NationStates Jolt Archive

001 appeared inside a small system in the milky ways galactic northwest, near the edge of the spiral, containing 6 worlds, 2 jovians at the rear of the system and 4 terrestrial worlds nearer to the young yellow star her sensors had discovered while she sat in interstellar space.

The second world from the sun was only slightly larger then earth, and seemed to be going through an evolutionary phase similar to earths own jurassic era. As she entered the system, mother the markaia drone "queen" started to order her children to begin the massive work that was required of her. They flowed out of her in their multitudes, moving towards the systems oort cloud and debris fields with only one directive. To create more of them. When a sufficient number had been constructed, they would then begin work on the planet below, preparing it for up to 500 million Tannelornians. They would construct ship yards, mining outposts and anything else the ship was capable of constructing that they would require.

The great vessel slowly approached the 2nd world from the systems sun, surrounded by a great cloud of millions of worker "termites." Soon they would descend upon the world in a great mass, preparing and building, harvesting and constructing mighty cities, defensive installations, and construction facilities.

The world itself seemed cloaked in darkness as the great swarm broke in to the atmosphere, touching nothing but the materials they required, transferring vast amounts of materiel through relays from their brethren stripping the system of its resources.

Colonisation and construction had begun. And it pleased the hive to know their masters would be pleased with them.

Less then two weeks after she had arrived 001 was preparing to leave to the next system she had slated for development. The bio-mech workers had reproduced themselves at an astounding rate, building a Sub-queen Markaia unit for the asteroid field, kuiper belts and planet slated for colonisation. After all 001 was more then just a markaia unit. She had inside of her the designs for not only every structure and powerplant used in tannelorn inside of the grey matter sack that represented her consciousness, but also the designs for every automated system used by the Prefecture.

Needless to say the preparations were completed rather quickly, and gathering up a loyal entourage of hundreds of thousands of Bio-mech workers, she prepared to leave the system behind, confident it would be prepared for the Master's when they arrived in several short weeks.

With that the massive angular form of Markaia ship 001 passed through the system with a stately grace, before she activated her urenbecht catapult and engaged her DEM drive, moving on to the next step in her divinely anointed duty.

The workers and their markaia daughter-queens had worked quickly in the last few weeks. Vast tracks of the oort cloud, and even some small moons had been decimated by the insatiable apperite of the worker "Termites". All of these resources had gone simply in to building more worker termites, as well as raw material processing plants, with more and varied worker drones.


The process of preparation for colonisation was going on schedule. A new capital system was being created here, complete with new advanced shipyards, facilities for science, and of course automated defenses. Now the true work could begin.

The glorious construction of whole cities, alterations to the biosphere to suit the tastes and needs of the tannelornian migrants to come. Biological samples were being taken, bacteria and virii were being exploited by the Markaia subqueens to create new forms of nanomachine, testing them as possible ways to increase material synthesis production.

Already a great city was being constructed over an archipelaego in the middle of the sea. The sea called to Tannelornians, racial memories more ancient then their knowledge of such things, and as such it called to their "pets" as well since they come from the same root genetic stock as the tannelornians themselves.

It was from racial memory which came the urge to build a new capital on the ocean itself. And its beautiful arches and bridges, connecting the land masses together in a tangible way were already taking shape as the buzzing swarm of millions of drones started to build in earnest.

The cloaked probe drone entered the system. It would watch and learn from the strange builders. It existed in a phase state between hyperspace and "real space", only a small portion of it extended into the real world-- sensor packages and other instrumentation and these were practically invisible. It carried no weapons, only a self-destruct mechanism if it was tampered with.

It moved through the system, gathering data on the construction processes of the alien creatures. There was no attempt to make contact, only learn. Hyperspace communication nodes sent back information to a scout ship which transferred the information to a moving asteroid city ship far away.

***firstworld***

Firstworld was what the bio-mechs were calling this system in their own internal dialogues between the markaia sub-queens and their children. The city itself had grown at a frightening rate. Massive sweeping arches, huge domed buildings and open areas the size of islands dominated the massive construction work.


Tannelornian cities were built for the aesthetic, as well as the defensive and this city alone would easily hold 50 million people. On the other side of the planet however another city was being built, and another, an another.

Firstworld was rich beyond all rational belief. The systems oort cloud contained massive quantities of exotic matter, for unknown reasons. The worlds were mineral rich, and a debris field circling from Jovian 2, an angry red and black world larger then jupiter extended for almost 10 million kilometers. The bio-mechs ravenously devoured the resources, completing the cities one by one, preparing this world for almost 1 billion tannelornians. A capital for a new empire.

No other world would recieve this kind of treatment, but it was indeed necessary. To gain enough resources,to control enough systems to be safe and secure against the multitudes of threats that awaited tannelornians in the stars..as well as the threat of ancient enemies seeking revenge and ruin upon them, they had to be ready, and the resources of dozens of star systems would provide the raw resources necessary to transform the tannelornian military machine in to an unstoppable force...

***002***

Almost 4000 light years away, ship 002 jumped in to a system. She had detected 3 systems capable of hosting "primary" tannelornian settlements. Two young yellow stars and a middle aged red. Primary settlements would contain up to 350 million tannelornians. They would be centers of military might and power, and in this case were only approximately 1000 light years away from each other.

In between these systems 002 detected 13 useful systems, as well as systems useful for secondary and tertiary colonies. Secondary colonies would be populated by up to 100 million tannelornians, and would be secondary military fleet bases and mining/production centers, as well as research and "artistic" worlds, in which culture would flourish over all else. Tertiary colonies however, would house up to 25 million tannelornians, they would be mining outposts, research colonies and military/policing bases.

Of the systems Markaia 002 had locked on to, she would start with the middle aged red, building sub markaia queens then moving on to claim these stars as fast as possible for Tannelorn, primarily she would focus on building defenses, then city structures for the tannelornians to occupy.

002 was far more paranoid then 001, she was nearer to the galactic rim then 001, and the far lonely reaches of the northwestern spiral arm were eerie, silent and almost unpopulated. 002 was scared of ghosts.

***001***

001 jumped out of aetherspace, she was frantic. She had returned to one of the smallish systems where she had set up a mining outpost, already drone material carriers were bringing refined resources to Firstworld, the term the Markaia's used for the central system in the exploration.


"Firstworld" as they reffered to it, was bustling with activity, they were preparing to send the ready message home, then mother arrived. She personally sent the message, detailing her "conflict" in one of the "claimed" tannelornian systems. Without awaiting a response she relayed new orders to her children.

If the colonisation project was to succeed, and her masters were to be pleased with her she must construct proper defenders, able to strike out at anyone who would enter their territory. And with this in mind she set forth a new imperative.

Defense.

They would start to construct lowes, and fill out the Tannelornian military complexes until the Tannelornians themselves arrived to take over the defense, and to aid them in that task. Everywhere she went now she would leave behind tens of thousands of defenders, to protect the millions of drones working diligently for the future of their people.

And she would change her planned expansion. She was to move on to the worlds first that showed lifebearing worlds, and immediately set up a markaia sub queen, programmed to build the necessary amount of bio-mechs and markaia subqueens to quickly build up first the military, then civilian infrastructure of these colonies. The moment work was completed they would move on.

Her first targets were the other 3 primary colonies in her sphere, then the 4 secondary colonies. After this she would move on to the tertiary colonies, setting them up as mining and military industrial comments.

As thousands upon thousands of drones tended to her wounds she planned, and seethed with rage over the loss of her children. They had attacked and harmed no one, yet they themselves had been attacked. They would prepare for the future. Within a weeks time the beginning of the planned colonisation would take off completely, moving forward at a pace even her designers could not foresee. And by the end of the month tens of millions of tannelornians would move in to "firstworld". She would be prepared for it, prepared to protect her masters with her life, and the lives of her children if necessary.

But she would not be there to greet them, there was great urgency in her expansion now that there was another "hive" competing for the same resources. Aggressive, villainous and utterly without morals or reasoning.

***002***


002 had encountered not so much as radio signals in the depths of the galactic northwest, close to the halo stars. Still she was nervous, and building up her settlements very very slowly. The current Tannelornian "network" consisted of 27 star systems, loosely spread across the routes of both 001 and 002 and were scattered across 5000 lightyears. This would not be a problem for defensive actions as tannelornian standard FTL could jump twice in one day 500 light years at a time. The distance to sol, however was staggering.

And regardless of the distances inside the new "empire" itself, nor the importance of it, Sol would still be home to at least half a billion tannelornians..perhaps more.

002 understood this, and she carefully nurtured her bio-mechs to be certain to construct one lowe for every 10000 bio-mechs, regardless of the priorities in construction. Still the red light of aldeberaan bathed the bio-mech worker-swarms in red light, as it did the constructions on the planets surface.

Aldeberaan prime was primarily mountainous, though it was home to a few small oceans. The world itself had an eerie feel, as if the light itself was dying within the heart of the sun. The sky was a purplish colour, which lent itself to the whole scene of the tens of thousands of bio-mech workers, diligently performing their assigned tasks as well as possible.

By months end Tannelornian high command would recieve a second signal.
This one from the furthermost eastern frontier of the new empire, and a second capital.

A small hatch opened on the side of the drone probe, its cloak flickered for the briefest of moments. A spheroid entered the upper atmosphere of world 001 then opened its field repellers. The optical skin would match the colors of the world and it would give off very little or no heat signature.

Its AI beeped for a moment. It went to observe the drone builders, recording their construction pattern and biomech build. This was relayed back to the drone in orbit. It observed a simple sphere floating around.

***001***

The 4 systems closest to the encounter with thrashian forces had originally been slated for tertiary colonies, most likely primary mining and distribution centers. However with her near death experience in mind, Markaia 001 had changed her mind.

The system she was currently "preparing" was small blue star, with three heavenly bodies. two terrestrial and one jovian. An pale blue world orbiting close to the blue star, protecting the two smaller terrestrials from much of the radiation. Remarkably the blue didnt have any moons, but it did have a massive debris ring, circling out to three times its diameter.

Of the terrestrial worlds one was most definetly dead, but mineral rich. The other was capable of supporting life, though some modifications to the biosphere would have to be made. This was the place the primary colony was being constructed. The drones were supplemented by a special kind, one suitable for terraforming.

The strange looking larger drones, resembling massive termites except for the bulbuous nodes along its flank floated casually in the stratosphere. They were realising trillions of tiny nano machines, based off bacteria, proteins, algae, virii and stem cells. These nano machines would start to work on the atmosphere and planetary conditions, ensuring that within a few years the planet would be ready for people to walk around freely without a breather mask.

But as for now it would remain a massive military/industrial complex. Markaia 001 was not taking any risks, the blue, yellow and two red stars "bordering" thrashia space would become fortress worlds. And defense was all that mattered to her at this point in time, that and finishing her task and pleasing her masters.

***001***

Markaia had recieved a transmission.

Good work now stop, consolodate the systems you have claimed, we are coming.

Markaia didnt understand, she had only prepared 8 star systems, and 002 slow as she was had only prepared 6. This would leave the Tannelornian empire at only 14 systems. She didnt understand after all had not her directives been to colonise almost 16 star systems, the same directive given to 002 and 003. Why stop?

She was confused now but it didnt matter to her. She would continue to work, though she would not claim another system. Instead she would travel to the least habitable, most mineral and element rich systems in a 5000 light year radius and set up a massive and wide spread material gathering and synthesis infrastructure.


After all Tannelorn was much like a technocracy, without the laziness and weakness of spirit. The markaia queens were happy to serve in their role. They had a place in the universe, a purpose and caring masters. They would give their all for them.

***Firstworld***

A dozen points of light erupted in a greenish blue haze at the edge of the system. The mining drones stopped what they were doing..these were DEM jump signatures..and lots of them. The Tannelornians had come.

A flotilla approached the planetary system, in tow was one of the massive city rocks. 17 000 tannelornians in all had come in the first wave of colonisation and exploration. However these were mostly specialists, they had an important mission to attend to. The massive city was not quite capable of moving on its own power, however it was easily towed and could utilise an short stc jump function.

General schneider stood on the bridge of the Aeternus, the morgenstern fleet carrier that led the flotilla. The 3d viewing holo projection showed the general the scene below him. A massive cloud of termites flitted here and there as they prepared the finishing touches on the orbital infrastructure. They moved in long graceful columns across vast stellar highways bringing resources and materials to massive orbital factories.

The general smiled. The good pets, the bio-mechs had always been a part of Tannelorn. They allowed them to gather resources and utilise them on a massive scale, to break free of the drudgery of menial labours and expand their minds and horizons.

"Order the flotilla to stop, i shall go to the surface" The general stated flatly. His entourage of naval troopers walked with him off of the bridge, moving towards the flight bays. This was a grand first, though not for the general. He had set foot on a hundred colonised..and conquered worlds. That however, was far before the time of modern Tannelorn or sol.

A small host of daughtercraft left the flight bays of the flotilla, flanked by several wings of morgenraetes. Their goal was to travel to the founding city of the empire, and allow the colonists to move in and set up shop. Depending upon the security status, the SDF's would start to move massive quantities of personnel across the sea of stars to their new capital.

***The city***

General schneider stood atop a massive sweeping balconey which almost seemed to defy gravity in its shape and curves. He looked out across a vaste sea and to the moons above them in the skies. This world was beautiful, verdant and full of life. It reminded him so much of the world of his birth, yet at the same time he knew it was not the same.

He watched as the termites flitted here and there, coming in large groups to see the Tannelornians. They maneuvered in for affection in the forms of pats and compliments, each one giving giddy bursts of static. The general smiled. This would be the new place of safety, and base of power for Tannelorn..and the vascilian league. Once the population had been moved to safety, allowed to vent their pent up frustrations for exploration and discovery in these new and wonderful worlds..then they could be ready for the true mission.

And the general knew that soon the time would come to begin punishing the wicked, inside tannelorn..and without.

***Hoffnungschimmer***

The massive city was built to house millions and the 17000 or so personnel from the city rock Hoffnung barely made an impact in the city, it was still quiet as a necropolis. Or it would be if it werent for the millions of Bio-mechs that were working hard in every step to insure that there would be no flaws in the city that would need to be rectified later. As it was the parameters for their construction left it wide open for more delicate work by Tannelornians. Work was good for the spirit and to have machines do everything was not the way of Tannelorn.

Machines were useful however, the good pets most especially in this extra solar adventure the people of Tannelorn would now be embarking upon.
They allowed the Tannelornian people ot have a prebuilt infrastructure far from Sol. A place of refuge in times of need and exploration for those who wished such ventures.

The general was standing on one of the upper levels of the city. Hoffnung city, named for the city rock chosen to embody the hopes and ideals of the people of tannelorn as the cities first permanent residents.

The general surveyed the landscape far out in the ocean he could see birds. A sight many from tannelorn had never seen, animals flying in an open sky. He was suddenly interrupted from his revelry by a chime from his communicator. "Speak" he stated flatly. "General, the Revan armada has started its attack, we gained word of this now, the message is approximately 20 minutes old, how should we respond?" the voice stated over the vox. "I shall return myself, ready the Aeternus to set sail" he stated and grinned softly. He looked forward to joining the battle, but he looked forward to that snake Yanislev trying something more. His naval troopers were ready and willing to take the fight to the GAP the moment they acted even slightly strangely. Too much evidence had built now to stop. He carefully stepped down the stairs and started towards his waiting shuttle craft. Moments of peace in between battle, that is the most a tannelornian warrior would ever be able to look forward to. Which is why it was sin to not appreciate them. The general took one last look at the setting sun and rising moons behind him before he continued on his way.

***Hoffnungschimmer***

The chancellor had not arrived yet, but hundreds of millions of Tannelornians were already inhabiting the world of hoffnungschimmer. A world as silent as a tomb was filling with life in the course of a short month, however the full scale population figures would not be reached for some time. Half of the population emigrating to the celestial republic were moving to other worlds. The republic controlled fourteen star systems in all, and though many were not even secondary systems, the tertiaries would be easiest to populate to their maximum projected number. So this was being done.

Preparations were already under way for the first elections to determine the greater federation as well as the republics new government. Throngs of people filled the archways and streets trying to get any bit of information they could on who the candidates would be and who their friends and loved ones may favour. It was an exciting time as holoprojectors displayed campaign speeches and promises to the people. The scene was of course mirrored on the military worlds and within the DCNT itself. After all the knights were to have a full six seats on the federal council as the citizens and scientists would as well.

Every day the SDF class command vessels and countless civilian bulk haulers brought millions upon millions of tannelornians to the Celestial republic, over twenty thousand light years from sol. Many of them brought stories of the grand adventure they had been on and people shared them freely in the streets. Already the people willing to leave for the celestial republic were showing to be much of tannelorns population. In fact more then expected.

This was a testament to the pioneer spirit of the tannelornians, though there were almost a billion wishing to stay in the grahfsbergs and five hundred million waiting to move to the prefecture, the majourity of the people of Tannelorn wished to explore the unknown, to move towards their future in the stars away from the stagnant imperialism of sol.

***The greater republic***

There were four primary systems, of which the planet hoffnungschimmer, orbiting the star Hoffnung would be the largest, as well as the capital of the republic. Aldebaraan however would become the capital of the greater federation of tannelorn. The population would of course be smaller, but made up more of those of all castes of society, from citizen to knight. These primary worlds would be able to sustain up to three hundred and fifty million tannelornians. Hoffnungschimmer was almost the size of terra and could easily support a billion. This was the reason it would be the capital of the republic.

The primary colonies were building up slower then the secondary and tertiary colonies, most had maybe fifty million at most inhabiting the vast cities, aiding the bio-mechs in finishing the work that was started almost seven months earlier. Still more people arrived every single day. The six secondary colonies were able to support almost two hundred million tannelornians and would make up a large portion of the population as well as industrial capacity.


They were nearing there capacity already as they were given priority over the others. To finish the industrial infrastructure of the republic was considered more important then adding to luxury. Secondary systems tended to have massive ship yards and mining resources, that was part of the criteria. Of the six secondary systems, one was not capable of supporting life. However the primary colonial world was rich in resources and contained an atmosphere that could be terraformed within a few dozen years. This would serve as the primary ship yard of the republic, as well as a primary manufacturer of needed goods across the republic.

Two of the four tertiary colonies already belonged to the knights, fortress worlds on the edges of the empire. Only a few ships and knights were present at this time, but the markaia queens had ensured that these worlds would be heavily defended with defense rocks and lowe contingents to enable the knights to sally forth without fear. Rucktritt and Dienan were the names of the fortresses. The other two worlds were owned by the citizens and the scientists. Alltagswissen was to be the new research facility and scientific caste world, its population would be twenty five million though it would gain much in the way of research donations.

Targan's reach was a barren near lifeless world that the citizens who would work there would use to gather resources for the empire. To say the system was rich was an understatement. It contained a huge amount of useable resources. The fact that the world was a barren low atmosphere desert populated by strange flora and odd giant insects without much diversity, made it something of an oddity. Many citizens with a pioneer spirit would wish to live on worlds such as these.

The fact that the empire could support almost three and a half billion tannelornians didnt dissuade more then that number from wishing to emigrate. Almost five billion tannelornians had indicated their willingness to leave, to go out amongst the stars. It seemed perhaps that the markaia's alongside brave new colonists would have to start working again.

Still the markaia's had already established a massive resource gathering infrastructure in the surrounding systems and tannelorn was preparing a method of enforcing the sovereignty of the space they now controlled.

Nearly one and a half billion tannelornians lived amonsgts the stars now, with another one hundred million inside the cluster. Immigration if it continues to proceed at this pace would leave only one and a half billion tannelornians in sol within five months. Not counting those on the divine kingdom of course.

After the elections much would be decided, there was so much that must be done and considered when running an interstellar republic, distance between worlds and sovereignty of claims would not be the least of the problems that would be faced.

***Hoffnungschimmer: Election day***

It was a glorious day in the new republic. Almost a billion and a half tannelornians would be taking part in the first preliminary elections, another would be held in one years time, an official election to choose a new leadership.

For now the preliminary leadership candidates had been chosen and the provisional council would be formed in todays event. Holo screens and voices filled the air, election promises and deals were being handed out in the way of any frantic western democracy. It was a truly exciting time to the Tannelornians who had never before taken part in such a spectacle. They lined the streets preparing to enter electoral booths that had been prepared by the tens of thousands. Still the line-ups lasted for kilometers. It was much more like a party on the grand sweeping balconeys and terraced vista's that made up the ground and streets of the capital city. It had been built over an archipelaego and the city touched the islands in many areas, creating a beautiful view of strange, giant tropical plants and tree's with ocean surrounding them.

Millions of people gathered on huge boulevards and cul de sacs the size of islands, all preparing to cast their votes. Minor elections were already finished, burghers, city councillors and other positions had been filled. The final electoral proceedings were underway. The selection of those to be on the council, as well as the Steward of the Republic. They would not have a president as such, but one who listened and finalised all documents with a signing. In the event of a deadlock the Stewards vote would be the tie breaker. This would be true democracy, not the shallow democracies of earths 20th century.

