3.5E - Shattered Suns

[hellfiazz 878]

Nation Name:

THE HYPERBOREIAN ORDER

 

A brief description of National/Provincial History & Culture:

 

Hyperboreia; a far flung frontier of human civilisation, a region that has always been shrouded in an fog of ominous mystery, and never more so than during the reign of the Order that takes its name. Out of fear and strife, down to proximity to the Irearchy and distance from the core, a great wave of fervour and hatred and cruelty took hold in this pocket of the Far Rim while obscured from the wider galaxy. This movement grew, metastasised, and then crystallised into the Hyperboreian Order, and in the last century it has sought to spread to every edge of the galaxy, to bring about its ultimate and true aim: the Great Purge. And now, the time for its fulfilment is nigh.

 

The Empire’s collapse, partially precipitated by the Hyperboreian Panayiotou, was declared as simply one more step in seeing the Order’s divine mission completed by the Magister Militant Theodora. The throne had become an obstacle to humanity’s rebirth, and the invasion of the Irik that followed proved it too weak and corrupt to continue to bear the mantle of mankind’s leader. The shattering of the Empire, the crucible of war reaching every corner of the galaxy, and the Order poised to claim that mantle; these shifts in the galaxy were the final seals on its prophesied fate, on the true onset of the Great Purge.

 

But there would be a test, of course, before this could come to pass. As the northern frontier of the Empire was beset by the xeno tide, so too was Hyperboreia’s border assaulted. Only in its case, that tide would not flood into the heart of Hyperboreia, but would be thrown back into the void. As wave after wave of Irik crashed against the Citadel and the legions of the galaxy’s greatest zealots that stood guard at the edge of humanity, the Order stood firm. The fate that befell the east was avoided in the west by their hands, and their predestined victory over all xenokind was all the more proven in the eyes of the Order.

 

But it was not without cost. Many were martyred, including the Magister Militant herself. As she took to the frontlines of the orders defence to raise morale and discipline, Irik infiltrators managed to strike Theodora with plasma fire. Though she was evacuated and stabilised in the Citadel’s finest medical compounds, she never recovered consciousness and in her comatose state deteriorated over the weeks. Eventually, she passed, her death becoming a rallying force for the Hyperboreian troops, and with it came the demise of the Irik invasions. 

 

In the midst of those final battles, a young officer by the name of Andronike had managed to lead a force of freshly drafted militia deep into enemy lines of one of their last regional strongholds. As the rest of the Order’s forces pressed in suffering great loss to the hardened defences of xeno scum, she and her troops managed to reach the central hub of the House of Voids’ military position undetected. With great conviction, they slew their entire central command, and sabotaged their long-range artillery and air forces. These actions led to the swift collapse of the Irik armies, saving many human lives and catapulting Andronike to acclaim among the Order. 

 

Once the last Irik had been cast back beyond the Citadel, or purged in the fight to do so, great triumphs were held in Hyperboreia proper, with many heroes from the long war brought from across the Order to partake in it. Chiefly celebrated was Andronike, and these fervent and esoteric mass rituals were followed by her induction into the Order’s central military, religious, and administrative leadership, being the same institutions. Her meteoric and mysterious rise did not stop there, as in the interregnum that followed the loss of Theodora, she became the forerunner for her replacement. On the fifth anniversary of the Magister Militant’s demise, Andronike was anointed the new Magister Militant, a choice that had gradually become a simply natural conclusion for even other contenders.

 

With Andronike’s succession, the fruits of the seeds that were sown by Theodora and Panayiotou would finally come to bear. The massive and monolithic organs of the Order-state have ramped up the harking of the Age of the Great Purge to a fever pitch, as Hyperboreia declares to the galaxy that it will bring humanity into a new golden age, and any resistance to the galaxy’s destiny will be rendered futile. 

 

Notable Characters:

 

Magister Militant Andronike
Spiritual Leader, Head of State, and Commander-in-Chief of the Hyperboreian Order

 

Magister Equitant Heracletian
Commander of the Hyperboreian Navy

 

Knight-Marshal Irakilo
Leader of the Knight-Brothers of the Golden Eagle

 

Rector Saulu Tarseios
Leader of the Cult of the Sacred Eye, the Order’s intelligence, inquisitorial, and missionary agency

 

Unique Military Units:

 

Knights of the Brotherhood of the Golden Eagle (aka Purge Knights)
[Heavy Infantry Replacement with increased morale, boarding ability, and melee skill]

 

Bastion-class Mobile Defence Platform
[Orbital Defence Platform that is capable of jumping between systems]

 

National Idea:

 

The Tide Below:
-Infiltration on a planet grants a small amount of bonus resources, corresponding to the planet’s type. 
-Higher levels of infiltration produce a larger bonus. 
-Tech worlds only produce bonus resources at the highest tier. 
- Bonus to low tier infiltration rolls
- Flagship may be Bastion-class Mobile Defence Platform

 

A letter: H
 

[bickando 3395]

VARA

 

Day 3 of the Imperial Civil War. Louie la Vara, psykic protege of Emperor Rän-ji, and 'Big' Johnny Aletto, the massive Made Man sent to act as Senator for the Varans, leave the capital of Kaumai.

