Apollo26

Era of Succession(Closed)

HUZZAH!

Three Cheers for MonkeyPants

HIP HIP!

Era of Succession(Closed)

* is also there in the northernmost unaffiliated space*

please dont assimilate me! ;P

Era of Succession(Closed)

* quietly waiting for sigma's response*

Era of Succession(Closed)

-The Royal Palace, Laum-
-Planet Itil -
-Prince Cato Aurelia Castus Anzac-

The loss of signal from the Su-401 sent the war room into a frenzy but military leaders were hesitant to tell anyone. Usually This information would of passed through the king already, but in his absence people were reluctant to inform the prince. After a few days, military leadership simply couldn’t hold onto the information anymore and were forced to let it go.

The prince’s response was typical, “ Send the 2nd Company of the Legion” much to the dismay of his advisors, who were threatened with treason for disagreeing. Most in the military cursed the centralized structure of the monarchy and even threatened to disobey the prince. The absolute rule of the monarchy won in the end, and the 2nd company was well on their way to some other foreign world.

In transit aboard his personal train
Planet Itil
King Ganius Kleto Bactra Anzac

The noise of the party easily penetrated the thin walls of the room adjacent to it. Every word, laugh and broken glass could be heard, only adding to the King’s annoyance. The King was not a fan of parties, there were few of them when he was growing up. You might of held a party for taking a city or routing your enemy in battle, but not much else. A large gathering of people was just a big target to the King, and he wanted no parts of it.

The King was old, nearly 130 years old and probably one of the only people present to experience the war. He was a stern and serious man, known to lack a sense of humor. He was an efficient and effective leader however, responsible for building the New Monarchy. Unfortunately he was also burdened with maintaining it as well, a process that he was currently loathing.

When members of the royal family become of age they must travel to meet the lords of each city. This showcases the young prince or princess, making them available for marriage. This would happen annually until the prince or princess were properly engaged. In the case of Princess Lucretia, this would be her sixth tour around Itil.

The princess was not undesirable by any means and considered to be quite beautiful. Bone white hair was braided in pony tail down to her waist, framing her angelic face. Her lips were full, with a natural purple hue which did away the need for flashy lipstick that is popular in Hol communities. The king had received so many offers for marriage that he just gave up, making the very unorthodox decision to let the princess decide. King Ganius already had two elder sons, the eldest of which would be his heir. With his linage secure he really didn’t care who Lucretia married, choosing to rely on her judgment and affection instead of money and land.

Without the daily distraction of running the monarchy, the king was left to his own thoughts. He stared trance-like in the mirror in front of him, his mind ever consumed with thoughts of government. The sudden shattering of another glass followed by a mocking cheer tore the king from his thoughts once again, prompting a long sigh. With an audible groan, the king stood and made his way back towards the door to join the party.

Era of Succession(Closed)

Sooo, have I been marginalized on the map or just moved. It looks like I was taken over by Totalist space.

Era of Succession(Closed)

Su-401
Crew of Four
On a world to the galactic east of Itil

“ We are supposed to make contact” A man said as he walked back into the main chamber of the vessel. “ By royal decree…” he added with a sarcastic tone, placing the sheet of paper down on a desk.

Another man in the group chuckled before shrugging, taking a deep foreboding breath before he spoke. “ Well, lets go say hi” he quipped before getting up and walking out of the door. The rest of the crew quickly followed, getting into a small all terrain vehicle.

After a short drive the group ended up at the borders of settlement, getting out to make the last little bit on foot. The local population stared at the group as they walked farther into town before the sound of yelling could be heard echoing down the streets.

Two guard looking humanoid creatures ran around the corner and leveled rifles at the group, yelling in a foreign intelligible langue. The crew of the Su-401 instinctively raised their hands in the air, slowly backing away from the two guards.

“ Stop…” The guard said in the Hol language prompting the group to abruptly stop walking. “ Don’t speak, just listen.” the guard barked, taking a few steps toward the group. “ We know what you are, and you will not bring your war culture to this planet.”

“ How….” One member of the crew said before being abruptly cut off by a shot to the chest, the round spraying blood on the terrain behind him.

