy. Where it was moved and anchored, was where the Gaian Ascendancy operated their all out abilities from.
Here, Ten personally crafted Star Systems by the Excellency him/herself were managed. Here all the advanced technology, culture, and way were harbored. It was open to all allies, and a terror to approach for all enemies. The Nebulae itself for one is a living entity of proportions of light-years in size. The stars the were 'made' for the myriad of systems within, are both gorgeous to the eye, and efficient for all conventional and spiritual aspects.
The White Diamond Facet System is the central System, a system of eleven planets, literally jammed with resources and options. Clouds of the living Nebulae help shield even the closest orbiting planet: Dark from any form of lethal radiation or over exposure. They also harbor gate-shield grids within nebulae pockets shaped to be barrier walls, with no less than ten grids extending past the Oort Cloud Line of the numerous Star Systems within.
Of course, as if that wasn't enough, the Diamond Facet Fleet was permanently stationed here, it consisted of at least sixty Facet Fleets, led by the 12th Diamond Facet, His Majesty's own Facet. Rotations of other Facet Fleets into and out of the Nebulae at various times, as well as a nearly inexhaustible supply and ability of Mo-Planetoid Fields and Fleet Complex Yards of sizes dwarfing many of the System's own Lunas, made for a more than stable defense and support infrastructure.
But the underlay of the culture of the Gaians is at it's most opulent here as well. The history, culture and way of over trillions of Eons from Billions of countless civilizations is archived here. Dimensional Archive Vaults alone are filled of artifacts and historic lore of civilizations long since broken from the earliest eras of the multiverses. Even some from the earliest days of existence.
Here, the Excellencies had led the Way to both times of prosper, and terrible ruin, both learned and harbored to the last detail. But for all this, outside of the myriad of souls comprising the Facets Fleets and Sects, the System Itself is occupied by no more than a couple million at a time, over the 'entire' Nebulae.
The traffic into and out of the Nebulae was decent, but still the number rarely rises above this number.
That makes for whole stretches of beautiful scapes across the numerous worlds, sometimes hundreds of miles, able to be viewed alone or in small groups. The scenery offered, is the near perfection of any and all types of viewable such upon any world that can be visited. From the most serene and majestic, to the most ravaging and tectonic. Weather is also consistent, as much as natural in it's own right. Climate control is rarely used.
All for the mindful that was Gaian and Guest-visitor specie alike, of what was most cherished to a Gaian.
The natural myriad of wonders. Despite all a Gaian is capable, nature is still chief above them.
===============
The Excellency........
...the Mortal God..
...the God that Bleeds..
A King that holds no claims over lands. An Emperor with an army never wanting to be used. A destiny unique as it is small among what the title guards over.
To be an Excellency is to have the most powerful of all friends and enemies around this soul. It is also one able to face a God of any rank without fear, and be the voice of a mortal 'heard' amongst them.
For each Excellency is of a time, age, and reality where she or he 'was' one once.
She or he love and hates the responsibility laid upon this soul, but all the same lives a life as 'mortal' as this soul can. Of all the Gaian's to be of one, the Way is actual lifeblood to this soul. To never go a day without feeling 'something' of where this soul came from, is to lose sight of the Way.
The dichotomy of this is whom the usual mate is. Immortal in nature.
==============
The Fall..
But they had a terror of their own.
Their own records record that the Genocide began in the Kre`shenar Sector, some eight hundred-thousand plus standard years ago, a cluster of three Gaian Fortress Systems near a large civilized area. They were quietly watching over the entire area after a particularly nasty pirate force attempted an invasion. Two Facet Fleet Groups indicated to them ‘otherwise’. Unfortunately they drew attention unwanted.
The pirates were in fact a trap, as the actual enemy used them to lure out the Gaians from their dimension pockets. A few months later, the first of a string of disturbing transmissions reached Core Facet Command. The Fortresses had been utterly wiped out, and terrified, many cut-off abruptly ones from the nearby civilized cluster indicated a massacre had taken place.
A second Facet Fleet Group was sent to investigate, it never returned.
Over the next several years, a horrid picture began to form. Or more, the ‘lack’ of a picture. Everytime a Gaian Fleet, sometimes as large as 10 Fleet Groups, thousands of vessels led by even Ascendancy Class vessels, arrived on scene, ‘very’ few survivors returned to relay the tale.
The survivors debriefed that when their forces entered an area, each time larger and ‘larger’ in scope, they were greeted by.. nothing..
