Angels Fall First Wiki - User contributions [en]

Event Colony Wars

2015-07-09T08:13:23Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Angels Fall First - The Colony Wars
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Timeline: 187 AE
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In the newly founded Polaris Concordat, in the council chamber on Askey City, the council members of the three different star system were in discussion on how to resolve the pirates from Glyfhaven attack on their tradelanes.

Novella Sword of Antar

2015-07-09T08:13:18Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Sword of Antares
===============

The Sword of Antares it said, a mighty vessel once, a Re superdreadnought, infact a mighty vessel only an hour ago without a doubt. Now it had to face Justice, a Breeze class ship sacrifised as little more than a battering ram. Casting the antarean ship in fiery collision the Re ended up in an descending orbit at Kustat, at the far end of the empyrean reef.

Out of breath just a minute ago, but with the collision imminent he could hold it. They seemly flew so slowly, but in reality were just that far away. when the Justice first made contact with the grand antarean vessel it split apart on the massive forward bow specially desinged to protect the huge spinal ion cannons within. sticky could see the nameplate thrown into the darkness of space. Looking like a mere sticker from this distance he had seen it up close in person at the docks, it was a huge piece of metal with building sized letters "USNV Justice". a massive explosion at the impact site shook him around. This small pod didn't have space audio visualizers but the shockwave of material and debris hitting the outside still sounded like thunder struck him. The Sword of Antares was backing out and under as hard as it could, but such a large ship does not easily budge left or right and couldn't dodge the Breeze class ram they had setup.

Here sticky was, blasting away from danger in an escape pod. This wasnt according to plan of coarse but it seems like the results don't lie.

The indicator panel clearly calculated a stabile low-orbit. That won't do he thought and programmed a burn with the retro rockets, normally used to avoid collision it would now serve to send him to the crash site of the Sword to help salvage it, whatever is will be left. Once an engineer it was going to be exciting to examine the wreckage. But for now it was time to sleep, the sun was just about behind the planet now anyway. Looking out, space was such a black empty void. some thought it was disconcerning but not sticky, it was simply calm and at peace he thought, it is the people that made it into a war zone.

Alarms. He had slept for hours! it was plain white out the window so he must be in atmo already, the distance indicator was out of whack by the reflecting clouds. Lucky the brakes did not auto fire so far off the surface or it was gonna be a bad landing.

He was hailed like some sort of hero, being from the Justice he was THE one to bring the Sword of Antares down to the ground. Well i say down but in reality it was standing up straight, here he was expecting a wreckage to be salvaged but it was going to be an assault to capture the ship instead. Like a immense tower atleast several kilometers high it had boored down into the surface to stay upright like that. The lower parts where clearly damaged but the rest was almost completely intact, including the nose where the Justice hit. What had seemed to be a destructive collision for both ship in space was really only Justice breaking on the Sword of Antares'es hull. This is not getting any easier to survive either.

Ship Assault-Craft AISN Horus

2015-07-09T08:13:13Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Horus Superiority Drone is a small, agile recon vehicle used to spy on enemy fleets and/or bases. While usually used only for scouting purposes, the Drone can fill other roles and as such the Horus Drone has 2 fixed cluster turrets mounted at the front end of the ship, and small shields for quick encounters. These shields would not last long during even the most minor of skirmishes, and because of so it is ill-advised to use The Horus Drone as any sort of combat veichle. If used effectively, the Drone can capture valuable information and also serve as a temporary distraction for other forces to move in and take over.

The Horus Superiority Drone is a small, computer controlled recon ship used to spy on enemy fleets and/or bases. It is considered a key part of the Anterian battle strategy, and should be taken into considerable account when planning any operation. It is launched from a Drone Controller Ship which must be protected in order for the Drones to operate.
The Horus Drone is equipped with dual fixed cluster turrets mounted on the end of a sleek chassis, and has a small shield. While capable of fighting, even the most minor of skirmishes will leave the drones heavily damaged.

no info yet
space-superiority_drone

Lenght: 43m

Ship Cruiser AISN Sobek

2015-07-09T08:13:08Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Part of the next generation ships, the Sobek cruiser frame is based strongley on earlier designs instead of newer ones. Thus not sporting the spiking grav fins that are popular, the Sobek is designed for long range engagements and not turning speed. This gives the Sobek a very sleek look, and it is thought to have limited use as an in atmosphere ship, although not intended as such.

Almost every other ship has spinal ion cannons as ultimate in ship-to-ship seige weaponry, instead the Sobek offers 6 ultra velocity torpedo tubes at the nose for longer range. The standard version has 2 twin seige cannons for short range engagements.

Known ships:
AISNV Sobek
AISNV Cobra

Armament:
6 ultra velocity torpedo tubes
2 twin linked capital seige turrets
3 dual capital rail cannons
2 twin linked vulcan turrets
4 vulcan turrets

Bays:
1 large capital bay able to launch corvettes and smaller

Size:
2240m long

Engines:
4 capital class muchissons

Ship Station Halifax

2015-07-09T08:13:03Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Controls:

Mouse drag = rotate ship

hold shift for z axis. hold ALT to pan

ALT+SHIFT to zoom.

Arrow keys also rotate ship.

Press L to change the lighting

S to see a wireframe

R to reset the view

Q to pause the 3d engine.

Novella Uncommon Crossings

2015-07-09T08:12:53Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Uncommon Crossings
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Chapter 1: Light Before the Looking Glass
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The command center of Pegasus Station hung heavy with tension. The lights had been dimmed to a level that made the large room appear empty save for the flashing gems of green, blue, and white lights emanating from the data terminal screens. Rear Admiral Leonidas Crichell stood with his arms propped against the huge holo-tank that dominated the center of the room. Within it swam myriad points of light; each labeled with unit designator tags and color-coded for threat and damage assessment. He paused from his ruminations to rub his hands over his face. His chin was covered in stubble, a sullen testament to the fourteen hours he’d spent staring at that same tactical map trying to make sense of it all.

Norway was a relatively unimportant system in all senses of the word. No major factories to speak of and a limited import-export economy. Its only real important commodity was the rare choktu fish, a local delicacy and highly prized by interstellar connoisseurs of such things. However, since the secession of the Antarean Federation from the ULP, Norway’s proximity to the Thriacia wormhole cluster had made it a bone of contention for both sides. The Defacto stalemate at Orion’s Arm had cost the USN forces much though; losing even one-half of such an important wormhole junction to the Antareans made places like Norway that much more crucial to hold. And so the peaceful little star system was forced to become a fortress.

Missile batteries had been erected on the surface, as well as mine clusters and battle-stations placed in extended orbit. Pegasus Station itself was only a scant seven months old. In addition, the fleet assets that had been diverted to Norway were as massive as the fortifications. Crichell ticked the numbers off in his mind; thirty-seven destroyers, twenty-six battleships, eighteen light corvettes, even an entire cruiser division, and those were only that week’s arrivals!

He shook his head in disgust. Four years ago he’d accepted the call back into the service to fight the supposedly ‘short’ campaign against the reformed Antarean Empire and its allies, but what had once been thought to only be a short series of skirmishes had protracted into a drawn out and costly war. Long and pointless as far as Crichell was concerned, but his own personal thoughts meant nothing at this moment.

The haggard rear admiral turned his attention back to the tactical display. A dozen red triangles were advancing slowly from the northwest hemisphere of the globe that represented the sensor’s active radius. In turn, sixteen green triangles representing Commander Nordstram’s picket fleet tracked forward to meet them. Crichell rubbed his gritty eyes with his hands; it pained him to move Nordstram and his ships against any sort of unknown force, even if they did possess superior weight and numbers. The picket fleet may have the edge numerically, but its heaviest ship was Nordstram’s flag vessel Imperator and even that was only a light cruiser, hardly a threat to anything larger than a battlecruiser and far to slow to escape any sort of ambush.

Crichell brought his right hand forward to manipulate a few points in the holo-tank. The view in the bubble zoomed in to focus around the twelve oncoming enemy craft. It wasn’t as surprising that the Antareans were attacking now then it was the number of ships they’d chosen to throw at such a well fortified position like Norway. Despite his reservations about tossing Nordstram’s command at this unknown enemy, the honest truth was that the picket fleet existed to be expendable, a light skirmish force to determine the true strength of the enemy. However, John Nordstram was a good man and a competent leader, Crichell trusted him to see to the safety of his people, which in turn made it painful to admit that he might be sacrificing both Nordstram and his command.

A light tap on the shoulder brought the rear admiral out of his silent reverie. His arms snapped to his sides and he whirled around at stiff attention. As his eyes adjusted from the glare of the holo-tank to the dimness in the rest of the command center he could make out the soft curves of a familiar face. Janice Taylor returned Crichell’s hasty salute with an elfin smile on her lips. She’d been Crichell’s XO for years and the two shared such a stark informality with one another that it bordered on insubordination. However, the Admiral was by far the ranking officer on station, or even in-system for that matter, thus the action offered yet more proof of how frayed her superior was.
“Commander Nordstram’s advance probes finally got a visual on those ships; they’re definitely heavy corvettes, and their engine performance ratings are giving the fleet analysis section major headaches” Janice intoned, the ghost of a smile gone from her lips.

Crichell lowered his hand to his side, “That’s not unexpected; the power output ratings we’ve been getting off those ships should have placed them at least at cruiser weight”.
Janice smirked, “To be honest, it surprised the hell out of me too. Something about this whole setup seems fishy, especially given that there are only a dozen of them of them. After all, the standard Antarean corvette probing element calls for at least sixteen ships, not even including a proper screen”.

“How old is this information?“ Crichell asked in a significantly lower tone.

“As you know, with the FTL network down in that sector, so there’s a roughly twenty minute delay between anything being sent from that far out and when we actually receive it here”.

He nodded slowly and slumped against the lip of the holo-tank and Janice reached forward to hand him a data-chip.
“This contains all the updated tactical data, the sensor techs should be piping this into the central matrix now but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to make a copy,” she paused for a moment before more quietly adding “Just in case”. Crichell said nothing but rather turned back to the swimming display of the tank.

The Antareans had definitely improved their technology, that was evident enough, but why then would they attack Norway with such a small force? Also, the choice of ships struck him as all wrong. Corvettes, no matter how numerous, were simply no match for the battleship and cruiser divisions stationed in-system. Even Nordstram’s picket was more than capable of handling them and yet they’d made no signs of breaking off their run in-system. Given the power-ratings the sensor-techs had observed, these “super” corvettes were more than capable of outrunning the picket altogether, which made they’re choice of deliberate confrontation that much more strange. Whoever was in charge of this attack was either being very sneaky or just plain stupid, and Crichell was willing to bet heavily on the former of the two options. The only question that remained in his mind was whether or not he could see through the enemy’s ploy before it was too late. If he couldn’t, then his forces might be in for a universe of hurt.

Commander Jonathan Nordstram glared angrily at the plot in front of him. The pulsing red triangles representing the oncoming enemy vessels knifed toward his squadron with frightening speed. It had been hours since the deadly dance of death between the two formations had begun, and the strain of waiting was eating a very tangible hole through the resolve of his crew. The light cruiser Imperator was generally a tightly run ship. However, both she, and twenty percent of her crew, had been on leave when the orders came down from above that the picket squadron assemble and head out. Jonathan was normally a reasonable man with a mild temperament, but this sort of game (which was the only honest label he could put on the evasive maneuvers of the enemy commander) was beginning to wear on his nerves.

Since the initial visual confirmation of the enemy corvette group, the two closing squadrons had fallen into a dizzying spiral of long-range feints and jabs that had left his navigation's officer, Lieutenant Hartley, in a state of almost constant motion. Despite the speed and agility of the corvettes, there was no way the enemy commander could keep up this dance indefinitely. Eventually he would either be forced to settle into an attack run or face the reserves being called up from deeper in-system. As the latter of the two options would surely spell doom for the raiders, Nordstram was convinced that the enemy would eventually commit himself while he had a chance of winning. But winning what? While he still had no idea what sort of madman the enemy commander was, he knew just as well as anyone else that challenging the defenses in Norway was definitely not a good idea no matter how fast his squadron might be.

Even though Nordstram’s picket squadron was a strictly ad-hoc affair consisting of his own light cruiser Imperator and her sister-ship Narwhal, a pair of aging Ranger class frigates previously belonging to Norway’s in-system patrol before the establishment of Pegasus station and its defensive batteries, as well as the corvettes Rapacious, Shining Path, and Gryphon, it was still nothing to be taken lightly. The cruisers alone had seventy-two separate missile and torpedo launchers between them. In addition, destroyer elements of the 38th Heavy Assault Division had been recently introduced to fill out the ranks. Each of those ships added another dozen launchers to the mix, nearly doubling his offensive throw-weight. Admittedly, the half the destroyers were of the older Perseus class and lacked the newer and much smaller Harpoon 7c launchers, which meant that the actual recycling time of their individual salvos would be more than twelve seconds longer than the rest of the squadron’s. The heavier energy armament destroyers of that class enjoyed more than outweighed this deficiency. In particular, the inclusion of a large bore rail-gun as the ships main offensive weapon.

Giving them the short-range offensive punch of a warship many orders of magnitude larger than them.
A rail-gun, despite its huge power and tonnage requirements, was one of the most effective ways of breaching a ships particle-shielding at close range. Rail-guns were generally meant as the armament for much larger warships, which possessed both the power and tonnage to spare for the massive weapon. The highly charged super-magnets were capable of accelerating a projectile to unheard of velocities. Therefore, the magnetically charged, depleted-uranium slugs, which the gun fired, were more than capable of putting rather large holes in even the stoutest of armor-plating.

In fact, the development of particle shielding itself had been a fluke, or more precisely, an unforeseen benefit of the starships inertial compensator. Since it was literally impossible for human physiology to withstand the enormous inertial pressure generated by even the lowest possible acceleration a modern starships engine was capable of, a method of shielding the occupants of a ship from the extreme physical forces that propelled the craft through space was necessary before high-speed manned space-flight could be possible.

The breakthrough had come when engineers and physicists developed the first inertial compensator. The idea was simple to imagine; As a ship’s plasma fueled drives powered up energy was shunted through special emitters and rerouted into a field of stressed gravity around the craft, allowing the inertial force to flow around the ship instead of through it, much like air passing around the wing of an atmospheric aircraft. The actual shape of the field itself was undefined in the practical sense since the gravity generated was only a force and not easily define-able in pure physical terms, however particles from nearby space and from a ship’s own drive exhaust were attracted to the gravitational field. Thus a ‘particle-shield’ was formed.

In all practicality, the density of the shield on even the largest warship was not enough to stop anything larger than a small meteorite from slapping into its hull, however, it did provide a rather wide dispersion area for energy weapons like lasers and particle cannons. Since energy weapons relied primarily on excited particles (as in the case of lasers which utilized charged photons) to transfer their energy into high intensity beams, the particle-shield acted essentially like a blanket, soaking up and dispersing this energy before it connected with the ship‘s hull. However, its dispersion ability was only finite.

As a general principle, the act of transferring energy knocked particles out of the gravitational loop formed by the compensator, and since any gaps were immediately compensated for, due to the natural tendency of particles to try and maintain a uniform distance away from all their neighbors, in this way, field strength and cohesion were lost through each consecutive hit.

This effect was particularly exploited by plasma-cannons, which utilized a starships own power-core to draw volatile plasma into a highly polarized, magnetic ‘pocket’ that was then ejected at insanely high speed toward a target. Of course the magnetic containment field was hardly static and even the slightest stress, such as that which was generated by the particle-field itself could cause it to rupture, spilling its fiery contents. This in turn made kinetic strikes the most effective way of breaching a starships hull, thus making solid projectiles the weapon of choice for long-range stellar engagements.

Despite the merry hell the particle-shield played with onboard sensors and tracking equipment, or perhaps in spite of it, a solid object could easily pass through even a high intensity particle-field with little difficulty. Which meant weapons like missiles, torpedoes and rail-guns were free to make their attack runs unhindered and deliver their payload with no interference.

Which meant if push came to shove, however rag-tag the group seemed, Nordstram’s little flotilla was more than capable of dishing out some serious hurt on anyone who just happened to get in its way.
Perhaps it was the thought of constantly living on the edge of danger or the knowledge that they would be first to enter the fray should an attack come that lent the small unit a sense of pride in themselves and their duty, he mused. But even as his gaze whisked around the cramped bridge, the frazzled commander could easily see that his crew were as visibly drained as he felt.

“Skipper!” barked Ingred Brentworth, the chief sensor operator, jarring Nordstram‘s wandering mind back to the present, “The enemy ships just increased their relative acceleration, looks like they’ve finally committed to a run”. The hawk-faced operator turned back to her terminal and her hands danced over the keys. Captain Angelina Chu stood up from her command chair ahead of Nordstram and turned to him abruptly. “Looks like this is it then Commander,” she said half-apologetically, “shall I bring us up to full battle-alert?”. Nordstram nodded strongly and bore himself up in his seat.