Knights, citizens and scientists all had their candidates, though it seemed the knights were trying a little less hard to get elected in to the "open" positions. The council itself would be made up of three sets of six members of each of the castes. Only the next day would bring the results from across the republic of who would be in charge of the republic until the migrants had all arrived, one year later this process would repeat, however it would also encompass the house of lords and house of citizens as well. For now all that was needed was basic representation..at least for now.

***Hoffnungschimmer***

The election was over, the republic was officially in existence, with a population of a little over two billion and growing daily. Those that missed out on these elections however would not miss out on the official elections next year. The joy of the event was being overshadowed by the grim events that took place within sol. Assassins had struck, killing the beloved Space Lord Tsaratov and sabotaging the main reactor of grahsberg city. This lead to the death of a million people, many families had lost loved ones, grief was now overshadowing the joy of the elections.

A week after the elections had begun, Knight-General Anarellion Geraorim had petitioned to the chancellor for more men to defend the republic. After the combining of the DCC and DCNT, the knight marines had been left without ships to carry them, with almost eight thousand of them being placed upon the worlds of the republic. However the knights knew they could never hope to defend an entire planet by themselves, more so they could never support those who lived within the confines of sol or the prefecture, defending them from foes of tannelorn.

With this, the knight-general was granted his audience.

***Divine celestial Federal administration: Orbitting Hoffnungschimmer***

"Enter." The chancellor spoke softly, awaiting the knight-general. He had much to discuss with him. "My lord." The general bowed eloquently. "Rise, I am your lord for another year, then you may choose another." He grinned softly, he knew it was unlikely any would vote for anyone but him, thought the novelty of democracy was something one had to consider when making long ranged plans.

"I have revued your petition for more men at arms to defend the republic, however we do not need men to defend the republic, we need men for the greater army of the federation, what say you to this?" he asked the general casually. The general seemed slightly confused. "What do you mean my lord, is this why the extra billets in the resource manifests from The grahfsberg, the prefecture as well as our own republic?" he looked on at the chancellor. If the chancellor was raising a citizens army, why did he even bother seeing to his requests. "The new army shall also act in the means of border patrol as well as law enforcement, its primary mission shall be defense, however we lack officers to train the willing recruits. "Aye my lord, what would you have of me?" he bowed again, reverently.


"It is simple, you shall train the first recruits from the republic, we already have over five hundred thousand applicants, this is only the first week my friend." he laughed softly. Tannelornians would flock to join the grand tannelornian federal operational army. Those of the prefecture who wished to fight as a warrior, not an officer, those of the grahfsbergs who wished to as well, as would those who would wish to captain their own ships all were clamoring to join the greater tannelornian federal army. "My lord, it is an honour you grant us." he bowed. "It is an honour you deserve, the DCNT will be the heart of Tannelorn's military, do not mistake this nor your role at its heart, however to defend ourselves and take advantage of the riches now available to us, we must allow a gifted few to join our ranks." he smiled softly.

"We must allow the recruitment of soldiers, as our aumanii brethren do, to allow men and women to volunteer to serve." he grinned. "As you command my lord, we shall not let their inherent weakness prevent us from crafting this formless steel in to a blade that could sunder the stars." The general bowed and left the room, preparing himself for what was to come.

The Chancellor was to see his next case, this time a request from logisticians, the GTFOA had plenty of willing soldiers, but no weapons or ships to fight with. The shipyards were still not quite ready for use, but every day they came closer to completion. However factories capable of producing war machines were in fact ready and already operating at capacity.

"Chancellor, my greetings." Master logistician Kendall looked over the room, taking in the breathtaking beauty of the main council chamber, its vaulted ceilings and massive windows displayed the breathtaking scene of the planet beneath them. "We wish to contract the scientists and engineers of the DCNT to design weapons for the knew knights errant we are to be supplying, so far all we have seen has been guns and armour." the logistics officer looked at the chancellor, his eyes unmoving.


"Soldiers, they are soldiers not knights and it would take too much time, discuss such things with General Geraorim, new weapons and designs can come once you have weapons and equipment for the soldiers now, the scientist's and engineers are already working together on star ship designs for the GTFOA, you must be patient..however there is something we can indeed offer." the council was silent, these issues had already been discussed..after recent events in sol in fact they were at the forefront of the agenda.

"HMF 3 do you remember this design? as well as HMF 2?." the chancellor grinned softly, the logistician did indeed remember. "Those 1st hellesponto's war relics? Do you propose we start to produce them again??" the logistics officer was shocked. The units in question were considered to be so thoroughly obsolete the officer couldnt help but balk.

"They can be produced quickly, as well engineers have recently fixed many of the problems with the ancient designs, they were truly ahead of their time." He grinned softly. "The HMF-3 VHT "Omega" mod as well as the HMF-1 alpha "Omega" mod were concieved as the designs for the HMF-4 were being completed." he smiled softly at the logistician. "Produce these for our new recruits, train them well and be sure that when you do have authorisation to build new units that they are similar in control to these models, this is only a stop gap to enable us to defend ourselves in the event of war." the logistics officer went over the designs now appearing on his data slate. He nodded. "We are most grateful my lord, production shall begin immediately have no fear that we shall continue to do our duty as you wish it." he bowed and went to leave the room.

The chancellor sighed, Tannelorn was going to take some time to get used to democracy...

***The Celestial republic: War footing***

War was coming. It could be tasted, smelt on the air like a palpable odour. It did not cause the tannelornians to fear, but bolstered their hearts with a sense of duty and purpose. The celestial republic was threatened by their once ally the fedral union. They had gone completely mad, attacking mars itself then the tannelornians who had defended them from a rogue AI.

Recruitment hololiths for the GTFOA and patriotic slogans were appearing everywhere there were people. The entire republic was actively taking part in the pursuit of war, the occupation they were best known for. Factories were churning out drones and war machines for the new GTFOA forces as fast as new fields were being cleared for fortresses and training camps. Millions of tannelornians had responded to the call to war, in fact so many they had to turn most of them away. For the mean time it was mostly veteran members of the tannelornian police forces, expert city fighters having already gathered the experience a new armed force would need in dozens of campaigns.

The formation of the new federal army had started slowly, but was quickly gaining momentum. Soon the factories and armouries would be churning out uncounted fighting vehicles and weapons of war. A sleeping giant had awakened. Never before in Tannelorns history had they ever gone to full scale war footing, never before in tannelorns history were they as powerful as they were now.

Shipyards were at full activity, building the transport vessels that would carry this new army to their destination, the homes and cities of their enemies. As soon as the scientists and engineers had finished their fine works, then ships of war to escort the GTFOA would be constructed. For it would not only be an operational army but a navy as well. The DCNT were the elite of the elite, but too few in number to protect all of tannelorns holdings from harms way.

This was just the beginning.

***Altagswissen***

Many of the ship designs had already been formalised. The GTFOA would take a new approach to fleet combat, based primarily on the heavy reliance of the DCNT upon its morgenraete divisions. The GTFOA's primary combat vessel was to be a scaled down version of an Einhander gun destroyer, the design had been proven over hundreds of years of combat. The idea came from the original pocket cruisers the loyalists used in the war of secession. It would be almost two hundred and eighty meters long and crewed by sixty men, it was a perfect front line frigate design. It would make up the primary combat divisions supporting the heavy carrier/command ship designs that were still going through theoretical testing. Finally a design for a heavy battle ship was in the works, but it was gaining less priority then any of the other projects.

Instead all priority was going towards a new combat system. The beowulf attack ships had proven to be a limited sucess. They required a crew of thirty and far more maintenance then needed. They were not as well protected as the heavier ships and not as agile as fighter craft. They presented a fine target for enemy ship guns as well as PD defenses. They were quickly being retrofitted in to grav ships for the new GTFOA armoured brigades. However the idea was still valid and the creation of the lowe drones and delfin bio-mech corvette of the grahfsberg navy had provided not only the concept, but the technology to put forward the new fleet philosophy of the federal army.

HMAF. High mobility armour frame. A true space fighter. The first designs had been too small for what the military planners and masters of the new fleet had wished. The first three prototypes would be seventy two, eighty six and sixty seven meters in length. Each of them had been crafted by a competing design team, one of the grahfsberg, one of the prefecture and another of the Knight engineers-scientist caste research combine. On paper they matched each other closely in design and functionality however it would only be once the new machines were completed that they would be able to give it real world testing.

HMAF's were large space fighters based upon the concept of the high mobility frame. Though they lacked obvious humanoid arms and legs, their frames were capable of movement in the same manner, to take advantage of vernier and weapon placement in the same way as a high mobility frame.

The testing halls were full of activity. The new frigates were already a stand in, debugging was the only thing necessary before testing. After all it was simply a scaled down version of a design that had been in use in one form or another for almost three hundred years.


With recruitment going on all across the federation, from the prefecture to sol itself now all that was needed to take their place as a galactic military power was the creation of new and efficient war machines to carry the warriors of tannelorn across the stars to new worlds and battle fields. The race was on to build the better frame, for the first time in history competition was being fostered in military projects research and development. The groundwork for the first tannelornian companies was being put in place. The future was nothing but darkness, but through it all shone a light of purest silver.

***Altagswissen***

With the first prototypes of the Honour blade class Frigate succesfully completing trials within the first week, the next on the agenda were the HMAF's. The Honour blade was already starting to be produced across the Republic and prefecture, while the ex-PTSS and GAP officers that joined the GTFOA acted as the new officers, training the ratings that would crew them. The work of those engineers was now finished, yet there was always more work for the engineers and scientists of Tannelorn. For the technical expertise they held could slip easily if they were to rest on their laurels, to become decadent and overconfident was the deadliest of sins.

So it was that the first of two completed examples of an HMAF took to the field for its first comprehensive flight test. Algol, the DCNT Engineer/Scientist caste design combine had produced an exquisitely made prototype. Seventy six meters long from body to engine ports, and twenty meters wide, it was the middle weight contender. It was based upon similar designs to the early high mobility frames and mounted the same engine and gravitic propulsion system on the Beowulf fast attack gunship, at over half the length and a sixth of the weight.

It was heavily armed with a six ship battery pulsars, a large missile payload, a few torpedos and an orbital bay. Orbitals were tiny drones which acted as point defense and additional firepower, a model for use in morgenraetes was still in the primary testing phase. All in all the new HMAF nearly matched the firepower of the earlier Beowulf, at a tenth the cost and with only one crew man.

For defenses it was equipped with a single PPBS screen and a full strength Ubecht field generator. Being crafted by the knights it also benefitted from DEM armour.

It also had two "arm" pods, despite the lack of legs which contained incredibly powerful laser swords/brightlances, for self defense and assault at close range. The red and black HMAF was being piloted by Knight Jan Azantine, hero of the Revan war, the battle of Enlil and the assault on the Divine Dragon. He was a little wary of the new design, it was so large compared to his beloved raete', but within a few minutes of launch he was rather enjoying the splendid maneuverability of the new unit, as well as the incredible speed it could offer.

Most of the systems were tried and tested, the only thing that was needed now was to work out and of the bugs in the system. It was likely the prefecture design team, with its rushed design had cut corners. They would likely find a fair few more bugs then they would.

He was about to test the weapons systems when he recieved a signal from the main orbital testing facility, the Prefecture model would be joining him during the test flight. Competition made for wonderful opportunities for testing. He surveyed the prefecture model. At first glance it seemed they had even skipped the paint, until he saw the familiar red and white of the GAP military arm adoring the eighty six meter unit. It contained two large weapons bays directly above the fulcrum point, as well as a large, articulated engine pod on the rear. It flew forward much like a ship would at top speed. He noticed the heavy Xaser cannon that made up twenty meters of the ships length. It was likely an upgunned version of the old PTSS Garfish weapon, either that or a weapon taken straight from a beowulf.

It appeared to have a PPBS Generator as well as a Ubecht field for defenses, but the tell tale of DEM armour was not present. Cost cutting measure for sure. One that would keep it in the competition. The Honour blades had done without the expensive armour as well.

On closer inspection he noticed something...odd. The fulcrum point was not a cockpit and central area as he expected. It appeared to be..a Hellebarde High mobility frame. The Prefecture design team [I]had cut corners on this unit. Now he saw how, with something of a chuckle. He greeted him by rolling his craft over, rolling around the Prefecture built HMAF.
"Federal-Lieutenant Alia Sturm reporting for testing maneuvers Knight Azantine." a clear voice stated over the intercom. Jan grinned, he did enjoy a fine competition, this woman had managed to escape from several "black fleet" fausts when her sabotaged XASS-14 was attacked during a test run.

The two frames started to do attack runs on simulated targets, testing reaction times and weapon outputs. Both units were relatively evenly matched, except for the toughness of the Algol. "Does your unit have a name?" Jan asked non chalantly as the Prefecture designed HMAF came in to view once more. "Aye m'lord it does, Endymion the hunter" she replied back, concentrating more on her task then anything else.

After an hour or so of that, they decided to test the new small scale DEM jump system. For a normal Tannelornian, one without the old blood it would allow for a fifteen second DEM jump, or about five hundred light years in distance. One with the old blood however...could go longer.

"Federal-Lieutenant, how would you like to test the REM drive on these new units, perhaps..a twenty minute jump in the direction of the galactic south west from our position?." He grinned at the though, looking out of the panaramic display at the other unit. "Twenty minutes is impossible!" she started. "Aye for you it would be, unless you slaved your systems to mine." she was rather confused at his idea, but the idea seemed to make sense. More sense then taking two untested units in to the middle of a likely war zone at least.

"Dont worry, about a thing, open link now please, Federal-lieutenant." he ordered. She complied and rather quickly he took control of both units. Flying both in combat would be impossible, but if he managed to stay conscious for the entire duration, he would easily be able to pilot them both out of the Aether. "Dont worry Federal Lieutenant, your not disobeying any orders, your following mine, besides your lucky..you get a twenty minute nap." Alia started to get a sinking feeling about the validity of the impetuous young knights idea, then she felt her craft accelerate as she lost consciousness in that strange dream like way one did upon entering the aether without enough of the old blood coursing through them.

Within ten minutes Jan was starting to sweat, but he held his course, travelling through the eerie yet welcoming emptiness of the ever swirling realm of colour and light that was the Divine realm, the Aether...

***Hoffnungschimmer***

The war effort had switched from one of jubilant expectation to a more somber and grim tone then it had before. Attacks from abroad, threats of extermination to the Aumanii and Solar Tannelornians had not been taken lightly. More and more resources were being pushed in to the war effort, whole systems would be stripped clean to allow this task to be completed as quickly as possible. The original expectations had been raised. This was final war, a jihad, one did not bring any less to a jihad then their total devotion and willingness to sacrifice.

The GTFOA had millions of recruits, most were still at least a year away from completing their training. However Tannelorn did indeed possess a corp of solid dependable city fighting infantry in the form of the PTPS soldiery who fought during the civil war. Additional training would see them combat ready within a month..and there were almost a million of them.

Ships would be crewed by enlisted ratings and the PTSS officers of old, already the first ships of the Honour Blade series of frigates were rolling off the production lines, being granted to captains all across the republic as well as over Turturuga's moon in the Prefecture.

So it was that at the end of the first month of the production effort, the sixth month of the raising of the GTFOA that General Geraorim would present his lord, the Chancellor with the GTFOA's situational readiness reports. In the massive vaulted antechamber that contained the Federal council chamber, heavy metal foot steps could be heard clanking towards the podium set in the center of the room, between the three rows of benches that the representatives Lords house, Citizens congress and the Scientific advisory sat in during session.

General Geraorim started to speak now, slowly and deliberately. "As main priority has been towards building up a Federal navy as soon as possible, It can be expected that most inroads have been gained there. Approximately two hundred and fourty seven Honour Blade combat frigates have been succesfully built, and require only shake downs and crews before they are ready for combat." he paused, going over the data slate one more time in his head. "The foundations for another four hundred have been layed and in the space of the end of this month and the beginning of the next, the GTFOA will have over six hundred combat frigates." he looked across to see the reactions of those he was speaking to.

The Honour blades would be the core ship of the GTFOA, providing escort as well as main battle line duties to the GTFOA navy. Though the vessels were little more then half the size of an Einhander, they were able to mount considerable firepower in the way of Urnebecht and Laser weaponry as well as missile payload. They could not be counted on to carry many fighters, nor were they anywhere near as tough as those ships of the DCNT. Still it was a capital ship, albeit the smallest vessel one could consider as such and weighing in at nearly six hundred thousand tonnes it still carried considerably armour and weaponry.

For protection they mounted a GAP standard issue Urenbecht field. It was not geared as the DCNT fields were to slow and speed up time in such a fantastically random and capricious manner. This vessel would fight as many other ships did, attempting to stand and deliver rather then use speed, agility and deflection systems to avoid close range battle and the damage inherent within. The Ubecht fields would be geared towards defense against impacts, this would free its two PPBS shields to protect against laser weaponry.

Its fighter capacity would be limited to six Alpha II "Omega" High maneuver frames, or whatever equivalent came along. However its weaponry was still being developed, for now most turrets mounted a single DCNT Xaser or a pair of GAP Ubecht cannons. Power drain would be more of an issue as the back up systems were not made of power transfer crystals, but instead a cheaper, more cost effective version. This was not to say the Honour blade was not a fine vessel, however when most vessels are put beside a DCNT cruiser they find themselves lacking. It was the DCNT's way to center only on cruiser's and battle cruisers, using their Morgenraetes and powerful weaponry to nullify any disadvantage that using only one or two types of ships class would create.

There were had been plans to build nearly a thousand of these ships, with war it was likely many times that number would be built. At least the General didnt have to worry about the capital ships as much. The GTFOA would fight with the DCNT across the galaxy, and with the GAP inside the cluster. They were not in need of any cruiser weight vessels. Still the first Monitor was being laid down in its shipyard above Aldeberaan. The monitor was a cruiser weight vessel, over a million tonnes that contained a graser almost as large as the one used in the Balmung. The entire forward two third's of the eight hundred meter vessel would split open to form a massive cannon. A Helvinter, as opposed to a Gotteslicht. Still this would provide strategic attack capability to any GTFOA fleet, for minimal cost.

The Monitors would carry two squadrons of fighters as well as be equipped with PDS and missile launchers for self defense. The massive Helvinter mounted on the Sky Fortress had taken almost two minutes to fully recharge and fire. The Monitor would take advantage of DCNT power transfer systems. The time to recharge would still be measured at over a minute.
Each of the fleets of the GTFOA would contain six of these vessels, to be split up amongst the battle groups as seen fit. The PTSS officers and the GAP had long known what it was they needed to make their forces more effective, now they were finally getting the funding for it.

With the colonisation of almost thirty four worlds and the access to those nearly limitless resources Tannelorn's riches had doubled over night. As time grew they became only more established, more stable, more proficient at their tasks in their new home. There was one final ship design that had been laid down for the current report. The Divinity class carrier had been designed by the same bureau that had laid down the HMAF 01 Algol. The Knight engineer-Scientific caste research Combine. It would utilise every system that the DCNT used and it would be expensive. Tenwould be built.

The Carrier was well over a mile long, two and a half kilometers to be precise. It would be able to carry thousands of fighters, assault ships and GTFOA soldiers as well as act as an overall command carrier. Ten carriers for ten fleets. It would be reasonably well armed as was the tradition in Tannelornian carrier designs, however it would be nothing compared to the dedicated battle platforms such as the Zweihanders. Its role was far different, as was the role of the fleet. Designs were being drafted for battle ships as well as lighter carriers, for now most of those designs were based on adding on to the thirty one refitted Bad-hertzfeldt's. The kilometer long vessels would carry almost three hundred high maneuver frames as well as the original infantry contingent they were designed for, at the cost of ammunition supplies and heavy armour.


The Ubecht cannons would be replaced with two DCNT Heavy Xasers for self defense as would the heavier drone missiles the GAP used, but anything more then PDS had been stripped. These carriers would not even need to be in the same star system as the frames they would launch thanks to DEM jump "harnesses" and other FAST pack systems. The remaining systems aside from FTL sensors were identical to the Bad-hertzfeldt's.

The General quickly informed them on the status of the fleet, then he moved on to the army.

"At this current point in time we have twelve viable divisions of GTFOA soldiery, though they are still awaiting their Shagohod-Beta artillery mecha as well as full delivery on assault transports and THT-II variable hovertank-HMF's. Weapon dispersal and additional combat training of the first through twelfth divisions has been implemented, most noteworthy would be the high ratio of ex GAP officers and Replicants in the divisions as well as veteran TPS officers, hardened in the conflicts of the last fourteen years." he added. "This gives us a viable force of four hundred thousand if you seperate the knight's without soldiers to lead in to their own formations, which is entirely possible at this stage my lord." he added at the end.