..the entire area of space they entered was an utter void. Sensors failed to even detect particles of matter. There seemed to be no logical explanation.
The ‘explanation’ however found them. A paradox occurred when the enemy approached. Sensors could detect ‘something’, but sight could see anything in the pitch darkness. Despite, soon after a sensor lock was found, Gaian vessels suddenly started to erupt in clusters of death and destruction. The Gaians would respond with the typical response. Where sensor locks were obtained, everything the Gaians had, including Dimensional Cannon Superlasers and Quantum-Dimensia Torpedoes. Whole sections of space met the same result, even rupturing the spatial fabric. Clouds of starfighters and mecha-suits also were sent in to mettle up the same close and personal.
Then the impossible happened. Instead of the enemy force shrinking. They seemed to multiply exponentially. The Gaians kept giving it their all, and only were defeated by ‘sheer’ attrition. The more Fleets that engaged the mysterious enemy, the more they failed to realize they were ‘helping’ their new enemy’s own cause. Then came the Battle of Ven`er`etha Cluster....
The Excellency himself entered the ‘war’ for the first time, along with an entire Facet Fleet Sector. At least a million warships moved to help try and save a new genocide in progress. The Sector had six inhabited civilized sectors around it, with several billions of souls within. Already the sector had been heavily assaulted by the time the Gaian Fleet arrived.
A true repeat then occurred. As if the unknown enemy had expected them, they suddenly halted their assaults and approached the gathered fleet of light.
The same sensor contact without visuals, the same mysterious explosions of Gaian vessels, with even the Eternal Destiny taking a harsh blow, and the same Gaian response. This time however, there was enough starscape in the area to make visuals when the Excellency called for a quick tactical regroup. The description was uncertain at best.
Oil-black structures that looked somewhat like a horrid insect, crustacean, or creature of dreams not even demons would dare imagine. The worse fact that the vessels were in ways ‘mimicking’ the Gaian vessel styles, as well as those of the local system fleets and private vessels.
Then came a shock, the one that determined their fate. A flurry of response fire caused obvious destruction of the enemy vessels, as well as several Gaian vessels.
Then in the next few moments, not only the destroyed enemy vessels, but the their ‘own’ breached Gaian vessels, both were degenerated, and reformatted into ‘new’ enemy vessels. Almost upon reformatting themselves, they attacked the nearest Gaian vessels again. The repetition and continued attrition showed the true nature of the Gaian’s enemy.
“Such a ‘dark enemy’. Our own attacks and deaths feed them.” ..said the Excellency at that moment.
The Gaians knew they were beaten and they knew it at that moment. The Excellency called for a humiliating retreat despite knowing what it meant for the local races.
The haunting of pleas of help still haunt the Excellency’s dreams at the present. But not even the signals were spared from the complete genocide that quickly consumed the sector in darkness. Worse, apparently the enemy fed this genocide exclusively into their genocide fleets. What had begun as a small incident (by scale..) was now a multi-pronged scorching of all reality. They even attacked the underlying subspace, astral, energon, and even down to the Foundation Layer of the Entrara Dimension the Gaian’s primarily lorded over.
The Ven`er`etha Cluster battle signaled the shift of power, and despite the Gaian’s immense technologies and resources, strangely a solution could not be found to counter these acts. Part of it lied with the Gaian’s apparently lack of a ‘mystical’ bent to look to. The Ascendancy had existed for hundred of thousands of Eons, so much that their views of religion, spiritually, and pantheon belief, was tempered immensely by their technologies, ones that allowed nigh-immortality. Even death was easily reversible. It wasn’t the disbelief of spirituality, but the ‘lack’ of the same upon the Dimension. Ideas of ‘magic’ no longer existed in the dimensional fabric. Everything had a ‘standard’, white-washed, hyper-tech feel.
That lacking was what the Dark Enemy apparently possessed. In fact, it became apparent that this was becoming an ‘ideological’ war of genocide. The Light that had guarded over the Dimension for so long was being snuffed out by the Darkness itself.
This came in the form of a near one billion standard year long war. One cluster after another, turned into one galaxy after another. Gaian forces in the area met the same fate as local fleets that could muster against the threat.
Annihilation..
The only reason the war took so long, was the vast scale of the genocide itself. ‘Everything’ was consumed in the Dar Enemy’s path.
All things ended when the Enemy arrived.