Both he and Captain Chu had worked together for years. He’d been her CO at Orion’s Arm and had somehow managed to get both she and Imperator out of that hellish nightmare in one piece.
“Ingred, can you feed me the ETA till we hit torpedo range?” Chu shouted from the command deck.
“One moment Captain” the sensor operator said quickly, her fingers flying to keep up with the rapid stream of new data coming from the navigational systems. Both Chu and Nordstram watched apprehensively as the timer ran down slowly. It would be another twenty minutes of silent agony as the two forces raced toward one another. Nordstram schooled his features and cast eyes briefly to the floor of the flag-deck to catch a glimpse of the USN emblem painted on the deck-plates in dull, silver tones. “If there is a god in heaven, I hope to come to him in peace and without the sacrifice of anymore brave souls.” He murmured silently before taking his seat in the command-chair.

Angelina Chu noted her commanding officer’s reverence with a tight smile. There was deadly work to be done.
“This is it boy-o!” Flight Officer Dennis Mcallahan shouted over the clamor of Flight Deck 3. The young pilot grinned broadly in reply and ran a hand through his shock of bright blond hair before putting his helmet on. Allan DeVries grinned back as he fastened the last clamps on his flight-suit.

“Seems so Dennis” he intoned mildly, as the two jogged toward the mammoth births that housed their machines.
“Looks like those damned Anty bastards have decided to push, maybe we can show those vacuum-suckers that the ULP fighter corps ain’t somethin’ ta laugh at” Mcallahan growled. Allan was silent, his stomach had begun to twist itself into knots of apprehension. The older FO didn’t seem to notice his companion’s change of expression as they neared births. “I hope yeah know, this’ll mark my thirtieth flight with the corp since this damned war began. Mebe after we get back we can have a lil’ party on account of my luck”. Allan forced a convincing smile and another nod, the uneasiness in his stomach only increased as they approached their respective machines.

They reached the hydraulic lifts that would raise them to the cockpit hatches without further talk, despite the earlier shows of bravado both men were incredibly sober before battle. The USN fighter corps had a high attrition rate. Even higher was that of assault-mecha pilots, who often had to work in close quarters to heavily armed capital ships.
Allan paused a moment at the lift to stare at his craft in awe. The Velius was certainly an older model, but this particular one was a newer craft. From the freshly painted white field with Third Squadron’s blue fox-head emblazoned on the left breast, just beneath aperture for the chest-mounted repeating laser. The status of both he and his machine was clear; Unblooded.

FO Macallahan caught his eye from further down the bay just as he toggled the lift-switch. The older pilot saluted him hastily before ducking through the hatch in the assault-unit’s belly. Not quite sure how to respond with the other man now out of sight, Allan turned and punched the four-digit code into the small touch-pad next to the hatch. The locking mechanism clicked and the sharp hiss of escaping atmosphere filled his ears as the flat hatch-plate slid open. Inside the armored battlesuits interior, Allan seated himself in the pilot’s chair and slapped a button that sealed his craft’s outer-hatch before pulling his cognition-helmet over his head. A few seconds passed as the neck-pieces automatically hinged and locked together, another handful of seconds for the mecha’s internal life-support to start pumping in fresh oxygen.

Allan blinked twice before activating the main-power unit. The machine hummed as it powered up. The once blank pseudo-view ports flicked to life, offering him a 360 degree view of the bay. He ran through the preflight checks before calling in his readiness on the squadron-wide com frequency. All of this was done in something of a blur as he attempted to keep his hands from shaking as he gripped the twin flight-yokes. The squadron commander’s voice crackled over the com, confirming readiness reports and adding reminders of the orders laid down during the hurried briefing some fifteen hours before. Allan half-heard them as the brace holding his unit squealed as it moved the Velius towards the grav-catapult. He swallowed once and looked left to see the familiar shape of Macallahan’s craft to his right. He remembered the older Flight Officer’s brash confidence and silently ordered his stomach to quell itself.
As the countdown lights of the catapult slowly cycled from red to green, he saw a small figure waving at the departing mecha from the control room which jutted down from the ceiling above the catapult. He smiled faintly and raised the hand of his mecha to the sensor-packed ‘head’ of the machine in a mechanical mockery of a salute before hunching the assault-unit’s knees to brace for the impact of the catapult launch. He saw the figure return the salute just as the countdown-light hit green and his craft was quickly accelerated into the cold emptiness of space. The unease of his stomach was replaced by a disorienting emptiness as the universe spun around him. But there was killing to do.

Something in the back of his mind took over and he oriented his craft along Imperator’s horizontal axis and rocketed off to his designated position in the fighter-screen. He closed his eyes for a brief moment, offering a short prayer to a god he’d not thought to look to in years. With any luck he’d be sharing a drink with a friend when this was all over.

Chapter 2: Baiting the Tiger
----------------------------

It was a gravitational anomaly, the USN sensor-techs would later say, that caused them to miss the mixed Antarean squadrons of Taskforce Harp lurking on the outskirts of the system. A host of other platitudes and excuses would be offered to explain away the fact that they just weren’t prepared for the advances in their enemy’s stealth technology, for they had no reason to be. Who would be foolish enough to sneak such a large force into a system as well-defended as Norway? In actual fact the reasons and identity of the attack’s mastermind would matter little to the officers later in charge of the inquiry into the incident. Officers whose only real job would be to find a palatable set of feet at which heap the blame. No, this particular lapse would be filed away as yet another instance of trickery to be repaid in full at a later date.

With all the silent smoothness of a wolf hunting across open tundra, the warships of Taskforce Harp slid silently through space, knifing their way quietly in-system. From the command-bridge of his battlecruiser, Rear-Admiral Hermion Broslos IV watched his holo-display with amusement. Commander Dietrov had proven a good choice to tie up the in-system picket, he mused, watching the icons on the plot dance a dizzying pattern of feints and jabs as the two opposing squadrons jousted with one another in deep-space, all the while moving closer and closer to the hypergrav-limit. He smiled faintly, no doubt whoever was in overall command of Norway’s defenses would be wondering just what sort of game Dietrov and his corvette’s played at. It is said that baiting a tiger is hardly a game to be played lightly, he thought to himself coldly.

He called up some additional information on the system through his neuro-link with the ship’s core data-brain. The mission-clock ticked down with an unfathomable slowness, it would be approximately twenty minutes before the second phase of the operation went into action. He smiled again; it felt good to finally be in action again. In the three years since the war stagnated he’d bounced around from command to command, always well-behind the front line, and always nursing a hatred for the elitist and wholly ineffective USN which had taken his wife and son from him more than a decade earlier.

Yes, he concluded, it felt decidedly good to be taking the fight home to an enemy which, for years, had boasted of its own infallibility. And to be doing it in an entirely Antarean-built command was nearly more than he’d ever dreamed possible. However proud it may have been, before the “Great Betrayal” and the ensuing conflict broke out, the Antarean Federated Space Navy had not boasted more than two-hundred native hulls to its flag. With the defection of the USN’s 2nd and 3rd Protectorate fleets to the newly reformed AISN, a vast amount of captured USN materiel was suddenly added to the Antarean arsenal and used to full effect in the following years. But as war began to grind through even those aging (if still solid) hulls, the need for new ships arose. A need which was addressed by the newly acquired manufacturing power of the liberated Imperial worlds, and so it was that Broslos was awarded the unique honor (and distinct pleasure) of being offered the command of one of the newly built squadrons and charged with the task of taking war to the enemy.

And what a glorious war it shall be. He thought with finality. With the rest of his bridge crew interfacing with the core-brain, he simply needed to think his orders through his neuro-link for them to be disseminated throughout the rest of the squadron. It was time to move things along. Noting the proximity of the circling squadrons to the hypergrav-limit, he ordered Dietrov to cease his dancing and make pass at the picket squadron, a move that could largely be construed as forced suicide had they been traditional corvette designs. Broslos’ smile twisted into a grinning death mask in the dim red-light cast off by the command-deck’s neuro-interface station and adjacent holo-display. It was time to get things underway, and he had no intention of making the USN bastards wait any longer for justice.

The stars themselves seemed to wink out of existence as Commander Torid Dietrov slipped the control receptors of the neuro-brace from a dermal-jack at the base of his skull. In the holo-screen that compromised the forward end of the command-deck of his vessel, Errant Virtue, the ragged line of the USN picket-squadron stretched out in front of him, bristling with deadly energy arrays and exposed missile and torpedo tubes. Though only visible through the highly magnified visual feed being piped to the command-deck’s view-screens, the sheer destructive power of the arsenal being leveled in the direction of his ships was enough to sober the usually jovial commander even more. Peering closely at the craft in the display (more out of nervousness then actual intent), he studied the Spartan, almost utilitarian design of the enemy warships. Even when compared to the sleek elegance of Antarean craft the enemy’s ships were still impressive to behold, swimming through the inky blackness of deep-space like prowling, stellar sharks. And oh what sharp teeth they had, he thought ruefully.

His mission, challenging the defenses of Norway, seemed like suicide when it was first proposed to him. Taking a single heavy-corvette squadron into one of the most heavily defended systems in the star-cluster, and an important wormhole junction no less, was hardly appealing to the fifteen-year veteran of the Antarean Navy. The fact that his incursion was little more than a feint, and that he was under orders to stay away from the system’s core had done little to improve his mood, it would make no difference in the end as it only meant that the system’s defenders had to chase him down before they wiped he and his command from existence. And so his apprehension had only grown during the planning stages of the attack, that is, until he saw the specifications of the ships under his command.

The new Seshat class heavy corvettes were marvels of Antarean design. Sleek and beautiful, their curving, tan and mauve colored hulls were dotted with ion-arrays, kinetic point-defense clusters, and missile tubes. What made them even more exciting weren’t just the weapons outside, but within. Radical advances in engine technology and micro-technologies allowed the corvette’s to generate unheard of amounts of energy, not only tremendously boosting their speed, but allowing far more powerful weapons to be included both on and inside of the hull itself. Packed around a single, capital-class ion-beam cannon, a weapon usually reserved for the heaviest of cruisers and super-capital craft, the Seshat was a deadly opponent even by itself. But the marvels didn’t end there.

Utilizing the new drone-brain technology, each Seshat also boasted a four drone squadrons with associated controller-units, each of which were capable of boosting the effective range and coordination of drone-craft by five-fold the previous amount. The drones themselves were hardly ignored either. Besides the new heavy-attack chassis slowly being produced in larger and larger numbers (and thus making their way to more and more units of the fleet), each of the new heavy corvettes were capable of deploying and maintaining a dozen of the new Baath class Particle-Density Boosting Parasites, of PDBPs. When activated, these drones formed a lattice network of field-density boosters for the ship’s particle field, giving the Seshat the shield strength of a craft several orders of magnitude larger, and generally served to further foul enemy scanners and target acquisition systems, as well greatly protect the ship’s hull from energy attacks.

Even taken separately, each of these improvements were more than capable of making his squadron’s chances of survival in this particular engagement that much higher. But taken altogether, it made Dietrov feel almost a bit sorry for the destruction he was about bring down on the enemy commander’s head. Almost. The plot in front of him flashed an ominous red, and a digitized transmission from one of the sensor techs informed him that the enemy ships had just begun deploying their fighter-screen and in another two minutes, his corvettes would pass into the enemy’s torpedo envelope.

That was something that irked him deeply. Despite all the advancement in Antarean technology, USN craft still not only held the edge in missile and torpedo technology, but also had superior manned fighters. In addition, while ton for ton, the new AISN hulls were more lethal then they’d ever been, they were still inferior at range to existing USN craft of the same class. Or at least they had been, till now. It was time to finally test some of the Imperial Engineering Corps’ latest toys to see if they really did live up to their promises.

Turning to look at his XO, Vahn Eralis, a particularly dour looking man with a partially shaven head, for a moment, he centered his attention back on the plot ahead of him. “Bring the shields up to maximum power and prepare to launch PDBPs and all point-defense drones in thirty-five seconds”, he paused momentarily to adjust his skinsuit’s neck-lining before continuing. “I want the entire squadron to establish a holding pattern just outside their missile envelope, at which time launch all drone clusters and proceed with plan Babel-Zero-Zero.” His order given, Dietrov sank back into the recesses of his command chair and watched as the technicians, operators, and control-officers of the bridge-crew went about their assigned duties. In a few minutes they would either all be resting peacefully, knowing their duties ad been carried out correctly and their equipment had functioned as well as promised, or they would be dead and thus in no position to know or think anything. And that, he concluded, was the essence of stellar-war itself. Thoughts of success and failure were immediately buried as he prepared himself for the hell he and his subordinates were about to unleash.

Chapter 3:Storms of Iron and Fire
---------------------------------

Hunched over the lip of the holo-tank, Leonidas Crichell struggled to make sense of the enemy’s latest series of baffling moves. For the last four hours since making visual contact with the picket, the enemy corvette squadron had flitted around the edges of the system’s grav-limit, baiting the much larger ships of Commander Nordstram’s command but never truly committing to action. Nordstram, under orders to prevent the enemy craft from penetrating the system’s interior, had been forced to match the devilishly fast corvettes move for move, always placing himself and his command between their enemy and its assumed target, the vulnerable orbital construction-platforms that still ringed Nor Alpha, the central fortress-world that was to be the backbone of Norway’s defenses. And so the harrowing dance between both forces had played out, with all semblances of a bear toying with an over-arrogant wolf. But the dance had ended now.

Upon the initial arrival of the enemy ships, it had been difficult to determine their exact type and distribution due to the supposed malfunction of key gravitic scanning equipment, located on Basis, one of the many moons that orbited the gas-giant of Nor Beta. Nor Beta was the largest sister planet of Alpha’s, and its orbit was farther removed from the system’s core then any other local planetary body. Basis served as a fighter-base, supply-depot, and communications post and acted as the central node for the FTL com-net for the Thriacia cluster. Connected via a series of deep-space com-satellites, the huge focusing and broadcast arrays on Basis were able to communicate nearly instantaneously with the other worlds and were key factors in maintaining the coordinated defense of those systems. Which was why the naval communications facilities on Basis were hardened deep underground and a massive fighter-base was located directly above it. The moon was a tough nut to crack, and with the extensive mine-field hemming attacking craft into a single approach, lined with an overwhelming number of defense fortresses, torpedo and missile satellites, all matter of automated guns, and backed by over four-dozen squadrons of ground-based interceptor-craft (not to mention the massive fleets stationed above Nor Alpha), it was potential suicide to attempt an assault without first neutralizing the other in-system threats. But this, of course, was something a handful of corvettes were incapable of, which meant the real stroke would come from somewhere else.
Crichell considered ordering the fleet to shift its defensive line to cover the approach to Basis, in case the enemy’s real intentions lay there, but with the ships under his command stretched as thinly as they were covering the construction operations in-system, further dividing that strength by attempting to cover the distance of space between Nor Alpha and Nor Beta might give whatever additional enemy elements that might be lurking outside the grav-limit just the sort of sign of weakness they’d need to make a pass at his fortifications. He grimaced at the thought.

Even though there were technically thirty-four forts operational in-system, less fourty-five percent of them were manned by more than a skeleton crew and fully armed, a testament to the recent man-power shortages being felt by the navy after the massive losses at Orion’s Head. Even the ships in orbit were in need of shakedown cruises and all manner of equipment checks and combat trials. In that respect, Nordstram’s picket constituted the most experienced unit he had aside from his own command-staff and the recently transferred Seventy-Eighth Assault Squadron to whom he’d delegated the defense of Basis.

It was a lucky thing that the enemy was unaware of Norway’s relative weakness by comparison to the somewhat more threatening systems in the sector (for which Crichell was ostensibly charged with the defense of). The mere fact that a majority of his ships were locked into a strictly defensive formation around the orbital and sub-orbital construction-plats and could not stray too far away from Nor Alpha meant that any attacker would have run of the system, mainly because he could not afford to uncover the fragile, orbital assets. Coupled with the weakness of the existing forts, this severely hamstrung the responsiveness of Crichell’s units. Still, if the plots were to be believed, the corvette-squadron had chosen to dash itself against Nordstram’s picket before the mixed assault-ship and destroyer units he’d summoned from in-system could completely encircle them. He wondered briefly just what made the enemy commander so confident, or suicidal to attempt such a thing. Given the USN’s superiority in torpedo and missile systems, he doubted if many of the corvettes would survive the opening salvos from they’re cruiser opponents.

At any rate, Nordstram was now piping his squadron’s sensor data to the techs of Pegasus Station via FTL grav-pulse, so at least they’d have a good grasp of just what sort of improvements the Antareans had made to their systems. And maybe afterwards I can get some sleep. He smiled to himself briefly wished Janice were here to remind him of his duties, but she was buried much deeper in the complex then he, operating the secondary command-post at the very heart of the station. He watched as the corvettes slowly slid into torpedo-range and waited for the fireworks to begin.