The chancellor and the rest of the assembled politicians, warriors and sages eyed him carefully. "The GTFOA is at ten percent readiness my lord, two hundred ships, almost ten thousand Alpha II "Omega" patterns and thirty one carriers are ready for use within the week with their final crew testing. Aside from this the first twelve divisions should be ready within the month, with main priority being set towards building this first basic defensive force." the general finished his speech. "Very well General, carry on and remember you have the full resources of the council at your disposal, allow the scientists to be creative." he grinned at the knight. Geraorim bowed curtly and left, he had much work to do.

***Aldeberaan Prime***

It was cold on Aldeberaan at night, the dim suns heat quickly dissipating during the onset of the darkness. The stars on Aldeberaan were magnificent, the lack of light or moons showing them brightly in the sky, burning dots of fire punching their way through the inky darkness of the night. People were celebrating the elections in the streets, even the shadows of war on the horizon could not dim the peoples spirits.


Recruitment for the GTFOA was up and the people danced and made merry as they celebrated the first ever public elections in a Tannelornian nation. The sixth GTFOA division had held a wonderful parade for the people on this day. They were showing off their new equipment, Hellebarde squadrons marched alongside the newer, smaller THT-II HMF's. Alpha II's performed aerobatic displays as well as marched in between the THT-II's and Hellebardes now painted in the red, white and black of the GTFOA. Ten thousand fighting men had marched with them, wearing the plated exo-skeletons that would comprise their new uniforms, long particle rifles and HV KK carbines slung on their shoulders. It was a marvelous time in the Federations history, self determination and choice was for the first time the future of the people of Tannelorn.

The threat of genetic instability and cultural upheaval had long passed. The need for strong immutable dictatorships had passed, the future involved change as Tannelornians had always espoused..now the greatest change of all was before them.

+++

Governor Helerin stood on his balconey, watching the people celebrating below. His wife Erohil Helerin stood beside him, her hand on his shoulder. "My husband, why so dour and taciturn this night, it is a time of happiness." she smiled at him. War had always left a bad taste in his mouth. He was a civilian administrator, not a warrior yet he was being asked many things by the new military. The military always asked so much of him, though it was true they lived in a time of danger unlike any other, new worlds and enemies awaiting them on the edge of the galaxy and beyond.

Still he wished he had not been asked to do what he had been asked too. Earlier that day several officers from the GTFOA asked several things of him, these things in turn had been asked of the GTFOA by the Chancellor. They were not to make themselves too well known to the rest of the galaxy. The sub system of six star's within five hundred light years of each other that made up the Westtward reaches would become an arms manufacturing and research mecca.

The cost would be in travel and trade with even the rest of the republic. The fleet of the GTFOA was finally starting to take shape, three hundred vessels of the DCNT were stationed above the world of Termalaine, the second Knight world of the republic, stationed far to the westt, the furthest world from the light of Hoffnungschimmer. The DCNT would form the backbone of the fleets of Tannelorns varied nations and the GTFOA, providing cruisers and marine forces for any of the nations or organisations in tannelorn that needed it. However the forces of the GTFOA were now truly starting to take shape. Six hundred and fourty two frigates had been completed, they in turn were split in to ten fleets, each of sixty vessels, protecting the three heavy capital ships that had been refurbished and sent to lead them. One battle ship and two carriers had been the designated allotment to each of the ten fleets.

The battle ships and carriers were based off of the refit of the Bad hertzfeldts that the Prefecture had transformed in to their own navy of one hundred vessels in the cluster. The battle ships had their troop carrying capacity reduced to almost nothing and instead had as many heavy Xasers, missile batteries and drone missiles as they could tack on. The one kilometer ships were impressive to say the least, though they did not match the performance of the Zweihander dreadnoughts, they were also not as expensive to operate and build. They could be replaced quickly and efficiently.

The GTFOA fleet had been built to stand and deliver after waves of HMF's had crippled the enemy. Four of the monitors had been delivered to the first four fleets, Helerin counted himself lucky that two of them would be posted to the two fleets that would be protecting his systems. The other ten Bad hertzfeldts had been converted in to carriers, most of their systems being devoted to carrying hundreds of HMF's. So far there would be one of these for each fleet. Due to the interoperability of the proven design, this would become the new carrier class for the GTFOA, as well as the heavy fighting ship of the fleets. Though the heavier vessels would be rare, the Carriers would soon become as commonplace as the HMF's and HMAF's they would carry.

Helerin sighed softly. He had hoped to be done with war, but it seemed to never leave him. He would pray that the reason for his charges silence would never have to come to light. They were seperated from the rest of the republic by ten thousand light years. They were alone with the ghosts of the rim, their voices haunting and melodious to them, calling out with memories of ancient times now long forgotten.

In this most haunted portion of the Republic, the hope of Tannelorn would be born. Amidsts long dead empires and worlds, six rays of life shone brightly in the dark, these worlds would work hard to maintain themselves as the secret fortress of the GTFOA, they would not dissapoint those with such faith in them. Two billion souls would live and die, laugh and know sadness in this desolate, ancient space.

All the worlds of Westward reaches spoke of ancient sorrow, ghost stories were common place amongst the new colonists..if only they knew the truth that the Chancellor and those amongst them had hidden, they may have not been so quick to move so far away from the light of sol...

***The Westward reaches***


Despair hung in the stilness of these far off reaches, the ends of the galaxy itself, before them the stars of the galaxy could be seen clearly and bright, filling the sky with the milky way itself. Behind them were points of light far in the distance. They were on the edge of the galaxy, below the empty stillness of intergalactic space and above them, the beauty and life of the Milky way.

People were happy here, two billion souls worked hard every day, enjoying the freedom and space as well as the novelty of living in the open air. Unlike the rest of the republic, the populations of these worlds were far more centralised. Aldeberaan itself only had five cities, with perhaps a few dozen towns located near advantageous research, mining, or possible industrial sites. The rest of the world was left pristine and untouched. Though the worlds themselves orbitted old suns, there were millions of years of life left on them. Still this antideluvian atmosphere lead the people to adopt a dour disposition. Like the ancient mariner folk who lived on the east coast of Canada, these people lived a hard life, acting as an industrial focus for the Republic itself, allowing the rest of the population to live a relatively carefree existence, their tithes to the GTFOA being lighter. Of course this was mostly because the population was spread over eight systems, not six worlds.

However they knew many joys, the relative closeness of the communities, as well as the size of them lead them to celebrate joyously on their three-days. Today was a day of celebration. The Initial work was completed and the Eastward defenders battlefleet was performing a fleet parade over the planet even as Governor Helerin prepared for a speech. After long toil and hardship, the citizens of the Eastward reaches had completed the task layed out for them. They had constructed over half of the GTFOA's combined fleet, six hundred honour blades, twenty Solarin Battle ships, twenty Fleet carriers and twenty of the new Monitors. Production was going to begin on yet another project however, and the production of frigates, mecha and weaponry would never end, replacements would be constantly needed due to attritional battles against raiders, pirates and ancient threats. The GTFOA was finished in its raising.

Almost a thousand Honour blade frigates, eighty Solarin Battleships, Eighty fleet carriers and fourty monitors were the make up of the mighty fleet. However its true power, as all Tannelornian fleets possessed was in its fearsome assortment of mecha forces. However unlike the DCNT the GTFOA navy was capable of fighting at all ranges, though they were not as impressive at long ranges as the DCNT, save for the might of the Monitors.

The Monitors would be the backbone of this new navy, corralling enemy forces and obliterating heavy capital ships and squadrons of enemy light vessels with devastating beams from the spinal cannons which would make up the forward two thirds of the 1.2 kilometer vessels. They added a flexibility to the fleet that few could match, the addition of long range artillery vessels to the Tannelornian navy would make its ascendancy in the galactic theater a shoe in. It was likely in fact, in years to come many enemies and allies alike of Tannelorn would copy the devastating ships, and so far they were the heart of the fleet, the most prestigious assignments. The fact that half of the Monitors constructed were built in the republic, in the Eastward reaches was a matter of pride to the citizens of Aldeberaan Prime, Hel, Antiok, Redoubt and Jerian's reach.

Each of the worlds held near to the maximum allowable population for a fully habitable world, three hundred million souls apiece. Immigration had been sharply curtailed to allow the population sustainability and room for growth, still highly prized workers were always welcome to the military industrial complex of the Celestial Republic.

So it was in this climate of hope and hardship, that Governor Helerin made his fateful speech.

***Aldeberaan Prime***

Governor Helerin had spent the night in council with his wife. He did not wish to touch on the subject of Johannes Schneider's assassination of Proconsul Yanislev. Of course very few people of the Republic mourned his death, instead they mourned the decision to declare Johannes an exile and a traitor. This had weighed heavier on some hearts, then others. The Knights of the DCNT protested fiercely at the treatment of the valorous Knight, as did many in the Republic. However the law was the law, one did not assassinate a leader, one brought him to trial under the mandate of Heaven.

Today he would celebrate the hard work of his people, the average work cycles in the Republic were four days, three in the Prefecture. However in the Eastward reaches it was not uncommong for up to six day work cycles to be worked. Of course this was quickly making this the richest region in Tannelorn as well. The people took pride in their hard work, the hardship and toil furthered their souls and brought them closer to perfection.

This is how he would greet the day. He was surrounded by attendants, whom he casually dismissed as he prepared himself for his speech.
The lights went down and a holographic background showing the fleet parade high above them replaced the wall behind him. He approached a large podium with the signet of the republic superimposed over a symbol of the Divine Federation.

"Citizens of the Republic and the Eastward Reaches, I speak to you today to tell you all the great mission we were given has at last reached its conclusion. The fleets of Tannelorn are finished, the war machines delivered to their destinations. Today we see the greatness of our work overhead, take pride in this, during these dark times there is much cause for pride. You have done well, working harder and better then any in Tannelorn, we have provided for our brothers a sure defense against aggression, we have built the future of Tannelorn." The picture magnified showing the Heavens Pure Light, the first ever commissioned Monitor. "It is pride we should feel that it is our hands that ensured the quality of these vessels, that it is our hands which built the markaia systems, the master bio-mechs and lesser bio-mechs which were used to construct this fleet. It was our hands that built these wonders, through the hands of our pets whom we lovingly guided in their duties."

"I declare a week of rest and relaxation, this shall forevermore be known as founding day in the Eastward reaches, those of you whose family members, whose sons, daughters, husbands and wives joined the ranks of the brave soldiers of the GTFOA should spend this week honouring not only them, but the sacrifices you and all other soldiers of Tannelorn have made. For what are we but a race of soldiers, our duty to protect those who cannot protect themselves. Is it not true that we of Tannelorn, we who construct these weapons of war are just as much soldiers as those who bear unimagineable hardship and sorrow on the line." he bent his head low, a moment of silence.

"For all those fighting in Charybdis, pray now for their safety and victory, their victory which will mean security and honour for all our peoples as we bring enlightenment to the stars." he sighed softly. His mind understood the necessity of these times, but his heart wasnt in it. There had been too much death over Mars for him to wish to ever see such a thing again. He knew however, this was just the beginning.


"Today marks the day when your supervisors need no longer ask of you to work harder and longer to complete a project, that one can, with his sense of honour and duty intact refuse to spend his three-days with his wife and children. Today is our first day of rest in this festival, all of you be proud of yourselves and what you have achieved. Not even under the Grand Duke Yannef had so many ships been built so quickly." Admittedly then the entirety of the Military was under the control of the Knights of Tannelorn, more time had to be spent on training and soldiery then on ships in those days, he thought to himself before continuing.

"Feast, drink, be merry and men, love your women, for this is a week of celebration for you all to enjoy, loyal and dutiful subjects of Tannelorn, be festive and full of mirth!." The Governor decided to end the speech here, on a high note. He would not mention the subject of Johannes Schneider, best to let his work worn people enjoy themselves this week, before moving back to the grim realities of life in the military/industrial sector...

***The Core***

The central worlds of the Republic were a stark contrast to the Westward reaches and Eastern ward. The four star systems making up the core of the Celestial republic had no less then six habitable worlds. Hoffnungschimmer had its population of one billion spread across every landmass on the planet, cities were built to be huge, spacious affairs. Space was something Tannelornians had always had little of, now it was in an abundance the likes of which had never been known. It was not uncommon for those who worked only the barest amount of hours to have large and spacious homes, those who worked harder, up to five day work cycles often had homes that rivalled the great manors of Solar nobility.


The systems themselves were bustling with activity from all manner of ships, drones, combat mecha and shuttle craft as well as activity in the civilian as well as military shipyards, research stations, tourist stations and general space stations. The system of Hoffnungschimmer was full of outposts and protected by one entire fleet of the GTFOA, the fourth fleet. Today was a day of celebration across the Federation, the unveiling of the Greater Tannelornian Federal Operational Army would commence with the Founding ceremony.

***Hoffnungschimmer: Hoffnung city, central Ocean***

Chancellor Schneider strode through the halls of the main Republic council chambers, he walked with an air of dignity, still wearing his DCC power armour underneath the ceremonial cape and tunic of the Chancellors office.
Today he was to make a speech from the Republic, congratulating all the workers of Tannelorn as well as praising the volunteers who joined the GTFOA at its inception, who were willing to sell their lives for the future of their people.

He stepped in to the main audience chamber to a roar of cheers from the assembled dignitaries. He had chosen to speak here as a sign that the Republic is the very heart of Tannelorn itself. The Grahfsberg Federations population was reduced to a mere three hundred million, the Divine kingdom barely four hundred million. The Prefecture had a population of two billion strong, but did not produce as much for tithe as the Republic did. They were still the second strongest power in Tannelorn, next to the Knights of the DCNT themselves, whose semi autonomy saw them almost as a fifth state in Tannelorn, tied directly to the Republic.


The DCNT was the army proper of the Republic itself, it still had a huge amount of funding, almost a quarter of the military resource budget for every nation in the Federation went to the elite warriors, the first line of defense. The GTFOA gained the lion's share at nearly thirty five percent, leaving the prefecture with twenty percent, the Grahfsbergs with less then ten percent and the DVK with somewhere around ten percent. Of course the Grahfsberg and Republic still gave Tithes to the DCNT as well as the GTFOA, and the GTFOA would replace the police forces of the Republic, allowing them to find even more resources to do their tasks. Of course this had lead to the creation of a greater tannelornian federal operational army investigational and forensics branch, which was really simply made up of ex officers, who went through the same additional military training as their fellows in the infantry cores.

Things were running smoothly, the second phase of the military expansion would begin soon after Charybdis. Early reports on the HMAF's proved succesful, however they wished to test them against greater foes then the Octonoids. The future looked bright for the deadly new daughter craft. As well armed and armoured as a frigate, as agile as a fighter craft, they would form the true backbone of the Tannelornian space navies, acting in the same role the old Beowulf light frigates had been built for. Of course this would give the Tannelornians an even greater reliance on heavy carriers, they would not want for ships..ever.

So the Chancellor stepped forth as Executor-general Dalarihim, the first elected ruler of the Republic stepped aside to allow the Chancellor to speak. The old Knight had been involved in the battle of Enlil as well as the battle of pain and tears over mars, and was a shoe in for the leadership of the Celestial Republic even before elections were finished.

The Chancellor waited for the cheers to die down. "My brave, loyal and dutiful people, heaven itself blesses you this day." the Chancellor began, having seen this moment a thousand times before."The great crusade has only just begun, and on this day we take the time to celebrate life, this entire week of festivities is devoted to you, the people of Tannelorn, without whom none of our great achievements could have been accomplished. Our work however, shall never be done. Man is a predator, and as such war shall always be in our hearts, the purest means to achieve political and social aims. As it has been since the dawn of time and as it shall be till the stars themselves go out. We must prepare for the great crusade of life, to know that our very bodies urge to go forth, colonise, expand, conquer and bring new genetic material in to our stocks, so that of our people the strongest may find mates and carry on the next generation. This goes hand in hand with space and food as the reasons for war, any third year child would know this, but to truly understand our unique position one must have seen war with his or her own eyes." he stopped a moment.

"The GTFOA has now risen to take its place as the rightful defenders of Tannelorn as well as the instruments of our will. Today we must celebrate for tommorow hardships and sorrow may be asked of us." he smiled wistfully, then sighed. He did not wish to bring up the incident with his son.

"Recently a great tragedy has occured in the Prefecture, it was with great regret that I indeed was forced to declare my own blood in exile." he stopped for a moment. "The pain we have endured in this last fourteen years was too much for many of us to take, in this week I wish us all to remember why we feel joy, why we live and most importantly why we love. Those of you who have not yet found wives or husbands, let this week be our great celebration to you, for we devote this week to our future, and in joyous celebration men and women of Tannelorn are encouraged to mingle, to find the hopes of true love. All transit fees across the Federation will be lifted for this seven days, so those of us parted from loved ones or wishing to meet others of their own kind across the galaxy may do so freely."

"I commend you, people of Tannelorn on your hard work and duty, our great federation is now safe from outside threats and those from within, it is our destiny now to expand, to explore, and to bring retribution to all those who have wronged free men, enslaved and murdered whole peoples. This is our time my cherished children, revel in it." the Chancellor finished and left, a misty tear dropping from his cheek as he exitted the auditorium. It was such a shame his son acted so recklessly and foolishly. His words had rung true in the ears of many Tannelornians. He would exploit his sons words and actions for the greater good of the Federation..no matter how much it pained him to do so...

OOC
Westward Defenders fleet Parade over Aldeberaan.
http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o133/Conan2525/GTFOAAldeberaanfleet.jpg?t=1170003208

***Dienan,Knight World, Western bastion of the Celestial Republic***

High Lord Taredor Arondahim was not pleased. He had left his quarters earlier this morning only to find that the last years maintenance expenses far outweighed the still expansive budget of the Divine Celestial Navy. He had come now to his best logisticians and Mentats to find a way to cut the amount of resources they were taking from the greater Federation. The Knights of Tannelorn would not feed of its people, though these resources would be used to protect the whole of the Federation, the Knight-fleets were far too few in number to be everywhere at once. The losses of the final battle of Hellespontos had never been redressed, couldnt be. Now with the production of Algol HMAF's and Sturmanrurfer HMF's in full swing, they found themselves for the first time wanting of resources.

Long in to the night the High Lord took council with his most trusted men, exhaustive examination of costs and abilities of battle units had revealed only a few choices in how to continue to operate. The fleet would evolve again. The maintenance requirements on the Morgenraete squadrons as well as the Einhander gun destroyers and Sword carriers, many of the ships over a century old were staggering. During the final battle many of the newer model Einhanders and sword carriers were destroyed allowing their friends and loved ones to escape, a job that would have been best suited to the older vessels in a logical viewpoint. However the Knights knew their fine new vessels would stand the best chance of standing up to the enemy fleets long enough for their countrymen and allies to be evacuated to the safety of the Cluster.

The ships that had remained had required massive overhauls and refits before being considered spaceworthy again, as well as the fact that many of the older vessels didnt seem to like the newer systems that were placed inside of their hulls. They had two choices, get rid of many of the Morgenraetes, or replace the Einhander gun destroyer and Sword Carrier.

"How would we replace the Morgenraetes, we would lose our greatest asset in point defense and close in fighting. We cannot assume that building more Algol HMAF's then could be carried in to a warzone would replace fifteen thousand high maneuver frames." High Lord Arondahim stated more then questioned. Logistician Master Kines Altenor nodded. "It would seem the problem lies in the increasing maintenance required to keep the older ship hulls running with systems they were never designed to use. My Lord, in my humble opinion we should store the Einhander Destroyers and Sword carriers in reserve, breaking down and recycling the eldest of them as well as the surviving pre-refit Zweihander dreadnoughts and Morgenstern Battle-carriers."

The High Lord looked away in thought. "Gerarim, do you concur with Altenor?" the High Lord asked the man to the left of Altenor. "It would seem more logical then robbing the fleet of its ability to fight the way it wishes, as well we have seen from the first few actions in charybdis the usefulness of a large heavily armoured vessel designed to clash with the enemy fleet, Battleships we have long eschewed in hated Sol would be a fine replacement for the Einhanders, despite the signifigantly smaller number of vessels we could field." he looked over dispassionately at the High Lord, his finely tuned mind calculating options and possibilities.

"My Lord that seems the better choice, even Balmung and Fafnir, as maintenance hungry as they are do not add up to the combined costs of seven MK VII through MKXII Einhander destroyers." Kines stated, then bowed. "I believe the Knight-Engineers and the scientist caste would be more then capable of designing a battleship even a Titan that would still remain cost effective enough to build in numbers sufficient to double the current fleet firepower available to an engagement." The High Lord nodded. The HMAF's would act as the DCN's frigates as well as a viscious combat mecha. Its design relying on the design principles of speed and agility over armour and shielding. Admittedly it was tough enough to stand up to most PDS as well as minor ship guns, with the PPBS functional of course. The only thing needed were ships capable of carrying numbers greater then nine of the vessels. Even with such a small compliment of the seventy meter mecha, a Morgenstern carrier had to forfeit over one hundred Morgenraetes, as the lower bays were to be devoted entirely to carrying the Algol HMAF's.