“ What the fuck did I just tell you”! , the other guards yelled “ You have made a mistake coming here, we cannot allow you to return to your planet.” he added solemnly. “ Your” he paused ,“ Monarchy, must not know we exist. I want to keep it that way..” he finished before suddenly raising his own weapon, firing on the crew.

The two guards easily shredded the crew, leaving fragmented bodies in the street. Most of the locals had run back inside their houses but the few that stayed stared at the carnage in the street.

Palatine

The outburst from David instantly caught the attention of the team. They could hear rustling inside and the lead soldier quickly readied a stun grenade in his hand, running towards the window opening. Before throwing the grenade through the open window, the soldier quickly peaked inside before stopping cold in his tracks. The soldier could see the foot of a boot sticking out from behind a counter, a boot he recognized.

“ What are the odds…” he said casually

“ What!?” Corporal Easton barked before he heard the hiss of someones helmet being taken off.

“ I preferred last seasons boots”!, the soldier yelled “ they didn’t come up as high on the shin, looks like less of a woman’s boot” he laughed

Chev Borov

“ The Fuck” Chev said aloud before standing and walking up to the widow opening. “ Well, we don’t have paved roads in Bactria, and it rains….so”, he finished before the soldier stepped around the corner.

Chev chuckled a bit before the two hugged for a short bit, backing away slowly so he could see the rest of the group. He made a thumbs up signal towards the rebel group before turning back towards the soldier. “ I didn’t think they would send anyone for us. I thought we were fucked” Chev said with a chuckle

“ Oh, we have the entire company up there as we speak, waiting to come down and retrieve you two”. the soldier said with a smile.

Kiyvch quickly shot up and ran to the window to join Chev. “ Wait, how did you guys get down here”? he said with concern.

“ We parachuted, glided onto the objective…” The Corporal finally spoke up “ Why”?

Kiyvch sighed and shook his head “ When we landed, we were ambushed by a pretty sizable force. Airborne in origin, their transports sported some pretty heavy weapons. My Concern however was how quickly we were found. Someone must have been watching from orbit, we are not alone here”.

“ If we were to land anything else, I would have to be done with care….” Chev added “ We cannot stay here however. These people are headed someplace, We can tag along with them and figure it out from there”.

Corporal Easton nodded, turning his right arm over to look a the watch under his wrist. “ We have two hours before the company deploys, Ill give you an hour to get where your going. Then, I will extract from this place any way I see fit, fair”?

Chev and Kiyvch nodded, before Kiyvch turned around to face to group of rebels. “ They are with us..” he said casually before realizing he had not tried to communicate with the rebels before now. He stood their awkwardly before shrugging, producing a large wry grin.

Corporal Easton chuckled, hanging his helmet off a pouch on his belt. He stepped over the widow opening and opened a pouch on his chest, pulling out a laminated folded map. As he walked towards the group Easton unfolded the map stopping in front of the closest rebel. He pointed out where they were on the map and hoped the rebel would make the connection.

Era of Succession(Closed)

The Royal Palace
Itil, Laum
Prince Cato Aurelia Castus Anzac

The throne room was full of people, advisors, generals and other high ranking officials fervently discussing the latest round of information from their explorers.

“ We have about 50 habitable worlds in this region, all of them have signs of intelligent life” A general said as he walked through the holographic map. “ Past our borders to the north, we have a large alien militarized presence and to the west we have the remains of a pretty advanced civilization. With all due respect young prince, I would focus on these smaller worlds before trying to contact bigger fish” he finished, before the throne room exploded in an uproar

Prince Cato nodded, standing from the high backed throne to address the gathering “ Thank You General, I understand you served my father with honor during the war, your knowledge is invaluable. However; the planets that reside within our borders are inhabited by primitive civilizations….right”? he said looking towards one of his advisors

“ They are a lot like us my prince, limited to one world but showing signs of growing intelligence. Two crews report friendly populations while others have only observed from afar. We are not too different” he finished with a short nod

“ Would you consider them a threat”? the prince added

The advisor was about the confidently shake his head but stopped, shrugging. “ I would consider our civilizations equal, are they a threat to Itil? No, would they be a threat if we tried to colonize the planet? Maybe”.