Jonathan Nordstram eyed the small mission-clock built into the arm-rest of his command couch. Never having been a man of aesthetics, he could not quite appreciate the view being offered to him from the forward display when he gave the order for his squadron to fire. Sitting in the rough “center” of the firing line formed by the heavier elements of the picket-squadron, Imperator and Narwhal blossomed fire as their combined seventy-two torpedo-batteries fired in unison. They were quickly joined by the aging Rangers who added another two-dozen torpedoes a piece. The corvettes, destroyers, and assault-ships which made up the picket’s screening elements wisely held their fire. Should the corvettes survive the long-range duel which the squadron’s heavier ships were more partial to, they’d close the distance fast and try to engage separately and from different angles, making the slow-moving torpedoes far less effective.

In all, one-hundred and twenty-four projectiles rocketed toward the enemy squadron. Nordstram was wary of the Antarean’s new improvements and the willingness to die displayed by the attacking squadron’s reckless charge into the teeth of his batteries, so he’d only targeted the first six ships in his opening barrage, trusting the second and third salvos to distribute fire more evenly among the survivors. As it was, each of the targeted corvettes faced nearly twenty-one torpedoes a piece, more than enough to swamp the point-defense capabilities of the entire squadron. What was more, upon reaching terminal distance, each torpedo would split off into four-separate warheads, seeded with ECM blockers, and sensor decoys to foul the point-defense systems of the corvettes. Thus, all six targeted ships would be facing four-hundred and ninety-six plasma-warheads.
He held a neutral expression as the second salvo rippled away from his ships, there was nothing pretty about the massacre that was about to occur.

Flight Officer Dennis Macallahan was not a praying man. In fact, he hadn’t knelt in prayer since the earliest days of his childhood, before Crusader insurgents detonated a bomb in the cathedral he and his parents visited regularly. They’d perished in the blaze, Dennis survived. Carrying a deep hatred for the Crusaders and their clandestine Antarean backers, he’d joined the USN as soon as he’d come of age, but had only seen active combat duty in the latest campaign. Before the disaster at Orion’s Head, he’d been a simple technician, responsible for only the most basic maintenance on fighters and assault-craft aboard the battleship Frozen Hammer. When the ‘Hammer was caught off-guard by an Antarean destroyer detachment and destroyed, Dennis had been forced to escape in a partially operational interceptor and was later picked up by a USN patrol-boat.

After that incident he’d applied for a transfer to the fighter-corps and was accepted, but instead of working with strike-craft, as he’d hoped, the newly promoted FO was relegated to the mechanized-assault corps, essentially cannon-fodder. But even here Dennis had excelled, surviving twenty-nine consecutive missions with over one-hundred and ninety-two kills to his name. He was an ace, and now one of the oldest “mech-heads” in the division. But after a chance, violent confrontation with an off-duty commodore, the promotion to the Fighter-Interceptor Corps never came and neither did any promotion past Flight Officer. So he was stuck, bumped off the fast-track with a large black-mark on his record that would keep him an FO till he either retired or punched-out in combat (the latter being increasingly more probable then the former).

He watched as the second salvo lit off from the ships behind the screen, sped past his formation and zeroed in on the corvettes right behind their brothers. He smiled assuredly as his sensors informed him that the warheads of the first wave had hit their terminal attack vectors and broken apart into their component sub-munitions. But instead of the tell-tale ripple-pop explosions that one expected of plasma-warheads detonating inside a particle field, he watched as the torpedoes went haywire and slammed into one another. “Holy shit….” He muttered to himself, the rumors hadn’t even been close to the mark, the damned Antys really had beefed up their ECM significantly.

A few birds still made it through the maelstrom of fratricide but were easily picked off by the corvette’s automated PD guns. However, nothing easily shrugs off four-hundred missiles. Despite the ECM interference and the highly accurate counter-fire, a few warheads still slipped in. Dennis cheered inside as he saw the lead ship take several hits as it attempted to roll out of the path of the torpedo swarm, then belch fire as several torpedoes from the second salvo lost their original target, then locked on to it as it obscured another ship. Damaged but not out of the fight, the corvette dropped back to let the undamaged ships of the second line shield it from any additional fire.
He was stunned, only one ship damaged out of twelve from that volume of torpedo fire? What in god’s name had those thrice damned Antarean bastards done to increase their combat potential so much? For the first time in a long time, the once cocky FO felt the cold grip of dread seize his stomach, which began to twist uneasily in its vice-like hold on it. If they’d deliberately chosen to engage them head on and were unworried about missile fire, then maybe they felt that they had the firepower to deal with the entire squadron. The thought did little to calm him down, and he longed to twist his flight yokes around, slam the throttle and head deeper in-system to the relative safety of the forts. But he had a duty, a duty that involved taking the fight to the corvettes before they had a chance to close with the larger, more vulnerable ships in the task force. But he had no orders to do so, and he was a good soldier. So he stayed where he was, with both eyes glued to the stalwart shapes of Imperator, riding comfortably behind its destroyer and corvette screen.

And so it was that Dennis Macallahan had his attention riveted to his rear pseudo-view and thus, he failed to notice the unusual movement on his short-range, visual sensors. He would never know just what it was that alerted him to the presence of the stealthed interceptor-drone, and in all honesty he wouldn’t try to remember, but he peripherally noticed something amiss, and instinctively stomped down hard on the left rudder-pedal and flipped his mecha on its head, and watched as the blazing red beam from the drone’s particle emitters filled the spot he’d occupied before with highly-charged, ionic death. He surprised himself by barking a warning across the com-net as the space around him erupted in a fury depleted-uranium tracers, stuttered laser fire and sporadic missile-bursts.

The drone that had fired on him first had circled back around, its cowled sensor-iris glowing a dull gold as it stabbed out at Dennis’ Velius with its particle cannons. Though hardly as fast or as agile as the nimble drone that menaced it, his craft was far more heavily armed. Slamming down hard on his lateral boosters, he punched the mecha “up” relative to the orientation of a nearby corvette, identified as Rapacious. The drone once again scooted “under” his ride, but this time he was ready, and arming the Spark IX Cluster-Missile System built into recesses in the assault-unit’s thigh and calf-armor, he drew a deep breath and accelerated after it.

The offending drone was joined by four of its brethren which converged to form a pack and now boiled back around at him in another twisting attack-run. The targeting computer worked fast as he painted all five. He stroked the firing stud and immediately accelerated “up”, pushing his thrusters until he could hear the keening of the engine beneath him.

The Spark IX’s mini-missiles seemed to pour out of their launchers and twisted downward toward the attacking drones. The sudden violence of the attack proved too much for the core-brain governing three leading drones which attempted to break off too quickly for their own acceleration to catch up with. Their chaff flashed futility as the Velius' projectiles homed in on their sensor signatures. It was too little too late.

The lead drone caught nearly fifteen of the tiny missiles on the belly of its fuselage which detonated instantly, showering the surrounding space with rapidly cooling globules of metal, the rest didn’t have time to break away as the storm of missiles blew them apart. The remaining two drones punched through the center of the rapidly expanding cloud of gas and bore down on Macallahan’s Velius, spitting particle-fire with a vengeance.
He juked his mecha hard to the left, then right, and managed to twist the Mordell ASC-22 Vulcan-rifle in his right-hand to sight one of the remaining drones buzzing him from behind.

He opened fire without hesitation, riddling the first craft with bullets before its advanced core-brain had a chance to register what was happening to it. As the drone fell away and exploded, warning klaxons blared in his cockpit. Luckily he managed to get the oblong, tritanium shield, which constituted his machine’s left fore-arm up in time to soak up some of the plasma fire being streamed at him by the remaining drone. He cut loose with the tri-barreled repeating-laser built into the Velius’ chest and managed to ward the drone off.

As the craft tried to dart around the bulk of his Velius, Dennis carefully lead his rifle along its path and pounded out a steady stream of shells. The leading wing of the sleek, angular ship was struck by his pattern of fire and the drone spun wildly out of control, its vertical exhaust ports struggling desperately to stabilize its course. Dennis triggered his lasers again and walked his shots into the out of control craft, which exploded with a satisfying abruptness. With that he accelerated off into the swirl of battle, looking for more drones to destroy.

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Fiction <Fiction.html>`_

Event Ironangels Starfighter Tournament

2015-07-09T08:12:48Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Iron Angels Starfighter Tournament
======================================

Introduction
------------

The Iron Angels Starfighter Tournament is a bi-annual event held in Polaris space, bordering the Delphinus Nebula. The first tournament was founded by a conglomeration of astro-engineering corporations in order to showcase their produce. However, the tournament quickly picked up interests from the military factions of the nearby star nations, who see the IST as an excellent test bed for new technology. Military commanders also see it as an opportunity to prove their tactical expertise in the area of fighter-class vessel design.

The competition is a simple affair: pilots engage each other in both solo and team matches in a confined area directly adjacent to the Delphinus Nebula, which provides numerous hazard-filled areas of space which are used to a dramatic effect by Iron Angels Omnicorp, the event's organizer. Notable past matches included: asteroids thrust into the midst of the field; surprise comet flights; fields dominated by caustic clouds, and even, in one well-known match, recreations of ancient Republic of Glyfhaven pirate ships spreading chaos by jumping into the midst of the battle and opening fire on both sides.
The engagements are set up in a pyramid-style tournament structure. Competitors draw lots for initial engagements and work their way up the ladder. The pyramidal structure also provides for minor matches, with surviving losers given the opportunity to step back up the ladder in, what are known as, "Twisted Engagements." Long-time fans of the IST are the most rabid about these matches: more often then not, the pilots have nothing to loose and everything to win, making their performances haphazard and chaotic, and the matches unbeatable for excitement.

The tournament is open to all, although the huge expense of outfitting and maintaining a team is only affordable to the military, the corporations, and a select few mega-rich individuals. The corporations attempt to balance this tendency towards the elite with sponsorship programs. National and system-wide competitions are held throughout the galaxy by various companies, with the best talent skimmed off for the big leagues.

The fighters themselves are the absolute apex of modern technology, with the most advanced engines, avionics, weapons, and defense systems that each team can muster. Many of the systems and craft designs are advanced prototypes or clever modifications of existing craft. The military teams in particular are famous for pulling out the stops to show what a modified version of one of their ships can do. Many a military fighter has earned a fearsome reputation due to its performance in the IST, while corporations see a fighter's performance in the tournament as the key to a new model's sales. However, the models displayed during the IST bear little resemblance to their production-line counterparts.
Due to the extremely dangerous nature of the sport, the fighters are equipped with miniaturized grav-shields, ceramic-fiber-auto-ejecting cockpit shells, self-sealing hulls, and a host of other safety features only available to those with galaxy-sized bank accounts. Fatalities are rare, but injuries are ubiquitous.

Time Period
-----------

This year's IST is especially significant in that, for the first time in nearly a century, the Antarean powers and the League are once again separate. All the IST participants can feel the oncoming storm and the tensions are reverberating through the tournament. For the first time since the tournament began, fatalities are occurring during the competitions leading up to the tournament. The worries are acting divisively, not only are the military pilots feeling the heat, but the corporations as well, with their sponsors taking sides, the pilots are as well.

The tournament this year is expected to be especially bloody, with the participants taking sides every pilot has to wonder if the next time they face their opponent will be in the midst of a war. Which begs the question, wouldn't it be better to take him down now?

Host
----

Iron Angels Omnicorp is one of the oldest and best respected corporate conglomerations anywhere. Though the current tensions between the Antareans and League have forced this multirole corporation to move the majority of its operations to the more stable sectors controlled by the Solarian League, the IAO has handled more contracts then any two corporations combined. Well known for its alacrity in accomplishing any task, IAO made its fortune with the development of some of the most venerable super dreadnoughts used in the last colony wars. IAO, a huge entity, was able to handle all aspects of their ships' creation, from design to interior decoration, within the corporation.
Having made a reputation by creating some of the best ships in the galaxy without using contractors, IAO had nowhere to go but up. Each of its divisions produced quality products, with IAO furniture, once designed with a measure of utilitarianism for military ships, ordered by leading lights everywhere from the Solesian Hegemony to the Sidemore Republic. IAO's Creative Arts division is responsible for the city planning of two of the galaxy's top ten most beautiful cities. Their programmers created the networking protocols that were the killer app for the DAIS platform. Their ships are well known, and well feared, by every sensible pilot.
The original Iron Angels Starfighter Tournament was created as less of a tournament and more of a challenge. The IST was essentially a challenge to any and all manufacturer to turn up in a model that could beat the IAO team. As the IST became larger and larger, IAO executives began to value it more as an advertising opportunity then a testing grounds and, must to the regret of their engineers, pulled the IAO team out of the competition. However, IAO can't keep its ships out of the tournament, for many years one competition was a last man standing event, where the last ship to be disabled by a stationary IAO capital ship would be the winner.
The IAO is currently the gray eminence of the galaxy's mega-corporations. These days it churns out more consumer products than military and rides the waves of the market. The organizing and judging of the event is one of the biggest events that IAO holds and, according to many, produces enough of a profit to keep the entire mega-corporation running for a month.

TEAMS
-----

Team Taurus
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~

Team Taurus is one of the teams that is funded and sponsored by the state, in this case, the Taurian Confederacy.

Sword-T
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

Team Taurus sports a native hull, one familiar to pilots everywhere. The venerable Sword Multi-Role Starfighter has been completely reworked and redesigned at Draymark Labs. The result is the Sword-T, a fighter for which cost was no object.
The ship is fast and deadly, a large engine mount, some serious firepower and two huge grav fins. The T now can spin and flip so fast that special compensators had to be built into the cockpit to keep the pilot from blacking out every time she makes a sharp turn.

Arianne Invigsil
----------------

Age: 27

Rank: Captain

Affiliation: `Taurian Fleet Vigilant <Taurian_Fleet_Vigilant.html>`_

Piloting Style: Aggressive.

Arianne Invigsil wanted to be a pilot so badly that she lied on her application to the military and signed up at the young age of 16. She worked her way through the ranks of the Taurian military quickly, but with hard work. Aggressive in space and in person, Invigsil has rubbed many an officer the wrong way, which is likely the only reason she has not accomplished a higher rank. Her personality is easily apparent in her flying style. She is sometimes incautious and pigheaded, a quality which makes her difficult to get off your tail, but can also work against her. However, due to a combination of her vast combat experience and the ultra reliable Draymark craft she pilots, she often lands on her feet.

`Draymark <Draymark.html>`_

`Fiver <Fiver.html>`_

`Yorthrop <Yorthrop.html>`_

`Novagare <Novagare.html>`_

`Corps-Miyaki <Corps-Miyaki.html>`_

The TCI Tenfold
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

The The TCI Tenfold is a team primarily sponsored by TCI systems and has been a consistently strong entry over the last decade. This year the team is in top form, with a significant chunk of its funding provided by the Antarean government. With so much of the funding coming from Antares, many tournament watchers have begun to consider the Tenfold the Antarean team.

Rottshein FB
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

The Antarean team's formidable Rottshein FB is the result of an alliance between TCI Systems and the Covington-Kaller conglomerate. This meeting of the minds had been previously prevented by competition on a number of markets. However, this alliance allows, for the first time, the joining of TCI's advanced hull designs from their military R&D; branch and the innovative weapons systems that have made Covington-Kaller's shareholders very rich.
The Rottshein is an experimental fighter/bomber heavily dependent on a gravity manipulation technology that is barely a prototype. The result is a fast ship that can carry a heavy payload and turn on a chit.

Leopold Vert
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

Age: 31

Rank: Guard Sergeant (Former)

Affiliation: House Haitius of Ixion.

Piloting Style: Emotionless.

Leopold Vert is the iceman of the competition. He makes no errors, but has no surprises either. With a steely determination he has led the Tenfold to victory, match after match. He has been accused by some factions of making the competition too boring, a long string of wins.

`TCI Systems <TCI_Systems.html>`_
`Covington <Covington.html>`_ Weapons Systems
`Kaller <Kaller.html>`_ missile systems
`Deep6 Yards <Deep6_Yards.html>`_
`Salier <Salier.html>`_

The Ascendant Flight
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Believing that overall technological advancement will naturally lead to men meeting gods (or becoming them, depending who you ask), the Ascendancy is one of the most followed religions in the galaxy. Coincidently it is also the richest. As their beliefs dictate, the Ascendancy also runs the number one foundation for funding technological research.
One of their biggest contributors is Raulien Desarc, one of the few Ascendants in The Star Kingdom of Mournecreek, which is mostly composed of monarch worshipers known as Creeists. Desarc has sponsored a team in The Element Ascendancy's name. He hopes to bring more of his countrymen around to the beliefs of Ascendancy.

This year the construction of his craft has been contributed to by fellow believers and it is his hope that this new ship will catapult him into the winner's circle.

Kestrel V
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)[[User:LegionDD|LegionDD]] ([[User talk:LegionDD|talk]]) 08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

The original Kestral was one of the Kingdom of Mournecreek's best models from the Colony Wars. Though the model name has been maintained over the years, the current model retains little resemblance to the original. In fact, the Mark V Kestrel bears little resemblance to the Mark IVs which are currently on the market. The V takes advantage of all the latest technology, using integrated gravimetric systems, with the matrixes built directly into the hull. The result is a superbly agile craft powered by a pair of mighty Soltano R-Series 5-over-5 engines, which combine to give it unparalleled speed at an extremely low rate of fuel combustion.