This had dropped the effective capacity of a Morgenstern to seventy five morgenraetes, fifty Kernschattens and twenty five Sturmanrurfer's. This of course had lead to garrisons of Knight Morgenraetes being placed all across the Republic, the primary defensive concern of the Knights. Over four billion Tannelornians were there Direct charges, nearly three billion living in the Prefecture as well as another eight hundred million between the Grahfsberg Federation and the Divine Kingdom. The Knights also had sworn oaths to defend the other nations in times of need. As the distance between the domains of Tannelorn were vast, they had to be able to have sufficient fleet power available in any sector that Tannelornians dwelt.

"Get me Altagswissen, inform the High Magistrate we have need for the finest builders of ships once more, tell them to get the young ones, the ones that design systems fo the type of ships we used to dismiss off hand." They nodded, moving towards the door, saluting the High Lord as he pondered events. He wasnt sure if it was a good idea to mothball the longest running and most succesful ship design in Tannelornian history, but he knew that stagnation meant death. Warfare as life constantly evolved. With the development of the Algol, the need for high speed duelling cruisers, for long patrols of detachments in the dark, ended. One vessel could effectively patrol and even protect an area of space. Especially if that vessel was powerful enough to challenge a battle group. Balmung and Fafnir would never have another sister ship, but their legacy would live on in the DCNT as well as in the GTFOA.

In the GTFOA the Monitor would use its massive Graser in the same role, to hem in the enemy and destroy entire waves of enemy escort craft, or even kill superdreadnoughts.The DCN however, were more interested in the sheer amount of weapons, as well as the sheer power of the Urenbecht field it could produce. Though any battleships and super dreadnoughts would lack the maintenance hungry and fickle Black hole generator, they would have more then adequate power resources..even if the Superdreadnoughts had to be considerably larger then Balmung to achieve near parity.

So the High Lord left the main Logistical compound and went about preparing his Knights and subjects for the task ahead...

***Eastern ward, DCFT Planet Jotunheim***

Jotunheim was a cold mountainous world named for its forbidding peaks and glaciers. A home of giants. It was also the home for some of the GTFOA infrastructure in the Republic as well as a GTFOA military training complex as well as a fleet base.

Few Tannelornians aside from the soldiers of the GTFOA called this place home, a few hundred thousand souls, citizens of the federation itself lived in the planets only city, a magnificent, clean sprawling sea of white and gold atop a bed of green, on one of the warm valley floors of the thickest mountain range on the planet. The Giants spine. The location was chosen as much for the beautiful vista's of the landscape and planets four moons as they rose as much for its defensibility. Less then a hundred kilometers away was the GTFOA fortress, the Mountain. It was the largest spire on the planet, rather uncreatively named as it was, it was a massive military base built deep in to the heart of the giants spine. It contained facilities capable of holding anything up to the size of a Honour Blade frigate in its ship holds, as well as the ability to safely hold almost two hundred thousand soldiers. Attached to it was Serenity, the largest..and toughest training center for new recruits in to the Greater Tannelornian Federal Operational Army.

***The Mountain: Serenity***


"Faster, move, move if this were a real engagement you would be dead by now, bombed, shot or simply killed by your own stupidity, now, those who serve, show me what men of Tannelorn are made of!" Knight-Sergeant Antilles shouted through the vox. He was watching the display with a little dismay. They were good soldiers but they had nothing of the timing of their Knight-sergeant. This was not a good thing. A Knight had to be able to trust his men at arms regardless of the situation. So far enthusiasm was the greatest ability these men and women had brought forth. Of course the Replicants who wished to serve the GTFOA from the Prefecture had a slight edge over many of the other applicants, it didnt matter.

A team was only as good as its weakest link. He watched on the viewers as one squad in particular managed to gain ground against the holographic hordes they faced. He was surprised at the ingenuity of the squad corporal. Corporal Randall Kellerim, he had been born to a woman of the old teaching caste and a Knight, who died during the Secession war. He was following well in his fathers foot steps, though his father had been a pilot, he had taken well to infantry training. Soon enough he would be given the chance for pilot's training, then one would see where his destiny lay.

As far as he could see now, he was rather impressed with him. His squad consisted of four new recruits from the republic and the grahfsbergs as well as a pair of fresh Replicant girls from the Prefecture. They seemed more then a little naive to the Knight-sergeant, but followed orders well enough. He watched as they stormed an enemy position, which enabled the rest of the platoon to complete their objective. He would be watched for possible promotion to squad leader. The Knight rather enjoyed the spectacle of it all. He had personally distracted the enemy fire, making a hell of a lot of noise and tossing grenades like they were out of fashion. The amount of time he bought enabled his squad to take the enemy fortification without casualties, sneaking up to it during the confusion. More so he "survived" the maneuver, showing talent and skill.

He spoke again through the vox system. "Excellent work, however squad Alpha, Cappa and Delta are ordered to go through additional team work drill before dinner, you were almost too slow to take advantage of
squad Beta's breakthrough." most of the troops grumbled through their voxes as squad Beta left the field.

He left the observation room, catching up with Corporal Kellerim as his squad cheered him on, giving him encouragement. A replicant girl they were calling twenty two was practically hanging off of the corporal as he tried to salute. Antilles laughed, the replicants he had met seemed to be interested in only two things, war and romance. He couldnt help but wonder if the latter was some form of control mechanism, however he did know that several of his troopers had complained about unwanted attentions..and the ensuing temper tantrums when they refused the girls. This of course was much more limited to the newly recruited and birthed Replicants, the elder ones could behave themselves.

Antilles had complained to the higher ups of the mental unreadiness of the youngest replicants for war. They were simply too immature. The squad quickly composed itself and saluted him. "Corporal Kellerim, excellent job, your father would be proud of you." he stated to the young man with light brown hair and soft angular features. He could see the knight as well as the civilian in this lad. "Thank you sir." he stated softly in return, saluting. "Proceed to the recreation facilities until dinner time, you have earned it through your quick thinking and team work, you are the first squad of this company, you do me a great honour, proving that not only can civilians make fine soldiers, but also that I am a fine teacher." he laughed softly. "Carry on squad and enjoy yourself, I have to work those louts in to shape, too much time in recreation and not enough time drilling..I will have to change that." he grinned. "Squad Beta, you are dismissed for the day. Remember, next week you shall all report to Knight-Lieutenant Terangiel for mecha training aptitude, those of you that do make it in to the ranks of the heavy armour will make us proud, and will be missed here." he stated, turning and walking back to the command compound as the young soldiers exitted the field in jubilation.

He would definetly have to watch that young corporal.

***Dienan:Knight world***

Shouting could be heard coming from the main audience chamber of High Lord Arondahim. Sky Lord Dilathen Farendicil, overall commander of the High Maneuver frame divisions and the High Lord were arguing over the proposed changes.

"My Lord! with this funding for new ships, why has nothing been done to adress my concerns over our performance during the final battle of Hellespontos." Sky Lord Farendicil snarled. "There is no new funding, the Einhanders and Shields are being placed in reserves, this is part of our new reality, with less resources, comes changes." he looked over at Sky Lord Farendicil haughtily. "Oh yes, so replace small ships with very large ones, my Lord I discussed with you seven months ago the fact that with improvements to the current high maneuver frame armaments the battle for hellespontos could have gone entirely differently then it did." he had lowered his tone to the High Lord now. "Aye that is true, however with the new federation and our cooperation with the Greater Tannelornian Federal's, we have need of new ships for new scenario's. You yourself stated that the ability to carry a missile capable of harming a super capital ship that is not as...finnicky as the mk VI AM compression warhead should be a priority? I have given you the Algol HMAF, I have given you the Sturmanrurfer." he looked at the Sky Lord oddly.

Arondahim was a leader of men, a master logistician and strategist..but he had not fought in the ranks for some time. His combat abilities were still fearsome, he trained daily but he had lost touch with the needs of the common soldier. In his pursuit for the perfect fleet to defend the Celestial Republic, he had completely forgotten about its heart. He had promised to allocate as much funding as necessary to find an improvement on the current Anticap ship missiles available to the Morgenraetes.

Many Morgenraete pilots had died from minor hits in many battles thanks to the volatility of the MK VII, in fact so many that those on bomber duty now often asked for a loadout of the less powerful MK XXVII Grasmissile. They would then supplement this with close level attack runs with a MK I Ubecht bazooka. This was in theory far more dangerous then firing from over three hundred thousand kilometers away, but in practice it seemed to be a safer bet.

"Sky Lord, I apologise to you for questioning your gratitude, however we have allowed ourselves to operate at refit levels of resources, as you well know the next generation of pilots and crews is seven years away, we find after the final battle of Hellespontos we are unable to fight the same as before. However your forces are now more important then ever, do you wish new craft? What improvements are necessary in your mind."

Sky Lord Farendicil was astonished, clearly he had been out of line, however he wasted no time in telling the High Lord. "My Lord, we wish for improved weapons for the Morgenraetes, the armament and missile payload of the HMF-4 far exceeds the HMF III "Omega" in power, range and flexibility. The HMF-4 can have any of the larger weapons of the Morgenraete mated to its arms, freeing its hands to carry more weaponry as well as carrying twice the missile payload, my lord it is only one and a half times the Morgenraetes size." The High Lord looked at him curiously. "If you wish a replacement to the Morgenraete frame, you need simply ask, the Kernschatten and Sturmanrurfer are brand new designs, the MK III omega is based off an ancient airframe."

The Sky Lord grinned. "It is nothing like the Mark II, the design was updated, in fact I have thought often of petitioning to have the new frames name changed, it is not the mecha that fail us, it is our weapons."

"Name the faults." Arondahim asked. "Anything you can tell us we will rectify immediately, the GTFOA is going to be a little short on funding this year." he laughed slightly. "They can make do with new mecha for another year or so, besides the THT II and the Hellebarde are modern enough." the High Lord laughed at the joke, though he was dead serious. The Chancellor would authorise them to work at the equivalent of fifty two trillion work hours for one more year. Then their budget would drop to refit levels, thirty trillion work hours, the GTFOA would get fourty trillion, and the prefecture, grahsbergs and DVK would split the rest.

Of course the Grahfsbergs and DVK needed less, maintaining signifigantly smaller fleets, or simply not having one. The Prefecture of course would rail at their pittance. Of course this was because the Prefecture simply siphoned its policing budgets in to its military, in the same manner as they had when they disbanded the PTSS. In the end the Prefectures budget would be nearly two thirds of the DCN's, regardless of how they got it. The civilians were proud of their toy soldier girls.

"My Lord, my complaint is in the lack of anything but refinement in weapons such as the MK XXVII, which are wonderfully but could become far more powerful if redesigned. It is good that our weapons work well, when we wish them to and how we wish them too, it has been our priority for excellence in machinesmithing, however I believe we must look to at least an alternate to the MK VII." he paused a moment. "The current generation of FAST packs are adequate for their role, however with out newer, more powerful weapon systems then they will remain only so useful, my concern my Lord, are the superships of the enemy." The Sky Lord paused for a moment, the High Lord then interjected. "Aye that too is something we have been worrying ourselves with, hence the development of vessels intended to destroy them." he smiled at his old friend. "Yes my Lord, however we could just as easily be investing time in to new weapon systems, and systems capable of delivering them..the Prefectures HMAF armour extension is no solution we could readily use, but perhaps..something of their rather..interesting idea of what an HMAF should be could be utilised."

He understood immediately. He wanted authorisation to start working on large FAST packs, with far more extensive weaponry. "It shall be done my friend, already designs are on the drawing board for new battleships, I am sure that we could quickly gather some engineers and your staff to discuss the possibilities for new weapon systems, as well I could gather scientists to meet you, arrange a symposium." he smiled. "Very well My lord, I shall prepare my staff and gather consensus from amongst the pilots, they have as many issues, if not more as we do to deal with, their insight will be the most valuable." Sky lord Farendicil stated, saluting sharply. "Very well Sky Lord, then go and make sure our Knights remain the harbringers of woe to those who oppose Tannelorn, you have my blessing and whatever funding you require to realise whatever goals you wish for this project, though be forewarned..there is a price." he grinned. "A rather large number of Algols is requested by those who will be assigned their new commands. Many will be the number of Algol's that the battle ships and Titans can carry, they must be delivered on time. Suitably skilled pilots must be chosen." he grinned as Farendicil nodded.

Things were looking up, now all he had to do was wait for the commander of the Divine Celestial cavaliers to storm in and complain, though that was unlikely. The Kernschattens were a dream come true to the Elite knights, and they had always got what they asked for. This meant they were better equipped then any other Knights in Tannelorn save the first Knights of King Richters house. Arondahim started to think maybe he shouldn't wait on them after all.

***Dienan System***

War. Everywhere one could look war was raging, or about to rage across the galaxy. Still in this time there was a need for moments of peace and contemplation. The launching of a new class name of vessel was always one such time, even if it was only the final pre-production trial.

Skoffnung unlike the Balmung series of vessels was made with proven Divine Celestial Navy technology. Zealously guarded from even the rest of the Tannelornian Federation, the secrets of the incredibly, almost supernaturally strong DEM armour and Knight field were the domain of the DCN and the DCN alone.

Tannelorn rarely built ships of such size. The Skoffnung was a monster, fully two and one half kilometers in length, two point seven if you counted its outrigger. She carried nine Loengren cannons, thirty two heavy X ray laser batteries and over fifty Pulsar laser/Lance duel engagement turrets. These weapons were simply the same weapons in use on all Divine Celestial Navy ships today. They were integrated in to the existing systems with little difficulties. Simple power transfer to keep all those energy weapons operational was the majour difficulty, and after a few months Tannelornian scientists came up with a rather inventive method of providing the additional needed power.

A Urenbecht field could concievably be modified to affect power transfer rates and fuel consumption. It could be used to burn one and a half times as much fuel in the same period of time, and provide one and a half times as much power. Unfortunately some of this power was used to keep the Urenbecht field running. In the end they came up with a system with power to spare in short engagements, and enough power to last through longer ones. Of course the standard back up reactor and crystal power matrices would cover any deficiencies in the other systems. Shields, Urenbecht weapons and life support would all reserve their own reactors, as well as back ups.

The Skoffnung would not be a ship capable of hiding from an enemy. The moment she went online she would light up like a star going nova. The DCN took pride in the fact that once active, a Tannelornian ship could be seen anywhere in the open space of a system. It was a testament to the sheer power each and every one of their vessels contained. Each hull contained many ancient and esoteric systems, relics of a long lost age in Tannelornian history still maintained and improved upon by the true children of Arendacil, the Knights of Tannelorn.

She would still be protected by a Knight field, and though the enemy would know she was there, her exact position would still evade them. Unlike the Balmung, Skoffnung was made with proven technology, less finicky then the Event Horizon power generator.

Skoffnung was equipped with a UKFE, though on a much smaller scale. Her more limited system could put out at most four hundred thousand rounds a minute, but it was no less deadly for it. She also mounted two turreted Urenbecht Cannons, the same ones mounted as spinals on the Zweihanders and Einhanders of the DCN. There had been problems mounting the system as a turret, today they, along with the powerful engines would undergo final testing. She was able to easily sustain the eight pin point barriers she mounted during heavy combat.

The engines were based off of the SDF series own heavy drives. A Urenbecht gravitic drive provided reactionless thrust for non combat situations. When speed and agility were needed the massive twin engine assemblies would fire up, providing a great deal of additional thrust adding to the combat speed. To the Divine Celestial Navy, speed was life. Every defensive system in the Divine Navy relied heavily on the ships being moving to be effective, from the Urenbecht fields displacement effect, to the Pinpoint barriers coverage. All of it depended on the big ships moving, and being able to change vectors quickly. Though DCN ships did not have the straightline speed of a star destroyer, which could make it almost three quarters the speed of light, they did have the agility to correct their course at any point in their movement.

This was the secret to the untouchability of Tannelornian ships. They could maneuver quickly out of the way of an enemy attack, or an enemy thrust. Leaving the enemy struggling to redirect their course against them. Though this great ship was slower then an Einhander gun destroyer, it was still more agile then any ship its size had a right to be.


Today they would test the systems, and be sure that the ship was capable of maintaining full combat performance for up to an hour.

++++

Skoffnung sailed gracefully towards targetting range 0/034, today it was stocked with a variety of mobile weapons platforms and fortress rocks meant to simulate enemy warships and defenses. She was escorted by three Zweihanders, who broke off and started to make a patrol around the testing field. It was war after all, someone may have discovered the field testing.

Lord Kienan Alendacil and his crew were finishing last minute preparations as they got the order to start the test. Space in front of them lit up as the dummy weapons started to try to target and fire upon the Skoffnung. She started to evade, the brilliant discs of the pin point barriers lit up along her sides as she started to fire.

the crews of the Zweihanders who were witnessing the event watched in shocked silence for almost thirty five minutes, before the test range was force to release more targets. The ship was doing something not even twenty Einhanders could have done. Her armour thickness and defenses counteracted her lack of agility completely. She was one target, capable of choosing which fire to move through. Her heavy armament was obliterating targets as fast as they could appear. She was no Balmung but by heaven she was giving it. Her engines started to overheat at fifty two minutes, by then her Loengren ammunition and most of her reaction mass was spent. However her main reactors still had power, and the internal factories were still able to provide munitions for the Urenbecht heavy cannons, though the UKFE production lines had long ago overheated and were being repaired by Bio-mech's. At one hour the test ended.

The ship, as expected passed her trials with flying colours. The design period had been longer then the trials, with proven systems came proven answers. She was the best of the current technologies of Tannelorn, placed in one hull.

Within minutes of the test result, High Lord Arondahim cleared them to finish work on the Durandal and the Ragnarok, both layed down at the same time as Skoffnung. They would now be completed along with a further thirty seven vessels in the class over the course of the next year. Every spare resource available would be placed in to the quick creation of these powerful ships.

However, the Arondight class Divine Celestial Leviathan project had been stalled. It had called for a weapon as powerful as Balmung's Gotteslicht, but even at five kilometers in length, the amount of nuclear charge required to set off a gamma ray burst of that size would destroy the twin boom section. There were idea's how to fix it, but none that were proven. It would likely be a few years until the Arondight and her sisters would prowl the night between the stars of the Celestial Republic.

OOC

Skoffnung and Escort: http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o133/Conan2525/ModernDCN.jpg?t=1182915871
Skoffnung: http://i119.photobucket.com/albums/o133/Conan2525/DCNSkoffnung.jpg?t=1182915938

***After Federation Year Nine: Mythrandir and beyond***

The war had ended as quickly as it had begun. The league of free worlds had fallen to the imperial onslaught far faster then the world of Mythrandir. In fact the end of that conflict had been and still was a confused affair in the annals of the Federations history banks. The Knight Lord Kendall, after seeing the bravery of the Mythrandir, still fighting despite taking heavy damage and the near loss of a fleet. After the DEM jammer wave had prevented their attempt at a quick escape, they were scattered across the system. In the hours that followed many truths were known. The war itself was over, the objective of the Tannelornians was complete. It was the Fedral and imperial armies that were to finish the job they had started.

Kendall had used his mission objective as a means to spare the brave warriors who were defending their home. Many of the knights had only come along for the war because they felt they were facing a worthy foe, one which through the rhetoric of its parent alliance was surely going to be a threat. They had found a relatively peaceful, and crafty people willing to give their all in the defense of the world.

The Mythrandir had even managed to evade the Balmung long enough for the event horizon to reach critical stability point. Crippling the mighty vessel and nearly destroying it but for the bravery of Commodore Zietski of the Prefecture Spacy. He had driven his battleship squadron hard in to the enemy fleet, and bought time for one of the vessels to activate its DEM drives to allow the Balmung to escape.

After this the main reinforcing fleet trapped a large force of Mythrandir ships around the moon, forcing them to attempt to disengage under a DEM jamming wave. They likely flew a little off target..it didnt matter, with the attempt of the Mythrandir to jump out, the Tannelornian combined Spacy was given an opportunity to communicate once more with the rest of the battlefront. The fedral's had left, and with the main objective of the Tannelornians completed, the war over and the Mythrandir no longer a threat to the campaign, Kendall ordered the forces to return home. Much debate took place in the Prefecture as to whether or not Kendall was simply a coward, or had allowed his outdated sense of honour to rob them of a victory.


Soon after the validity of the action made increasing sense as the Fedral union attempted to orchestrate a plot against the emperor. It failed, leading to a war that still rages in low intensity in the cluster to this day against Godulan forces. However this was not the only aftermath to their actions. A confused series of events and conflicting reports lead to the secession of the Grahfsberg federation from the Divine Celestial Federation. The war has raged on for three years, a low intensity conflict directed almost entirely at the Prefecture, but with all of the forces of Tannelorn involved.