Then came the First Dark Massacre. About one-third of the way into the war, the Dark Enemy enacted it’s boldest, and most engrossing move yet. Three separate Universe Sectors suddenly were engulfed and scoured from the Dimension, all at ‘once’. It showed just how ‘large’ the Dark Enemy had become. Estimates placed (best case scenario) of over a trillion vessels. But it also became clear that other functions were aiding this onslaught along with the Dark Fleets.
A battle for the Jar`th 32-A/F1 Sector confirmed this when a reserve Gaian Fleet following a main Facet witnessed space actually ‘swallowing’ the sector as the Facet Fleet was torn apart. Indications were that ‘entities’ of untold size were ‘absorbing’ the entire reality around them. The darkness would then spread to swiftly absorb the region around the targeted areas.
It was even equated to a cancer upon the Dimension itself.
This the Gaians had no defense against. And so, even at this early period, they began to look for a way to save themselves.
The Dark Enemy assaults however became so relentless and unyielding, that not until the last few years did they gather enough ‘resources’ and began to store them away in other dimensional realities. They kept doing this where they could, as well as ‘hiding’ civilizations as well. Some didn’t work and the Enemy would find traces and snuff them out. No word of ‘those’ dimensions were ever known of their survival. They simply had no time.
Finally, and the word meant it, the assaults began on the Gaian Core Sectors. Several hundreds of thousands of hexagonal light-years began to be, and for no apparent reason, ‘slowly’ attack the surrounding clusters. Apparently at some point, a ‘sentient’ entity calling itself Muhorandii revealed Itself. No personal contact was ever made, but more than a few mutilated dreams were shown of souls being ‘actually’ devoured were ‘shown’ to the Excellency as he slept. This caused a growing sleep depravation itself, which caused the Excellency further problems as more careful measures of ‘storage’ were taken by the Gaians, as volunteers of the remaining forces tried to slow the advance.
In the last weeks of the genocide, the assault leapt past the ‘lines’ that had formed, and razed the Gaian Capital System. The Enemy obliterated the cluster of seven star symbiotic Systems like they were chaff from flash paper. The Gaians had however abandoned it knowing such was coming, and had transferred much of the holdings to the Jeweled Nebulae Cluster with the White-Diamond Star System within, already ‘stored’ away.
The final Fold Plan was formulated at the same time, and a race to save what was left while the last volunteers were withdrawn to strategic points, held the last assaults. Meanwhile, word came that the last Universe Sectors had been scoured reached the Gaians.
The word came from this Mulhorandii in another short dream. The Excellency had become as ‘assaulted’ as his realm had.
The rest was academic. After the sealing of several Journey Sar-Nor’s, the remaining six Ascendancy vessels, Jewelvana, Soltana, Illiad, Odyssey, Eternus and the Eternal Destiny itself crammed what assets and souls they could, and began to try and leap to another, and somehow by design, random Dimension.
The last days were cat and mouse, using what little untouched space was left to charge their Fold Core for the jump, literally siphoning the Zero-Point spatial fabric that was left.
They left with only five severely damaged vessels to another dimension. The Jewelvana died with all hands at the last moment, right just as the Fleet was ready to Fold.
It’s unknown at present if the Dark Enemy has any clue to the Gaian’s present location. The present situation is of one of pure recovery. It will take untold time to possibly rebuild that which was once the One Great Jewel.
If ever........
Our History of being:
It's an Eon's beyond time elder civilization, but one that doesn't function as a normal civilization does.
Guardians.
A whole way of life based on the evolved premise that someone has to protect the infinite realities, so that each and their contained civilizations can garner a chance to ascend beyond the physical limitations of their own reality. They do this, preventing external forces from alternate realities and dimensions beyond imagination from preventing this basic progression of evolution at it's penultimate.
To accomplish this task, they accepted rather than true ascendance themselves, they instead garnered powers that transcended normal planar immortals. They exist outside the rules of normal realities, not simply tied to any law or govern normally.
They made their own code instead. One almost older than the ancient of the existing realities. These days and in this Dimension, it's called the Col`shrenth, simply Knight's Code.
The interesting facet of this 'civilization', is that not a single soul is native or borne as a Gaian. Even those born of parents of the Gaian Pillar way aren't born within Gaian confines. Every soul is brought in from a reality, a world native, and tested to see if initial qualities garner them the honor of training to be a Knight.
..and 'every' soul that accepts to be a part of the Gaian way, is a Knight. 'Every'....
After indoctrination, as well as physical acclimation as a Gaian aspect, they decide for themselves what path as a Gaian they will take. And as any other normal civilization has it's numerous aspects. Name one (constructive), and they accomplish thus.