The ship's split wing ultra-sleek design makes it the most aerodynamic out of any of the competitors, an advantage that may come in handy should the IAO once again hold an intra-atmosphere event.

Raulien Desarc
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)[[User:LegionDD|LegionDD]] ([[User talk:LegionDD|talk]]) 08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

Age: 25

Rank: Duke (86th from the Throne)

Affiliation: Ascendant, Subject of Mournecreek.

Piloting Style: Showboat.

The primary funds for The Ascendant Flight comes from the man who is also its lead pilot, Raulien Desarc. Playboy and Chairman of the Borizzi Industries' board. He also has a hereditary position in the ladder of the Mournecreek monarchy. As a Duke, he holds the owner's share in several planets, based off deeds granted to his family by the monarch of Mournecreek.
Notorious for his playboy lifestyle, it is often that Desarc is seen celebrating, girls draped on either arm, a bottle of his favorite Bitsari Dark in one hand. Desarc is a permanent runner up in the IST. Several times he has seen the trophy within his grasp, only to succumb to his crafts' various intermittent reliability issues. Desarc has his own reliability issues and is famous for showing up to matches drunk, only to win them by significant margins.

`Soltano <Soltano.html>`_ engines
`Winman <Winman.html>`_ Hulls
`Pinemead <Pinemead.html>`_ Cores
`Borizzi <Borizzi.html>`_ flights+navs

Polaris Twisters
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~

The Polaris Twisters are sponsored jointly by the Polaris Concordat's Altirmis Stellar Transport agency and the Concordat Bureau of Civic Administration. The Polaris Twisters have entered the Tournament year after year and the team has taken home silver or bronze medals in the past, but they are still waiting for their gold. The cooperative effort between the two Polaris Concordat agencies has brought in a great deal of funding from other groups wishing to hang their name on one of the Tournament's top teams. The result is more funding comes from outside of the Concordat then within, which is a good thing for the Concordat's tax-payers.

The team's latest recruitment cycle polled thousands of citizens of the Concordat and, despite the small number of planets under Concordat control, the scholarship competitions for the Concordat team were some of the most fierce technically excellent, drawing the largest number of viewers for any pre-Tournament event.

Twisted Lightning
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

Truly riding the storm, the Polarian Twisted Lightning Interceptor has long been a stable of the `Concordat Bureau of Civic Administration <Concordat_Bureau_of_Civic_Administration.html>`_'s system patrols. The Twisted Lightning has powerful grav systems to increase maneuverability; an innovative Shunt buffer, which trickles power into high-output burst cells, allowing the pilot to overpower thrusters and have a limited period of unheard-of maneuverability when required; and special enhanced sensors.

The Lightning has a special balance, or rather, a lack of balance. An inequality in the structure and engine design makes the Lightning very difficult to fly but highly maneuverable as well. The ship can rotate, twist, and turn with a great deal of accuracy and speed. Encounters with normal models have seen Lightnings flip, maintain their speed while in reverse, and launch a missile salvo at pursuing ships before flipping back again, all in under three minutes. With the extra money that the Concordat has received for this Tournament, it is likely that this ship is anything but the standard model. Opponents should likely prepare for chases to turn to retreats in short order.

Selene Tala
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~

Age: 23

Rank: Constable

Affiliation: Polaris Concordat.

Piloting Style: Cautious.

Selene Tala is a favorite of many Tournament fans, though many would say that this is more because the majority of the tournament's viewers are male then because of her season of wins.
Despite her status as the IST's semi-official pretty face, Tala is an excellent pilot. She was selected out of a group of elite pilots, all of whom were competing for the Concordat teams' lead pilot position. Extremely precise combat techniques and exquisite grace mark Tala's fighting style when she's on somebody's six. She has an unfortunate tendency to fluster under fire and her natural caution, while good for running a patrol on the Concordat's borders, works against her in the tournament. Many speculate that it is this lack of adaptability that will prevent her from achieving the gold. Others look at her performance thus far and find themselves impressed. Either way, Tala is a formidable opponent.

Like all citizens of the Concordat, Tala is on a rotating sequence for military service. She has been deferred from her latest service requirement in order to participate in the tournament.
`Innertai <Innertai.html>`_ launch systems
`Talisorn Mining Union <Talisorn_Mining_Union.html>`_
`Altirmis Stellar Transport <Altirmis_Stellar_Transport.html>`_
`Concordat Bureau of Civic Administration <Concordat_Bureau_of_Civic_Administration.html>`_

The Foyeri Technicals
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~

Foyeri, once the providence of a house of Antares, has since become a power in and of itself. With the influence of its business enterprises the House Foyeri is one of the primary manufacturers of electronic hardware. In previous tournaments Foyeri has supported the teams of other manufacturers inside Antarean borders, but this year they have fielded a team of their own.
With their first entry into the tournament, the Foyeri group of companies has a lot to prove, with Foyeri Astrotech taking the lead by manufacturing a majority of the entry ship's components. The Foyeri Technicals is a team determined to prove itself, its ability, and the quality of its products at any cost.

Quadiis M.IV
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~
Foyeri never fails to impress. Every entry into the IST in which the House is involved is always a success, so this year, with the Technicals' almost entirely Foyeri-crafted Quadiis, tournament watchers are keenly following the ship's appearances leading up to the tournament.
Foyeri has managed to keep the M.IV under wraps and its specs away from the press, in fact, the M.III and II have yet to even reach the market. The two models are anticipated to sell out upon their introduction, planned for the eve of the tournament. However, Foyeri's researchers and engineers have published a number of articles detailing the reduction in artificial compensating equipment and the refinement of hull balance that many suspect are to be the primary factors in the construction of the M.IV. The research available and the team's budget, the highest in the tournament, only raises the high levels of anticipation in regards to the Foyeri entry.

The Quadiis is perhaps the most unusual entry in the tournament, as it is the largest ship with the greatest mass. However, the ship's sled-hull configuration and incredibly balanced center of gravity are expected to provide key advantages in the various tournament events, especially those events involving heavy combat. The ship, without a doubt, has the best balanced hull and is the most heavily armed of any ship in the tournament.

The ship is also one of the first anywhere to implement the Antarean/TCI Second Spine technology. Still highly experiential, the Flight had to request special permission to have it installed in their ship and in their pilot. It is believed that the Second Spine will give Foyeri's pilot an unanticipated, unpredictable, and remarkable advantage.

Alfieri Cirroco
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)
Age: 27

Rank: Mercenary

Affiliation: None Declared.

Piloting Style: Inhuman.

Son of shipping magnate Jihradaro Cirocco, Alfieri Cirroco is independently wealth, but he has always worked as a pay-to-fight pilot, leaving his social status behind every time he enters the cockpit. One of the most talented pilots for hire in the Orion Arm, Cirroco suffers from none of the flaws that are intrinsic to the spoiled and reckless youth who are his contemporaries. He fights as hard as any of the sponsorship pilots in the competition, some might say harder. He has long had a reputation in starfighter circles, but this is the first time he has agreed to enter the IST.

In interviews, Cirroco has come across as cold and distant. He rarely makes public appearances and at times he has been described as mercurial, especially when it comes to his performance as a pilot. His reputation is not the only thing that is keeping other pilots on the edge; Cirroco's willingness to be implanted with the Second Spine bio-mod has many competitors wondering if the toughened Cirroco has gone over the deep end. Some fear something even worse, that Cirroco has been waiting for the Spine neural link all along, the one device that could possibly amplify his piloting skills beyond human norms.
Cirroco has not been seen outside of his flight suit since he took the Foyeri contract. Many believe that it is some sort of media campaign.

`Foyeri Astrotech <Foyeri_Astrotech.html>`_ (hull/systems)

`Momotaru Organics <Momotaru_Organics.html>`_

`Al-Huriya Shippping <Al-Huriya_Shippping.html>`_

Permanent Impacts
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

The Permanent Impacts is a fairly new team, only having participated in the last three tournaments. Though they have previously held contests between both pilots and corporations for the honor of being on the team, this year the Republic of Cinnabar's team is mostly being funded by the fast personal fortune of Vehrat Kasori, the President of Cinnabar. As such he was also the one who picked the lead pilot, who just happened to be his wife.

Oddly, this is also the year in which the team has received the highest level of funding compared to previous tournaments. Enough so that, for the first time, the Impacts are flying custom designed ships.
No one is quite sure what to think of this years Cinnabarian entry. On one hand the display showings and run-up tournaments participated in by its lead pilot have been unmistakably impressive, with shredding speed and thrilling lightning-quick engagements. On the other hand, some observers can't shake the feeling that this year's team is little more then a prize for the President to give to his wife.

Djinn
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)

The Djinn is a completely original ship, custom designed and built for this year's IST on its pilot's specifications. The Djinn is a ship built for speed. It has been designed around a Tir-Bodah Valaris Mark 6 Air/Space hybrid engine, which was originally constructed for a higher class of ship. The rate of acceleration and top speed level is so high that the largest problem with the ship's design was keeping it from sheering off pieces every time it started moving. The engine was further modified with two scoops to keep fuel consumption down. Another byproduct of the oversized engine is that it allows the Djinn to mount one of the most powerful energy weapons in the IST. Run-up tournaments and tests have shocked and amazed viewers as the Djinn slipped into one follow slot after another and blew away the competition with a single blinding shot.

The ship's forward momentum is so huge that the Cinnibar had to pay Foyeri Astrotech to install a heavier grav system then is normal for a starfighter, a system that takes up large swaths of the ship's main hull. Even so, the Djinn is very difficult to turn and as a result maintaining a bead on a more maneuverable ship can be difficult. Another serious worry for the Impacts is that an overturn by the pilot could very well be disastrous, once it snaps into a slot it moves so quickly that it can fall irrevocably behind during a pursuit. However, with its speed, the Djinn is the last craft you want on your six, thanks to the skill of its pilot, once it drops down it is a case of unstoppable object; its highly accurate primary weapon and high-level engine lets it close the space quickly and blow its opponents to scrap before an enemy can even think about jigging away.

Yanadra Kasori
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)[[User:LegionDD|LegionDD]] ([[User talk:LegionDD|talk]]) 08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)
Rank: Salaah

Affiliation: Cinnabarian Presidential Guard

Piloting Style: Automatic/Reflexive.

Yanadra Kasori started her life as a herd-poke on Poranti, where she learned the thrills of speed side by side with her father, riding powerful Gravbikes to find and round up Rhynth-beasts. Later, she was recruited by the `Cinnabar Bright Navigators <Cinnabar_Bright_Navigators.html>`_, the Republic of Cinnabar's elite officer training program.

The CBN took her directly to their special training-grounds in the `Japesh <Japesh.html>`_ system, where she pursued a meteoric career as a fighter pilot. Kasori rose rapidly through the military ranks until she was recruited by the Republican Guard, an select group responsible for the protection of Cinnabar's political upper-class. She eventually made it to the highest position in the Guard, Salaah of the presidential protection unit.

As closest bodyguard and personal pilot to the President of the Republic of Cinnabar, she and Vehrat Kasori became very close. Three years after achieving the Salaah position, Yanadra married President Kasori, becoming one of his many wives.

The Impacts' ship in this year's IST was custom built for Kasori
`Tir-Bodah <Tir-Bodah.html>`_ - cores
`Mezzian <Mezzian.html>`_ Hull/systems
`Foyeri Astrotech <Foyeri_Astrotech.html>`_ grav systems
`Ghabool-Cinnabar <Ghabool-Cinnabar.html>`_ venture capitalist

Locations
---------

Remnant
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

Before the United League of Planets formed, a number of powers had their own less efficient, but profitable, trade routes. In order to regulate the routes and to keep creating income, the controlling power set up a number of toll and trade stations. The Yirezian Line was one of Polaris's pre-league trade routes that fell out of use when the League powers combined their trade lanes. The Remnant tournament area is one of the few remaining checkpoints from the Yirezian line, a hub of scanners, cheep weapon emplacements, and empty launch bays. If you listen carefully, you can hear half-dead computers chanting out jump information through frequency static.
The neglected area had become filled with pirates over the years, and in exchange for eradicating the smugglers and mercenaries from the region IAO has obtained permission to restore the area to its previous state and use it as a combat arena in the tournament. The long thin area, once used as drifting space for ships that were calculating the next hyper-jump in the trade-line sequence, has now become one of the most tactically interesting zones in the IST. With numerous bottle neck areas and ambush points, Remnant provides pilots with the opportunity to show off their mental ability as well as their physical.

Shorter
08:12, 9 July 2015 (UTC)~~

Before the United League of Planets formed, a number of powers maintained their own trade routes. In order to regulate and profit from the routes, a number of toll and trade stations were established along the route. The Yirezian Line was one of Polaris's pre-league trade routes that fell out of use when the League powers combined their trade lanes. The Remnant tournament area is one of the few remaining Yirezian checkpoints, a hub of scanners, cheep weapon emplacements, and empty launch bays. If you listen carefully, you can hear half-dead computers chanting out jump information through the static.
The IAO has eradicated any pirates from the area and obtained permission to restore the area and use it as a combat arena. The long thin belt of space, once used as drifting space for ships that were calculating the next hyper-jump in the sequence, is now one of the most tactically interesting zones in the IST. With numerous bottle neck areas and ambush points, Remnant lets pilots show off their mental ability as well as their physical.
`Category:History <History.html>`_

Location LeBenz Cluster

2015-07-09T08:12:43Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

`Category:Locations <Locations.html>`_

`Category:History <History.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

A tight cluster of new stars and nebulaic detritus corewards of the `Antarean Empire <Antarean_Empire.html>`_ and located in the center of the `6th District <6th_District.html>`_

This crucible of stellar rebirth contains the highest level of heavy metals per cubic AU in the known galaxy. Hence, a strong industrial culture has grown up along the flux-paths of the hundreds of novae and smaller nebulae that make up the cluster - a community of systems known as the `Foyeri Union <Foyeri_Union.html>`_

The LeBenz Cluster would in later years become a battleground - the spinward front of the terrible `Solesian Conflict <Solesian_Conflict.html>`_, the war that in no small part forced the League into existence.

Politics Ministry Vox Dei

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The `Ministry of Vox Dei <Vox_Dei.html>`_.

Within the restored Empire no security organ or political branch as little understood or silently feared as that of the Ministry of the Vox Dei. In the old Empire, the Vox Dei was the Emperor’s eye, ear, and hand across the territory claimed by the Empire and beyond. Little distinction can be made between the MVD of old its newest iteration. In many ways, the Vox Dei exists in parallel to the AISN and AIA, as it possesses substantial naval and ground-based assets. MVD is meant to act as a check on the power of the other civil and armed forces branches and answers directly to the Emperor and his advisors. Little is publicly discussed regarding the MVD, but there is much animosity towards the Ministry and its operators from all corners of the Imperial government. Some believe that it is a threat to the integrity of the Empire, but little evidence of this has surfaced. Above all, members remain fanatically loyal to the emperor, perhaps even to the point of paranoia.

Vox Dei History
-------------------------

The End of the First MVD
-------------------------------------

The Ministry of Vox Dei was an agency created by the First Emperor during the beginning years of the 1st Antarean Space Empire when he realized that good intentions alone was not enough to control an empire. It steadily expanded and was involved in a huge shadow war spanning from just before the formation of the ULP right up to the end of the first war. When the war ended and the ULP took power from the Upper class and gave it to the people, who would form the Antarean Federation, the common man who was sick of being spied upon and manipulated pinned almost all the problems of the old Empire on it's strongest and least known arm... the Ministry of Vox Dei. The political leaders of that time purged the empire of MVD influence, agents, ships, and bases, all but eliminating the MVD.

The Seed of the New MVD
----------------------------------------

All that was left of the MVD (besides an extensive body of pulp fiction novels, which were popular sellers among the populace) was a partial copy of it's datacore and its leader’s collection of books, along with a number of other miscellaneous books all of which was in the possession of the Custodia who were in charge of the Emperor's daughter and then later the man who is Emperor today. During the period of the Emperor's hiding a young man named Sivon came across the documents and began to train himself in the now century old techniques of the Ministry of Vox Dei. Close to the Emperor himself, Sivon advocated a reformation of the agency as the best way to restore order, insure loyalty, and keep the old "high families" in check. The Emperor agreed and named Sivon the head of the new MVD. Sivon had already been training a number of agents which became his core group. Though it was done in great secret Sivon culled some of the best and brightest from the 2nd ASE's worlds to be incorporated into the new MVD.

New Order
---------------

The MVD has grown almost exponentially since and is extremely powerful and secretive. Knowledge of it's very existence keeps most of the less orderly of the populace in check and a few key assassinations has insured political stability for the Empire. The Sword and Scales, symbol of the MVD, symbolizes the only agency in the Empire that approaches the Emperor himself in power.

The MVD is powerful, effective, and always in the shadows. Pervigil is its motto, meaning Always Vigilant, and it is.

http://www.dendezyn.net/images/MVDSilver.jpg

`Category:Factions <Factions.html>`_

`Category:History <History.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

Faction Sol Solarian League

2015-07-09T08:12:27Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

the old garde and no longer the main power core, still much levi in solesia

`Sol <Sol.html>`_ earth, now mostly empty and desserted. still massive city by modern standards. old factories on mars. many slipgates.

