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Lorric:
OOC: This is just to show you. It's not some sort of leak, your characters don't have access to Lorric's personal log, so any future such posts should be treated that way as well.

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Personal Log

I was very sceptical about these new academies, about whether they would be worth the cost. We already had the finest training facilities in the galaxy, turning out troops as competent as anything the other factions have to offer, but with unmatched and envied motivation. I felt that money could have been better spent in areas where the CRF is lagging behind. But I was wrong. These facilities are wonderful. A true triumph for the CRF. The troops under my command are now like soldiers who have been toughened by the experience and lessons only combat can provide. Or at least, only combat used to be able to provide. The first battle is the most important. The goal of these academies has been to teach the lessons your first battle will provide if you survive it. And a soldiers’ first battle is the one most likely to kill them. I didn’t think there could ever be a substitute for your first battle, but there is now.


The training regime required my full attention. Now that it’s over, I can only lament what has happened to my beloved CRF. It is no longer the CRF that is in my blood, in my heart, in my soul. The CRF that defines who I am. The CRF that comes second only to my wife and unborn child. Lepanto, I had such very high hopes for you. And I consider it a great honour to have served you. But you and your subordinates were too trusting. Too focused on the external and your drive for the new golden age of galactic peace and prosperity. You left your throat exposed to The Viper.

The Viper. Cornelia Windham. I hoped with all my heart I would never see this day. And even then, I thought the King and Queen would have kept her in check to stop her doing anything really bad. But that was back then, when we had a great King and Queen. Before we ended up with the 15 year old Queen Amalia Arc Victoria on the throne, mere months into her reign.

Right now, my duty is to my comrades and the CRF. There will be no tomorrow for the CRF if we don’t win this war with the DD, and for that I will give every fibre of my being.

But after this war is over, I’m not going to stop. My Queen, I hope with all my heart that it is only your youth and inexperience that have taken you down this path. That The Viper’s tongue has turned your head and clouded your vision. I believed I could see shades of your mother and father in you and I hope I was right. Because after this war is over, I’m not going to stop. I’m going to cut the head off the snake. I’m going to cut the twistedness from the heart of the CRF. And if that includes you, I will not hesitate to make you a part of that as well. The legacy of your parents will endure. With or without you.

Veers:
Around the Time of Orpheus's Speech to the House of Lords


There was little notice given that the House of Lords requested the presence of the Admiralty in their next session, and even less of a reason why. Alq and his staff arrived in full dress uniform, the pride of the Commonwealth, although Andrew was continually tugging at his dress uniform muttering something about it being too short or some other trivial matter. Another aide ducked between them and handed over a transcript of a speech that had just been received, Alq stopped in his tracks with Andrew nearly stumbling into him for lack of attention. Other then them, the grand hallway was deserted in this section, grand carved busts and paintings of previous Lords and Ladies adorned the walls.

"When was our last communique from 3rd Fleet?. When was it!" Alq snapped, flipping page after page over.

"Several hours ago Sir, what is the..",

Andrew was cut off by a simple hand gesture and the sudden thrusting of the papers into his hands,

"Contact the Ministry and confirm that this speech or any notification of was not included in their last communications with us. Then catch up", Alq then continued off down the hall, shortly being joined by an Aide of the House.

Several minutes later, a brief discussion with the Chief of Staff directed Alq towards the Grand Hall, just in time to observe the speech from Arc Champion Orpheus being replayed to the House of Lords, presumably again if the aides were correct. At it's conclusion, discussions and debate rang out through the building, Andrew had returned by this time and what felt to be a near eternity passed before the House called the Admiralty to the stage.

As Alq advanced towards the central podium he noted that for once, the house was quiet. In general, the Lords respected the Admiralty and the Fleet greatly, but politics was generally a loud game. One which always gave him a headache.

As he took the podium an aide's voice rang through the hall,

"Presenting Arc Champion Alq Veers of the Admiralty, and the 1st Commonwealth Royal Fleet of St. Heira."

Alq let the silence return and continued to pause for several moments, letting his gaze turn around the room before considering it appropriate to speak, in addition he had noticed a copy of Orpheus's speech and a long list of questions present upon the podium for him to refer to.

"Representatives of Her Majesty, Lords and Ladies of Britannia, Thank you for your summons.