The knights completed their new fleet refit several years late, thanks in part to the war as well as in part to the massive resource requirements the new battleships had taken to complete. The Arondight Class of Titans was still in its infant developmental stages. Likely it would take another eight years to fix all of the problems plaguing this massive ship. She was as large as the SDF class of Fleet Command vessels. Her armament however, dwarfed that of the ancient vessels, as did her defenses. She was built to replace them, and to fight as well as an entire flotilla of vessels already in service. The monstrous vessels were plagued with power distribution problems, and Fusactors were no longer seeming to be a valid solution to her woes. Balmung had faced similiar difficulties in the conceptual stage..this lead to the creation of the Event Horizon class singularity generator. This was not an option for Arondight.

Scientists and Knight engineers were working feverishly to correct the problems caused by the massive power loss upon firing a full salvo of its weapons payload. It was still years from completion..and would remain so until a solution deemed acceptable could be found.

However now the main fleet of the Republic could count on fourty of the Skoffnung Class battleships. They were more powerful then any other ship class to ever come from a Tannelornian ship yard, and the Celestial Republic did not want for ships.The Morgenraete III had been renamed after the war against the League, the daughtercraft would forever be known as Morgenstrahl..in part due to the Prefectures development of its own VMF.

They had been granted what they had asked for, the Knights had worked long and hard developing something to replace the standard FAST packs, which added weight and drag to the mecha, making them less maneuverable in atmosphere and slower to respond in space. The SERAPH [Strategic Exo Reactive Armament Powered Hardware] packs. These were almost the size of the mecha themselves, containing large and powerful engines, batteries of missiles as well as two Ubecht Kinetic weapons and a centerline Graser. In Air Superiority configuration, the massive armament packs did not detract from maneuverability or speed, and more then quadrupled the firepower of the Morgenstrahl.

In high maneuver configuration, it enabled the Morgenstrahl to keep its airspeed up to nearly mach 1 in atmosphere, in space it enabled the Morgenstrahl "Seraphim" to function nearly the same as it would in space/air superiority configuration. Essentially allowing them to use their more responsive battloid configuration in almost all combat situations. Of course the extra thrust that could be gained from switching to space superiority had its uses, and prevented the DCN from creating a battloid only version of the Morgenstrahl for use with the SERAPH packs in space.

The reorganization of the Divine Celestial Navy had been profound. Now they could only count upon perhaps twenty thousand VMF's in the entire Navy, of which the nearly four thousand Kernschatten stealth VMF's were the property of the Divine Celestial Cavaliers, the Army of the Republic.

Variable maneuver frames were still the standard short range weapon system of the navy, however the New HMAF's, High maneuver armour frames, were quickly becoming the new strike craft of the navy..in all of the militaries of Tannelorn. The GAP was preparing to introduce a second type, the HMAF-04 Shining Ray. It was to be signifigantly smaller then the Endymion Add on armour or the newly introduced Endymion Final HMAF. At only thirty meters in length the shining ray depended far more on its anti ship missiles, but could be carried in great numbers on board heavy capital ship. It like the Morning Ray VMF still in development were designed without FTL capability. In this way more could be stored on board a ship, and they were still heavy enough to seriously threaten even capital ships in great numbers.

For now the Grand Armada of the Prefecture would have to satisfy itself with the Endymion Final. It was larger then the add on armour, a complete and fully finished High Maneuver armoured frame. Fifty five meters long to the tip of the forward compartment, eighty two if you counted the heavy Xaser cannon mounted on its side arm. This was the new frigate of the GAP spacy, as well as of the GTFOA spacy. It was more capable in atmosphere then the Algol, though smaller and not as powerful as the ultra expensive DCN design. It had won out due to the fact they could be mass produced far quicker then any of the other designs, without losing too much fighting ability in comparison. Though it was no Algol HMAF..it was no slouch in the combat department.


Even the simple HMAF add on armour was more then a match for most attack frigate designs so far encountered, its combination of speed and firepower was even more pronounced then the fastest attack sloops. It was after all, a one man mecha, with enough mass to carry ship drives, ship reactors and weaponry as well as anti mecha weaponry. However so much mass could be saved by simply reducing its crew to one that the design could maneuver almost like a fighter, albeit a clumsy one but that was more then enough to evade heavy ship guns.

The GTFOA's first battle had been full of not only honour but sacrifice. Great hero's had died and were born on the fields above the Mythrandir homeworld. The GTFOA main fleet was subject to an attack by a massive EMP weapon battery. It was only through the sacrifice and bravery of the GAP armada and the Balmung that the fleet was saved. The Knight armada made it to them, engaging the enemy ferociously to save the beleagured forces and allowing them the time to regroup with the main fleet over the enemies moon.

As the enemy fleet left and the firsts battles on the planet died down, Lord Kendall overrode Fleet-Marshall Hellner and ordered the forces to return to Tannelorn.

The GTFOA had lacked only one unit to prevent the horrible catastrophe which they found themselves under, though the third fleet detachment fought with great valour and skill..the rest of the fleet barely managed to survive. Many of them however, did. It took the Fifth and fourth fleets nearly a year to rebuild their strength. The dry run of the GTFOA and GAP fleets had lead the GTFOA to accept the Endymion Final the moment it was announced as its own HMAF. It desperately needed the one man attack frigates to prevent their lesser numbers of capital ships in comparison to the GAP from coming under too much enemy fire to be able to hold. The honour blade frigates were designed for sovereignty patrols and fleet support, holding back in the manner of ancient earth missile frigates.

They were woefully inadequate for the class of battleship escort due to their relative lack of speed in comparison to the heavier ships. They were meant for long patrols, and though they performed their role of patrol ship and fleet support superlatively, they would soon find less of them in the main GTFOA Spacy. Instead fully half of the eight hundred warships would form a dedicated border patrol force. Acting as customs as well as sovereignty enforcement vessels. Of course in a time of full scale war these vessels would operate in full squadrons, supporting whatever fleets they were assigned to. But now, in the war against the Grahfsbergs they were desperately needed to defend against the wolf packs of the GFN.

The light stealthed vessels..and their new HMAF, a massive, heavily armed frame, codenamed Lion-breaker were wreaking havoc on shipping and mining operations all across the federation. They were using these in their propaganda war, trying to force the federation to break its alliance with the Galactic Empire. However as they unjustly attacked Tannelornian settlements, they only added to the imperial solidarity.

Battle cries from the Prefecture and republic alike echoed the death of Asfaltum. How the cowardly Abh and coredians had not only bombarded the civilians of their allies, but had also slain Emperor Palpatine, forcing him in to a massive force storm, scouring all life from the surface. That the GFN would have the Federation side with those who would resort to cowardice on such a scale erased all doubts from the actions at Terra Prime. The reports that the Fedrals had attacked the Death star had been generally accepted as truth, the self destruction of their own sun had cleared all doubt. The actions of the Abh and Coredians had spoken clearly of the magnitude of what Tannelorn faced in this war haunted galaxy.


***Dienan***

"Young master, patience!" Knight Commander Yannericil bellowed. Janus had just been struck again by a training laser, allowing himself to be struck in a moment of frustration. Admittedly for a Tannelornian boy of nine, years of age, which most would liken to a child of five or six of normal yours..he was doing extremely well. Few men who were not Knights would be able to defeat him easily in hand to hand combat, his small frame hid the fact that even as a boy of such small years, he was still a Knight. His nerves, his muscles, his mind were all far beyond that of any mere child.

It was his emotions and youthful exuberance that was bothering his trainer now, and he had chastised him enough about keeping his guard too low. "Teacher, the machine is no challenge, it bores me to have to face this toy, I have surpassed it long ago!." Yannericil laughed at the young childs statement, his still chubby features glowed with sweat, and brown hair fell in front of his large blue-brown eyes.

"Very Well young Tsaratov, you think yourself better then others your age, I shall treat you as such, defend yourself." Janus barely had time to raise his blade before Yannericil had drawn his own and struck out at the child. Janus Tsaratov was special, the first of his kind..he was born with the nano machines in his veins, he needed not a Nova Pancraea. His mothers death had not only saved his life, but strengthened him in ways that were far beyond his years. Since his birth the tiny little helpers were working inside of him, strengthening him and his link to the Aether.

He had spent much of his early years playing the same psychic games that all young Tannelornians had, progressing quickly to the physical and mental training. He parried the blow and leapt back, sweeping with his own blade in a figure eight, returning it to a ready stance. Yannericil feinted to the left and then struck under his defense, Janus quickly forced his blade down, barely parrying the blow. Yannericil then pushed up, locking his blade against the young boys, he punched him hard in the face. Janus let go of his blade and flew back more then six meters, landing heavily in a heap. Coughing and wiping the blood from his face, he struggled not to cry from the pain.

"Young master, if you spent less time in the Morgenstrahl Simulators, and more time practicing your fencing this would not have been a trouble to you, you my boy should be the equal of any twentieth year Cavalier-squire, however I would barely rate you as the equal of a seventeenth year." he chuckled. "Perhaps it is the lack of playmates of your own age, as well as those of your age and skill level to train with..it is strange for a boy, even a cavalier to not have playmates." he laughed, his large moustache twitching slightly as he did. "But Teacher, I have you as a playmate, you have taught me of music, of games and of poetry as well as the finer arts of manhood, why do i need to have others to play with." Janus was starting to tantrum.

"Because young master, a boy your age needs to play, to be able to unwind in ways that are less..disturbing..then the ones you normally choose." Janus didnt understand Yannericil's statement. Janus was perfectly happy to read the histories of Tannelorn, or spend hours in a Morgenstrahl simulator..just..flying. He had no cares for childrens games or flights of fancy, his imagination was set strongly in the stories he read. If he had playmates, His Grandfather and Yannericil likened he may use his imagination in the way of a child.

"Us adults, have the imagination of adults, which we gained from playing as youths..you wish to be an adult now, and it is true you know as much as many and are as strong as many who are adult, but my young master..you are still a boy." Janus pouted..he didnt like being reminded that he was a child. He had been present for strategic discussions prior to operations..he even flew a Morgenstrahl in combat during the Antiok raid, shooting down two Kernschattens himself, and two more with the aid of his teacher, Knight Commander Yannericil. He had been told he was now a young man with that achievement, and he had taken it to heart. However this had lead him to spend more and more time in the Morgenstrahls, and less and less time practicing his mental and physical exercises. Still many of his mental attributes were put to good use inside the simulators, increasing his spatial awareness as well as his sixth sense.

Yannericil had seen that demonstrated perfectly today. The lad should not have been able to parry that first blow, even a fiftieth year DCC would have had trouble avoiding injury. This was why they had decided to give him a playmate, several playmates to be exact..the first of which he would meet today.

"Young Master, do not fret this, of course i will still come and teach you of songs and women." he grinned as did the young master, Janus had shown some slight interest in girls already..which is one reason they had decided against a female playmate..at this time.

"Squire Ivan, you may enter." he stated loudly. The doors to the chamber opened and a boy of what looked at least sixteen entered. On closer examination the lad was exactly the young masters age, only he was fully six feet tall. Janus was almost five feet, tall for his age. "Hello, I am Ivan." The young boy had a deep voice for his age, almost goofy in its sound..and a very wide grin. He seemed altogether too happy and jovial for Janus, but he did not question the will of his teacher. This "Ivan" would become his first childhood friend. "Hello Ivan, I am Janus Alberecht, pleased to meet you." he bowed to him.

"Yeah I know, I am supposed to play with you, so what do you want to play! They have plenty of holo-games and wind-boards here." Janus was confused. The boy seemed to want to play such childish games, flying upon a gravitic board or playing pointless video games, which aided in his training only in the most minute ways. Still this was his new lesson. "Uhh..I dunno." Janus stated. The first childish thing he had said in a month. Yannericil smiled. It was working already. The Ghola would not only keep him occupied, but was the only trustworthy bodyguard they had for him, other then Yannericil and his grandfather himself. Some in the Prefecture would wish the young Alberecht dead if they ever knew of him. The existence of a new heir to the throne would threaten their power base...the power base of all those of rank in Tannelorn.

"Well whadda ya like?" The large child sniffled a bit. Unbeknownst to Jan, he still had his Nova Pancraea, and would prove a match for the young Master in training. "Uhh history, VMF's, training..." Janus replied. "No no i mean for FUN." Ivan stated incredulously. Yannericil started to leave the room, letting the arguing continue. Ivan was just what they needed. As the doors closed, Yannericil could hear young Ivan describing a wonderful game they could play, recreating one of the finest moments in ancient Tannelornian prehistory..Janus was still confused, and gave one last sour look back at Yannericil before the door closed.

Now he simply had to find a trustworthy female playmate for the boy, then they would not need to worry about anything. After all, young lads play best with a young lady to give them perspective. As well as to play the damsel in need of help..for to say a Tannelornian woman would ever be in distress was a little much.

***Reinheit's Moon: New Carpentaria***

"Proconsul Maximillian, the reports you requested on the status of the VMF-10 Morning Ray and HMAF-04 Shining ray, as well as the Brilliant Ascendancy Class Monitor." Scientist Darenor presented the Proconsul with a data slate. The war with the Grahfsbergs had cost them several shipyards, as well as several monitor hulls. The Brilliant Ascendancy monitor, as the slate described, was a refit of the same Bad-Hertzfeldt hull used in every heavy capital ship in the Prefecture Armada. However it had some radical changes, namely in the fact that three quarters of its internal volume was taken up by a massive Xaser cannon. The ship literally opened a gaping maw, which when fully charged would fire a massive, thirty two second Xaser beam. Of course it would take some time for the power capacitors to recharge. It was not as powerful as the GTFOA Monitor class, however it could fire signifigantly faster. The trade off had been considered when the facts that a copy of the Monitor class would run signifigantly over budget, and still lack some of the sheer power afforded by the Knight systems installed inside of it.

The Prefecture Armada and army were now to be two totally different entities. The Armada would use the Morning Ray VMF and the Shining ray HMAF exclusively, while the army would use the Endymion Final as their standard, system defense ship. The Morning Ray was a simple refit of the first generation Morgenraete. Its outer shell had been radically redesigned as had the leg apparatus and assembly. However most of the components were the same as the four hundred year old mecha. The most radical change was that all components were modernised completely. The overall cost of a Morning Ray was greater then a GTFOA Alpha II by almost two times, however it was still less then a third as expensive as a Morgenstrahl VMF.

The Armament was the same as a basic Morgenstrahl, two heavy particle, laser or kinetic cannons made up the energy armament, while at the same time a hundred missiles could be carried in its armoured mount. It had the same size and nearly the same tonnage and bulk as its original. However improved engines and gravitics as well as shielding made it signifigantly tougher, tougher even then a Morgenstrahl when one counted the Urenbecht Hard-field. It had a huge amount of thrust, and though not as agile as either a Morgenstrahl or the significantly smaller Alpha II of the GTFOA, it had a great deal of power to provide to its gravitics and engines. The statistics on the craft were a great improvement over the Hellebarde and though it lacked the missile armament of a Faust Interceptor, it had a great deal more agility in its battloid form. In space the Morgenstrahl was generally the superior combatant.

As chief of staff of the Prefecture armed forces, it was up to Proconsul Maximillian, as well as Praetor Tarenor Harden to ok the purchase of these units. He was weighing them against a competing bid, a boom fighter made from the PASS-19. The Praetor had already recommended going for the Morgenstrahl as well as the Shining Ray, despite the cheaper cost of the Perseverance Boomfighter. The Perserverence was essentially a miniature HMAF-04. It had incredibly agility and was being looked at very seriously by the Prefecture army as a replacement to its PASS-19's, which despite their excellent weapon payload and speed, were not agile enough to face enemy boom-fighters or advanced drone fighters.

They had been relegated to ground attack roles in the fight against the Godulans and Fedrals in the cluster, and as strike craft against the GFN. However the Armada needed a VMF, not least of which was to counter the pride of the Knights, by producing a unit which could concievably face a Morgenstrahl and win..and producing them by the tens of thousand. The Shining ray was a new, smaller HMAF, only thirty one meters in length. However it carried two high powered cannons, capable of producing a highly focused Xaser beam. However it was very closed range, best within less then one light second.

However it carried a battery of heavy anti ship missiles, and it was capable of being carried with little modification to a Divinity class fleet carrier. In fact..even a Solarin could carry a squadron of five, without sacrificing too much capacity. The lack of FTL was not considered a flaw in this design, though recommendations to include Endymion Final versions in to the fleet were falling on deaf ears. They were too expensive and would serve as the Prefecture armies heavy strategic bombers as well as system defense ships. The Armada was concerned as much with fighting the enemy outside of its borders as it was with defending its borders.

The Prefecture fleet could go to war confident that the home defenders, with their orbital battlestations, massive fortress-rocks and legions of heavy HMAF's could defend them in their stead.

This was a simple formality, he knew that these units were requested by the Praetor and the Praetor would have them. The Perseverance HMF would be used by the Grand army of the Prefecture, as well they would gain at least eight thousand more hellebardes and Faust's for their war's in charybdis, and against the Godulans in the cluster.

This could allow the foundries to focus entirely on the new units being issued. The first monitor's would be finished in a few short months. The Prefecture navy was now the envy of all but the DCNT.

"Very well Scientist, I shall bring this to the council, it shall be approved by dawn the next morning, your company has done well this day and shall be afforded many contracts in the future. I am sure you shall be rewarded." the Proconsul smiled. His long black hair tied back in a ponytail only adding to the menace of his boyish grin. Scientist Darenor hated politicians. The subtle games and machinations. This was not a subjective examination at all. In space the HMF-11 Perseverance had slightly better statistics, and a greater weapons payload.

It was obvious the humanoid form was necessary for more invasions to come. The war against the GFN was going better now then the first two years. Less shipping and mecha were being lost. The Lion-Breakers, ninety seven meter long, fearsomely powerful HMAF's now being fielded by the GFN were wreaking havoc on ships in drydock. However with rotation on duty of crew, and other methods to prevent ships from being held in drydock, losses had lessened. The Shining ray had been designed much more as an HMAF..or even light shipping killer then the HMAF's before it. The new Praetor hoped that the new design would be the answer to this menace.

Several more City-rocks were captured by the DCNT this month, as was one, Tormal by the GAP. The knights defending the city were slain to a being. They wouldnt surrender to the GAP, though to the DCN they were only too happy to if caught. Of course this meant occupation and internment by the GTFOA, but they seemed to prefer it to the GAP. The Proconsul considered all of this carefully. At first the grahfsbergs had the definitive advantage, but as the scientists of the Republic and the Prefecture started to work together, they came up with a few methods of tracking their elusive quarry. Not least of which was the GAP's access to Imperial Inhibitor technology. It ran on similiar lines to many Urenbecht principles, and already a reality strengthener was in the works, one which would work in tandem with DEM jammers to scatter those jumping in to a system in the same way.

This was all good and fine, the war would be over in a few more years at this rate, and soon they would have a means to bring the fight to the enemy. It was all to easy really. "Thank you Scientist Darenor, the priviledge of your company was overwhelming this evening, may you go in peace." He smiled. Now he could think about important things. The election year was right around the corner, and he had to work hard to make sure he won this time..otherwise all his work might come to nothing. He called for one of his aides, a replicant girl named 4/567 "Maroon". She entered and started to rub his back as he thought of ways to humiliate..or even incriminate his rivals in the legislature. He sighed. Being a Proconsul was such hard work he thought to himself, as the replicant girl's massage started to creep lower and lower...

***After Federation, Year twelve:The Dawn breaks***

The Grahsberg Federation never had a hope of winning. This they understood when they launched their initial attacks. They simply wished to show the rest of Tannelorn that they were now in error, that they had lost their way. Grand Duke Yannef had never once hoped to win the war itself, but to expose the corruption inside Tannelorn, inside the DCN, the GAP and the Federation itself.

Names had been said, names that had aligned them with the devil itself in the eyes of the Grahfsbergs. Still all was going as had been foreseen. The die hards of the GFN and the DVK would soon find their ways of life slipping away as the Federation took on a life of its own.

The Shining Ray had been a help against the Lion-breaker HMAF's, but constant modifications and weapon refits kept the GFN units ahead of the new GAP HMAF's. In system the Shining Rays were often paired with Endymion Final version's, to stand a better chance against the monstrous GFN HMAF's. Casualties were mounting on the GFN, their raids were finding themselves scattered and were starting to be left to individual highly stealthed ships and HMAF's. The tactical change had caught the Prefecture as well as the GTFOA off guard. However the DCN were prosecuting the war to the fullest, bringing the wayward knights of the GFN back in to the fold.

They were as diplomatic as they were violent in these altercations. After the slaughter over mars, as many fully grown and trained Knights were needed as possible. The war was going well, the Grahfsberg could at most last another three years before they ran out of steam, too many cities were falling now to the DCN and GAP forces. In the GAP the people were being forcibly repatriated..dark rumours circled of breeding programs with the Knights and Replicants designed specifically to carry their seed to the rest of the Civilians of the Prefecture. The Replicants were allegedly incredibly fecund, often having triplets. Those who believed such nonsense stated that the Prefecture was attempting to build its own Divine Celestial Cavaliers, and steal the genetic secrets of the Knights. The implications of this were almost too dark to think about.