`Alpha Centauri <Alpha_Centauri.html>`_ badly and expensively failed colony

`Proxima Centauri <Proxima_Centauri.html>`_ nothing here of interest

`Tau Ceti <Tau_Ceti.html>`_ rich, much ore and high level research

`Barnard's Star <Barnard's_Star.html>`_ very developed system, urban.

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:History <History.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

System Sol Sol

2015-07-09T08:12:22Z

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Sol is the home system of the human race. Sol is a standard yellow main sequence dwarf star, and is orbited by (in order of closeness) Mercury, Venus, Earth (officially Terra), Mars, the inner asteroid belt and the dwarf planet Ceres, the gas giants Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, the Edgeworth-Kuiper Belt dwarf planets Pluto, Eris, Laeota, Corissica, Sedna, Orcus, Quaoar, and Varuna. Of the outer dwarf planets, only Pluto, Eris and Corissica have moons.

Sol is the starsystem from which all humanity originates. Now long lost in another galactic arm.

Weapon Sniper nfc P8

2015-07-09T08:12:17Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

AIA - Salier P8 'Pete'
===============

Longrange Rifle

This lengthy scoped rifle was developed directly from `Salier's <Manufacturer_AE_Salier>`_ long popular civillian hunting rifles, and fires the standard `RSM class <Ammunition_AIA_RSM>`_ and `RSL rounds <Ammunition_AIA_RSL>`_ with incredible accuracy. Also features scope and optional supressor, mags of 20.

.. image:: http://katana.aff2aw.com/affdata/planetstorm/FPWeapons/aia-p8.jpg

Issued by: `Antarean Imperial Army <Antarean_Imperial_Army>`_

`Category: Infantry Weapons <Catagory_Infantry_Weapons>`_

`Manufacturer: Salier <Manufacturer_AE_Salier>`_

Ammunition:
- `RSL class <Ammunition_AIA_RSL>`_
- `RSM class <Ammunition_AIA_RSM>`_

Bio Sivon

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''Two Bio Portraits''

Picture one is a snapshot that was obviously taken in less then optimal conditions. The edges of the picture are blurred, but the photographer managed to get Sivon and the area immediately around him in crisp focus. To his right, slightly out of focus, is a well manicured male hand with scale armor going from just above the wrist to the edge of the photo and at the very edge of the visible arm is a green cuff and a bit of purple, making the edge of a robe. The hand rests on a golden throne of which only a single golden corner and a single, large, valuable looking gem is visible. Behind and in font of him are wildly cheering crowds facing the person in the chair. The platform itself seems like a grand construct of wood and shining stainless steel layering on top of each other but in this picture, which must have been taken very close to the front, it can be seen that it is more of a hurried affair then it seemed. Behind Sivon the cheering crowds can be seen face on, their hands alternatively up in the air, applauding, or to their mouths as they hoot their appreciation. Above them all, its top just below the upper left edge of the picture, bisected by the side of the picture is a huge holo-screen, on stilts to get it above the crowd, so that it can be seen from afar. The screen projects a view of the Emperor (cut down the center, like the screens), a handsome young man with blond hair and intelligent black eyes, as the crown is coming down on his head.

Sivon himself is standing at strict, rigid, military attention, hands clasped behind his back. He is older then the Emperor by about 18 years. He is wearing a one-piece black garment with a single utility pocket on his right leg. The suit is undecorated except for a silver line that runs from his left shoulder to the center of his chest and back to the left shoulder. He has an embossed gold Scale of Justice with a dagger as the center pole placed on the right side of his chest, just below the silver line. Sivon’s eyes are faded green, almost to the point of grayness and are staring steadily into the crowd, somewhere over the shoulder of the photographer. His hair is black and short. All in all, the picture portrays that of an attentive and loyal public servant with an undercurrent of great attentiveness and some tenseness. His posture is at attention, but the very tightness of that posture shows a need to control the situation around him and his eyes are almost hawk-like in their intensity. His face, though just above the photograph’s center, is the focus of attention. It’s both rigidly tentative and fiercely independent. While his perfect physical condition and distant stare make Sivon seem as if he is posing for a Antarean recruitment poster, the plain black body suit sets him apart. His most noticeable feature is the scar down his face’s left side, running from just above and to the (outside) side of his eye down to the middle of his slim cheek.

2. Picture two is an action shot in the field, at least it seems that way. The entire shot is dark and slightly blurred, there is some smoke rising up from the floor and that combined with the smallest bit of ambient light allows the viewer to make out the dimmest outline of a black greatcoat twirling in the smoke as Sivon is swiveling in place. Most of the rest of the light in the picture gleams off of Sivon’s eyes, which are not so different then they were in the first picture, except they are far more predatory now, approaching slits. His smile, showing the smallest amount of gleaming teeth, seems a mere slit as well. The light gleams off the outline of the scar, giving his face an almost Cheshire cat appearance with only those three features, eyes, mouth and scar, showing in his entire upper body. Though he is in the process of turning his face still faces the camera, looking at it straight on. In the center of the picture the light flashes off a gun muzzle, directly facing the camera, which Sivon is obviously about to shoot.

'''Age''': 44

'''Height''':

'''Weight''':

'''Hair''':

'''Eyes''':

`Category:Bio <Bio.html>`_

Ship Dropship AISN Cricket

2015-07-09T08:12:07Z

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It is clear to anyone why they callec this the Cricket. The long grav fins sticking out from the main hull makes this dropship very manouverable in and out atmo.

The Cricket can carry a host of different droppods and material for ground attack or capital ship boarding.

Although as a landing craft it has some counter missile measures, this has not been as usefull as hoped. Not only are most targeted by railgun instead of missiles, those that are; are often completely swarmed and overwhelmed.

Stats:
Hull Integrity: 110.000p
Hull Armour: 30p
Shield Strength: 5.000p
Max Thrust: 3700p
Lenght: 57m

Armament:
2x Vulcan turret

Weapon HSW AIA MLI

2015-07-09T08:12:01Z

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AIA - Kaller MLI
================

Missile Launcher Infantry

This innovative weapon by `Kaller <Manufacturer_AE_Kaller>`_ mounts racks of `38mm MLI38 missile's <Ammunition_AIA_MLI38>`_. The missiles come in varying degrees of technology, the MLI38-FAF fire and forget advanced locking missile, and the simple MLI38-DF with no guidance.

The MLI has the ability to acquire a lock on its targets. To lock-on, simply keep the enemy vehicle in your reticle while zoomed in for a few seconds. A marker and a beep will confirm lock-on. Each MLI round contains cluster missiles which splits up and seek the target independently. You can even do this under cover, as long as the lock is maintained, line-of-sight isn’t required. Extremely effective against aerocraft. Be careful of using this in enclosed spaces, you can easily kill yourself with it.

.. image:: http://katana.aff2aw.com/affdata/planetstorm/FPWeapons/aia-mli.jpg

Issued by: `Antarean Imperial Army <Antarean_Imperial_Army>`_

`Category: Infantry Weapons <Catagory_Infantry_Weapons>`_

`Manufacturer: Kaller <Manufacturer_AE_Kaller>`_

`Ammunition: MLI38 class <Ammunition_AIA_MLI38>`_

Location Illuvian Triangle

2015-07-09T08:11:56Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Surrounding the `Norway <Norway.html>`_ System is a grouping of defensively reinforced systems known as the Illuvian Triangle, a grouping of systems who's defenses were created to protect the `Norway <Norway.html>`_ system and its entrance to the `Thriacia Wormhole Network <Thriacia_Wormhole_Network.html>`_. These Systems are:

>`Albion <Albion.html>`_

>`Origault <Origault.html>`_

>`Urbantes <Urbantes.html>`_

These systems are also considered part of the `Treadway Line <Treadway_Line.html>`_ and [[Treadway Defense Systems|equipped appropriately.]]

Weapon Pistol ULA UDP

2015-07-09T08:11:51Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

ULA - Corps-Miyaki UDP
==========================

Semi-Automatic Pistol

the UDP is a chunky, no nonsense affair that accepts the same 8.13 `GAR class ammunition <Ammunition_GAR>`_ as the `DK-11 assault rifle <ULA_Rifle_DK-11>`_ but in clips of 18. the UDP is very good for a last resort weapon, but lacks accuracy.

.. image:: http://katana.aff2aw.com/affdata/planetstorm/FPWeapons/ula-udp.jpg

`Category: Infantry Weapons <Infantry_Weapons>`_

`Manufacturer: Corps-Miyaki <Corps-Miyaki>`_

`Ammunition: GAR class <Ammunition_GAR>`_

System Polaris Helios

2015-07-09T08:11:46Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Askey city, the capital of Helios is the hub of the Polaris Concordat's `Bureau of Civic Administration <Concordat_Bureau_of_Civic_Administration.html>`_. Their offices and holdings account for some quarter of the planet's surface area. This titanic administration engine not only deals with the day-to-day running of the concordat, but hires it's resources to other stellar nations, providing complete financial and civic admin packages for entire worlds.
Due to the immense importance of the zettabytes of information stored in the CBCA server silos deep underground, the city has the authority to maintain and deploy its own advanced security and intelligence forces in addition to the concordat military.

Known simply as the Bureau, the conglomerate of governmental and commercial entities and their secretive and paranoid security forces have often been the center of controversy and media speculation, being virtually a law unto themselves. However the fact remains that perpetrations of fraud, robbery and data abuse against the CBCA are virtually unheard of.

`Category:Systems <Systems.html>`_

`Category:History <History.html>`_

System Taurean Raikonen

2015-07-09T08:11:41Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Systems <Systems.html>`_

Raikonen - home of the headquarters of the `ULA <United_League_Army.html>`_'s premiere special forces outfit, LSO-1

a hot F0 class star with 4 barren rocky planets with various different nasty atmospheres.

Site Interactive Galaxy Map

2015-07-09T08:11:36Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Soon we will have a fully interactive navigable map of the "present day" geopolitical landscape of the Angels Fall First universe.

For now please use these map renders:

.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/AFFU.jpg

.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/AE.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/ANC.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/CB.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/AE.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/AE.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/DIC.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/DUF.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/EBA.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/ETR.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/FU.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/KMC.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/PC.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/SH.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/SL.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/SR.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/TC.jpg
.. image:: http://www.affuniverse.com/artdepot/public/cartography/empyrianreef0014.jpg

Novella Taking Back Lukather Prime

2015-07-09T08:11:31Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Through the porthole of the dragoon, Nizar could just make out the last flaming wrecks of the planetary defence fleet spiraling gracelessly through the upper stratosphere. the USN advance force had advanced so quickly the debris had not even had time to reach the surface.

Perhaps the AISN had pushed the boat out too far spearheading this deep into the system so far from their nearest outpost - a miscalculation? Human error? Whatever the reason, the commanders of the punitive force which had overrun the regular militia in the Lukather system had failed to track the deep scan telltales of the USN 33rd fleet running CSP down the treadway line. Within a day of the occupation, the 33rd bludgeoned its way in-system, sweeping aside even the antarean heavy cruisers in an orgy of firepower.

Commander Ibrahim Al-Imam Khan was furious. The rumors were that he was spacing the prisoners rather than look at an antarean face. He had grown up round here and he didn't like his hometown being invaded. Most of the 33rd had their roots round here somewhere, this rough and rowdy quarter of the district. Piracy and everyday life were almost interchangeable around the border systems between Sidemore and Cinnabar, the loose relations and scant law enforcement making it an appreciated blind spot for the less sophisticated entrepreneurs of the galaxy.

Nizar Hussein Al-Jamil was once himself of this particular breed, though perhaps not as coldhearted as some. the war had changed many things. His father Hussein had told him to protect only the thing of most value to him, and not to worry about the smaller things. When he had asked what that thing was, his father had simply smiled that squinting toothless grin and declared that at that moment, for him it was to protect his heaviest pocket.

Nizar held the memory close. he had not been a good father, but a pirate who took in his love-children at all was a cut above the rest. The beatings had indeed built Nizar's character as promised, and that character was put to good use on his father's team of mercenaries and other unsavouries.
Nizar had been the only survivor of the raid on Esteban 3. The vox dei had found him cowering under an upturned cupboard, and sickened by his cowardice, had meted out all kinds of entertaining punishments before finally clearing him of any deeper involvement in the drugs ring they were investigating, and throwing him out of the nearest door.

Maybe he held a grudge against the MVD. Maybe that was why he'd signed with the 33rd. He had to come down somewhere - deal as big as this, it doesn't do to get caught in the middle. All he knew was that the life he had led involved killing and fighting and surviving. what flag he was under didn't seem to matter.
The klaxon galvanized his pensive mind as the marshal hit the door release and the ozone-smell of fried air blasted in as the shields went down. the thick hull of the dragoon was pretty much soundproof after descent was over, and the sudden introduction of the noise of a full-scale planetary invasion into the muted apprehension of the dropship was like a baseball bat around the ears.

"PLATOON, STAND AND FILE... SOUND OFF..." the fifty men jolted to their feet and mechanically numbered themselves off as each fought his own private hell in his own mind... "PLATOON, ASSUME READY STANCE" - Nizar clipped his visor over his helmet, ran his wrist readout through the operational inits and grabbed the two solid yellow bars above his head...

"PLATOON, MAN A.I.V's"... each man pulled his legs up and into a 2 foot porch in the sides of the bay. each porch contained a AIV, an atmospheric insertion vehicle. essentially a missile whose warhead was a soldier. even through the grav dampers, an AIV could pull your lips back over your head at launch. and when you got to the target, the shell of the aiv would blow, leaving you to free-fall the last hundred yard or so before a particle chute deployed and braked you from a thousand miles per to walking speed. that was if you didn't graze a wingtip and end up as planet jam. and then you got to actually fight people.
that made the marines who volunteered to join the airborne assault some of the craziest mothers around. they were the absolute tip of the infantry spear and this mission, like so many before, would place them very nearly at the epicenter of enemy activity with an impossible task. in this case, hack the city defense batteries of Santa Rito - capital of the system, to soften the way for the army grunts to follow.

Nazir's face slid up against the HUD of the AIV and through the plex he saw the target area, low and flat and covered in foliage with a million sparklers of tracer-fire zipping up towards him in that pretty way that they do. this was really going to hurt he decided. in the distance he could see the strike team of velius and ventura class mechs zipping about the city's generator blocks. they looked like tiny figurines miming out some ancient martial dance, lancing slivers of light from their fingertips and setting the ground ablaze.

the marshal's voice cracked in his ear, "PLATOON, AIV's ONLINE". he flicked the switches. the engine behind him began to bawl. every muscle tensed, Nazir eyed the ground below him. soon no more thinking. soon only fighting.

"PLATOON, LAUNCH" - momentary oblivion while the grav dampers powered up, and then the sensation of free-fall took him. the AIV jettisoned from the hull of the dropship, and nazir floated momentarily in the spangled stardust of anti-aircraft shells. then with a primal scream the engines kicked the world away and nazir and the other 50 of C platoon, 12th Planetary Assault, 33rd Fleet sped away like so many poison arrows towards the heart of the city.

`Category:Universe <Universe>`_

`Category:Fiction <Fiction>`_

Location Diyala Star Cluster

2015-07-09T08:11:26Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

A region of highly volatile, rare element rich, young stars. Forming a cluster. Its impossible to go much further coreward since the exotic and highly dangerous cosmic radation spikes in such areas. No known colonies exist beyond this point.

One system, Ferroch, originally belonging to the Foyeri Union went to close to this cluster and everyone was either evacuated or toasted. Its location is now unknown and got lost in between the interference from the galactic core.

Faction Piratical Republic of Glyfhaven

2015-07-09T08:11:22Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

a small independant area of mostly friendly same minded people, many of them pirates. the only thing binding them is the lack of any laws or goverment, but merely gentlemans rules.
located around glyfhaven in the delphinus nebula.

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Glyfhaven <Glyfhaven.html>`_ several large mafia run stations

`Penion's Lament <Penion's_Lament.html>`_

`New Start <New_Start.html>`_ worst of the worst

Ship Lineship AISN Chons

2015-07-09T08:11:17Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Chons has fast become the primary frigate of the Imperial fleet due to its speed, impressive firepower, and powerful sensors and ECM equipment. First deployed in late 983 AE, commanders first utilized the Chons' startling abilities in the Battle of Arfurio, where an outnumbered Imperial division fooled a League task-force into retreating by having a squadron of Chons frigates appear to be an entire arm of an Imperial reinforcements.

The Chons carries an impressive mix of weaponry, with the typical Imperial predominance of energy based systems. While the vessel's Rail cannons give the frigate an impressive mid-range advantage over most destroyers and corvettes in service on both sides, it is the seven Leighflanger Light PlasBeam Cannons that truly make this vessel a terror of the battle-field. Though they lack the power of capital-class plasbeams the sheer volume of fire the ship is able to produce is truly impressive to behold.