I stand here today, not as a single person, but as a representative of the Commonwealth Royal Fleet to whom many of our families, our own sons and daughters, proudly wear the uniform to defend our way of life, protect the innocent and ultimately strive for the highest virtues that we as a society strive for:

Peace
Honour
Love
Morality

I am here today, to put at rest your concerns and questions regarding the words of Arc Champion Orpheus, currently commanding our 3rd Fleet in Aldebaran. Let me begin first of all, Champion Orpheus has encountered a difficult situation, in striving to uphold the virtues of the CRF and New Britannia, he has come into conflict with orders given by our own House of Lords through our Foreign Ministry." At this point the several of the house erupted at this accusation. The Aide called for order but his voice was already beginning to drown underneath the howls of the Lords. The calm has merely been present before the storm...

"Lords!"

Alq boomed forward against them, raising only his voice while keeping his apparent composure by tapping several pages of paper together on the podium,

"Quiet and you shall have your turn, for now, let us continue and I shall put your concerns to rest.

We have promoted and spearheaded renewed peace between the major factions of humanity, the Sol Union, the United Guides of Commerce, and even requested the presence of the Delest Dynasty in these talks..."

He paused for a moment to let that sink in, for many years had the CRF and Delest been in constant combat, both military, economically and sociably, and it was unlikely that these feelings and memories would take less than decades to disappear.

"We took the first step, took the moral high ground and strove to put aside our differences with the Delest in favour of peace, in favour of uniting humanity in peace. The Sol Union readily accepted peace, forming an alliance with us and their own with the Delest, and the UGC was soon on-board for more detailed and permanent talks. The Delest were much more hesitant and refused to consider any talks. I will not bore you with the finer details of each alliance and pact, but we all sincerely believed that peace, was an achievable goal within our lifetime.

Tensions have flared again within Aldebaran, our ministry negotiated with the Commerce Guilds to secure the refinery and share the resources amongst ourselves. Doing so would not only benefit our economies but also subdue the pirate and illegal activities that we have traced back into the system. We publicly announced our intentions and informed both the Sol Union and the Delest Dynasty, and made no attempt to conceal our actions from them, in the name of peace we were forth coming and honest with our plans and actions.

And in return for our honesty, we were deceived by the Delest Dynasty, the very people who had so far remained cold and uninterested in furthering peace talks. Acted with hostile intent as they moved a fleet into the space of the Aldebaran Refinery, a fleet with standing orders to engage any and all who stood in her way. To further their fantasy, an order was transmitted to us and our UGC allies that if we wanted peace. we would not move our fleets within combat range of their own at the refinery, which as we previously stated and had claimed as shared territory under the control and protection of the Commonwealth and the Commerce Guilds, and to power down our fleets.

Lords and Ladies, the very definition of surrender.

I will be blunt, the Delest knowingly moved their fleets into our territory, and then called for our own fleets to power down, while their own fleets maintained active war status. Deliberate provocation for war, and within their fantasy, they will fully believe that we would be the aggressors."


Pausing again for several moments to catch his breath, Alq surveyed the room. This was certainly not his idea of an enjoyable time, talking to the nobility about foreign policy when it directly put his men and women in danger, without any clear actions to be taken to protect their lives. However the House of Lords is indeed a grand building, abound with history and secrets that he loved to walk among, but the politics nearly ruined each of his visits. Nearly.


"The actions of the Sol Union against the Commerce Guilds were and are out of our control, we had no knowledge of their intentions to engage the UGC in combat, nor inside UGC space. To this end, our Foreign Ministry sought to maintain peace by placing pressure upon the Union through the cooperation of the major factions against them, the power bloc formed quickly but with continued reluctance from the Delest, at best their slight interest in this bloc is highly questionable, specifically regarding their actions in Aldebaran. But so far there is yet to be active combat between the SF and UGC, however.. I believe this situation will quickly change.

You have heard and are undoubtedly aware of Champion Russell Coight's struggle. As we all do, he has his convictions regarding each faction and our alliances with them. As a Knight in service, he is upholding our virtues before committing to action. His fleet has come under direct threat from the Delest, who with one hand speak of peace on only their terms, while actively undermining our successful peace talks. And with their other hand seek to impose their twisted ideals of peace at gunpoint. Ignoring our honesty, open calls and messages, instead repaying us as they always have. With insults, aggressive military actions and threats of death and destruction to all who... disagree with them.

My Lords and Ladies, We are at the crossroads. We have our defensive ally, the Sol Union entering combat, actions that we were never privy to, with the Commerce Guilds, who we have been building greater economical relations with. We have the Delest spewing forth twisted babbles of their own peace ideals and attempting to force this upon others, not through diplomatic channels but through brute military force.