***Celestial Republic

The Militia program was about to start in the Celestial Republic, and they desperately needed proper military training. Many talented Pilots had signed up to join the reserve military force, but they had little to no military back ground. They would be equipped and trained to a regular standard in most militaries. These were applicants to the GTFOA who either had families who had not joined with them, obligations to civic life or simply had not made the cut to join.

The GTFOA was trained by Knights and Veterans of the Tannelornian Space Services, they had very exacting standards and generally chose those who were twenty two to fourty five years of age. This left out a great many Tannelornian's as possible applicants. The standards to which the GTFOA accepted applicants had lead to a relatively tiny, elite armed force designed to bolster individual state forces.

The Militias of the Republic would have basic training regimens reminiscent of the days of the Grahfsberg, as well as be honour bound to spend three days a week training. Of course these three days would be payed and sponsored by the milita organisation and government funding. Some Knights of the Grahfsberg, after surrendering to the DCN had sworn to serve the Celestial Republic in a defensive role. Honouring their vows to defend Tannelorn while honouring their own moral choice, to not fight in wars for the Galactic Empire or its allies.

These first few Ex-Grahfsberg Knights were already helping the overtasked Senior pilots training the Militia's in the Alpha 1 Custom VMF's as well as their Beta I custom heavy VMF's. A few years earlier, the Divine Celestial Science and Engineering combine had started to offer a civilian modified and updated refit to the venerable Alpha VMF's. The first VMF ever produced, it was refitted with a modernised internal skeleton, gravitic/fusion hybrid engines and a low strength Ubecht field. The militias would quickly install a heavy-field in to the units they themselves had bought.

Each Militia was operated by a private citizen, generally a veteran of the TSS or TPS. The private citizen in charge had placed a large amount of work hours in to the original investment, generally one of the Ikazuki's refitted to serve as a civilian vessel, or the old Katana frigates. Once a ship or facility capable of maintaining VMF's was purchased, the citizen would apply for a militia license. Of course this could not be done by one person alone, and generally was done in a collective effort. An entire workplace, their friends and family and relatives would all volunteer to serve in the militia, as well as to devote some of their work hours to it.

The concept had been brought up in the Celestial Republic, the Knights had not fought it. In fact they had donated money and facilities to several of the Militia's to act as bases. Any relief in the pressure they felt to protect all of Tannelorn was welcome. It also enabled them to properly prosecute the war against the GFN. Of course the militia's were still years from ready for true combat. The "part time" nature of the militia was responsible for this. In a large scale war they would be forced to take extra training, and the part time status would be changed to active. Others would fill their work spots and they would be on active duty rosters.

The Knights considered these "Three days" warriors to be rather unprofessional, but they did respect the "full time" applicants. Those who personally owned their own VMF's, upgraded and customised it lovingly. Those who flew with the spirit of warriors and true skill, warriors whose family, or age , young or old who were still of use to Tannelorn, but had been refused by the GTFOA. The Celestial Republics economy was only beginning to take shape. This first commercial application of the VMF was going to spring many more products, conversion kits to military spec, weapon add ons and even civilian accessories would become necessary for the Militia's and private citizens alike.


Many skilled young Tannelornians of the Republic had joined the militia full time, saving their earliest work hours to buy their own custom Alpha or Beta, even Morgenraete I's could be found on surplus prices. Of course the modifications required to bring them back to military spec's often made them signifigantly more expensive then the new civilian mecha. Those who were learning to operate Morgenraete I's took great pride in it. The Morgenraete had almost single handedly won the second war for hellesponto's, proving to be the most able mechanised unit of the entire war, accounting for countless fighter and dozens of ship kills. One action in particular is remembered famously as an entire enemy division was sent reeling, retreating out of the war zone by a hundred or so of the Mecha.

These young Tannelornians had joined the militia's thanks to its lack of structure compared to the GTFOA. They truly werent as disciplined, and the knights training them tried to emphasise individuality and personal style as much as they tried to teach them their deadly battle-craft. After all many of them were young, or older. Some were even veterans of the first and second hellesponto's wars, before the Knights had forced the civilian militaries in to a purely security and policing role.

The Knights of the DCN were finally accepting the time of a thousand knights defending the nation of Tannelorn was over. All their skill and technology could not save them if they could not defend everything at once. The days of defending a small patch of martian territory was long over. An empire needed large armies to secure its territory and project its power. The Knights could handily project power and smash fleets, but they could not defend the entire nation at once against a determined attack. If enemies like those in sol once again came, aiming only for the destruction of Tannelornian worlds and cities, they would have to choose which worlds to defend. All those under their care would die without another available military force to aid them with the numbers they lack.

The Knights had practically forced the GTFOA to be founded, and now had assented to the civilian authorities sponsoring of militia's. The Knights had pulled the old Ikazuki's, all twenty of them out of mothballs along with the three hundred remaining Katana frigates. They had refitted them with more modern, GTFOA technologies, however the Ikazuki's had retained their massive ingelstung Graser. In its place they put inside the newer, deadlier Ingelstung II. It had twice the yield but only took up the same space as the older model. It was easy to control and to use. Missile launchers and Pulsar and lance turrets made up the rest of the armament on the ancient battleships.

They included gravitic propulsion and a hard-field and left the rest of the layout as it was. There was no need to modify it to carry new mecha. They would be carrying an updated version of the craft they had been meant to fly. These heavy ships would be sold only to the largest militia's, back by a squadron or more of Garfish and the mecha compliments they could pull together. The large militia's however were not the only militia's to gain government grants. Militia's formed on many of the smaller "homestead" colonies on worlds near the republic consisted of a squadron of mecha.

Of course the DCSEC would produce more "civilian" ships, none would be built for anything more then defense. None would have the longevity to wage campaigns across the stars. They would be built solely for transit and defense inside the borders of the Republic itself, as well as to defend merchant shipping as the economy started to expand.

In reality it was almost completely government regulated, but it needed to be strengthened to use as a lever against other economies. Unlike the Prefecture, the idea of wealth was not the issue, it was the idea of stability and security of wealth. Any Republic citizen could construct bio-mechs to do work for them, any Tannelornian of the Republic could concievably "colonise" a world with their family.

Education was paramount in Tannelorn, for smart citizens could control their own destiny, add to the creative whole of the nation and had a definitive edge against citizens of other nations. Education in the Celestial Republic was even more important then in the Prefecture, whose civilians were starting to live in utter luxury, not even needing to learn to build Bio-mechs as all Tannelornians descended from the Grahfsberg had to learn from childhood. The people of the Celestial Republic were taught to be tough and self reliant, and the Militia's would be the ultimate expression of that goal. Though the Knights would be there to turn back the tide of darkness, the people themselves would fight for their own freedom and destiny.

As the war progressed the people of the Celestial Republic diligently contributed to the war effort, sacrificing free time and their own work hours to assist the federation in ending the war as soon as possible. In the great pavilions and boulevards of the great cities of the Republic, people worked as well as played, celebrating the hero's of both sides, not just the DCN. The people thought of the Grahfsbergs as misguided, wayward souls whose honour had been felt compromised. To the people of the Republic this war was a game between honourable warriors. However Antiok was the exception. Recent raids had been against civilian targets and infrastructure.

The only war machines available were a few Morgenstrahl squadrons and a few Algol HMAF's. These were quickly overrun by GFN squadrons and it was the appearance of a mecha known only as the "Ace Hero" that had lead to many people fighting back in their own civilian mecha. The formation of the Militia of the Celestial Republic, or the MCR, had largely been due to the efforts of a scientist caste member, Joachim Montari. He was a genetic scientist that had pointed out that every Tannelornian shared the same genes that the Knights had bred and developed for combat. Essentially..they were a race of warriors, or descended from a race of warriors.

Of course the implications of this, were that Tannelorns history was false. He was quickly stifled. Not however, before people had listened. The Militia's were based on the fact that many civilians showed astonishing skill at piloting mecha, which could be used on the battlefield. His opponents used the Prefecture as a contrast, stating that the vast majority of republican citizens were those with a sense of adventure, had been born from those who had served in the military or police, whereas the civilian dominated Prefecture had been the opponents to this. Still many fine warriors were now arising in the Civilian lead army of the Prefecture.

Then the totally customised Mecha known as the Ace Hero appeared during the Marakesh raid. He single handedly shot down a squadron of Kernschattens in a display known as "the most ridiculous yet effective thing i had ever seen." Lieutenant Sasha Yorinev of the GAP had witnessed the display as the humanoid mecha, described as riding on a giant air board engaged and destroyed a squadron of Kernschattens targeting a Nursery on the planet Marakesh in the Cluster. The mecha was clearly from the Celestial Republic, the design and systems were of DCSEC origin. The name of the Pilot however was completely unknown. As mysteriously as it had arrived, it vanished, leaving GAP reinforcements mystified as to its origins.

This event, two years ago had been the first of many sightings, and the final push from the Scientific caste and the Civilian caste to allow them to form a militia in the Republic. As the war continued, the people got more and more used to the idea of life at war, epic songs and poems were written, holoplays performed and entire mountain ranges were transformed in to murals to fallen and living hero's of the Second war of Secession.

The Aethernet was abuzz with after action reports and rumours of the war itself, the dimensional communications system connected every Tannelornian to each other, in much the same way as the internet did in twentieth century earth. Tannelornians were not always on the Aethernet, but it often helped them go about their daily business, or stay in touch with friends. The streets of the republic were lined with neural readers, not only for security purposes, set to sound alarms when truely evil intentions are monitored, but to allow tannelornians to use devices without having to truly be near them.

After all when one considered that a construction company often consisted of five specialists, three Bio-mech orchestrators and a foreman, the level of technology present in even the simplest Tannelornian dwelling would often make even the nouveaux rich of sol jealous. After all, with all of the simple things handled by machinery and with a thought, the people were free to expand their minds and souls in other ways. Of course good old fashioned toil was prized in Tannelorn. A hand built piece of equipment or furniture could fetch nearly the same price as a VMF or space ship, simply because of the value one puts in the work hours required to finish it. After all, what is made with ones hands is worth more then what is made by a simple machine.

Life in the Republic moved on, at a reasonable pace. The people of Tannelorn were so used to living under the shadow of war, that now that war had returned..life was finally returning to normal.

++++

"Husband, the war continues and you have chosen to leave your calling as a maintenance worker to join these...militias?" Alera Telerina chastised her husband, her long blonde hair falling over perfectly pointed elven ears and features. A small scowl marred her beautiful features. Her husband grinned sheepishly. "Well love, you know i wanted to join the GTFOA nine years ago, before we had Mischa, I was refused acceptance based upon our child, and i had thought this would be an excellent way for me to serve our nation." She sighed. "The fact that i didnt want you risking your life and spending years away from me had nothing to do with it then." she was angry..this was a rather large fight that had been brewing over for years now.

"Alera, this is purely in case of defense, I will spend three days a week flying and practicing, mostly taking part in air shows and other events as well as the occasional patrol. Its what i want to do Alera." He smiled and embraced his wife. Grudgingly after a few moments she embraced him back. "Its bad enough Mischa is learning to fly that death trap of yours, but even now he speaks of joining the federal army when he is of age, Brenn I dont want that for our son, I wish him to have a happy peaceful life, like we have."

Alera had been against the war against the League, not because it was a war, but because it was an offensive war. Tannelorn had not fought in an offensive war in almost three hundred years, since the fall of Vernii.

Brenn Telerin smiled softly at his wife, at thirty nine years of age he was an exceedingly young man, his nine year old son was one of the first children born in almost four hundred years without needing a breeding license.
"I am so tired of war my beloved." She sighed softly, the lights in the house dimmed with a thought from Brenn, he smiled at his wife. "I promise you, the Warcats of Antiok will not be used in some silly war, we will only fight for our home...remember the raid my beloved, the sky was burning, those on the streets many of them perished in the cross fire. If we had been ready for them then, they never would have made it so far in to our homes." he smiled kissing her forehead, sweeping his long black hair, back and out of his eyes.

"Thats right, you would have died then." she whispered. "I have you to come home to, I would not have died my love." he grinned softly at her, the door to their bedroom opened with another though, he lifted her as the maintenance bio-mechs cleared a path. "Come, let me show you just how much i want to come back to you every day, and you can show me the motivation I need to stay alive hmm?" he laughed softly. The Grahfsberg never raided the same place twice..at least so far.

She grinned at him, looking up in to his eyes. "Only if you promise me you wont ever do anything foolish, and that if you have to you wont try to save that old relic." she laughed, referring to his Morgenraete I "custom final".

"Well, every time i fly it i have to struggle to keep it up." he laughed joking. She sighed again and giggled. "Oh i shouldnt have said that..." he looked up innocently and laughed. "Now i remember why i married you." she smiled and caressed his cheek. "I would die without you, Brenn." she started to say and he silenced her with a kiss, taking her in to their room to show her once again the song in his heart. The doors closed behind her as the spacious house prepared for sleep, Hololiths and Aethernet access stopped and the lights dimmed to star light levels. The only sounds that could now be heard were the soft sounds of pleasure over the serene sounds of the ocean which the city rested upon.

***The Prefecture in the Cluster: New Carpentaria***



"Bagrin, your idea's are often..interesting, but this I assure you is not something we can take, or even talk about lightly. I hear some rather..disturbing rumours recently." Maximillian smiled at his long time friend, Praetor Tarenor Harden. The tall, broad shouldered half elf smiled at the Proconsul, looking him over as if hunting for weaknesses. "I assure you its just rumour, the Knights refuse to be repatriated as citizens of the Prefecture, we have to go to great lengths to reeducate them." he chuckled. "Remember, if the people hear things they do not like, the government must act against those responsible, my friend so please whatever you are doing, make sure it is either just, or that people do not make rumours of it." The proconsul responded, fascinated by a miniature model of New Carpentaria system, crafted by a constituent in his spare time.

By passing a hand over it clockwise, the device would respond igniting a tiny miniature sun, whose gravity would cause the miniature planets, each with working cores and tectonics to spin around the sun itself. It was a fantastic achievement, placed on a table fully six feet by six feet. "Jarden Agrbahn, a citizen of Midgard-Sormr. He fashioned this as a gift to me after my victory in the recent elections." he was watching it with the amused expression of a six year old child seeing a Holo-play fall for the first time.

"Do you see the greatness of our people, Tarenor, look this, was but fashioned by a humble worker in his spare time...if we chose we could build whole stars, systems to inhabit..just look at this example." Proconsul Gerad Maximillian mused. "Models are much easier to make then the real thing, remember this, if you are thinking of devoting us to building a solar system, I would think you have gone quite mad with drink and women." The Praetor sat heavily in a chair next to the Proconsul, landing heavily as he turned aside his cape. He put his legs up on the table, pushing aside the bottle of vodka with his foot. He pulled a cannabis cigar out of one of his pockets and lit it, starting to smoke it. "Those wretched things reek up the entire chamber." he scowled.

The ex Knight grinned at his old friend. He had known him since birth and understood the motivations behind the man. After all he had partially instilled them. The Praetor had once been a cavalier, but during the coup he had faked his own death, deciding to throw his lot in to a Prefecture in the Cluster with a decimated leadership. Within three years he had been appointed Praetor. High commander of both the Grand Army of the Prefecture and the Prefecture Armada. He had married a woman of the Prefecture and only three years ago he had a child. His daughter was currently enrolled in the Midgard-Sormr Nursery, the location of a majour Prefecture fleet base, and the overall operations command. It was a bleak, desolate world with no seas and only a near constant monsoon-dry season makes life permissable without assistance.

It didnt matter to the Prefecture of course, after all people did not want for food nor water, as well one could cross the span of the Prefecture twice in a day without worry, commutes between star systems were common for workers. Some however preferred to live where they worked. Especially with the war against the Grahfsberg's, when lockdowns could occur between systems and transport halted for days after a raid.

This war had been particularly good for The Proconsuls Progress faction, it had pretty much crushed its rivals in the Prudence faction. The need for a stronger military, as well as for more offensive forces as well as the building of many systems such as the Aether-rail network and the DEM/Ubecht Reality strengtheners would not have been completed as quickly without the constant threat of raids.

"I dont want to build a solar system Tarenor." the Proconsul chuckled. "I was simply commenting on what can be done if we put our minds and hearts in to it." he grinned up at his old friend. "How goes Epsilon." Maximillian looked over to Tarenor now. "As well as can be expected for a bunch of spoiled little brats." He laughed softly. "They will be of great use to us, tell me how does mother fair." The Praetor shook his head. Epsilon was a foolish idea, the timeframe required to do it properly was hundreds of years..he wished it done in twenty. Epsilon had been started nearly eight years ago, and the subjects progress was of great importance to the Proconsul. Within it was the potential for a cure to the herigenes cluster.

This disease would one day claim the lives of nearly three quarters of the citizens of the Prefecture. In some cases the gene would mutate and lead to the desolation, in most their cells would start mutating after five hundred years of life, even with corrective gene therapy. A genetic fault present in almost half of all Tannelornians that prevented them from using nova pancrea or even little helpers after a certain time limit. It was the ultimate goal of the Nursery and breeding license program. The Prefecture was worse hit by the only genetic disease remaining in Tannelorn, and the young affected by the lack of the Knight gene would always strive to be remembered, knowing that they will not be able to live forever, to banish death as is the birthright of the nation.

This was the true reason for the enmity between those in the Prefecture and the Knights. Jealousy, simple and pure. "Epsilon will work, within a few hundred years, the disease will be gone." he sighed softly. "Well do not fret, this program will give your army a powerful new formation." the Proconsul smiled. "True, but tell me young one, do you understand exactly what your playing with here? Piotr's legacy is not to be altered..especially not the way you did." he snorted indignantly. "It will hasten the process." the Proconsul said with the air of a child after chastisement. "True it will, but what will it do for the connection to the Aether? What will it do to Epsilon itself."


"It doesnt matter, it is hope for all those that come after us, it is our greatest legacy and it shall go forth." he grinned softly. Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

"Enter." The Proconsul stated, the doors slid open and a replicant woman stepped through, wearing the uniform of the Grand army of the Prefecture. "Midgard-Sormr is under attack my lord, a large force managed to slip past the reality strengtheners, took control of them and are using them against us." The Praetor raised an eyebrow at this. "Ready my ship and the fleet, get the home guard ready, prepare to jump in force, if enough ships make it through we shall be able to crush them easily." The Praetor stood and stormed out. "Be well old friend, I will pray for heavens divine light to fall upon you." The door closed behind the Praetor.

***Terturaga Moon: AF 12 Midgard Sormr raid ***

"Young Master, as a new squire in the Divine Celestial Cavaliers mecha formations, you shall be given a Kernschatten VMF mecha, however do to your status you shall be allowed to customise it as you see fit, weapon load out, missile compliment as well as system tweaking is all to be done as you see fit, as well as denoting your status, you may choose which colour's to adorn your steed." Master Telerim, head master of the Knight flying formations spoke sternly to young Janus.


"Your Grandfather asked only that the finest engineers be allowed to work upon your mecha, and thus they have up to the specifications you asked." he grinned softly, the boy was only twelve, yet he had cut the limiter's back as far as any veteran of the DCC would dare, and then some. "What colour do the people wear on their mecha." the young boy asked.

"The Prefecture wears white and red, the Federal army blue, however the militias so far each have their own heraldry, one that means something to them and their world." Master Telerim answered. Janus thought back to moments he had enjoyed with his friend Ivan, he had already chosen silver for his mecha, being the best friend and bodyguard of Janus was as honoured a position as any. "Blue, like the sea and the sky." he stated. Janus had enjoyed airboarding with Ivan and Karamina, his only two child friends.


They were allegedly the children of Lord's of Tannelorn, killed in the final battle of Hellespontos, raised alongside the young Prince. The mecha before him changed colour as the Master trainer adjusted it to Janus' taste. "There, that is perfect." Janus stated solemnly. Terturaga was a haunted, windswept and desolate system. He had come to see a piece of "history" according to his grandfather. A giant ship, submerged beneath the sands of the barely living world.

A klaxon started to flare aboard the Durandal, the Skoffnung class battleship carrying the young prince and his company of Divine Cavaliers. "It seems that battle is coming, we jump for Midgard-sormr young prince, ready yourself." Master Telerim stated. Janus nodded. "Affirmative!" he practically shouted.

He got up and ran towards his Kernschatten, jumping in and moving to join the rest of his friends and Master Yannericil. His squadron of Kernschattens was under his direct command..they would assist the people of Midgard-sormr in battle. The GFN had raided them with a massive force, a size that hadnt been seen in almost a year and a half. They were the closest DCN formation to the action. One Skoffnung, two Zweihanders the Valorous Heart and the Divine Sword and the Morgenstern Aegis made up the formation.