This deadly firepower comes at a price. The energy drain caused by repeated firing of its plasBeam cannons has been known to overload power-transfer systems aboard the ship. Likewise, it is difficult for the Chons to sustain repeated firing of all of its primary weapon systems for very long. However, the vessels relatively thin armor coupled with the critical shortage of munitions among Imperial forces means that for all of its firepower, the Chons' survivability drops exponentially in protracted engagements.

The Chons is best employed as a raider, slipping around concentrations of enemy units to attack staging areas and weaker ships.

Known ship:
AISNV Kell Aset

Stats:
Hull Integrity: 330.000p
Hull Armour: 70p
Shield Strength: 30.000p
Max thrust: 3200p
Lenght: 440m

Armament:
2x Twin-linked medium ion cannon
6x Anti-ship torpedo tubes
1x Twin-linked plasma cannon
2x Vulcan turret
1x Medium spinal ion cannon
1x Small spinal ion cannon

Fighter bay:
8x Drone station

Novella Almighty Dollar

2015-07-09T08:11:12Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Arim kicked the offending console and the screen fuzzed back into clarity. Lately the Scorpio had taken a few really rough knocks and he was beginning to worry about the amount he was having to spend simply keeping her spaceworthy.

The dull glow of the landing halos scrolled in waves across the rear bulkhead as Tyro gently nosed her into the secluded hangar. Arim glanced out to starboard as they crossed the threshold - he could just make out the tiny red pinpoints of the control tower and the repair buildings through the tangle of wreckage, cabling and joists.

He hated Senechaux City. Not that this was an unusual emotion to be associated with one of the most feared pirate enclaves in the federation, it was just that the whole scene was so cliched. The system government of Barthui had basically forsaken an entire southern continent of Three, their imaginatively named third planet. since the last rebellion twenty or so years ago, pockets of inhabited Barthui planets had become so infested with organized crime that the administration had simply given up on them, and as long as their criminal denizens operated out-system and caused the locals no grief they were prepared to ignore the sprawling "pirate cities" that sprung up to cater for the industry.

Arim stretched back in his seat with his arms crossed behind him and sighed. It would be totally predictable - he would leave the Scorpio, probably encountering one of his many enemies straight off the boarding ramp. He would have to talk or shoot his way out of that one, then he would head over to Rosie's with the crew for a drink (Arim didn't even drink, but his crew took it upon themselves to ensure that any alcohol that would otherwise have remained unconsumed was taken good care of in his absence).

No doubt he would be accosted at the bar by another enemy before he had even bought the first round. Another fight, another argument. then when his crew had finally found a decent table and settled in, without fail yet more long-time foes would stalk over to them and challenge them to yet another fight or yet another argument.

He's had this dispute with the crew since they first started running the Foyeri mainline. They wanted to hang out in what they considered to be appropriate piratey circles. To drink in bars where to walk out at last orders with all your limbs intact was considered "a good night". Although Arim was unquestionably a black-hearted scoundrel the likes of which made god-fearing men whisper his name, he had never seen the need to act like a neanderthal about it. He would much rather have berthed on a civilized world with some nice roman restaurants and perhaps some places of historic interest to visit.

Still. the only way he was going to be able to enjoy the finer of life's offerings was to make a shitload of money, and piracy was sure as hell a fun way to do that.

The Scorpio made the final approach and began her turning maneuvers in order to meet the clamps descending from the starport ceiling. Warm terracotta sunlight drifted over the bridge for a moment before the clamps blotted out the skyline, and with a huge muffled clang the ship was docked.

Tyro locked his grips and turned to Arim. "Sorted," he said, winking. The big man climbed out of the pilot's rig and stretched himself, cat-like. He looked around at the other bridge crew. "Rosie's then? Sia?"
Sia the comms chick had just finished shutting down her terminal. She yawned, pulled her hair forward over her head and yanked the jack from the back of her neck. "First shit first sweetheart. I'm sure the boss doesn't want us sitting here deadclamped with a hold full of hot muffins."

Hot Muffins was the charming term used to describe whatever contraband or stolen property was currently occupying their heavily shielded cargo bay. In this particular instance they had intercepted a barge stacked with commercial-grade ship CPU's. It had been an easy haul, the timid agency captain easily frightened into submitting his wares without a single shot being fired.
Of course Arim's crew had wanted to pillage, but he'd managed to persuade them that the CPU's were enough, and had probably saved the lives of several of the barges crewmen, and certainly preserved the honor of the crewwomen.

Arim tapped up the fake manifest and hit the Upload button. "The lady isn't wrong. Gimme a sec Ty"... a moment passed and a standard loading invoice appeared, awaiting his signature. Arim dashed off his flamboyant tag with the stylus and smacked the "PROCEED" icon. The screen was replaced with a detailed Auto-Load receipt documenting the automatic freight transit status of 38 crates of "SOFT TOYS AND STATIONARY ITEMS" from the hold of the Scorpio to the underground freight vaults of the Senechaux port complex, where they would be kept until retrieved by the owner or buyer. The description was a local tradition since the whole performance was only for the benefit of the aging automated cargo handling system, and no records were ever kept.
They waited. Sia lit a cigarette. After 20 or so seconds, more muffled metallic noises signaled the unloading process had begun.
Arim shut down his station and stood, retrieving the master key from the command terminal and slipping it in his pocket. "Ok gang. Rosie's"

---------------

There were no fights on the way to the bar. In fact the whole atmosphere of Senechaux was eerily quiet. The usual scenes were present, bodies on the streets, some of them days old. Beggars looting the bodies. Sinister gangs of darkly clothed individuals hanging around the myriad scrutty street cafes eying the other gangs of darkly clothed individuals.

But something wasn't right. None of the criminals appeared to be actually doing anything...well... criminal. Just kicking the dust and looking over their shoulders.
The crew of the Scorpio trudged through the dry sunset street in silence. The fifteen men and women had followed Arim for just over six months and they were feeling pretty good about the arrangement. They’d all found their new boss to be pleasant and easy going, they got good shares and they were fed well. Of course there were the more ambitious amongst them who fancied Arim's job for themselves. There always were - mercs are not known for their undying loyalty.

However if there were any in the current line-up they were being wise not to reveal themselves. Not after what happened to Reeko. They'd learned very graphically that day that Arim's patience went a long way but there was nothing beyond that but cold black steel.

"Sia," Arim's tone was urgent but his voice was soft and measured. "What's with the ghost town routine?"
"Maybe they've all gone to church" she quipped, risking a glance around the rooftops. At the end of the street rose the giant neon slur of Rosie's Bar And Stopover, Famous Throughout The Galaxy. Several A's and an H were intermittently absenting themselves from this boast, accompanied by an audible electric fizz.

"If I lived in this shit'ole I'd need'n'oliday n'all." This was Hein, a stocky engineer. The man scratched at his cheeks in consternation. "I never seen the chaw this quiet man. I don' like it neiver". Arim noticed the man's hand playing over his holstered Aeger S8.

He considered the matter. The prospect of enjoying a quiet evening with a hookah and a good book was enticing. "Don't let it worry you. Prolly some kind of local trouble got the natives keeping their heads down. They aren't gonna mess with us."

The crew piled into the bar through the large porchway, and immediately stopped in their tracks. Instead of the usual room full of drunks and soon-to-be drunks doing all the plethora of fun things one does whilst being drunk, there stood before them a squad of extremely sober and very well armed soldiers with their long heavy rifles leveled calmly at the door.

Arim stopped and looked about, momentarily surprised beyond speech. The room was silent. These guys were ULA - but they didn't look like grunts. Lots of tech, faces obscured with balaclavas under the helmets. Arim couldn't make out any unit insignia on their armor. He leaned back without taking his eyes off the soldiers.
"Uh... outside?" Tyro, closest to the door, swallowed hard and peeked back over his shoulder through the open door. He flinched and turned his face back to Arim, apology in his eyes.
"Yeah. Bout another twenty of em just turned up."
Arim sighed. Shit, he thought. "Shit" he said.

Very slowly moving his hands palm outwards above his head, he raised his voice a little to address his crew, never turning from the unmoving soldiers. "Nobody make any moves. Let’s see where this goes"
There was movement from behind the blue-grey wall of authority. Two of the soldiers stepped aside and a tall thin officer stepped slowly and deliberately into the center of the room. "Arim Sekh-Arim, I presume?"
Arim said nothing. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Colonel Aaron Shift of the ILSF"
"I am honored to make your extremely well armed acquaintance," Arim drawled "I was aware that the league was pushing temperance in the outer sectors but surely this is overkill..."

The officer chuckled and gestured to a table on his left, the occupants of which were unceremoniously removed by a pair of the unmarked soldiers. "Please, I've no wish to stop you taking your medicinals - sit, drink. Bartender!" he pivoted and waved at the nervous looking man behind the main bar, who scurried over as Arim and his company grudgingly stepped down from the porch and drew chairs at the table.

The league officer spoke a few quiet words to one of his sergeants. The troops lowered their weapons and changed their positions, Arim eyeing them carefully. Both exits were well guarded and the soldiers didn’t look easy to get past.
The Barkeep took table orders in a trembling hand, the crew selecting their drinks tersely and with many sideways glances. Would they try anything stupid? He toyed with the probabilities in his mind whilst he watched the Colonel saunter over to the jukebox and download a track. Arim was surprised to hear the soulful strains and mellow rhythm of a genre he hadn't expected. He couldn't place the century but this one was a proper oldie, pre-exodus. It was a comment on the human race that much of what had survived the great ancient spaceward expansion had been art, not science. the essential knowledge about life support systems and hydroponic techniques had been preserved with care, but paled into significance compared to the trillions upon trillions of gigabytes of personal data that mankind took with him to the stars.

Life may be impossible without art, Arim reflected as the Colonel made his way back to the table. He pulled up a chair and sat down with an energetic huff.
"Phew. I'll say this Sekh-Arim - you're a hard man to keep track of." the bartender had made his way to their end of the long table and the Colonel turned his head to order. "Clancy's Patriot please, full measure. I'm buying by the way - here you go. Arim, what's your poison?" He threw an expectant glance at the bemused pirate as he fished out a small black credit chip and absently handed it to the barkeeper.

Arim's mind was firing on all cylinders trying to figure out what was going on. He knew the league had a price on his head, but these guys were mil. They wouldn't be paid extra for bringing him in but they had plenty of reasons for wanting his ass anyway. The military procedure would have either been to destroy his vessel, or failing that to simply kill his crew and take him in, not buy them a drink. Someone somewhere obviously wanted something out of him and needed his outfit functioning.

He snapped out of his reverie. "Uh, water. Please. With ice". Shift screwed up his face and made a sucking noise "I didn't actually mean poison - I hear a lot of bad stories about borderland catering" he grinned. Arim smiled thinly back, "funny man, I hear the same about league galleys" Shift spread his hands wide and rolled his eyes "Same shit different gravity well. Anyway, for all intensive purposes, you're in a big shitload of trouble, right?"
Arim nodded. "You have an offense log which took me a whole day to read, you know that? Christ, over eighty something counts of assault-on-vessel, two hundred of fraud, major and minor, If I was arresting you I'd have to read those charges out and we might have had to take a rest break in the middle."

`Category:Fiction <Fiction.html>`_

System Taurean Norway

2015-07-09T08:11:07Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Norway
==============

This system is a cornerstone of the USN’s “`Treadway Line <Treadway_Line.html>`_”, a linked series of heavily fortified worlds that once formed the border with old Antarean Empire. Besides being a primary naval base of operations for sorties into the tumultuous 1st and `2nd Districts <2nd_District.html>`_, The defenses at Norway also protect an important wormhole terminus to the `Thriacia Wormhole Network <Thriacia_Wormhole_Network.html>`_ , which links many of the central worlds of the League to one another. Imperial tacticians believe that taking Norway would be the key to expanding AISN operations deeper into the heart of the League.

Planets
---------------

Spartacus
------------------

The primary planet in the Norway System, it is non-habitable. However, due to ground and orbital defensive League equipment it is essential to the Norway system's defense.

Spartacus Son
---------------------------

The larger moon orbiting Spartacus Alpha, used for a number of Defensive Emplacements by the League.

Spartacus Daughter
--------------------------------

The smaller moon orbiting Spartacus, used for a number of Defensive Emplacements by the League.

Norway Beta
-------------------------

A small, moonless, planet in the Norway System, it is non-habitable, however essential defensive League equipment has been placed there.

Sarvius
------------

A large planet in the Norway System, it has been terraformed to be habitable, and is one of the essential troop distribution centers on the `Treadway Line <Treadway_Line.html>`_. There is heavy defensive League equipment here. A large defense platform, known as `Cornerstone <Cornerstone.html>`_, acts as this planet's moon. Sarvius is tidally locked with the sun, which means that one side is perpetually bathed in sunlight, the other in a frozen night. There is a narrow, easily defensible, band on the equator which is (due to terraforming) the perfect environment for human life.

Partike
----------------

A small, quick-orbiting, planet in the Norway System, it is non-habitable, however essential defensive League equipment has been placed there. This planet has the added bonus of cover more space then most of the others due to its uneven elliptical.

Obs
-----

The aptly named Obs is a small planet on a elliptical that places it in the middle of the system most of the time. The planet is not habitable. However, a manned observation station has been placed on the surface, only accessible via ship-to-station docking.

System Stations
----------------------

This system has the normal compliment of `Treadway Defense Systems <Treadway_Defense_Systems.html>`_ Stations. However, it's Treadway Defense Station is replaced by the famous `Cornerstone <Cornerstone.html>`_ station.

Norway is enumerated as number "'''1'''" in the Treadway Defense line.

Note
------

Surrounding the Norway System is a grouping of defensively reinforced systems known as the `Illuvian Triangle <Illuvian_Triangle.html>`_, a grouping of systems who's defenses were created to protect the Norway system and its entrance to the `Thriacia Wormhole Network <Thriacia_Wormhole_Network.html>`_. These Systems are:

· `Urbantes <Urbantes.html>`_

· `Origault <Origault.html>`_

· `Albion <Albion.html>`_

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Systems <Systems.html>`_

Ammunition ULA RF

2015-07-09T08:11:02Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

the RF round -

`RF round <RF_round.html>`_

`RF-HE round <RF-HE_round.html>`_

heavy cal 16mm round. either depleted lead body or HE shells. not quite anti tank but you wouldn't want to catch one.

`Category:Infantry Weapon Ammunition <Infantry_Weapon_Ammunition.html>`_

`Category:Infantry Weapons <Infantry_Weapons.html>`_

System Taurean Urbantes

2015-07-09T08:10:52Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Urbantes – The most densely populated world of the “`Illuvian Triangle <Illuvian_Triangle.html>`_”. Though it was once considered a haven for criminals, due to the intense activity of the United Space Navy, it had become safe and prosperous center for galactic trade.

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Systems <Systems.html>`_

Event Unification Wars

2015-07-09T08:10:47Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The First Antarean War - the original war of independance for the old antarean empire.
Also Known as the [[History of the Universe#Unification War|Unification War]]

Ship Destroyer USN Loki

2015-07-09T08:10:41Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Loki class destroyer is possibly the most common vessel in the USN's naval armada. Small but exceptionally well armed, it provides the perfect blend of speed and firepower. Mounting a total of 6 separate Missile bays, the Loki is capable delivering deadly barrages then nimbly escaping any counterattack.
The Loki pays for its speed and heavy armament by sacrificing a good deal of armor. As a result, the vessel is often found to be unable to sustain long term fleet action unsupported. It is not uncommon to see Lokis operating in "wolf-pack" squadrons of 9 or more. In battle, using their fighters and assault ship escorts as a screen, they excel at fast, slashing attacks to confuse their opponents while maximizing their chances to evade counterattack.
These destroyers are often assigned to officers fresh out of the naval academy as a stepping-stone to command of larger vessels.

*Sidenote*
Both the Loki and Fenrir class are the largest destroyers ever commissioned by the USN.

Manufacturer ULP Koymdi Metal Works

2015-07-09T08:10:37Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Koymdi Metal Works, also known as KMW, is responsible for a large percentage of the League's ground force's fighting vehicles (The `MHT277 Hover Transport <MHT277_Hover_Transport.html>`_ is one of it's best known products) and providing a similarly large percentage of it's troop based weapon systems.

also makes many civilian used vehicles for many large industries.

`Category:Technology <Technology.html>`_

`Category:Manufacturers <Manufacturers.html>`_

Novella Crowning Day

2015-07-09T08:10:31Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Crowning Day
============

by J. M. "Alex" King

The Antarean Federation is a nation in chaos. Revelations of the Three Corners Conspiracy has unleashed a firestorm of unrest, as the lower orders seek revenge against the High Houses. The state stands paralyzed, and the Federation's enemies mass at the borders, Into this fray enters Marius Sulla, war hero and last scion of High House Andromodeus. Raised by the Order Custodes and fostered by House Sulla, he stands at the head of a victorious army which grinds ponderously toward the capital determined to offer triumph for the Saviour of the nation. Many hope to use this young man's power for their own, but few realize how completely they have played themselves into his hands. The fulcrum of history will turn on his decisions as Crowning Day looms.