============
Pillars and the Facet Pillar Fleets.
The sheer expanse and majesty, engrossing in 'all' is eternal wonderment, is the Dim`narth`shen, The Eternal Expanse. This encompasses the Dimensions and various Realities that is born from the Aspect Nexus that Creation watches over.
But she cannot guard all of it, only mother new realities into stability.
The Ascendancy is the Shield, even without an active Excellency, or a stable Dimension of their own, which at times was extensive, they still guarded the realities from forces that cannot be comprehended easily, if at all. When they settled in the Entrara Dimension Eons ago, the Shield grew beyond expectations. Having existed for so unimaginably long in this Dimension, their numbers had grown 'just' as expansively.
The Pillars were grouped in the pattern upon their planar reality, in the pattern of fives. Five Knights comprise a usual team. The higher ranks are based on this format. But in practice, there is no 'actual' limit to how large a Pillar Sect can become. The usual number is kept at five million or so per legion. Not because of logistics... (you kiddin?) But because there usually was no force that could equal per legion of any rank or structure of world or civilization that can match on an 'equal' level, the Gaians had little problem asserting this idea, allowing the affected regions to witness very long periods of peace and prosperity.
'Usually' though tends to have it's exceptions, as shown later on in this summary.
The Pillar Sects are accompanied by the Facet Fleets. Also grouped similar to the Legions, they employ ever larger types of war vessels to supplement whatever conventional force that decides to 'ploy' with them. Any size or sheer power could be matched. And numbers were not a problem.
The remaining fleet though is a immense mishmash of vessel types that can be 'easily' recognized by many other native star fleet. It's in the nature of the Pillars to use technology created by other civilizations, enhanced quite obviously, to better interact tactically with their guarded, or opposed.
The exception is the Ascendancy Class. They are wholly created by the Excellencies themselves. The current Flag Pillar Eternal Destiny was the creation of the previous Excellency. Eventually, the current Lord will be required to create his own new vessel, thereby enhancing the size, as well as the ancient legacy of the Ascendancy Class.
A legacy that has not seen a single vessel ever destroyed throughout time, prior to the Genocide. It's was that legacy that the Pillars and the Facets looked upon when devising all technologies and tactics for their strategies.
The technology was and still is so hybrid, too much that is seen 'as' technology, can be easily an empowerment by a mystical source. The reverse can be easily said as well.
It's here that the 'conventional' aspect is beyond blurred. It's a living misnomer, when one sees Knight's with powers akin to demi-gods, pilot Warmechs and Battlesuits, Starfighters and Mecha-suits, and command living machines that embody life as their own, yet give that life willingly to defend the way of the Gaian they both serve and partner with. Even the largest of the Siege Mecha and smallest of nano-units embody this mystical-technological spirit.
But all of this, however expansive and far-reaching the Pillars are, are secondary as a whole to the Prime Objective: Peace.
It was Law of Word by the First Excellency so far beyond time past in a reality long since broken, that the Gaian was a soul of peace.
---------
“~ The life of a soul, one that chooses our way, cannot be allowed of oneself to not look upon each new sun that crests a horizon, and not breathe that new dawn
There is a new dawn at every moment, at every sliver of time upon each cycle of horizon each soul witnesses. There will 'never' be a moment so as long as a Gaian breathes, that no dawn can ever exist.
As much as there is always a moment upon each sliver of each cycle upon all, that there is a sunset, there is no such thing so long as the Gaian breathes, that there is no 'total' dusk.
There is always the dawn.
There is 'always' the moment of the pure, new, virgin..
..peace.
So as long as there is a Gaian to breathe in that dawn. Anywhere.... ~”
That was preamble of the First Law. What was set afterwards, was that the Gaian Way was to be patterned as of those that they guarded over. Since each and 'every' Gaian was non-native, they brought with them the Menph`lai, simply put: Melting Pot.
To guard properly what they watched over, they acted just like them. At first acted..
..nowadays, it's impossible to differentiate.