As the Senior member of the Admiralty, it is my duty to serve and protect New Britannia, and I will gladly give my life in this cause. However, it is time for you. The House of Lords, in service to our Majesty, to make a call. We are under immediate threat, a threat that is dictating orders to our fleets, to our policies, to effectively surrender and relinquish territory that we have diplomatically secured. Lords and Ladies, this threat is at gunpoint. And it will soon turn to us being ordered to surrender, even St. Heria where we currently stand, will not be safe.

It is clear that the Delest will never agree to any peace or agreement so long as we are standing. Peace shall not be known by Humanity while the Delest continue to spout nonsense and ignore the reality that we have been building towards. They have always and will continue to act in their own accord, their fantasy is a danger to humanity, not just ourselves. The Delest will continue undermine relations between all factions so they may push their twisted agenda, and unfortunately, this will be pushed by their aggressive military. No diplomacy, no alliance, will stand in their way.

We are at the Crossroads, do we let the Delest continue their arrogant behaviour and leave one of our fleets to die at their hands?, do we leave the joint territory of Aldebaran be forcibly taken by those who believe they are above all?, at which point do we say that enough is enough and stop the Delest from twisting humanity into the monsters of death that they are?"

Alq leaned forward towards the microphone, one final gaze around the room. "When do we protect the innocents and uphold the peace that we all strive for?",

And with this he stepped from the podium and proceeded to walk, not out to the side as customary, but down the centre of the room towards the main doors. Doors with historic carvings of the Arc Victoria insignia, adorned either side by long, flowing tapestries of the Commonwealth.

The tapestries blew gently in the breeze as the doors slowly closed, Alq's footsteps echoed until the doors finally smothered the sound.

Veers:
Hours prior departing St. Heira Orbit


Most of the fleet had already departed for the Uuni Starlance, and in the preceding weeks several vessels of the First Fleet had quietly swapped numerous patrol roles with vessels from the St. Heira Guard. A few shake downs, drills and recon-in-force of the space surrounding the Uuni starlance, although the area was firmly in CRF Space and the Delest had not officially moved their forces in, there had and have always been reports of raiders coming from Uuni to hit civilian vessels.

While it was never confirmed to the public, these raiders had come from Delest space and may have been Delest operatives themselves. However since the declaration of War these raids had ceased, providing again a very boring patrol for the St. Heira Guard, who were more than happy to swap a patrol for more time at home.

Several vessels remained in orbit of St. Heira, one of these vessels could be seen just crossing what would be considered the horizon if you were planet side. The Royal Ark, Her Majesty's Ship, first Fleet Carrier of her class and Flagship of the First Fleet and indeed, of the entire Commonwealth.

While a military vessel, CRF designers knew to appreciate the finer points of a design. The vessel was not only combat capable but was also adequately furnished with a near luxurious feel in certain areas, making the vessel perfect as a temporary residence to transport the Royal Family or other ranking dignitaries, should the situation be required. Crew members could also experience luxuries that were normally unavailable during deployments.

It was here, moments before shipping out, that the cries war from the UGC reached the Ministry. And then to Alq's ears as he walked towards the war room aboard the Ark Royal, a young officer fell into formation behind him, handing him the message.

"Sir, priority message from the Ministry."
"Thank you Drayton, has the Daring finished her shakedown? We really should get underway now.
"I believe she will be ready within an hour Sir, should I give the order to prepare to jump to the Uuni Starlance?

Drayton was a relatively young officer, innocent in so many ways but reliable in his duties and often displayed a surprising ability for forethought and subtle manoeuvres, both in the office and on the battlefield.

"Give the order, if the Daring is not ready to depart then she can join us at the Starlance. Or if her problems continue I'll send her back to dry dock and replace her with one of the Guards carriers. That will be all. Drayton saluted and departed for another side of the room which they had both entered moments ago.

It was a hard choice on which War Room is better, aboard the Ark Royal which was tidy, orderly and close to the bridge but the War Room at the Ministry had nice gardens and were a short walk from some very nice cafes. All very crucial attributes in military planning!

On the centre screen were several reports and video feeds from the Fleet at the Uuni Starlance, nothing really of interest until the screen changed to the universal map, which listed everything from Fleet movements to alliances and convoys. In accordance with what Alq had just read, the screen now showed the United Guides of Commerce as enemies of the CRF.

"Set the broadcast to fleet wide.

This is the Champion. Moments ago we received word that our Non-Aggression Pact and cooperation with the United Guilds of Commerce has come to an abrupt end, with a declaration of war against us in cooperation with their Delest allies.