Cato nodded again and looked towards his senior military staff “ Why can’t we do both?” he said in a questioning tone “ Diplomatic missions to these planets would be advisable, we must find out where these worlds stand.”

“ But!…..my good prince” another senior officer interjected “ We have already sent a company to aid the MX-20, we are not even sure if the crew is still alive. We only have 800 men left, plus the reserve element and no reconnaissance specialists. We do not have the man power or equipment for such a wide area”

“ Have your considered recruiting”? the prince said raising an eyebrow

“ Yes my prince, we are recruiting crews for the navy as we speak” the same officer answered before being abruptly cut off by the prince

“ Not for the Navy general…for the Legion” he finished rather flatly

“ Th….the Legion hasn’t recruited in centuries….men come to the Legion, we don’t go to them” The general said nervously. “ Under the De-armement treaty of the new monarchy, we cannot exceed a thousand souls for our military. Your own father wrot——“

“ I know what he wrote” the prince interjected, cutting the general off mid sentence. “ Times have changed and we need to change with them. Begin recruiting for the legion and send diplomatic missions to those friendly planets. Advise crews to make contact if they haven’t already done so.”

With a polite nod, the general stepped back into the crowd of officers, leaning in to whisper to the man next to him “ Overturning policy, making brash decisions, This child doesn’t know what he’s doing” he quipped, receiving a quiet nod for an answer.

Palatine
Cpl. Gio Easton

“ Clear” a man said over the radio as he emptied the duffle bag of its gear before joining the security perimeter. The four men laid in the middle of the square facing outwards, scanning the broken buildings for any sign of movement. The night was perfect for their night vision, with the moon further illuminating what the device did.

“ Whats the move East?” another man quipped over the radio

“ We need to get up somewhere high” the corporal said as he looked around the square. “ There…..” he whispered, pointing towards the exposed roof of an apartment block.

The man facing the clothing store slowly rose to a knee before slowly trotting towards a bit of rubble in the street, Laying down next to it to cover the teams advance.

“ Set” he said, prompting the corporal and another soldier to quickly rise to their feet.

“ Moving” Gio said quietly as they made a fast but quiet trot across the square and up to the store wall. “ were set” he quipped before turning around the cover the last two members of his team.

Era of Succession(Closed)

2nd LT Flavius “Kuche” Obrigado
Cargo Bay of the Cruiser “ Cold Vacuum”
Task Force 1, in high orbit of Palatine

Cruisers were not designed to hold large numbers of infantry, especially not part of an entire company. Four out of the five Vessel convoy were packed to the brim with infantry and their gear. Soldiers laid about wherever they could find space, most deciding to bed down in the large cargo bay amongst the vehicles and equipment. Crates of ammunition and shells were almost to the ceiling and about three rows deep, held down by yellow leather straps. The armored personnel carriers and Grail recon craft were also hastily strapped down by the same straps and situated next to the ammunition, shaking and shifting at the slightest movement.
This did not stop the soldiers from living on and inside the vehicles during the long trip. It looked like a squatters paradise, with makeshift tents and lean-tos everywhere. The noise from the cargo bay could almost be heard around the ship as the soldiers tried to entertain themselves.
The scene brought a smile to Kuche’s face as he walked in, he always enjoyed watching his soldiers acting like soldiers. Stuffed into the breast pocket of his utility uniform was a rolled scroll, detailing their deployment orders. Soldiers nodded and gave lazy salutes as Kuche walked by, the smell of alcohol growing stronger as he waded deeper into the crowd.
He found his 1st Sergeant and the rest of his 1st sergeant and the rest of the platoon’s NCOs huddled around a large metal drum. It didn’t take long for Kuche to realize where the alcohol smell was coming from.

“ Sergeant…what the fuck is this?” he said, standing behind the group. “ One of the gunners from 2nd platoon had a bunch of fruit left over from his harvest, so we made alcohol” the sergeant said, dipping a small cup in the barrel of liquid. The sergeant turned around to hand the cup up to Kuche, who didn’t hesitate to take it and take a swig.