===============
The Gaian Ascendancy Warships (at the time of the Escape)
Warship: Eternal Destiny
Class: Ascendancy Class Super-Star Destroyer (Five remaining class vessels)
Size Ratios ~
Length: 500 Standard Kilometers
Width: 275.52 Standard Kilometers
Zenith/Nadir Depth: 205.73 Standard Kilometers
Crew Compliment: 5 Million Mortal ; 2 Million AI-Type Sentient ; 3 Million 'other'
Shield Generator:
~ 20 High-Ion Yield Dimensional Distortion Field Generators
~ 40 Standard High-Amplification Gravity Distortion Fields
Weapons:
~ 1,000,000 Heavy Naval Lasers
~ 500,000 Heavy Naval Zero-Point Fusion Torpedo Launchers
~ 500,000 Naval Ion Pulse Cannon Batteries
~ 250,000 Medium Anti-Capital Vessel Pulse Laser Batteries
~ 15,000,000 Close Support Capital-Ship/Starcraft Pulse Laser Batteries
~ 8,500,000 Anti-Starfighter/Mobile Suit X-ER Pulse Laser Batteries
~ 5,000,000 Heavy Zone-Field Tractor-Energon Units
~ 16 Gravity-Blast Cannons (10 Turreted; 6 Fixed)
~ 9 Dimensional Cannon SuperLasers
Standard Compliment Assets: (At Maximum capacity docked)
~ 6 Super Class Star-Destroyers
~ 30 Imperial Class Star Destroyers
~ 25 Victory Class Star Destroyers
~ 15 Dreadnought Class
~ 10 Modular Task-Force BattleCruiser Class
~ 20 Escort Carrier Class
~ 10 Jump-Interdictor Class
~ 40 Strike Cruiser Class
~ 1,000 Assorted smaller Capital Class
~ 15,000 Assorted Non-Combatant Classes
~ 100,000 DropShips
~ 350 Star-Universe Wing Starfighters/Mobile Suits
Standard Compliment Ground Assets: (Normal compliment)
~ 5 Army Knight Groups (Infantry Type)
~ 7 Army Knight Groups (BattleMech ; Mobile Suit)
~ 3 Standard OZ-DropShip CoreBases
Standard Compliment Support Assets:
~ 5 Modular StarDocks
~ 3 Class-D StarBases
~ 5 Molecular-Recomposition Foundries
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The Ascendancy gave this Class it's name, as well as the choice of archetype, due to the fact that they were efficient warships of the smaller class at their sizes. The Gaian size and power of it's Guardianships, or Territory Fortresses were of such an expanse once, that the economic cost of building such immense vessels, not to mention the sizable fleets, were a non-issue.
As it is, of what the five Ascendancy Class vessels carried with them, including the 'savable' portion of their once immense holdings, was a bare 0.5% of what they could take with them. The Soltana, Illiad, Odyssey, Eternus and Eternal Destiny are all that's left.
Also, the 'compliments' carriable were by equative, technological and tactical standards, the broken down remains of once proud Facet Fleets and Armies. The StarFleet, Knight Group, and Aero-Starfighter assets were literally shells, with almost 90% of the escapable compliment non-operative. Also, with 95% of the survivors still in stasis, much of the functions of the ships are handled by holo-computers that are being overtaxed on powerfunctions. Eventually even these will breakdown without major diagnostics.
In the end however, the assets contained on these five vessels could overrun any planet they wished in under a day.
Fortunately, the Gaians loathe conflict except in the case of the Gaian Knights Code. Their honor forbids such blatant measures. But to presume they are pacifist is the 'last' thing an enemy would make a mistake over. The technological edge, despite their grievous state, would repel most any fleet attack.
..everything about them though is severely strained due to the battle they managed to escape.
Indeed, crew space is lavish, but much is also dedicated to power leylines, normal corridors, Mech/Mobile Suit logistics corridors, Gates, Generators, Core Mainframes, and the immense support function sections that basically allow it to be run like a Death Star sorta-type set up.
More, many of the decks are not directly attached to each other, rather 'linked' with holo-gangways, light-bridges, and a powerful ship wide stasis field that's 'almost' immune to power shortage. (Normally..)
Along whole hundreds of meters of multiple decks are immense glasssteel viewports that round amid whole sections. The Primary Corridors however are directly connected to the hull, usually running between the Fleet Docks and Storage Zones.
This allows for manic-sized starscape views. In fact, entire sections of the Command Core Section has entire 'bridges' of multiple levels with the same effect. Added, the said decks on these levels don't interfere view from another, except where the hull obviously protrudes forward. This works for both forward and rear views, for immense displays. Some as wide/expansive as 10 kilometers. The size of these views 'also' allow for expansive tactical eye-views of the battles the Gaian Fleets were used to...
...several hundred thousand at a time at the height of the Dark Enemy war the Gaians lost.
Given time, the Gaians will return to proper form.
If their Dark Enemy doesn't find them first.