Dramatis Personae

Antarean Reclamation Force
Kera Cejeanus Setorian - Aedile Majoris
Marius Sulla/Marius Lucan Andromodeus - Commodore, Acting Fleet Marshal

House Andromodeus
Joachim Noa - Hand of the House

Custodes
Bailith Ohr - High Pater
Frantine - Brander Scribe

Chapter X

His return to the City of Splendors was anti-climactic. Marius had expected the House of Glittering Stars to be the most splendid of all, but he emerged from his shuttle to behold a bleak and ancient ruin.

Long and low, without towers or windows, it coiled like a great onyx serpent through a grove of black-barked trees whose brilliant viridian leaves framed the yawning maw of its iron portalium. No other buildings stood near.

This far out of Ostia, the aircar traffic dribbled to nothing. There was no wild-life in attendance, as if no animal dared violate the reverence of the moment.

Kilometer after kilometer of rolling hills turned over to crypts and shrines, watched over by scattered Custodes retainers, rendered an odd sort of silence. As if the spirits demanded reverence from the land itself. Marius' guard detachment fidgeted with their weapons as they scanned the surroundings through the electronics in their cowled visors.

The Custodes detachment was far more at ease, Frantine the brander scribe looked more curious than worried by the solitude.

Black tiles lined the road, many showing the wear of ages of exposure to sun and rain rather than the grind of foot traffic. The mortar between the stones was dry and crumbling. He understood why Bailith Ohr called it the Palace of Dust. Even Kera Setorian seemed disquieted by the sight of it. His guardian and friend suppressed a hiss of dissatisfaction as she scanned the narrow path from the landing yard to the building, gesturing for her men to take up positions further ahead to guard against threats from the grove. It was an ideal location for an ambush, but the young man was undeterred. Of the entire group, only Joachim Noa seemed more at ease with the place than the High Pater.

Marius allowed himself a small moment of relaxation as they trod beneath the dark bows.

"I would pay my respects." was his only response when Kera once again broached the subject of danger.

The praetoria majoris gave him a sour look. "Your Grace, remember Gerran ils'Dotter."

"I do." Marius said, suddenly decided. "I remember that he had knowledge. And that he failed to make proper use of it. We respect the old ways lest we drown in our own ignorance." The last bit was a quote from Literati en Carmine.

Bailith Ohr caught the reference and smiled thinly. "The child speaks as wisely as sage. Allow me to lead you."

"I am no child." A few in the party cringed, but he softened the retort with a smile. Marius followed nonetheless. There had been no condescension in the old man's voice.

"Forgive me your Grace. At my age everyone appears to dance in the springtime of youth."

It was darker than he would have thought under the black trees, and the way was longer. The path seemed to run straight from the landing yard to the door of the shrinehold, Bailith Ohr turned aside. When Kera questioned him, the Pater said only, "The front way leads in, but never out again."

Marius heard Joachim Noa chuckle at the explanation. But Setorian only grunted, waving a detachment of her guard to remain at the entrance while barking orders through her com unit for the rest to follow.

When they reached the portal-a tall oval mouth, set in a wall fashioned in the likeness of the emperors of old-they were found a single Custodes guard clad in ceremonial white armor gripping an energy lance, back straight at attention. The sentinel's face was hidden by a featureless mask the color of eggshells. Not a single tremor of movement greeted the party. Bailith Ohr paid the individual no mind, but Joachim Noa quietly stepped between the Andromodean heir and the guard.

Before passing his hand over the seal-plate, the old man spoke. "Heed my words Dominar. You were fostered by our Order, but the House was not made for mortal men. The rites must be performed alone. Take care and do just as I tell you."

"I will do as you say." Marius promised.

"When you enter, you will find yourself in a room with four doors: the one you came through and three others. Take the door to your right. You should come upon a stairwell, climb. Never go down, and Never take any door but the first on your right."

"The door to my right," Marius repeated. "I understand. And when I leave?"

"The same." Bailith Ohr said, "Leaving and coming, it is the same. Always up, always the door to your right."

Kera Setorian snorted at this directive. "Have you taken leave of your senses old man? This building is scarcely two stories tall. Should I have the shuttle await his Grace on the roof, then? Or perhaps higher." The ancient Custodes paid her incredulousness no heed.

"Enter no room until you reach the audience chamber. Anything there is yours. But take heed, If you wish to leave you may bring only one item with you. This is important, do you understand?"

"I understand."

After a long moment, Ohr seemed satisfied. He pressed his palm on the stone reader. For a moment, nothing happened, then a click sounded and the portal-mouth slid open, allowing a gust of warm, stale air to escape with a noise that sounded all the world like a death rattle. Setorian looked ready to renew her complaints but a single look from Marius rendered her silent, if still irritated.

"You may enter." The sentinel echoed, without moving. Marius did not spare his companions a final look. Instead he made the sign of the hydra over his breast, and went inside.

***

He found himself in a stone anteroom with four doors. One on each wall. Without hesitation he stepped through the door on his right and stepped through. The air was warm, and smelled faintly of incense and age. The walls were surprisingly bare. Most custodes shrineholds were adorned floor to ceiling with reliefs depicting whatever lives or event they were raised to honor. This structure felt more like a crypt.

The second room was a twin of the first. Again he turned to the right-hand door. When he pushed it open he faced yet another antechamber with four doors. By his reckoning he had nearly completed a circle, but upon opening the fourth door he found a room wholly alien to the first. Its walls were just as bare, but it was hexagonal in shape. Five additional doorways greeted him instead of four.

The queer impossibility did not deter him. He picked the rightmost door without hesitation or a look back and found himself in a long, dim, high-ceilinged hall. Fluted columns lined the way, illuminated by yellowish glow panels built into the floor in much the same fashion one might aboard a starship. Yet the construction was still stone. it all felt remarkably old, yet well-maintained.

At the end of the hallways was an arching portal. On closer inspection its stones had been inlaid with iron, upon which names were written in old-Antarean but scoured to unreabaility. He paid the inscriptions little heed. The area beyond held a curling stairwell, also of stone. A look down yielded nothing but shadows. Upward was no more promising.

Marius climbed. Finding himself standing in another nondescript antechamber with four doors. Again and again he chose right, striding through halls, and chambers and impossible stairwells for what seemed an eternity. Finally, he opened the door to a space unlike any other. At first it appeared a throne room. Its ceiling seemed to stretch higher than the strucutre outwardly had been tall. The same fluted columns that had adorned halls were present as well, only far more gargantuan. They stabbed up toward the roof which was covered in black tile and inlaid with gems. Perhaps most striking were the reliefs which covered every inch of wall and melted into the glittering darkness of the tiled ceiling.

A closer look at the panels revealed a tale of First Landing. Marius had read countless histories of Antares' early colonists and this version seemed far darker than even those he'd found within the Custodes' own walls. The memory of Axum's cleansing returned to him unbidden and he stepped away from the stonework. So much blood. Not the last sacrifice he'd made, nor the worst. But somehow the memory had taken on a life of its own. He resisted the urge to spit, then railed at his uncharacteristic of self-control. Something about the place ate at him. It was his penance, his own personal hell. I will bare it all, so no one else must.

He gritted his teeth painfully, but kept walking.

Other stone panels tempted him with lurid scenes of conquest and fire, during the days when Antares had been just another bandit kingdom, scratching at the fringes of colonized space. Only a single vertical stone had been left to depict the coming of the Light. When the children of Ios and beyond had brought the word of the Saint to the people of Antares. Curiously absent was any recognition of Father Church. Though influence from Tareno had come later, it was often featured in many of the Founding texts.

As Marius stalked down the hall he saw more familiar images. The breaking of the H'yun Tal against Antares, the subjugation of Bathis, and the Great Reform that brought the original Federation into being. More images of conquest, tragedy, and honor as the walls told the history of the Empire. From the treachery of Janos Starkasian to the alliance of the True Families, the depictions rolled on.
Luther Andromodeus was there. The First Emperor was depicted as a small, wizened man in robes of office brandishing the Scroll of Ministry rather than the Copper Sword, as many artists of historical fantasy were wont to depict him.

He saw others he recognized as well. Artesian II, the Mad King, with his patchwork face and legion of silent killers. He saw images of Odomi Andromodeus-Falco and her great host filling the night skies with so many points of light that they'd been dubbed the Tears of Iron as they descended on world after world. Bringing the Empess' Justice. On and on they went, curling from wall to column.

As he moved further into the hall, he realized that the reliefs ended abruptly with one scene. A man stood with his arms outstretched before a blazing nova, a hard smile on his face. The features were rough hewn and indistinct, but the unmistakable gash of a scar over the subject's right eye left a cold feeling creeping in his gut. The histories said that Lucan Andromadeus received a similar wound before his fall. But Marius found his hand tracing the outline of his own minor disfigurement. He had no mirror but he knew the livid lines of his pressure-scars would fade. His advisors advised he seek biosculpt to erase the wound, but Marius had denied them. The Old Ways demanded payment, and even victory had its price.

Panels of blank stone followed as he walked the remaining length of the hall. The glow panels brightened as he advanced on a raised dais. Atop it sat an oversized high-backed seat of polished copper. It was wide and deep enough to seat a giant. In its seat lay a shallow stone-chest of granite, which was large enough for Marius and half his retinue could bathe in comfortably. It had no inscription. An ancient genelock was inset into its top, though there were no discernable joints or latches.

He stood over the chest for a time, recalling Bailith Ohr's words and wondering again at the impossibility of the Hall's geometry. Without an iota of hesitation he reached down and pressed his palm against the plate. He felt it warm at his touch as the ancient molecircs tasted him. Suddenly grooves began to appear in the chest's top, which melted away to reveal a latch assembly. A nanocase.

The chest-top split as hidden mechanisms coalesced from inanimate stone. Newly formed gears whirred and spun, and the lid slid away. Marius blinked as the light glinted off the chest's contents, reflecting against the seat's mirror finish.

He stood over the open chest in silence. He felt older than his years. Bailith Ohr had been right. Damn him.

***

When Marius exited the structure, he did so through the front door. There had been a gasp from the Custodes in his retinue. Bailith Ohr looked worried, but gestured to the scribes. Frantine scribbled on vellum while the senior intelligencer behind her twittered something unintelligible as his optic implants drank in the scene for immortal posterity.

"I thought you said no one leaves through the front." Setorian said in a loud voice a moment later. The Pater declined to reply, though his grim expression spoke volumes. The color had left his face when he saw Marius was empty-handed. The Andromodean scion made a beeline for him, a glacial smile etched on features in acid. Noa bowed stiffly before his lord, before clearing the road. Marius nodded to his Hand as came to stand before Bailith Ohr.

"I am returned." he said in a hard voice.

"The spirits rejoice." the Pater replied.

"Do they? I have observed the rite. It is time Pater." The others were staring now, unsure of what was happening.

"Soon, your Grace. Though it is unprecedented for one to leave without an omenic. Pray, what did you find inside?" Ohr asked in a quiet voice.

Marius turned to the old man, his smile far kinder than it had been as he'd exited the House of Glittering Stars. He tapped his forehead, letting his hand drift to the top of his scar. "A reminder, Pater. Against the hubris of men."

The praetoria majoris motioned for their guard to assemble, and together the group made for the shuttle.

As the vessel lifted off into the afternoon crimson, the forest below woke with the sound of birds.

No one aboard heard.

Ship Bomber USN Scimitar

2015-07-09T08:10:26Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Scimitar shape has been in use by the same factories for a long time.

Stats:
Hull integrity: 34.000p
Hull armour: 25p
Shield Strength: 0.900p
max thrust: 5300p

Armament:
1x Vulcan gun turret
2x Plasma gun
2x Anti-ship missile

Manufacturer AE Salier

2015-07-09T08:10:21Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Manufacturer: Salier
=================================

Salier is an old-school Antarean arms manufacturer with personal commissions from the royal family dating back to the first empire.

A long respected smith of masterwork handguns and hunting rifles, Augmond J. Salier founded his company primarily to cater for the rich and leisured - original Salier weapons from the first Imperial era are almost incalculable in value and are much sought after. Famous owners of Salier weapons include Emperor `Marius Lucan Andromodeus XVI <Marius_Lucan_Andromodeus_XVI>`_ of the ASE, Hegemon of the Solesian Hegemony, famed outlaw `Arim Sekh-Arim <Arim_Sekh-Arim>`_ and Jorg Ornisil the late first husband of `Yvette Edrasil <Yvette_Edrasil>`_ who was a commander in the Taurean Guard Resplendant before his assassination.

In more modern times Salier has had to become more practical, working with the new ASE military to produce reliable mass-produced firearms. the company is now a schismatic entity serving both civilian and military markets.

`Category: Manufacturers <Category_Manufacturers>`_

`P6I assault rifle <AIA_Rifle_P6I>`_

`MGA heavy support weapon <AIA_Hmg_MGA>`_

`P8 sniper rifle <AIA_Sniper_P8>`_

`P4 Submachine Gun <AIA_Smg_P4>`_

Manufacturer ULP Murchison

2015-07-09T08:10:16Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

`Sword class starfighter <Sword_class_starfighter.html>`_

Murchison are a small but advanced `USN <USN.html>`_ fleet armoury, responsible for advances in the field of kinetic weaponry.

`Category:Technology <Technology.html>`_

`Category:Manufacturers <Manufacturers.html>`_

Novella Knowledge is Power

2015-07-09T08:10:11Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

MVD Classified Files:

Infiltration Report 529:

Day 1:
----------

The High-Master Librerium welcomed us to Tar Shenna today. I arrived, along with two other ships worth of Apprentices, at Tar Shenna’s Prime Dock. The welcoming hallway of the dock was magnificent, no doubt the result of the money awarded to the Order of the Librerium by various galactic powers. Civilizations have risen and fallen here on the rim and the third exodus has come and gone since they took this world for their own. Within this gravity well is the collected knowledge of at least a dozen separate civilizations, all carefully categorized and stored away inside Tar Shenna’s Library. I’m proud to be the first agent to have successfully infiltrated The Library in over a century, but walking the gilded pathways of the opining walk, looking up into The Starry Simulacrum, passing by the ancient and monstrous white marble columns, it feels more as if I’m treading in some scholar’s Valhalla then what is essentially a data storage facility. Others are here beside me, from all over the galaxy, they, like me, have reached the pinnacle of student scholarship, each of us received a carefully worded letter, scrambled without our biometric identification, inviting us to partake in the greatest opportunity in education we will ever have. If it were not for the request of the Emperor himself, I would feel bad about missing it. We were guided into what must be one of the largest open spaces I’ve seen. The green grass fields stretched on for miles, no doubt covering up the largest set of underground library stacks in all history, a idolatry broken only by a few large and stately buildings, built in an ancient Roman mode, that seemed many miles distant. When they told us that we would be bunking in a building that appeared to be all the way on the horizon our little group shared horrified looks, worried that we would have to walk to the building. Thankfully, the Libreriums supplied a hovercraft which bussed us to the building where we would have the day to settle in.

Day 2:
----------

We were woken early toady and supplied with the robes of the order. They are brown with colored stripes running from the peak of the hood, two down the back and two curling around over the middle of the shoulder and down the front. Ours had white stripes, the Acolytes had red, the Masters black and the High-Master, a deep purple. We were herded into the main meeting room where the High-Master was standing behind a podium with Tar Shenna’s emblem across the front, an open book with a quill lying diagonally across both pages. The High-Master slowly looked across the room, his gaze taking in each and every Apprentice, and gave us a speech, which I have laid down below.

''“There is an ancient saying: Knowledge is Power. Within these walls you will find plenty of knowledge, but a consequence of being able to access it is the inability to use it. What you learn here may surprise or shock you. You may be tempted to take that knowledge and go change things, to give power to the worthy, or help to oppressed. Every Librerium is haunted by this need. However, the minute we interfere we risk this entire collection of knowledge. The only reason that this planet has remained unharmed for as long as it did, the only reason that the Antareans did not destroy our order, is because the galaxy knows that we are needed. Our storage of knowledge provides a security for the future of humanity. Your work here does the same.”''

After his speech he left. We were told that we have to first familiarize ourselves with the library. To do so we will each choose a letter and go over that letter in every subject and check against a list that all the books are there. We are also to read the summery of each book we check. I quickly took A, my search for the forgotten knowledge of the Empire has just begun.

Day 5:
----------

There are certain locations in The Library that are restricted. When I asked one of the Acolytes, Jacobi Perchase, about it, he explained that sections of Tar Shenna are restricted by level and experience. As I progress here more will be opened up to me. The time where what is within these walls is needed by the Empire soon approaches, I must find another way around this security.

Day 57:
--------------

I have reached the Antarean based Fiction section. Even outside of it there have been many references to the Antarean power-bloc. Here novels that reference factual works hold the most promise. I’ve seen hints thus far in many books about Antarea of the old Empire working towards some sort of weapon of great power. The articles in the Antarean science journals alone seem to point to some sort of breakthrough. I believe that I have progressed to level three access in the system today. It’s taken a good deal of coding to get that far and a recent Trojan almost got me caught. I’m worried about testing my work, if I’ve done it wrong alarms will go off all over the planet.