“ Oh……thats good…” Kuche said before passing the cup to the left. “ We have received the warning order?” he said with a cough. “ Assemble the platoon, we brief in an hour” he finished before taking a step back “ and Cesar……” Kuche said looking back towards the 1st Sergeant “ Please come sober..”

Mess Hall of the Cold Vacuum

50 soldiers in various states of dress quickly assembled in the mess hall, sitting or standing wherever they had space. It was rather informal, with Kuche being the only Hol in proper military dress.

“ 1st platoon listen up!” he yelled, stepping up on one of the tables. “ We step off in four hours, recon teams are currently deploying to secure our landing zone. The estimated location would be just inside the city in what looks like a ruined square. Upon landing, we will fortify the square and launch operations from out newly established forward operating base”. As he finished, Kuche nodded towards sergeant Cesar who stepped up onto the table as the lieutenant stepped down.

“ Order of battle is as follows; first and second platoon will lead the assault following the green light from the recce team. Third and Fourth platoon will follow with the gear and ammunition. As far as first platoon is concerned, we will take the north end of the square and second platoon will take the south end. Squad one, target acquisition and command; you will carry the laser designator and long range communications. Second squad, riflemen and marksmen” he said nodding towards a young corporal. Third squad grenadiers, I want a frag for each man and five smoke grenades throughout the squad. Get two of your guys to attach grenade launchers to their rifles”. Another group of soldiers nodded in the corner, responding with quiet acknowledgments. “ Fourth squad……weapons. Mortars, machine guns and rockets, base of fire team. Im sure I don’t have to tell you guys what to do” he finished with a chuckle.
Kuche stepped back up on the table, cutting off sergeant Cesar with a quick hand.
“ Gentlemen, we lock out in four, touchdown in five. I want everyone condition one when we leave the cruiser but remember, we are here to promote diplomacy. That being said, I don’t want to loose soldiers because we are not aggressive. Any being you see with hostile intent, drop em, I don’t care if you hit them with a fucking rocket”.
With a nod the lieutenant stepped down from the table and walked out, leaving the room silent for a moment.

“ Alright, full gear full tilt….lets make it happen!” Cesar yelled as soldiers flooded out of the room.



Low Orbit, above Palatine
Cpl. Gio Easton

“ Yo East?…….East?” a soldier said as he tapped the corporal’s shoulder, waking him up. “ Drop zone….” the soldier finished as he retreated to the rear of the drop-ship. Gio inhaled sharply as he woke up to the cold air of the dropship, furiously rubbing his eyes for a moment before standing and joining his team.
Gio always enjoyed being away from the larger force, large scale deployments just made him nervous, it was always the secret stuff that got him going. Small teams and lots of open ground is what he preferred, never mind the danger. Reconnaissance teams always got the cool jobs, even if it meant doing some pretty crazy things.
The four man team clipped onto a large cylindrical duffle bag, pulling the slack tight so it was suspended in the air between the four of them. The sound of air rapidly escaping the bay could be heard as the rear of the ship popped open, extending the ramp downward. With practiced precision, the four soldiers slowly inched their way towards the edge of the ramp before jumping off in unison.
The silence of free-falling through the lower atmosphere was always eerie, cirrus clouds passed by silently as the team fell. Gio, watched his altimeter as they rapidly descended, counting the seconds before the atmosphere thickened. They pulled their chutes early, coming to an abrupt stop before peacefully floating through the air, gliding towards their objective.
The team floated over the majority of the city, making mental notes of points of interest and taking pictures from their low res helmet cameras. After 45 minutes the team came to a soft landing right where they were supposed to, in the dead center of the square. Within seconds, the duffle bag was empty and the team spread out to secure the square.