===============
Worlds and Territories..
..they don't need to claim worlds..
..they make their own.
It has been within the ability since learned, that the Gaian's would literally shape worlds from dead husks, planetoid belts, even the very matter of nebulae that wouldn't amount to much naturally, to craft whole star systems, even fusing into existence the appropriate type(s) of stars necessary for their needs.
This is not to say they made whatnotcare and parked their creations wherever. Even 'they' still had to abide by the Laws of Physics of the Dimensions they operated in. They also respected the natural progression of civilizations by however means formed, as not to be interacted with on a stellar level, unless invited.
In so, much of the Gaian System Architect, the star system network that exists now, exists within another of the Gaian creations..
Stable Dimensional pockets. They in the grandiose, yet simplistic sense of the word, acted as immense, trillions of light-years expansive operations ‘bases’. They even had the ability, by only the Excellency, and The Powers of the Excellency Family, to move a Dimensional Fortress Pocket into and out of any reality as they saw fit, for any purpose that may have/had arisen.
The word territory though, only extends in the Gaian mindset, to only one star system as actual, valid 'territory'. The Facet Nebulae. Here, the core of the Gaian Civilization, Facet Forces, and the Excellency's personal array was kept. It was also the Secondary Capital System of the Gaian Ascendancy. Where it was moved and anchored, was where the Gaian Ascendancy operated their all out abilities from.
Here, Ten personally crafted Star Systems by the Excellency him/herself were managed. Here all the advanced technology, culture, and way were harbored. It was open to all allies, and a terror to approach for all enemies. The Nebulae itself for one is a living entity of proportions of light-years in size. The stars the were 'made' for the myriad of systems within, are both gorgeous to the eye, and efficient for all conventional and spiritual aspects.
The White Diamond Facet System is the central System, a system of eleven planets, literally jammed with resources and options. Clouds of the living Nebulae help shield even the closest orbiting planet: Dark from any form of lethal radiation or over exposure. They also harbor gate-shield grids within nebulae pockets shaped to be barrier walls, with no less than ten grids extending past the Oort Cloud Line of the numerous Star Systems within.
Of course, as if that wasn't enough, the Diamond Facet Fleet was permanently stationed here, it consisted of at least sixty Facet Fleets, led by the 12th Diamond Facet, His Majesty's own Facet. Rotations of other Facet Fleets into and out of the Nebulae at various times, as well as a nearly inexhaustible supply and ability of Mo-Planetoid Fields and Fleet Complex Yards of sizes dwarfing many of the System's own Lunas, made for a more than stable defense and support infrastructure.
But the underlay of the culture of the Gaians is at it's most opulent here as well. The history, culture and way of over trillions of Eons from Billions of countless civilizations is archived here. Dimensional Archive Vaults alone are filled of artifacts and historic lore of civilizations long since broken from the earliest eras of the multiverses. Even some from the earliest days of existence.
Here, the Excellencies had led the Way to both times of prosper, and terrible ruin, both learned and harbored to the last detail. But for all this, outside of the myriad of souls comprising the Facets Fleets and Sects, the System Itself is occupied by no more than a couple million at a time, over the 'entire' Nebulae.
The traffic into and out of the Nebulae was decent, but still the number rarely rises above this number.
That makes for whole stretches of beautiful scapes across the numerous worlds, sometimes hundreds of miles, able to be viewed alone or in small groups. The scenery offered, is the near perfection of any and all types of viewable such upon any world that can be visited. From the most serene and majestic, to the most ravaging and tectonic. Weather is also consistent, as much as natural in it's own right. Climate control is rarely used.
All for the mindful that was Gaian and Guest-visitor specie alike, of what was most cherished to a Gaian.
The natural myriad of wonders. Despite all a Gaian is capable, nature is still chief above them.
===============
The Excellency........
...the Mortal God..
...the God that Bleeds..
A King that holds no claims over lands. An Emperor with an army never wanting to be used. A destiny unique as it is small among what the title guards over.
To be an Excellency is to have the most powerful of all friends and enemies around this soul. It is also one able to face a God of any rank without fear, and be the voice of a mortal 'heard' amongst them.
For each Excellency is of a time, age, and reality where she or he 'was' one once.
She or he love and hates the responsibility laid upon this soul, but all the same lives a life as 'mortal' as this soul can. Of all the Gaian's to be of one, the Way is actual lifeblood to this soul. To never go a day without feeling 'something' of where this soul came from, is to lose sight of the Way.