Day 61:
-----------

There is an entire sub-section here of Antarean conspiracy novels. Some are beyond stupidity, but some have valuable insight into the machinations of the old Empire. While some of these books talk of super-weapons of ridiculous size or purpose a few might have stumbled across something close to reality. These bear looking into. One book – ''The Death of a Worldship'' – interests me in particular. It summery talks about part of the plot having to do with the mounting of some sort of weapon experiment aboard the ship and it’s tone is almost scholarly.

Day 63:
-------------

''Death of a Worldship'' has a huge bibliography. I was surprised to discover that it referenced three books from a special section of Tar Shenna, books written by members of the Order. While I can not get a listing of books within sections restricted to me, a specific query will reveal whether the book in question is within the restricted section or not, and at which level it’s stored. I will access the computer system tomorrow and try and hunt down the location of these three books as well as some more promising references. I must be careful not to do too much outside of my assigned work lest I worry any of my superiors.

Day 64:
------------

Two of the books are restricted at seven levels above mine, the highest level allowed to any outside scholars, access is only allowed to them by personal order of the High-Master himself. It’s odd that a fiction writer was allowed that high. One of the books, ''Research into Preliminary Worldship Design and Situation'' is restricted two levels above mine, at four. However, I’ve hacked my way through the system to reach access at that level. This is as good an opportunity as any to attempt access. Some of the other reference books are stored at levels closed to me as well. I will investigate the ones that are available while I prepare to break into the classified section.

Day 72:
-----------

Success! I have removed a copy of ''Preliminary Worldship Design'' from the level four stacks. I will read over it and my notes will be attached.

Day 85:
-----------

I was almost caught on my way to return ''Preliminary Worldship Design''. I was making my way over to the classified section to return it when one of the Masters stopped me. He wanted to compliment my progress through the A sections. He was curious about what I was carrying with me in my bag and asked to see what I was working on. Thankfully as I was about to protest that I was much too busy (an excuse that is almost worthless in a place where one is to spend the rest of their lives) he was paged to the current events logging facility. I’ve noticed that there are more and more Libreriums being called in there. My access to current events is limited deep within the stacks. Has the Emperor revealed himself? Is the war soon to begin? I fear my time is more limited then I know.

Day 92:
-------------

The more research into the old Empire I read, the more surprised I am at the accuracy of ''Death of a Worldship''. I wonder, if the weapon described in that work of fiction is as accurately talked about as the rest of the novel…

Day 98:
------------

After using all my free time for nothing but exploratory programming for the last three days I discovered an executable that will promote me to level eight. The other two books will be within my reach soon.

Day 100:
-------------

I believe the ship described in such detail in ''Death of a Worldship'' is the Gatarna itself! If so, a good deal of the rest of the novel comes into focus. It is the 100th day of my living here. The Librerium has been good to me. In the last few days the usually sleepiness of the place is gone. More and more Master Libreriums have been called into council with the High-Master. I worry for what time I have left.

Day 108:
------------

Impossible! I am now sure that the ship described is the Gatarna. Which means that the escape described within must be Lucan’s Daughter! It’s impossible that the author could know of this, only the Custodia who still survive and the few taken into their trust could possibly know! I must get my hands on the reference books that are still locked away from me.

Day 121:
-------------

Tar Shenna is on alert status. We are being trained to use the defensive weapons and ships that I did not even know existed on this planet. The Librerium are surprisingly well able to defend themselves.

Day 157:
------------

The last two reference books are mine. Notes will be attached.

Day 170:
-------------

I was reading through the second book, a section of Worldships and navigating through nebula when I stumbled on a set of coordinates. The book talked of a ship stranded purposely to charge a weapon of immense proportions, but then suddenly cut itself off with a reference to a book even deeper in the library. However, I don’t need that information now, what I have discovered here is more then enough. As soon as I end this log I will contact the Custodia and find a way to remove ''Death of a Worldship'' and the two higher level reference books from the stack, if what my research has revealed is true…

Knowledge is power indeed…

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Fiction <Fiction.html>`_

Ship Frigate AISN Ishtar

2015-07-09T08:10:06Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

This is a pure damage ship. Its slow and short range but once it gets in range any thing is quickly burnt off due to its 8 beams.
Has a tight turn angle, but its slow speed and short range are very lacking.

Stats:
Lenght: 430m

System Sidemore Yuletide

2015-07-09T08:10:02Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Yuletide – A key USN naval base on the frontlines of the fighting in the [[2nd District]]. It is home to 3rd Fleet and provides a strong point from which most naval operations in the local region hinge. Once an important world on [[Charon’s Road]] (the worlds linking the core of the League to Orion’s Arm Tradespine) it is now a military occupied system, as the civilian population of the planet has mostly been evacuated.

houses a thriacia terminus

Misc Antarean Imperial Space Navy

2015-07-09T08:09:57Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The AISN
===========

For a relatively young fighting force, the Antarean Imperial Space Navy has enjoyed unprecedented success in its military operations against the allied forces for the USN. This is due in no small part to the leadership of its admirals and the guidance of the Emperor. Though it is a derivative of the old `Antarean Federation <Antarean_Federation.html>`_ Navy, the AISN’s primary strengths are found in its aggressive tactics, flexibility, and speed. Some contend that the apparent technological superiority of Imperial ships over League vessels are all that contributed to its stunning victories and overall success. However, it is important to realize that well over 70% of the AISN is comprised of obsolescent League vessels, and primarily operated by former USN officers.

The Imperial navy suffers from several, relatively dangerous, weaknesses; the first is that while they have managed to remain at relative military parity with the USN, they are dangerously short of manpower. Also, even with respect to the tremendous initial losses suffered by League forces at the outset of conflict, the AISN is still vastly outnumbered by the entire league Navy by a factor of 4 to 1. This has forced the armed forces to become reliant on its few allies, as well as mercenary organizations, to provide support in areas where the navy cannot afford to extend itself. Though the morale, strength, and intelligence of the AISN cannot be questioned, its ability to project its power across many systems could be hampered if it cannot bring the war to a short and successful conclusion.

The Five Imperial Fleets
========================

Following the reforms made by the new Emperor, the old single role fleets were disbanded and five new fleets were founded, each one incorporating equal measures of each role from the old fleets.
The new structuring of the fleets gave each one an independence, and accordingly their Grand Legates were permitted additional freedom. The result is a much more flexible force that capitalises on the talent of it's commanders and the enhanced AI available under the `Tactical Neural Network <Tactical_Neural_Network.html>`_ program instituted by the new Empire.

Each of the five fleets (I-V) comprises four or more Arms which are led by a flagship Supercapital and it's defensive retinue, commanded by the Grand Legate of the Fleet.
An Arm's component Hands are each led by Capital vessel under the command of a Legate, and are generally the smallest working fleet group fielded by the AISN. When a fleet is not engaged in offensive operations, the Hands of each Arm take up system security roles and deploy as independent patrols.

When a fleet is on offensive operations, Arms and Hands are formed into non-standard task forces to fit the required role. without the superior operating systems of the AISN's fleet command cpus and the lack of restriction on commanding officers, this on-the-fly restructuring of the fleets would be an impossibly slow task.

The First Fleet
===================

The First Fleet is traditionally the most mobile of the five, and employs the large majority of the Empire's new breed of next-generation warships, including the fearsome `Morningstar class Heavy Battlecruiser <Morningstar_class_Heavy_Battlecruiser.html>`_. The Ist fleet's Ist arm (termed the I-Ist for short) is the operational command of the Emperor himself. It is led by the Battlecruiser "Morningstar" - first of her class, and her Tribune retains the traditional rank of Tribune Monitori, relinquishing command to the Emperor when he commands the vessel in person. This is a rare occurrence and has happened only once during the war, when the TM of the Morningstar was taken extremely ill just before the Barthui Siege. the emperor commanded the I-Ist and also the Morningstar with what could only be described as glee for three weeks before the TM could persuade him to stand down.

`Category:Factions <Factions.html>`_

`Category:History <History.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Fleet Forces <Fleet_Forces.html>`_

Livery
=========

As with the USN's blue grey "camouflage" scheme, the Imperial navy draws its base scheme from an agreed composite of ancient livery. The most prominent influence on this scheme was the fleet of The `First Antarean Empire <First_Antarean_Empire.html>`_, whose vessels were liveried with a striking DragonScale patterning in the various colors of the great houses of Antares.

the tan and red coloring is drawn from the skies of the myriad worlds of the empire. many of the worlds of antares are clustered in fairly nebulous space, the great clouds of matter slowing light into the redshift and staining most of Antarean space in varying shades of gold and crimson.

Location Orion Pocket

2015-07-09T08:09:52Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Comprised of [[Orion's Arm]] and [[Orion's Head]]
The Orion Poket wedges between the 2nd and 6th districts

Manufacturer ULP Jitrol

2015-07-09T08:09:47Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

`Fenrir class destroyer <Fenrir_class_destroyer.html>`_

A USN line-ship class power core manufacturer.

Tech Fusion Beam

2015-07-09T08:09:42Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

''(Class: Very Heavy | Range: Medium)''

The PB Gun fires a steady concentrated beam of super charged plasma particles kept in stasis via a strong projected electro-magnetic containment field. The weapons are slow to fire and slow to reach their target and have a long recycling time, due to the length of time it takes to regenerate the magnetic field and refill the Plasma Projector. Despite these flaws the PB Gun is capable of dealing enormous damage, reducing a ship to a melted mass fairly quickly (though obviously dependent on mass). The primary defense against this weapon is the particle shield, which can disperse the plasma particles with ease.

`Category:Technology <Technology.html>`_

Ship Cruiser AISN Dawnstar

2015-07-09T08:09:37Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Dawnstar class was designed as a tribute to the Imperial Emperor's first command, the `AFNS <AFNS.html>`_ Dawn Star which was nearly destroyed during the Battle of Halifax. Though he personally saw to the retrofit of the original vessel, one of his first acts after being crowned was to launch a widescale retrofit of nearly all of the old Federation vessels still in service with the Empire. The Dawnstar class (formerly called Requiem class) battlecruisers were among the first ships to benefit from these efforts.

Always a dangerous short-range fighter, the reinvisioned Dawnstar class had most of its older weapons stripped, replacing its primary guns with seven Vox Rei class heavy plasma-beam cannons and nearly a dozen heavy plasma cannons (3 meter aperture) and a host of ion array clusters. Backing this impressive spread of energy weaponry are a pair of Heavy Rail Cannons and ten ship-killer torpedo tubes.

Though somewhat under-armed at long range, the Dawnstar class has shown an unnerving penchant for survival, often able to rapidly close with opponents to deliver vicious strikes, then withdrawing with equally amazing speed. The crew of these vessels are especially proud to serve on a ship class which both protected their emperor and led him to victory over League forces on numerous occasions.

Known ships:
AFNS Dawn Star
AFNS Evenstar
AFNS Northstar
Hashasheen

Stats:
Lenght: 2100m

Tech Missiles

2015-07-09T08:09:32Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Missiles
=========

''(Class: Light to Heavy | Range: Medium)''

Single Stage, self-propelled, tetryon - based explosive devices. Missiles are extremely fast and very maneuverable, meant to be used in large grouping, and are often launched in cluster-packs. There are three missile types - Straight Line, which travel in a single direction (Low Accuracy) , RO (Remote Operated) Missiles, which act as SL missiles unless the launcher takes control, (Highest Accuracy) and Tracer Missiles, which lock onto the enemy target and attempt to follow its electronic footprint. (Medium Accuracy). The missiles have multiple size-classes, ranging from mini-missiles (the size of a man's fore-arm) to Capital missiles (the size of a small car). These weapons are used for small ship to ship battles and for small craft to attack larger vessels.

`Category:Technology <Technology.html>`_

System Vedaire Vedaire

2015-07-09T08:09:27Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Vedair – A fiercely independent planet lying just outside the borders of the Taurian Confederacy known for its rigid society and dedication to technological advancement. Vedairan researchers are highly prized across the galaxy. It is rumored that the AISN benefited greatly from a secret partnership with certain Vedairan and Solarian research firms, though no concrete evidence has been put forward to support this claim.

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Systems <Systems.html>`_

Planet Laguna

2015-07-09T08:09:17Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Laguna – A small planet known for its high humidity and abundant sea-life. The world’s surface consists primarily of marshy island chains with a single large continent, `Iria <Iria.html>`_, home to around 85% of the planet’s population. Due to its relative isolation at the fringe of League space, Laguna is considered a backwater world despite the fact that it retains strong ties to the Antarean Federation. It is also the birthplace of the `Crusaders of Ios <Crusaders_of_Ios.html>`_, a fanatical Iosian terrorist/paramilitary organization responsible for countless attacks across ULP.

`Category:Nations <Nations.html>`_

`Category:Universe <Universe.html>`_

`Category:Systems <Systems.html>`_

Event Second Antarean War

2015-07-09T08:09:12Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

[[History of the Universe#The Second Antarean War|The Second Antarean War]]

`Category:History <History.html>`_

Ship Transport USN Ark

2015-07-09T08:09:07Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

The Ark class Military Transport has become one of the most ubiquitous support vessels in the League fleet thanks to its tireless service record and surprising versatility. First introduced in in 941 AE to replace the aging Oddyseus class, the League Admiralty was hard pressed to modernize its non-combat vessels, which for decades had hamstrung its mobility. The Ark was envisioned strictly as a fast, unarmed munitions transport, reflecting the need to quickly mobilize and deploy peace-keeping forces within the League's vast area of control. Though production of the ship's first generation were ramped up to meet the retirement schedule of its predecessor, only 237 Arks were in service by late 944, barely a third of the quota and a full year-and-a-half behind schedule.

Much of the delay was unavoidable, Porter Systems, the manufacturer of a majority of the ship's energy and propulsion components, was aqcquired by Dewalt Avionics Incorporated. The merger formed a new company, Dewalt & Porter Conglomerated Engineering, which resulted in extended delays on all of its current production contracts. This shortfall came at a critical time, as the skirmishing with Solesian Hegemony highlighted the need to for fast-response transports to move much needed troops and supplies from the League's core to the threatened outer territories. However, even with such a limited production, the transports in service at the time accrued such reliable service records that the USN not only renewed its contract with Dewalt & Porter, but also lobbied suggestions from the ship's crew to improve performance. This close aprtnership continues to present day, with the latest generation of Ark transports.

Of critical importance are the Arks' 3 spacious cargo holds, approximately 85,000 cubic meters, which allows one ship to carry enough supplies to maintain a combat squadron for months. Optionally, the Ark can be converted into a troop carrier. In this configuration, roughly half of its internal volume is dedicated to crew-quarters for up to 180 League soldiers or Marines. An extra bay is added for the debarkation of dropships, of which the ship has the capacity to store up to 7. The honeycomb construction of the ship's internal compartments adds to the ship's survivability immensely.

However, because it trades protection for acceleration not often found in most transports, it is unwise to expose this ship to direct fire for very long.

The original design had no weapons, either for defense or offense. Experience has proven this to be folly. Most modern Ark transports have some modest point-defense coverage as well as the addition of four of the latest ion-array clusters (Gemini II). The Ark PVT-VI (ULA) swaps these for a single HPV Guided rocket battery for suppression of ground targets during low-altitude troop debarkation.

The Ark's main weaknesses are its poor armor protection and somewhat unreliable Stealth and ECCM systems. This usually necessitates atleast some sort of flotilla accompany these vessels, even under the most peaceful circumstances.

Ammunition AIA RD

2015-07-09T08:09:02Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

s77 dispersion shot, normally comes prepackeged in the s77 six shot magezine for easy reload. The spend magezines are then returned to the manufacturer for reuse and recycling. Made and rearm by the Sikfrit coorporation. Has excellent spread of facilities where magezines can be rearmed, for a price of course. 15mm

`Category:Infantry Weapon Ammunition <Infantry_Weapon_Ammunition.html>`_

`Category:Infantry Weapons <Infantry_Weapons.html>`_

`RD round <RD_round.html>`_- 35mm dispersion rounds

`RD-IN round <RD-IN_round.html>`_ -incendiary shot

`RD-SG round <RD-SG_round.html>`_ -solid shot

Weapon Heavy nfc GU34

2015-07-09T08:08:56Z

LegionDD: Pywikibot v.2

Avex GU34 Civilian Gauss rifle

g:\Angels Fall First\Sudazima\Site\wiki\medua\Bestconcepts\SaGauside.jpg

Gauss rifle, using magnetic acceleration through an explosive magnetic coil like a classic EMP device (also called explosively pumped, flux compression generator), this technic enhances efficiency several hundred times. Since it uses a coil per shot, and the coils are in the barrel, the entire barrel needs to be replaced per shot. Avex has made it so that the projectiles themselves are in the barrel replacement. Nevertheless this makes the reloading extremely slow and expensive but this gun is still loved by many for its immense stopping power and versatillity.

Since you replace the barrel per clip, it's possible to have incredible choice in calibre sizes. practically anything from only 5mm to 25mm projectiles work as long as they're made from a magnetizable material with a same sized barrel. But although the hardware can theoretically fire a 25mm round, the recoil would destroy the weapon, and likely the one firing it aswell.