 

Day 77. The pair are smuggled into U'ilaani space in a Syndicate vessel prepared by Vara - reports come through of fleet movements beginning to the south.

 

Louie la Vara's path of escape

 

Day 392. Louie arrives on New Vara - just as the Varan fleet is preparing to launch. He joins the already-ancient Vice Admiral Tirosen, Rear Admiral Wetere, and Commodore Reso aboard Interplanetary Strike Group Serrano - raised temporarily to Rear Admiral Vara, he is made captain of The Lupo, the ancient heavy dreadnought gifted to the Varans by their Irik 'friend' years prior, and kept hidden deep within the complex Varan systems.

 

Vice Admiral Tirosen commands the fleet from The Lupo, while Wetere and Reso take command of the Santana and Cremisi respectively.

 

Prewar fleet numbers, 10368AE

 

10369AE. Interplanetary Strike Group Serrano, along with two legions of Varan soldiery commanded by Ge'ri Atu, along with a support fleet and additional two legions dispatched from the warlord Taenti, lays siege to the backwater Imperial loyalist territories of Arepata. There, a long-protracted invasion of his outermost world begins. A once needlessly-shielded world becomes the site of a years-long staring contest.

 

ISG Serrano, 10369AE

 

10372AE. Bichir takes advantage of the Civil War to launch an invasion of the Outer Rim. Irik slave uprisings and Syndicate munitions help him take much of the southern Republic - and soon, a section of an Irik fleet reaches Aarha's territories. ISG Serrano is cut off from its Varan supply line, and forced to invade Arepata simply for supplies. The small loyalist is quickly crushed, the remnants of his forces surrendering to the vastly superior combined Varan-Taenti fleet by the end of 10376AE.

 

Approximate extent of Arepata's territories, 10373AE.

 

10380AE. The House of Banners cuts a bloody swathe through the northern Republic even as the Syndicate grows more and more corrupt in the south. Admiral Vara, in control of the combined fleets ever since communications with New Vara were lost, learns of new hyperlanes deeper into what they coin the Far Rim.

 

10382AE. A small Syndicate fleet launch an initial incursion into Admiral Vara's space. The largely pirate-led fleet is dispatched, but with not-insignificant losses among the Imperial ships. The need to expand for resources to replenish their fleets is noted, and colonization begins of systems found beyond.

 

Greatest extent of ISG forces, 10392AE

 

10393AE. The House of Banners enters into the Far Rim as well. With the majority of its fleet stationed to watch the slowly-receding Syndicate, the Varans are caught unawares and lose nearly half of their territories in the Banners blitz campaign.

 

Varan space at low point in Banner War, 10394AE.

 

10395AE. The Varan fleet arrives in its northern systems headed by The Lupo and helmed by Admiral Vara himself. In boarding actions, the warlike chieftain of the House of Banners is slain, and the long-depleted Banner forces are pushed out of much of its territory. With no knowledge of when an Irik relief force might be dispatched from what they assume to be the long-conquered Outer Rim, however, the Varans make an uneasy peace with the House of Banners - its new chieftain far more amicable to humans (explaining the lore discrepancy of why the Banners cut a bloody swathe through human space only to suddenly be nice) - to rebuild their own space.

 

Current Varan space.

 

10416AE. The Syndicate recedes and condenses into the Reef. Access to the greater galactic community is restored, but much to the horror of the Varans, New Vara itself had at some point been glassed, and corporations taxed any trade with the greater galactic community to nigh-infinity. The Varans work on diplomacy with the House of Banners, an ironic twist necessary for both to survive in the isolated Far Rim. The 65-year-old Admiral Vara, bitter upon hearing of the death of his old mentor, sees no reason to speak to the rest of the galaxy, essentially shutting off his petty kingdom from the three inner rings.

 

Notable Characters:

 

Admiral Vara. 65.

Pale and tall, the heavy-handed ruler of Varan space was called the Reaper in the war with the House of Banners for his preferred method of fighting - forcing enemies to their knees with his psykic powers and harvesting their heads like wheat. It is said he hates the cowardly Imperials of the South almost as much as he hates the Matarekans, though he apparently has a soft spot for the EGPA.

 

"Big" Johnny Aletto. 139.

The gargantuan Made Man that once killed a Matarekan whelp with a single blow to the head, Big Johnny was the primary enforcer responsible for integrating the Taeti fleets and legions with his incredible diplomatic ability of coercion.