This turn of events is unfortunate, as you know we announced a joint diplomatic and military policing action with the United Commerce Guilds to secure Aldebaran from pirate forces. And while this was initially successful, the arrival of Delest military forces destroyed any hope of lasting peace in our time.

In this action they entered territory that was claimed by us and the UGC, they entered with hostile intent and called for the Third Fleet to power down shields and weapons while at the same time, bringing their own to bear upon us. Actions do speak louder than words.

The Delest refuse to acknowledge reality, the reality that their actions have caused. Violating territory that was diplomatically secured and publically announced, moving military assets into this area and demanding the surrender of the Third Fleet at gunpoint.
Not only have they sought war with us, even after our peaceful negotiation attempts, they have back-stabbed the Sol Union, and they have denied the Commerce Guilds, denied their own allies a share of Aldebaran as we had agreed upon.

The Delest Dynasty sought for war between the factions of humanity and they have achieved that goal. Knights of the Commonwealth, today we march to war, but not as the aggressors. We march today after being provoked at gunpoint, after having our people threatened with death and after having our policies and orders dictated to.

Today, we march to war for the freedom of Humanity, we may not know the final goals of the Delest Fantasy, but their warmongering ends today. It is time to end this twisted fantasy that they live in, free their citizens and once their fantasy of blood has been defeated. Then, then we shall have peace.

It is my hope that the Citizens of Delest realise what their government is doing and rise up against them, that the Sol Union acknowledges the threat to themselves and Humanity that is now posed, and that the Commerce Guilds realise the betrayal that the Delest have dealt them.

We shall have peace, trust your training and your shipmates. In the Service of Her Majesty and of the Commonwealth. We shall have peace.
".




I was writing more, but as I'm away this weekend. This will have to do for now. The speech was going to be broken up a little further with more to be done after it. But oh well. :)

headdie:
Minister Headdie sat in the gel chair in his office, his desk largely powered down, the lights off.  It was difficult to appreciate the Saharan night sky, even after all this time urban light pollution is still a problem, with the massive digital, glass and steel city a lot was created, but Headdie kept the holographic overlay on the windows powered down too.

Slumped slightly in the chair Headdie's finger interlaced, hands thoughtfully against his mouth, contemplating the sky, what little he could see, with eyes that seemed a little older than his time.  Headdie couldn't remember now how long ago that fateful call from the President was, in fact he could remember little of the time between then and now, just a blur of meetings which flipped chaotically between sombre and anger, repeated frustrated calls from the admiralty to fix problems, demand to keep pushing the Sol Unions interstellar infrastructure in order to just keep up with events which were increasingly taking on a life of their own and causing an overspend in the Interstellar budget. 

From the sudden rise of what the press termed the Anti-Democratic Alliance, or ADA by the lazy, portraying the Britannic Commonwealth as back stabbing, blood hungry imperialists wanting to make Terran space their own by force.  The United Guilds as corrupt corporates looking to buy the galaxy, Headdie even heard reports of an Illuminate conspiracy, what ever that is.  The Dynasty blood thirst, vat born, bred for battle warriors who know nothing beyond threats and violence.

Given his position Headdie understood that the situation was vastly more subtle than that, indeed that the people involved are much more reasonable than portrayed, to the point of deserving respect in their own right.   So measures to divert the more sensational elements of the media into more useful channels like recruitment and moral had begun but the damage had already been done and would take some time to fix.

Thankfully that alliance had shattered spectacularly so the Sol Union no longer had the potential for a massive fleet of warships descending upon them, unfortunately due to diplomatic positioning the renewed Sol Union offensive upon the Guilds had forced the Dynasty to declare war and indeed occupy the Harcon Shipyards.  But even now, Headdie had to wonder how wise a move that is.  With the Commonwealth declaring war and launching an invasion of Dynastic space, Headdie had to wonder both how confident the Dynasty is in its military and if that confidence is justified.  While Headdie had a lot of respect for the Dynasty in upholding its honour by holding to the word of a superior treaty to the non aggression that the Sol Union and the Dynasty shared, when that principle had the potential to cost Dynasty lives..... Headdie had to wonder where the line is between honour and prudence.

Enioch:
The old soldier’s footsteps echoed sharply across the darkened halls; the cane at his side beating an irregular counterrythm. The shining marble of the Konsakuren palace floors, polished to translucent perfection reflected Kalazonitov’s grim face as he wound his way through the deserted corridors.