The dichotomy of this is whom the usual mate is. Immortal in nature.
==============
The Fall..
But they had a terror of their own.
Their own records record that the Genocide began in the Kre`shenar Sector, some eight hundred-thousand plus standard years ago, a cluster of three Gaian Fortress Systems near a large civilized area. They were quietly watching over the entire area after a particularly nasty pirate force attempted an invasion. Two Facet Fleet Groups indicated to them ‘otherwise’. Unfortunately they drew attention unwanted.
The pirates were in fact a trap, as the actual enemy used them to lure out the Gaians from their dimension pockets. A few months later, the first of a string of disturbing transmissions reached Core Facet Command. The Fortresses had been utterly wiped out, and terrified, many cut-off abruptly ones from the nearby civilized cluster indicated a massacre had taken place.
A second Facet Fleet Group was sent to investigate, it never returned.
Over the next several years, a horrid picture began to form. Or more, the ‘lack’ of a picture. Everytime a Gaian Fleet, sometimes as large as 10 Fleet Groups, thousands of vessels led by even Ascendancy Class vessels, arrived on scene, ‘very’ few survivors returned to relay the tale.
The survivors debriefed that when their forces entered an area, each time larger and ‘larger’ in scope, they were greeted by.. nothing..
..the entire area of space they entered was an utter void. Sensors failed to even detect particles of matter. There seemed to be no logical explanation.
The ‘explanation’ however found them. A paradox occurred when the enemy approached. Sensors could detect ‘something’, but sight could see anything in the pitch darkness. Despite, soon after a sensor lock was found, Gaian vessels suddenly started to erupt in clusters of death and destruction. The Gaians would respond with the typical response. Where sensor locks were obtained, everything the Gaians had, including Dimensional Cannon Superlasers and Quantum-Dimensia Torpedoes. Whole sections of space met the same result, even rupturing the spatial fabric. Clouds of starfighters and mecha-suits also were sent in to mettle up the same close and personal.
Then the impossible happened. Instead of the enemy force shrinking. They seemed to multiply exponentially. The Gaians kept giving it their all, and only were defeated by ‘sheer’ attrition. The more Fleets that engaged the mysterious enemy, the more they failed to realize they were ‘helping’ their new enemy’s own cause. Then came the Battle of Ven`er`etha Cluster....
The Excellency himself entered the ‘war’ for the first time, along with an entire Facet Fleet Sector. At least a million warships moved to help try and save a new genocide in progress. The Sector had six inhabited civilized sectors around it, with several billions of souls within. Already the sector had been heavily assaulted by the time the Gaian Fleet arrived.
A true repeat then occurred. As if the unknown enemy had expected them, they suddenly halted their assaults and approached the gathered fleet of light.
The same sensor contact without visuals, the same mysterious explosions of Gaian vessels, with even the Eternal Destiny taking a harsh blow, and the same Gaian response. This time however, there was enough starscape in the area to make visuals when the Excellency called for a quick tactical regroup. The description was uncertain at best.
Oil-black structures that looked somewhat like a horrid insect, crustacean, or creature of dreams not even demons would dare imagine. The worse fact that the vessels were in ways ‘mimicking’ the Gaian vessel styles, as well as those of the local system fleets and private vessels.
Then came a shock, the one that determined their fate. A flurry of response fire caused obvious destruction of the enemy vessels, as well as several Gaian vessels.
Then in the next few moments, not only the destroyed enemy vessels, but the their ‘own’ breached Gaian vessels, both were degenerated, and reformatted into ‘new’ enemy vessels. Almost upon reformatting themselves, they attacked the nearest Gaian vessels again. The repetition and continued attrition showed the true nature of the Gaian’s enemy.
“Such a ‘dark enemy’. Our own attacks and deaths feed them.” ..said the Excellency at that moment.
The Gaians knew they were beaten and they knew it at that moment. The Excellency called for a humiliating retreat despite knowing what it meant for the local races.
The haunting of pleas of help still haunt the Excellency’s dreams at the present. But not even the signals were spared from the complete genocide that quickly consumed the sector in darkness. Worse, apparently the enemy fed this genocide exclusively into their genocide fleets. What had begun as a small incident (by scale..) was now a multi-pronged scorching of all reality. They even attacked the underlying subspace, astral, energon, and even down to the Foundation Layer of the Entrara Dimension the Gaian’s primarily lorded over.