They jumped out within a minute of recieving orders.

++++

The space battle was still raging, most of the GFN force had travelled behind the far moon of Midgard sormr, luring the DCN and GAP ships to a pitched battle on the dark side, while a force of GFN Variable Maneuver frames made for the planet itself. They were preparing to strike targets on the surface and there were thousands of them.Yannericil had ordered his team
down to the planet to assist the GAP formations below. Even boomfighters wouldnt help them against stealthed Kernschattens, only Knights, Yannericil reasoned could fight Knights. Secretly of course, Janus thought it was because the Master thought planetary fighting was safer. Especially after he ordered them to maintain perfect stealth until contact.

They had made it to the planet and entered the swirling aerial melee. It seemed a rather large force of Lowes had been hiding an even larger force of Kernschatten's from sensors. The enemy force was much larger then the defenders had anticipated. Early in the fighting they had split up, Janus had detected a flight of Kernschattens heading east of his position.
Through the swirling dogfight that was now ripping the skies apart in a sea of contrails, missiles and high energy beam weapons, he set his craft to full speed and rocketed off after them, plasma shock expansion thrusters igniting the air behind him.

The battle quickly fell away as he accelerated towards the small squadron exiting the main battle. "Janus, what in the hell are you doing???" he could hear Yannericil yelling at him in his mind through the Aether link up connecting him to his squadron mates. Quietly Janus severed the link and continued to pursue the enemy. He would prove himself against them, showing Yannericil and the others that he truly was ready to be a cavalier. He didnt not need anymore coddling. After all he was twelve years of age and had slain two warriors in combat, he had proven his manhood.

As he closed on the enemy squadron he noticed something odd about them. Morgenstrahl the recognition of these craft hit him like a brick in the face. After all had not the GFN stopped using the Morgenstrahls in favour of the Sturmschatten HMF. Of course this was a planetary raid, it was very likely they had pulled many of them out to support the Kernschatten forces they fielded.

For now they didnt see him, likely thanks to the Urenbecht stealthing modules on his Kernschatten, but that would change the moment he opened fire.

He closed on the squadron, coming within six thousand meters. Point blank. He let loose with a salvo of Lance fire, the heavy energy beams tore through his first target, causing him to descend in to the earth at high speeds, transforming in to a fireball and leaving a large crater, which the rest of the Squadron and Janus passed in an instant. They broke formation, he had given himself away and now it was up to optical sensors, sensors which the Knight craft had in high quality. He broke left and climbed as the enemy scattered. Several of them reconfigured in to high maneuver configuration, turning on their heels and scanning the skies with their sensor-heads.

The enemy did not stop moving however, and continued on to their target regardless of Janus presence. The Bio-com systems warned Janus mentally of the proximity and direction of a small hab complex located ten kilometers from Midgard city.... It was a nursery. Janus suddenly realised what the enemy objective here was..another civilian target, this time not a recreation center..but a nursery filled with children even younger then Janus.

Though his mind was as developed as many adults, Janus was still prone to childish outbursts. He quickly reattached his link to the Aether, just in time to hear Yannericil shouting in his skull. Janus quietly notified him of what was happening. Yannericils thought-tone became more sober now, ordering Ivan and Karamina to go to him with maximum haste. They were heavily engaged by the dogfight above the majour military complexes dotting the countryside. At least for now they could not disengage.

++++

Educator Ralis Traltha watched in horror as he saw a flight of three black and red Morgenstrahl's pass his building then reconfigure, dropping to the earth and starting to fire in to the outlying buildings. Replicant soldiers were rushing around, trying to fight them off but they were quickly dispatched with head laser and missile fire. He was desperately trying to get his children back inside after morning excercises, but many of the children were either too scared, or too amazed at the sight of the sinister mecha to obey him.

What are they doing here! he thought to himself. His class was full of third through sixth year children, most of them so small they still wet themselves at night..and these mecha were bearing straight down on them. He struggled to get the last of the children in to the building as the mecha opened fire, he jumped on top of one of them, a small half elven girl to shield her from the fire. The sheer heat from the blast of the head lasers near miss burnt the flesh on his back to the bone. He cried out and stopped moving. The mecha started to fire at the building itself with head lasers, using their gun pods to kill the last of the Replicants who dared challenge them.

Then one of the GFN mecha jumped back, narrowly avoiding a lance burst. Janus had finished off the two mecha that had stayed behind to engage him, now he was ready for the rest of the squadron. He switched to high maneuver configuration and landed on his heavy metal feet with a thud. One of his arm mounted lances were missing, that did not stop him from attempting to salute his opponents before they opened fire on him.


He leapt in to the air with gravitic assist, narrowly avoiding the enemy fire and accelerated forwards, firing again at one of the Morgenstrahls only to watch it deflect the beam with its arm mounted shield. It took to the air after him, but Janus deked him and evaded downwards, going near to the ground as he fired once more in to the enemy mecha. They had moved some since his arrival, taking off in to the air. He clipped one on the leg, severing it at the knee. It was crippled but could still fight. Quickly he switched to high speed configuration and rocketed past the ailing mecha, jinking to avoid enemy return fire. He flew past the stricken mecha, which turned to face him only to watch as he reconfigured and fired directly in to the black Morgenstrahl.

His shot narrowly avoided cutting the enemy mecha in half, he watched as it fell helplessly to the ground. Only his sixth sense warned him in time of the approaching salvo of enemy missiles. He dove through them, firing his head lasers and lance in arcs to avoid the Nursery as well as shoot down the missiles. He rolled, shifting position in the air to avoid a missile only to watch it redirect itself for another attack. He turned his head and fired again, the independently firing anti missile lasers streaked past, igniting the missile warheads prematurely. He was close to the ground now and the attackers had taken advantage of his aerobatics display to climb. By the looks of it Janus observed, they had climbed to at least twelve thousand feet. Then Janus saw the rain of missiles falling to earth.

He leapt in to the air firing his remaining lance and lasers in to the swarm, as he met the missile swarm he turned, firing down in to it, moving amongst it to shoot down as many as possible. He accelerated and landed on the ground, activating his arm shield to block the last remaining missile from striking the nursery. Knowing these blaggards, they had used at least one nuclear warhead in that salvo and likely had many more.

He turned to look up for the enemy but they were no longer there. As he moved across the open field he could see no trace of them. Behind there was movement, Janus turned to see a human figure crawl a few steps. On closer examination, he saw that it was a severely injured man, and a young girl, maybe three years of age.

The girl was confused and disoriented and started to stand up looking for a way out. She turned and saw Janus sky blue mecha, staring at her. The girl stepped back in terror, trying to get away. Janus didnt understand, then he saw why. His senses flashed quickly enough to save his life. He raised his arm mounted lance and activated the energy blade setting, bringing the weapon up to guard him as he braced for the attack. One of the Morgenstrahl's had come up on him at ground level, using the young girl as a distraction. Janus struggled with the heavier VMF, eventually jetting backwards to break the lock. He circled his opponent, raising his pulsar pod in salute to him, the black and red mecha lunged at him. Janus jetted back and up, avoiding the shot and placing himself above the enemy mecha, which promptly lunged at him. Janus simply weaved to the side and slid the energy blade in between his opponent's "ribs". The pilot is surely dead, Janus thought to himself. Deserves it for attacking a school like a cowardly earth man. he grimaced as an impact struck his wing'.

The wings on his kernschatten were tough, meant to deflect hits from the side. Though Janus was aware of the entire battlefield around him, his age and inexperience were leaving him open to attacks. He simply couldnt focus on more then one enemy at a time effectively. He accelerated forwards and turned, continuing on his forward vector. The enemy Morgenstrahl was almost on top of him, he fired..and missed. The enemy pilot didnt miss. Janus left arm was taken off at the elbow. The enemy mecha reconfigured again in to battloid configuration and charged at Janus. Janus could see the sensor head swiveling over to the school, spraying it with las fire. It launched a missile and another missile. Janus started shooting them down as they launched, firing head lasers and his remaining lance furiously.

The enemy Morgenstrahl raised his arm and fired his pulsar laser in to Janus Kernschatten. Janus evaded the first few shots, but refused to return fire. The enemy shots started to hit, taking apart his Kernschatten piece by piece. First the left arm, then the head, then the left calf and lower leg was either destroyed or sliced off by the hail of las fire.

Janus mecha crashed in to the ground as the enemy turned once again to fire on the school. Janus rose up, targetting him manually he fired one missile at him. Distracting the enemy with a gras beam he moved towards him. Then Janus noticed the young girl. Either the enemy Morgenstrahl didn't notice her, or didn't care that she was there. His movements were coming close to striking her. Janus acted quickly, slamming in to the enemy machine at full speed, even as a hail of pulsar rounds impacted him.

He lay stunned for a few moments, feeling a wrenching impact as the Morgenstrahl tossed his now mission killed Kernschatten off of it. It stood, he could see or feel nothing. He unstrapped himself from the dead machine and used the emergency switch to open the escape hatch.

He dropped out in time to see the enemy machine lift off and leave the area. It looked at him as it left his vision, pointing at him menacingly.

Janus went over to the young girl, smiling softly. She was crying and terrified, asking alternatively for her mother, her father and for her nanny. He smiled at her and spoke softly. "Run now inside, I am sure that at least one of those people is waiting for you. Its safe now." She sniffed a little and hugged him, managing a runny nosed thank you before she ran off. He went back to stand near his mecha, awaiting Yannericil and his friends as well as the punishment he was sure to receive.

It wasnt his friends that had seen off the enemy attack after all. Six Grahfsberg Kernschatten were closing on his position now, flanked by several Lowe's. The Mecha reconfigured and took up a defensive position. They examined the remains of the enemy mecha and walked casually around him. Several teachers and children were gathered at windows and doors to watch the spectacle. The Grahfsberg mecha did nothing but examine the wreckage. Then one of them turned to face him, towering over him at ten meters tall.

"You boy, did you do this?" the voice boomed. Janus simply nodded.
"Good work even for a cavalier whelp, You are now our prisoner by right of combat, you can choose to come with us, or you can choose death."

A few surviving replicant soldiers were guarding the doors. Janus looked back and saw the young girl staring at him wide eyed. "Very well I choose to come with you, my death would serve no purpose here as I have already won this combat, I go on the condition you do not continue the attack on the Nursery." Janus called out, trying to sound as adult as possible.

Several of the Kernschattens, and even the Lowe's looked at each other, magnetic servo's humming with the motion. "Very well boy, you are now a prisoner of the Grahfsberg Federation." Janus did not complain as the mecha crouched down, picked him up and deposited him inside the mecha itself. He would not complain about being placed in a pressurized storage contained. After all the Kernschatten was cramped, they had no place to put him otherwise. He was a Knight and hardship meant nothing to him. Still as they lifted off to exit the planetary gravity..he wished that they had at least had the decency to place anti gravity generation inside the cargo room.

++++


"Your sure its him?" Grand Duke Ibram Yannef asked curiously. His hair now reached past his waist, and his wife, Viola hung from his arm. Knight-General Harmendacil nodded and called in his men. Knight Lieutenant Bhagran Naradesh entered with three of his men, and a young boy of no more then twelve in tow. He had manacles on his wrists and stared at the floor.

"Greetings Jan Albericht." The Grand Duke smiled. "Or is it Janus." Yannef smiled at him. "Greetings Grand Duke Ibram Yannef, you are well today I take it?" he looked at him with contempt. "I am sure you hate me boy as you were told to do, for I caused yet another civil war to engulf our nation. But let me assure you, the last one never ended..it only expanded." he smiled. "We had a task, a holy purpose that has now been lost thanks to the greed of a few. Space Lord Abarakh, Proconsul Maximilian, Lord Humphrey Darendahim." he spat the names out. He stated several more but Janus had stopped listening by that point.

"Young master this is VERY important. You may despise me now for this outright war, for the actions we have taken ,but believe me when I tell you we have the best interests of the people of Tannelorn at heart." he smiled, trying to be as polite and convincing as possible.

"Tannelorn will only continue to tear itself apart. The Federation is nothing but a game, boy." Yannef was more serious now. "That is always the way of villains, to declare that they know what is best for the people. I simply came with your men to make sure you didnt continue trying to destroy the nursery. If you dont mind, I am sure Master Yannericil is worried about me." Janus snapped the manacles with ease. Yannef and Viola both looked back in shock. In the same motion he disarmed Bhagran and knocked him to the floor, escaping out the main hatchway to the observation room.


"So General, do you think it is time?" Yannef asked the older knight with a little trepidation. The General simply nodded. "Gather our forces and send out the new orders to our knights, the enemy shall find Grahfsberg itself. The final battle of the war shall now play out." Viola looked at her husband and put a hand on his cheek. "My husband, please reconsider..think of the safety of the people." he smiled back at her.

"Do not worry, we shall not let it come to this..however there are Knights who must be prepared to sacrifice and go with the prefecture, as many cities must. The rest must make haste towards the Celestial republic to surrender. This is the right thing to do, the war has gone on long enough..long enough for us to build an army for the young prince." he grinned.

"Contact Ironhold, tell them it is now time for them to declare neutrality and rejoin the federation. Make sure many of our young knights make it there. Our forces need to look thinned, stretched out to the point of breaking..only then can enough of our warriors be ready for the ascension of the young master." Viola smiled. "Why didnt you tell me any of this before." she grinned. "Well i try to, then i get a little too absorbed in those beautiful pink eyes of yours." he kissed her softly.

"We have much work to do." Yannef smiled and started to discuss the next actions of the Grahfsbergs carefully.

++++

Janus had broken a small sweat running through the kilometers of tunnels and accessways en route to the mecha bays in the great city. The Knights-ward was full of activity and he had a hard time avoiding being spotted. Thankfully they hadnt taken the power source to his DCC armour, his thermoptic camouflage was still working.


Quietly he crept in to the main loading bays. He looked around for an available mecha. Hundreds of Kernschattens and a few Lion-breakers were lined up against the wall. He thought for a split second of taking his familiar kernschatten..but he knew that his nation would be better served getting an example of the Lion-breaker for DCSEC technicians to dissect..even reverse engineer. He broke out in a run to the nearest one, he appeared suddenly in front of the pilot who was about to enter it and kicked him in the head with a jumping roundhouse. The Knight fell to the ground dazed. By the time he had awoken Janus was already priming the gravitics. He watched as the man scrambled away and the ninety meter mecha started to float in the air.

He slowly turned towards the main hangar bay and armed two large missiles. They streaked towards the door, blowing out the main hangar. Atmosphere vented for a few seconds before magnetic shielding covered the entrance way. He accelerated quickly to escape, activating the DoD device the mecha carried and jumped far away.

He was surprised at the enemies lack of attempts to recapture him, but he simply assumed they had not bothered as he would be long gone before they could.

When he first heard the IFF transponder ring in red, he looked around for enemy's, forgetting he was in a Grahfsberg craft.

The Durandal had come looking for him now. He hailed them and awaited a tongue lashing from Yannericil. They simply told him he was clear to land.

The last few minutes on approach seemed like the longest yet in his short life...

++++

"Good job young master, you trusted your instincts and your feelings and not only did you save three thousand young ones, you managed to bring us a worthy prize." Yannericil laughed. Ivan looked on, already his face was starting to grow a little fuzz, he had reached a height of six feet six inches and was still growing. He walked over and slapped young Janus on the back, nearly knocking him over. "I guess airboardings not going to be as much fun anymore huh?" the giant lad laughed, it sounded almost as deep as any mans voice. "Well..its still fun really, after all you can feel the wind rushing against you, and the rush as you try to keep balance, but." Janus stammered back, then stopped. He was in shock. He expected to be beaten half to death and punished for a year for disobeying his tutor. Instead he was being lauded as a hero.

"Congratulations young Master, on becoming a Knight." Yannericil smiled warmly at the boy and mussed up his hair. Janus fussed, Karamina giggled and Ivan guffawed.

Janus simply stood there sheepishly while the flight crews and engineers gave him three cheers. After they finished, Janus approached Yannericil. "Master Yannericil, I met Grand Duke Yannef, and he called me Jan Albericht. Why?" he looked up at him. "The GFN is desperately awaiting the return of Jan Alberecht, the old grand duke to lead them and Tannelorn. They dont realise we never found his body, to this day..they think we made a Ghola of him." Janus was stunned. "A ghola...of the old Grand Duke." Janus stammered.

"Why would he think me a Ghola!" he stated indignantly. "Because you do bear a resemblance my boy, but your father Space Lord Tsaratov was a distant relative, the resemblance is little more then wishful thinking." he smiled.

"Come why don't we go and learn more of music studies my boy, then you can practice your memory excercises." Janus sighed. He hated the memory excercises, but without them he would not be able to process information as fast as a thinking machine...duty required him to be able to face any foe, on its own terms. "Yes Master Yannericil." he replied as Ivan and Karamina stepped in line to return to the tutoring center of the DCC wing of the Durandal

***AF-17: Morning Light***

The secret war, the embarrassing, silent war that had been fought for nine long years was finally over. The Grahfsberg federation officially surrendered at the second battle of Grahsberg City. The atmosphere in the federation was more one of relief then of joy at the victory. For the cost had been heavy, in the three years since the end of the war the infrastructure had been repaired, but lives can never be brought back. Those that died, would never return to those that loved them. In the years during and after the war, Tannelorn's attitude had changed. They fortified their cities and systems, realising how open they had been to the hit and run attacks of the Grahfsberg. The fear this caused in the panic lead to monstrous amounts of military spending on defensive infrastructure.

The GTFOA fleets were leaned out. Forming in to the assault fleet and the defensive patrols. The Defensive patrols consisted of half of the honour blade frigates, four hundred vessels, of which at all times three hundred were on active duty, engaging in long range patrol sweeps of the territories of the Federation. The rest of the fleets were held as offensive/defensive fleets. Prepared to move out at a moments notice from their bases, strategically positioned to aid every region under the sway of Federation rule.

The fleets of Tannelorn had changed drastically. Now the Divine Celestial navy was finished its leaning out. There number was fourty Skoffnung battleships, one hundred and twenty five Zweihander dreadnoughts and seventy five Morgenstern Battle-carriers. They boasted a carried force of twelve thousand mecha between them, as well as four hundred HMAF Algol's..and one hundred of the HMAF lion-breakers. This mecha was granted to the DCN on their honour that they would not share the design of the largest and mightiest HMAF ever constructed. The Knight-engineers who had toiled on the design could not bear to see it enter in to this history of Tannelorn, and had struck a deal with the DCSEC.

The left over mecha forces were directly placed in defensive roles throughout the Celestial Republic, based upon the two Knight worlds of the Celestial Republic. All in all another ten thousand mecha and nearly six hundred Algol HMAF's could be called upon to defend the Republic. These numbers of course were scattered over fourteen star systems. The smaller settlements in unclaimed systems would have to rely on militia support for in the event of an invasion force.

The GAP Armada, the AoP, had also changed. They now could boast over thirty Xaser monitors. Their version lacked the sheer penetrating power and beam duration of the GTFOA monitor, but was cheaper to construct and far more durable. The organisations entire Air wings now consisted of Morning Ray and Shining Ray mecha.

Each solaris battleship could carry fifty Morning Ray VMF's and Five Shining Ray HMAF's. The Divinity carriers could carry two hundred Morning Ray's, fifty Shining Ray's and eight Endymion Finals. The fleet had radically transformed itself, though outwardly it appeared much the same. The AoP was now battle hardened and able to defend as well as attack. The systems of the Prefecture swarmed with Endymion add on armour craft, Fausts and PASS-19's. The only requirement for their useage was to grow more replicants. The war had allowed for the political will to do such a thing, and another million soldiers had been commissioned for all fields including science and maintenance.

These mecha were constantly patrolling the star lanes, preparing for any form of enemy attack. Despite the end of hostilities and the lessening of the guard. The guard was still up. There were many enemies across the stars, many of which would love an opportunity to strike at a member of the empire, or so the Prefecture council thought. Work had begun on the GENESIS-II project, a larger and smaller platform respectively. The larger platform would target incoming enemy fleets while the smaller, with its far faster reload time would be able to engage enemy squadrons attempting to attack the larger platform.

They envisioned one of these systems orbiting every important world in the prefecture, but for now that was just a dream. Still every step was being taken to be sure no such raids would ever strike the Prefecture again.

The war had ended with the destruction of much of the Grahfsbergs fleet and the surrender of Grahfsberg itself. This prompted a "rush" to reach the DCN forces to surrender. However the Prefecture managed to occupy nearly three hundred million citizens. Who at wars end, with Grahfsberg and Ironhold the only independent cities, were forcibly repatriated in to the Prefecture. In the Republic they were allowed to live as they would, though they became tied to planets. Several colonies were formed on harsh worlds, with little to no atmosphere, expanding the total controlled worlds of the Celestial republic to thirty seven, across sixteen star systems.