An observer might have sworn his eyes burned red – or maybe that was a trick of the starlight. Ihefulian lay just outside the boundaries of the Corva nebula, after all, and the burning stellar fires dominated a large portion of the night sky.

Kalazonitov made his way into a small porch and leaned over the low barrier, looking down into the sprawling gardens of the Imperial Palace. The gardens were dark; all lights had been extinguished tonight.

The Empress was stargazing.

Kalazonitov straightened up as a maid of honour materialized next to him, stepping out of the shadows with the silent grace of a cat and a deep bow.

“Her Imperial Majesty will see you now, Premier,’ the girl said. ‘Please follow me to the Red Kiosk’.

Kalazonitov gave a short bow in response and slid behind the girl as she led him down the stairs.

“You are Milady Imube Suki-sama, are you not?’ he asked.

“Indeed,” the girl replied, holding a garden gate open for Kalazonitov to cross and bowing from the waist, before taking up the lead again. “It is a great pleasure and honour for this girl to be recognized by the Premier-sama.”

“Not at all. Your family’s war contribution is a shining example to all of us. And it would ill behoove the Delest if the efforts of our youngest and brightest went unacknowledged.”

“My, my, Premier-sama. The rumors are true then. You do have a silver tongue. Now, kindly hold it, while I present you to Her Majesty.”

A turn in the garden paths; and Kalazonitov found himself before the Red Kiosk. It was a small, wooden building, framed by a shallow lake and with a semi-open roof; perfect for stargazing. No lights burned, but the figure of the Empress, resplendent in her evening dress was outlined sharply under the burning light of Corva. She was looking at the skies through a compact but powerful telescope and keeping notes on a stack of open ledgers by her side.

Kalazonitov stayed behind, while Imube climbed the steps to the Kiosk and whispered something to the Empress ear. Yu Ki nodded absently, capped her pen, closed her books, capped the telescope lens and turned to face Kalazonitov, with a graceful tilt of her head.

“Approach, Kalazonitov”

The Premier pushed himself up the steps with a slight stagger, his prosthetic leg making his movements awkward. He then tried to kneel, with a frustrated sigh as his old joints protested.

“Suki!” the Empress sharply hissed. “Please assist the honored Admiral.”

The girl was by Kalazonitov’s side immediately, propping him up and sliding a cushion under his knees. The old man smiled in gratitude and slowly brought his head down in the traditional deep bow before the Delest Empress.

“Command me, Bright Lady.”

Yu Ki allowed the thinnest of smiles to grace her face and Kalazonitov’s old heart nearly burst.

“Ivan Kalazonitov, I have a command for you,” she said, extending her hand toward Suki.

The girl picked up a long box from one of the nearby benches and knelt in front of the Empress, holding it up. Yu Ki reached in and withdrew a long baton of command; a gilded rod of ebony with a sword hilt.

“There is a number of uninvited guests in orbit over my palace, Admiral Kalazonitov, and their drives are very bothersome. It is near-impossible for me to make any astronomical observations with them around. You shall assume command of the Ihefulian Garrison Fleet…”

Her voice turned into razor-sharp steel and her eyes narrowed to beautiful, excellently made-up slits.

“…and remove these people from my realm.

“Your rank as a Fleet Admiral of the Delest Dynasty, from which you are enjoying an honourable retirement, is hereby restored, with all duties and privileges which this entails. Your command consists of the units of the Imperial Guard, the Starbase Delest-One, and any military units currently stationed in the Uuni system. You have plenipotentiary authority, second only to my own and may recruit, requisition and appoint your sub-commanders as you see fit.

“The Fleet Carrier Katyusha and its task force is standing by to welcome you as their CO. You are to report on board by no later than two hours from now. Any questions?”

Kalazonitov’s forehead touched the floor. “None, Bright Lady. I fly to strike at your enemies.”

“Good.” Yu Ki gestured and Suki was by Kalazonitov’s side again, helping him to his feet. The old man bowed deeply from the waist as he accepted the command baton.

Then he nearly stumbled and fell, as Yu Ki’s hands cupped his face. He looked up to see her smiling again and his heart did a somersault.

There was a moment of perfect silence; not absolute silence, but perfect silence; the kind that makes a moment feel right and be forever etched in memory. The young and elegant ruler, sitting like an alabaster statue beneath the raging fire of the stars and the old servant, head cradled in her hands.

“You stay safe, Old Uncle Ivan, do you hear me?”

“…Yes, Bright Lady. With your blessing.”

And the Universe moved again.

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