 

Vice Admiral Wetere. 152.

Once a Commodore of the Imperial Navy, Wetere was recruited by New Vara in a bid to bring his fleet into the fold. Wetere, however, was able to prove his abilities in the Banner War, and has been the one truly at the helm of the Varan fleet ever since.

 

Unique Units:

 

Dancing Queen

Part of Admiral Vara's success came from his battlecruisers, fast enough to dodge shots mid-flight and still powerful enough to turn enemies into fine dust, like your ankles after dancing with a cute girl at 4 am on a Tuesday.

 

Cockroach

But one can only have so many battlecruisers. His true strength came from his heavy cruisers, as survivable as their namesake and no less deadly than finding one in your pizza.

 

National Idea:

 

I'm walkin' 'ere!

All ships gain speed, like a New York taxi trying to run over a hapless pedestrian.

 

 

letter: b

[Falda 0]

 

COLONIAL PROVISIONAL INTERIM AUTHORITY 

KOLONIALE TIJDELIJKE INTERIM AUTORITEIT

AUTORITÉ PROVISOIRE COLONIALE

TE KAUPAPA KAUPAPA KAUPAPA

殖民地临时管理局

C.P.I.A.

 

INTRODUCTION

 

 

The fall of the Colonial Reorganization Authority (C.R.A) had sealed the fate of the Free Colonies in the post-imperial era: failing to sustain a multi-front war from the industrial systems they sought refuge to. 

 

What began as a respectable fleet capable of waging war, was soon decimated into a minor refugee force: seeking the safety of the outskirts to reorganize. The original Free Colonies successor government (the Colonial Reorganization Authority) was wiped out, alongside the populace that accompanied it. This resulted in only a minor force being left, barely scraped together by old ties and bureaucratic allegiances. 

 

The single benefit they had going for them was the relative popularity of the Free Colonies’ original system. Most intergalactic peoples did not subscribe to the radical ideologies that expanded their borders, and a handful of those choose to reject living under them entirely. 

 

With that faint spirit, the fallen C.R.A. managed to scrape a final entity together: the Colonial Provisional Interim Authority (C.P.I.A). Their mission: restoring a proper successor state to the Free Colonies. Their prospects: looking bleak. But a weak flame may just engulf the galaxy, should things fall into their place.

 

COUNTRY INFORMATION

 

LEADER(SHIP):

 

Governor-General 

Hans Schaffner (acting)

 

Minister of Defense 

Nikau Ngata (acting)

 

Minister of Foreign Affairs

Dmitriy Shevardnadze (acting)

 

Minister of Domestic Affairs

Lodewijk de Quay (acting)

NATIONAL IDEA

Civilian Legitimacy

The Colonial government is, despite its eternal bureaucracy and consensus-based governance, one of the most humane governments in the galaxy. The government is in most fields subservient to the rule of law, and most positions consist of elected mandates: with great tolerance of different ways of life and private sector pursuits. The (remaining) citizens of the CPIA are extremely loyal and collaborative with the colonial government, and refugees & asylum seekers go to great lengths to be under CPIA jurisdiction: both understanding that this type of civilian freedom isn't as guaranteed anywhere else.

 

 

SS EDEN DECIMA

CIVILIAN ‘FORTRESS’ CLASS AUTHORITY VESSEL

 

 

When the Free Colonies’ fleet was in its prime, it boasted 10 EDEN vessels as transportable civilian authority vessels: sustaining a large population while simultaneously serving as a seat of governance, and a military base. The demise of the free colonies resulted into these vessels either being overwhelmed or starved out: forcing them to self-destruct as part of the no-surrender protocol. 

 

Now, only the SS EDEN DECIMA remains, the newest version in its class that managed to survive due to two factors: I). their state of the art Multi-Target Defensive Laser Targeting System (MT-DLTS) & II). luck. Due to it housing several lesser, albeit relevant bureaucratic figures, it automatically became the seat of the acting government. It is by all means an excellent fortress that can sustain overwhelming forces, which requires a large sacrifice in both speed and offensive capabilities.

 

SS MUTUS 

STEALTH SURVEILLANCE VESSEL

 

 

The Free Colonies had vast galactic space to patrol, and plenty of incursions to take into account. At the time: a lot of resources & scientific development was put into the development of a suitable vessel. By abandoning traditional balancing between speed and firepower, and instead doubling down on patrol necessities, the government made the SS MUTUS.

 

Thanks to its state of the art cloaking, jamming & drive technology, the Mutus became unparalleled as a patrol vessel: being able to consistently travel unseen at fast speeds, land a singular tactical blow, and then retreat to report back deeper into colonial jurisdiction. What they get for impeccable stealth and speed, they lack in raw firepower. Being able to barely take down ships in a class above them.