The Ven`er`etha Cluster battle signaled the shift of power, and despite the Gaian’s immense technologies and resources, strangely a solution could not be found to counter these acts. Part of it lied with the Gaian’s apparently lack of a ‘mystical’ bent to look to. The Ascendancy had existed for hundred of thousands of Eons, so much that their views of religion, spiritually, and pantheon belief, was tempered immensely by their technologies, ones that allowed nigh-immortality. Even death was easily reversible. It wasn’t the disbelief of spirituality, but the ‘lack’ of the same upon the Dimension. Ideas of ‘magic’ no longer existed in the dimensional fabric. Everything had a ‘standard’, white-washed, hyper-tech feel.
That lacking was what the Dark Enemy apparently possessed. In fact, it became apparent that this was becoming an ‘ideological’ war of genocide. The Light that had guarded over the Dimension for so long was being snuffed out by the Darkness itself.
This came in the form of a near one billion standard year long war. One cluster after another, turned into one galaxy after another. Gaian forces in the area met the same fate as local fleets that could muster against the threat.
Annihilation..
The only reason the war took so long, was the vast scale of the genocide itself. ‘Everything’ was consumed in the Dar Enemy’s path.
All things ended when the Enemy arrived.
Then came the First Dark Massacre. About one-third of the way into the war, the Dark Enemy enacted it’s boldest, and most engrossing move yet. Three separate Universe Sectors suddenly were engulfed and scoured from the Dimension, all at ‘once’. It showed just how ‘large’ the Dark Enemy had become. Estimates placed (best case scenario) of over a trillion vessels. But it also became clear that other functions were aiding this onslaught along with the Dark Fleets.
A battle for the Jar`th 32-A/F1 Sector confirmed this when a reserve Gaian Fleet following a main Facet witnessed space actually ‘swallowing’ the sector as the Facet Fleet was torn apart. Indications were that ‘entities’ of untold size were ‘absorbing’ the entire reality around them. The darkness would then spread to swiftly absorb the region around the targeted areas.
It was even equated to a cancer upon the Dimension itself.
This the Gaians had no defense against. And so, even at this early period, they began to look for a way to save themselves.
The Dark Enemy assaults however became so relentless and unyielding, that not until the last few years did they gather enough ‘resources’ and began to store them away in other dimensional realities. They kept doing this where they could, as well as ‘hiding’ civilizations as well. Some didn’t work and the Enemy would find traces and snuff them out. No word of ‘those’ dimensions were ever known of their survival. They simply had no time.
Finally, and the word meant it, the assaults began on the Gaian Core Sectors. Several hundreds of thousands of hexagonal light-years began to be, and for no apparent reason, ‘slowly’ attack the surrounding clusters. Apparently at some point, a ‘sentient’ entity calling itself Muhorandii revealed Itself. No personal contact was ever made, but more than a few mutilated dreams were shown of souls being ‘actually’ devoured were ‘shown’ to the Excellency as he slept. This caused a growing sleep depravation itself, which caused the Excellency further problems as more careful measures of ‘storage’ were taken by the Gaians, as volunteers of the remaining forces tried to slow the advance.
In the last weeks of the genocide, the assault leapt past the ‘lines’ that had formed, and razed the Gaian Capital System. The Enemy obliterated the cluster of seven star symbiotic Systems like they were chaff from flash paper. The Gaians had however abandoned it knowing such was coming, and had transferred much of the holdings to the Jeweled Nebulae Cluster with the White-Diamond Star System within, already ‘stored’ away.
The final Fold Plan was formulated at the same time, and a race to save what was left while the last volunteers were withdrawn to strategic points, held the last assaults. Meanwhile, word came that the last Universe Sectors had been scoured reached the Gaians.
The word came from this Mulhorandii in another short dream. The Excellency had become as ‘assaulted’ as his realm had.
The rest was academic. After the sealing of several Journey Sar-Nor’s, the remaining six Ascendancy vessels, Jewelvana, Soltana, Illiad, Odyssey, Eternus and the Eternal Destiny itself crammed what assets and souls they could, and began to try and leap to another, and somehow by design, random Dimension.
The last days were cat and mouse, using what little untouched space was left to charge their Fold Core for the jump, literally siphoning the Zero-Point spatial fabric that was left.
They left with only five severely damaged vessels to another dimension. The Jewelvana died with all hands at the last moment, right just as the Fleet was ready to Fold.
It’s unknown at present if the Dark Enemy has any clue to the Gaian’s present location. The present situation is of one of pure recovery. It will take untold time to possibly rebuild that which was once the One Great Jewel.
If ever........