Era of Succession(Closed)

-The Royal Palace, Laum-
-Planet Itil -
-Prince Cato Aurelia Castus Anzac-

The sound of doors being quickly flung open echoed around the large throne room as a rather rugged looking man hurriedly ran into the room. Normally someone who looks like this wouldn’t of gotten past the gated courtyard, but this man bore the seal of the Royal Post.
The man was soaked and tracked mud as he walked through the large expanse of the throne room, stopping to bow at the foot of the raised throne platform. “ My Prince! We have news from the Cosmos!” the man said in a rough tone, the result of years of hard travel. The man quickly slipped the small pack off his back and opened the top. A small cloud of dust appeared as he rummaged around inside before finding a small paper wrapped box. With a smile, he courier stood and held the box out to the young prince.
“ Really?!” Prince Cato said almost as excited before trotting down the large steps to the floor. “ Thank you sir, there is wine and food down by the kitchen. Get yourself washed and fed before moving on again” he said taking the small box. The courier nodded and bowed his head again before tracking mud out of the throne room.
The prince hummed as he waked out of the side of the throne room and into a large living room, used for entertaining guests. falling down onto a rather large and ornate couch, he quickly tore the top off the box and pulled out a small white rectangle. “ A memory drive?” he quipped in a surprised manner before sitting up and placing in a small dome on the table in front of him.
The Memory Drive’s lights flashed amber for a moment before changing solid green. The room automatically dimmed as the holographic generator spun up, projecting a map of the solar system. The map had changed drastically from when he last saw it, growing by leaps and bounds. The prince typed a series of commands into a remote keyboard as a small line began connecting the different signal repeating nations, making the map look like a large web. With a pleased chuckle, he typed in another series of commands, revealing the last known locations of the exploration craft and removing the web of communication lines.
Each crew had orders to wait at their designated locations and explore upon arriving. Almost all of the crews had made it to their destinations but only half actually landed on planets. Cato raised an eyebrow and scrolled up to one of the ships on the edge of their territory, clicking on the icon to bring up the report.

Udaloy ( SU-88b)
Crew-6
(29N133E72W90S-180°) As of 23:30
( Unknowingly around the edge of Totalst territory)

LOG: Heavy militarized ships frequently scan border territories, unknown origin, unknown strength. Lost three drones to hostile fire when attempted to probe border, so I will not be trying to make contact with new beings. Closest planet to the “ Border” is 13 million miles at 130°, will take pictures and fall back to ( 15N129E65W45S-130°) to begin exploration.

The Prince’s jaw dropped as he read the reports of more ships, seeing that they were infact surrounded by life, highly intelligent life. Most of the reports noted patrols along the borders, with sporadic attempts at moving into what he wanted to be Hol space. If the Hol wanted to control this sector, then they would need to make a presence in the region.
Quickly shooting up, the Prince ran back into the freshly cleaned throne room and down into the kitchen, catching the now clean courier mid meal. “ Sir?” he courier said, raising his head from the table as the prince ran in. “ I have a message for the Commandant, its urgent” Cato said as he placed a small freshly sealed letter on the wood table.

Kajaki plains, Legion Headquarters

The message had sent the war room into a frenzy, officers were rushing around trying to locate gear and resources. There was a huge call to arms for artisans of all types and large amounts of building materials were being gathered and staged. The entirety of the Legion was being called in and the reserve detachment had been activated, bringing the total number to 1200. The Navy had began aggressively recruiting crews for its vessels, the thought of exploration appealed to many. Out of the 800 ships that sat lifeless, only 25 were modernized and fit for service. Out of those 25 the Navy only had the crews for five of them.
Senior military leaders debated about where this first force would go, determined to make an impact in the region. Some advocated for the “Udaloy” region, due to the heavy militarized presence. Other voted for a more desolate system to being the appearance of order. After hours of fierce discussion, the decision was made to send the task force towards a particularly odd planet. The MX-20 and the crew of two had discovered the remnants of a rather large war torn city. The planet was inhabited but seemed to be contested. Its size made it a perfect target for this force and the situation made it perfect to try and promote order and diplomacy. The Prince’s orders were simple and to be followed to the letter.

“ Establish a presence in the region, I am giving you the authority to create, maintain and deploy a colonization force to establish our regional borders. You are assemble forces to: Build infrastructure, Establish colonies and peacefully promote Hol culture throughout the region. You will not forcibly conquer any territory or engage in any hostile actions against any xeno-species encountered. All dealings with xeno-species will be done in a peaceful and diplomatic fashion”

Era of Succession(Closed)

( Hurrying up with colonization before someone takes the land)