Many Knights of the Grahfsberg chose to join the Militia's, being allowed to keep their mecha on the condition they train others to fight. Along with the Grahfsberg citizens that chose to make a new life amongst the Celestial Republic, these knights would forsake their old home to start a new life. Forming communities of "berghers", living in large complexes alongside the established cities of the Celestial Republic. They managed to maintain a balance between isolation and embracing the culture of the Republic, which at times was strained as youths of both cultures met for the first time.

The Grahsberghers considered the Republicans to be lax in discipline, though not as badly as those of the Prefecture. The Republic struggled to cope with the influx of two hundred million new citizens on its established worlds. Many of which went to the night worlds of the East, hoping to be away from the sights and sounds of the interstellar "metropolis" of the western republic.

The people of the Republic took well to the new arrivals. To have the relatively strange and aloof knights of the Grahfsberg living amongst them was an interesting diversion to some at first, but this quickly passed.

Grahfsberg itself retained the right to be a member "state" with barely fifteen million people they had only one seat to fill in the entire Federal Council. They did not lose hope, and were grateful to be allowed any military forces. The small force of Lion-breakers, ships and Kernschattens they were allowed to have was not enough to stop any form of majour assault, nor pull off more then anti shipping activities, but it would keep them safe from any pirate threat.

Ironhold was of a different classification. After the war, many Knights had returned to that city, which was now being know as the Knight-city. In truth Ironhold citizens were completely neutral concerning internal affairs of statemembers. They held no seats and their only priviledge was to act as mercenaries to bolster state militaries in small area's as well as to settle differences between companies and entities within the federation.

There were perhaps three or four hundred active knights, as well as another three or four hundred "mercenaries" from across tannelorn. Those who had broken the law of their homelands or simply wished fame and fortune..and had what it took to join were accepted. Their entire technical wing was devoted to maintaining and customising the mecha of the pilots. They also could claim four Einhander's, a shield carrier and a dozen Carrier's as their naval forces. These dissatisfied members of the DCN had taken their ships at the end of the war as rights of conquest against the Grahsberg and left for Ironhold. This had caused a bit of a crisis which was defused when the Federation ordered the DCN forces to back down.

Since the DCN forces joined the mercenaries range increased drastically..they started to offer their services outside of the Federation, to anyone providing they did not have to come up against members of the Divine Celestial Federation military or civilians.

On this stage the path to the future was being lain out. A time of war was coming, the GFFA could not dare the empire forever without risking war. As it was, and as it always has been Tannelorn sat and waited, silently preparing for the greater war to come, and enjoying the peace they have now. For none better then the Tannelornians know that moments of peace are fleeting, meant to be cherished and celebrated. Not surprising then that the five billionth citizen of the Republic was born in this time.

***AF-17: Terturaga Moon:Ancient whispers***

The small scientific outpost was barely visible through the massive sand storms that constantly wracked the surface of this desert world. Moisture existed deep underground, which was then extracted by plankton like creatures living a few meter's under the surface. The waste byproduct they created was oxygen, yet this world had no creatures larger then the twenty or so celled creatures one could barely see if they dug deep enough. In fact for the first six years the Federation maintained its fleet base over this world, Life was totally unknown to exist.

Of course the vast ship discovered under the desert sands was the real reason for the interest in this world. Most of the artifacts in the vessel had long since been confiscated by the DCN and stored in the Knight worlds for safe keeping and analysis. Aden Elietski hated the thought that they would use their trifling powers as an excuse to keep scientists of the Prefecture from analysing the objects found. However the Prefecture had managed to secret some pieces away for their own research.

One such piece had been consuming Aden Elietski for the last six years. A simple transcription on a piece of stone brought inside the ship. Untouched for eons it was found alongside many other artifacts, of which the Prefecture knew nothing. Still he had made some progress. The language was a strange dialect of Tannelornian, used only by the nobility of Divine Kingdom these days..or at least closely related to it. It was not perfect by any means but a working translation of a "song" had been worked out. Aden was an anthropologist, this project would have interested him regardless. Perhaps, he mused this vessel was the carrier of those who had disagreed with the rule of the Lords of Tannelorn many thousands of years ago.

This of course would be a great propaganda coup inside the Prefecture if it was found. Brave Tannelornians casting off the oppressive rule and monolithic discipline required by the Knights had come to this very place before. It was the prefecture's Destiny to be here in the Cluster. He liked the sound of that.

His last report had shown some intriguing results when the song was spoken aloud. A strange feeling analogous to the feeling those who had the gift, the strong connection to the Aether claimed to feel when it was amongst them. And for a split second, Aden swore he could see his mother smiling at him, through the window nearest to him. He stopped the recital there, and sent his report back to the Prefecture Scientific Coalition.

A week later he was awoken to hear the klaxon's signifying someone had landed on the shuttle pad. This was not a common event so he stirred his replicant aides and dressed himself, preparing to meet them.

As he entered the courtyard, protected from the sand storm by magnetic and pin point barrier shields, he realised who his visitor was. In full military regalia Praetor Tarenor Harden was now walking towards him, with all of the soldiers, pomposity and general show of a military parade. "Anthropologist Aden Elietski, It is with great pride that I extend an invitation for you and your assistants to come to Yondath, to take advantage of the greater scientific resources to decipher that old artifact of yours." Aden did not like the Praetor's grin. "By invite I assume I must go?" The Praetor laughed. "Well if you would like to stay here till your time is up, say in another five years you can be my guest. Otherwise you can come and work with your colleagues once more and become a hero of the Prefecture." he grinned.

Aden couldnt understand. "Is it the connection between the ship and old Tannelorn that you wish me to learn?" he was perplexed, from Yondath he could not learn the connection between this ship and Tannelorn, only with acess to the ship itself could he learn. "Not at all Aden, you may have found a cure for the Herigenes Cluster, do you understand what this means? So far only you have been able to translate this. Quickly now, gather your things..you have a parade to attend." he laughed softly and turned back towards the shuttle.

Aden was in a rather confused state as he loaded up all of the viable information in to packets in the Aether, and prepare to purge all residual information in his own mainframe. This would allow him to pick up from where he left off, from anywhere with an ADC [Aether Dive connection]. At the same time it would prevent any snooping from the federation on what they were doing.

As the shuttle lifted off Aden looked down at the place that had been his home for the last six years and sighed. Try as he might he knew he was going to miss the place. Praetor Harden was continually filling him in on information, which he was half paying attention to, simply letting it settle in to his subconscious so he could retrieve it with total recall later. Information on his team, who his subordinates and overseers would be, and the overall goal.

He was to find the song, every inflection, every lyric and find away to sing it across the Aether, then the Herigenes gene would hopefully die out as the Aether itself cured the genetic damage. Then every citizen of the Prefecture would have a connection to the aether on the scale of the Divine Celestial Cavaliers, or so they hoped. The Praetor was doubtful, but he was not the elected representative.

Aden seemed smugly satisfied with himself. The Praetor let him remain so, after all he didnt want to let him know just what that song meant and could be used for. A cure yes..but if the readings had been correct..it could be a kill as well. Such a strange thing, the Praetor thought. That something so little and small as words sung with conviction, could bring life or death.


He didnt let himself ponder on it long. After a few moments his mind went back to more important things like strategy, long term planning..and how annoying this little scientist was to him, fidgeting, complaining and generally acting like an earth man. The Praetor sighed..willing the shuttle to go faster. It didnt work..but that didnt stop the Praetor from trying.

***AF 20-30 War, Fire and peace***

It started over Yondath. A raid by Lions Claw, which was not stopped by the meager Divine Navy presence attacked at the head of a fleet of disparate pirates, renegades and traitors. The Prefecture had few ships to defend, and in desperation attempted to use a song found in the ruined vessel on Turturaga, one they thought would cancel Faster then light inhibitors. First madness, then pain engulfed the world. Then the very dead themselves took their vengeance on those that had wronged them in life. In the end less then fifty thousand people made it off of Yondath, a which once boasted a population over a hundred million.

The Prefecture blamed the Knights of the Divine Republic for not only failing to stop them but for failing to tell them what the song meant. As only the Knights of the Republic and the Divine Kingdom fully kept the old lore.

First the Federation, collapsed, then war. However the Prefecture could not count upon the Galactic empire any longer, as it was destroyed by plague and disbanded. The war inevitably swung in the favour of the Knights, battle after battle was lost by the Replicant armies and the Fleets of the Knight's and the Celestial Militia pushed the Prefecture back.

Several key events made the Republics victory in less then five years possible. Several events advanced Tannelornian science to nearly the level of the first colonisation, three thousand years before, but others were tragedies beyond compare.

***Hel Station, the beginning***

This is where it all began, the place where thirty years of disunity and hate started to fester. This haunted station was once the home of Tannelorns greatest research facility. The Computer system, a one of a kind Organic template intelligent algorithm named MAIA, was coveted by both the Knights of the Celestial Republic and the leaders of the Prefecture. The singularity set up by Knight-General Schneider of the Divine Celestial Cavaliers had finally winked out, at least enough to allow teams to reach the surface of the world.

The first Divine Navy vessel to arrive was the Durandal but it was quickly forced out system by a strong Prefecture naval presence. Badly numbered, even considering its compliment of thirty two HMAF's, Durandal retreated, leaving Janus Tsaratov to recover MAIA on his own. He delved the haunted levels, passing the walking corpses who meandered his way, and encountering a young woman wearing purple armour matching closely the pattern of his own Cavalier suit. In the end he retrieved a very grateful MAIA and escaped with her stored inside his Kernschatten VMF.

He attempted to make it back to Celestial Republic territory, but the Kernschatten Variable Maneuver frame was only equipped with a short range FTL, and Celestial Republic territory was thousands of light years away. the trip was long but far from uneventful. He developed a close friendship with MAIA, despite her tendency to ramble on about planetary density variations, Divine energy field fluctuations and her best estimates towards how many habitable planets there are in the universe. He also met Johannes Schneider several times as he personally attempted to wrest control of MAIA from Janus. Janus barely escaped with his life, and was steadily pushed towards the Cluster and the Prefecture.

Eventually over Galitha, cornered by Johannes, and only survived by linking his mind to MAIA so she could control the Kernschatten as if it were her own body, with Janus skill. The link had a profound effect on the both of them, he fully understood how lonely the young computer-girl was, having spent twenty five years alone, deep under a dying planetoid. MAIA on the other hand, gained insight in to Janus life, particularly the struggles and trials he had already gone through, and the character of the man he was becoming.

She gained so much from the experience that it affected her personality significantly. They crashed and he was thrown clear of the mangled wreck. It was so badly damaged that the Prefecture rescue crew couldnt identify it, and Janus was discovered a kilometer from the wreck by Alicia Harden, the Daughter of Praetor Tarenor Harden of the Prefecture, who was later discovered to be none other then Gilead Farstrider, the head of the rogue fleet the Lion's claw, who had plagued Tannelorn since its inception at the end of the first war of succession.

She knew exactly who he was, and was already madly in love with Janus, having been rescued by him twice, first during the second war of secession against the Grahfsberg, when she was almost too young to remember, the second was at Yondath. While running her mother, the dead came to life. Soldiers were going mad, killing seemingly at random. Suddenly her mother stopped and dragged her daughter to the ground. When Alicia looked up, her mother's head was missing. She was the daughter of the Praetor however, and had already made it in to flight school, VMF and HMAF specialisations. she kept running, but it didnt matter, soon the dead came, killing all they came across. She was rescued at the last moment by Janus, who took her to a shuttle launch and helped her evacuate, she tried to get him to come with her even then, but he pushed her inside and battled the spirits that were assailing them. That was the last she saw of him.

When she found him, a kilometer from a mangled wreck, she did everything she could to hide him from the authorities. Now a flight commander, she hacked the records and instated him as her pilot, in a Endymion final version. However MAIA was not silent, they had inadvertently given her access to the entire base computer system when they attempted to inspect the black box recorder in Janus' Kernschatten. She busily set about clearing a path to escape, and preparing herself a proper body. Alicia had been throwing herself at Janus more then he could bear, and her own behaviour did not make matters any better. She in the end, was a daughter of the Prefecture, and she enjoyed certain extracurricular activities that bothered him greatly, particularly her admiration for the female form.

It was the way she treated her underlings that truly disgusted him most however, and he strove to escape, knowing that to continue to rebuff her advances could cost him dearly. MAIA was the card he needed, he awoke to find a half elf girl standing over him, with the most brilliant green eyes he had ever seen. He also noted the resemblance the girl bore to him, though he was only one quarter elven. It was MAIA, her encounter with Janus psyche had changed her more profoundly then any researcher could imagine. For all intents and purposes she was indeed his twin sister. They attempted to escape but Alicia caught on to MAIA's tampering. She grew despondent, declaring her undying love for Janus, he spurned her. It was then that Selsharril Aelothi, an HMAF pilot that Janus had met through Alicia made a decision that would alter the course of the war. She activated her Endymion II HMAF, Janus and MAIA then made good their escape.

From that moment onward, Janus and Selsharril were always together, her operating as his backseat in the HMAF the Blue Swan, the first DEM powerplant equipped craft to be built outside of the Divine Kingdom. This one of a kind HMAF was only the first, and was a gift to her cherished "brother" Janus. This event signalled the beginning of the end, as though Urenbecht Knight field's lost their effectiveness, the Knight fleet's were now able to use the full power of DEM technology. A completely safe powerplant with the same outputs as comparable AM technology, not only this but it had slight effects on reality, altering the consciousness and allowing true speed of thought reflex transmission for crew mounted guns, Mecha or targeting systems of any kind.

The Prefecture was not able to compete without at least a three to one advantage in numbers at the outset of the war, with the unlocking of Divine energy manipulation, the numbers rose to six to one or higher.

OOC End of Part 1

The story of MAIA and the creation of the Celestial Federation, the Prefecture and the Celestial Republic.
http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=506708

**Fire and Blood:Part two of the Prefecture war***

MAIA perfected the DEM generator technology as the war progressed, but in the end she hid the most valuable secrets for herself. Only to her most Trusted Friend, Janus Tsaratov did she entrust her masterpiece, the Blue Swan A sixty meter HMAF resembling a cross between an Endymion II and an Algol HMAF. She named it after the swan because she believed it resembled one. Most thought her simply a little daft for it, but only Janus truly understood. For its simple elegance. Yes the Blue Swan was a highly potent war machine, but also it was a vessel, capable of more then just destruction. Though its crew could only comfortable fit two, it could keep them for years at a time. It was Janus personal vessel, one more fitting for him, in MAIA's mind then one of the large star ships.

In the first year of war, Janus earned many laurels for himself, elevating to the position his father held finally at the battle of Gathica, where he personally commanded the HMAF squadrons that destroyed the Prefecture Battle-sat and GENESIS network. Without this action Gathica would have taken far more casualties to destroy then it did, and would have left the outcome of the war in doubt.

Gathica was defended by several twenty kilometer GENESIS Gamma Ray Laser platforms.
Janus led a squadron of Algol II HMAF's in a lightning raid that by passed the defenders entirely, focusing on crippling the power transfer stations used to keep the GENESIS platforms operating. As soon as the last of the GENESIS cannon's were knocked out, the fleet attacked, siezing orbital space soon after. The world fell several weeks later, the last of the Prefecture defenders surrendering or commiting suicide once the situation became untenable.

However the war continued to grind on until a raid on the planet Mendath went horribly wrong.

***AF 24 Mendath, inside the Cluster.***

+++Live Recording+++

"I assure you, the director of this facility is aware we are coming, its a field trip, the elder students with me are simply helping me take care of the younger, there is nothing out of the ordinary here, is there." Johannes Schneider smiled as convincingly as he could at the security officers at the front desk of research plant twenty seven. He and his "children" had claimed to be a class from Nursery fourteen, who had been cleared for a field trip. Of course Johannes never hoped to run in to a snag such as the security officers actually attempting to verify them. After all..they never had before.

He sighed and touched his wrist, as did the fourty or so children and teenagers around him. Suddenly they were covered head to toe in dark Blue power armour, similiar in design to that of the Divine Celestial cavaliers. It was a bloodbath. Psychic talents and heavy weaponry came in to play. As soon as more guards came rushing in to stop them, they were killed by bullets, energy blasts or crushed to death in the grip of Johannes most talented Telekinetics.

He strode up to the main blast door's seperating them from the facility. A young girl, maybe seventeen years of age walked beside him, calling him father several times. He thrust his sword in to the wall, cutting straight through several feet of reinforced armour in seconds, he drew a line up to the ceiling and stood back. Several of the "students" stood forward and raised their hands, emulating a gripping motion. Suddenly the door peeled open like a tin can and they rushed inside.

They killed everyone they came across slaughtering their way through the facility as if the defender's were not even there. Then they came upon to the main laboratory. A man in a lab coat frantically pleaded for Johannes not to interrupt their work. Johannes screamed at the man, declaring that they were working on a weapon to kill anyone with Arendacilian blood in a last desperate attempt to win the war. It couldnt have been further from the truth. The Prefecture was researching remnants of a bio weapon found during an uncharted exploration, they were hoping to turn it against the damaged genes of their substantial population of non arendacilian Tannelornians. Non Knights. However it was still in its raw state. Johannes and his children killed them all, and in the chaos opened the disease to the air. They incinerated everything in the room, destroying all the records that were in the base systems and left.

+++End Feed+++

The Heregines plague started to show its affects only a day later. The nanomachines had sufficiently reproduced to perform their specified task. To attack and kill any single sentient humanoid that did not bear arendacilian genes. The star elves, the Arendacilian Prefecture citizens and the replicants all watched in horror as their friends, comrades and lovers died around them. It moved to the republic quickly enough, killing the far less substantial non arendacilian population in short order. In the space of three weeks nearly three billion Tannelornian's were dead, and no cure was possible, thanks to Johannes work.

***The End***

Despite losing nearly half of their total population, the Prefecture continued to fight and resist the Divine Celestial Republic's forces. The Disastrous battle of New Carpentaria ended with an entire fleet of Bio-mech drone's and a portion of Fleet Tsaratov being utterly annhilated. The Durandal and Star Lord Tsaratov barely escaped with their lives. At the height of the battle, strange fluctuations were detected in the massive gas giant. It suddenly converted in to a massive hydrogen bomb which destroyed most of the star system.

Praetor Harden, being the only surviving member of the Prefecture government took control, declaring himself Praetor for life, and his Daughter alicia Commodore of the remaining fleet. Harden pressed a final offensive against the Republic, furiously assaulting fleet Rendacil and Tsaratov, causing heinous casualties. In the end however, it all came to nothing. He was revealed to be none other then Gilead Farstrider, Janus Tsaratov did battle with him, but it was inconclusive. He fled the Prefecture with Lions claw and the remaining ships under his daughter's command and left them to their fate.

The Prefecture was not occupied. Barely five hundred million were left alive. Instead they simply destroyed their ship yards and heavy combat vessels, leaving them only self defense and transport vessels. The fleets of the DCN then left the field and returned, putting their debauch cousins out of their mind, and relinquishing control of their prefecture territory to the Prefecture provisional government.

This act earned a promise from the new Council not to raise up arms against any Tannelornians again.

***AF26-30 rebuilding and peace***

The old government of the Celestial republic gave way to the rule of the Star Lords. Star Lords Rendacil, Abarrakh, Tsaratov, Herendenor and Celeilol were now the undisputed masters, advised by the council of lords and the parliament. They set about rebuilding and oversaw a massive baby boom. When it was over Tannelorns population was far larger then before the war, thanks to the fertility of the Replicant half elf girls, and the banning of breeding licenses. Now wholly unneccessary due to the tragedy of the Heregines plague.

The fleet was brought back to strength, with the Knight ships gaining a boosted power DEM generator, and the Drone and remnants of the Militia gained the older models.
The entire GTFOA and militia was transformed in to one organisation under General Bartfeldt of the Divine Kingdom, who had willingly joined the cause against the Prefecture. Admiral Hellerin gained control of the meager fleet resources remaining to the militias.


Navies of Tannelorn
Divine Celestial Navy
8 Arondight Class superdreadnoughts
2 Balmung Class Superdreadnoughts
40 Skoffnung Class Battleships
60 Zweihander battle cruisers
24 Morgenstern Battle carriers
estimated 1200 HMAF's
10 Monitor's

Each fleet is divided as follows
2 Arondights
8 Skoffnungs
12 Zweihander
4 Morgenstern
2 monitors
Fleet Rendacil and Abarakh have Balmung and Fafnir respectively

Fleet of the Militia

20 Solarin Mod A Battleships
20 Divinity Mod B fleet Carriers
35 Ikazuki MK II [fifteen are ikazuki Refit] Battle carriers [also serve as light monitors]
Estimated 2000 HMAF's [including 1200 Shining Ray light HMAF's]

Bio-Mech Drone Fleets
150 Schwertwhal Drone Destroyers
50 Knurrwhal Battle Cruisers
5 Caschelott Command ships.