From the Begining New Chapter Added (9/12/06)

[Rasorow]

reading...... and waiting........

And Atrocities is right.... I try to post as little as possible once the story is going so not to break it up.

Rasorow

[Starhawk]

A Crisis on Valhalla:
William Ross Admiral Lord of the Icaran Empire woke up to the chiming of the com panel, he wiped the sleep from his eyes, before gently running his left hand down the naked side of his beautiful wife, a soft contented moan from her made getting out of bed even more anguishing to the Admiral, they had only been in their little cabin for a week, they had been hoping for a month of leave after their return from inspecting the newest superdreadnought to join the royal navy, their first visit to this cabin lasted only two days and that was months ago after twenty six long years in space, but as they say the navy never rests. William left the bedroom and grumpily walked over to the com panel in the small main room of the cabin so as not to disturb Lin. After a second he donned a robe and pressed the receive button, immediately Ross braced too attention and saluted “Grand Admiral!” he blurted, more then a little surprised to be seeing the Haggard face of Grand Admiral Halice, the old man was scheduled to step down in a few weeks, at the ripe old age of 168 he deserved a break, but until then he had sworn that he would do his job with as much diligence as he had when he was but 46 years old.
“Hello William.” The Admiral replied softly the set of his face serious, with an expression of concern that confused Ross, ever since the warp points to outside space had been sealed, the Admiralty had relaxed considerably, and began the process of mobilizing the smaller fleets into one massive fleet of warships that could strike at enemy systems in the blink of an eye.
“What’s wrong Admiral?” Ross asked hesitantly, a lump in his throat prevented him from speaking further as the concerned frown on Hallice’s face grew deeper.
“Maybe nothing, maybe something, we don’t know Ross, that’s the problem, Valhalla has suddenly gone quiet and the other nobles in that system are a little worried, they’ve called for a navy or SS explorative mission, I have decided we’ll send in the professionals so I’ve contacted Captain Fowler aboard Blackbird, she’ll stop by Icara to pick you up then make the jump to Valhalla to see what’s going on there.” Hallice paused and allowed the message to sink in as Ross stood stunned by his orders, he and Lin had just gotten off from duty now he’d have to leave on a stupid explorative mission of an Icaran colony that was probably just experiencing com malfunctions.
“Admiral with all due respect I am sure I’m not necessary on a mere explorative op, Miss Fowler is an excellent officer and capable of making decisions on her own, she doesn’t need me standing over her shoulder.” Ross took a pleading tone but Hallice simply shook his head.
“Sorry Ross, but Miss Fowler is not a noble, nor are most captains in the navy, you however are and you are also a Knight in service to the Praetor Saints, even a noble would have to listen to what you have to say….unless of course you prefer I send Lin instead of you since she is also now a noble and knight? Hallice shrugged, he knew Ross would never let Lin go into a potentially dangerous situation if he could take her place.
“That’s a cheap trick sir.” Ross said sourly “When do you want me ready to leave?” he resigned himself to the fact that it was either he or Lin that would be leaving, for Valhalla.
“Tomorrow afternoon, sorry Ross I know that you and Lin haven’t had much of a vacation lately but you’re the best man for this job and I need you. Hallice out.” the screen went black, after a moment of staring into the blank screen Ross turned toward the bedroom and quietly walked in, the moon shone dimly through the window into the dark room, revealing the slim fit body of his beloved wife Lin, he stood in the doorway for a moment admiring her slim beauty, her soft curves, even the sound of her breathing, a few seconds later William heard her breathing change and realized she had just awoke.
“Wil, Whats wrong?” she whispered into the darkness.
“I’ve just received orders to depart for Valhalla tomorrow afternoon, they’ve been having a communications blackout for a few days now and the other nobles are getting all nervous, they want me to go in with the i]Blackbird[/i] and investigate.” He walked over to Lin, gently kissing her on the neck. She was a naval officer herself and knew that this could happen, a fact William was grateful for, as most women would probably demand explanations or reasons before leaving the night off in an angry silence.
She grinned “Well at least we can take advantage of some of the time we have left.” he returned her grin and slid off the robe he had donned to talk with Hallice.

When Lin woke in the morning the smell of eggs met her nostrils, and she heard humming coming from the small kitchen, she smiled to herself as she slipped on some clothes and left the bedroom.
William was already fully dressed in his duty uniform as he set up the table for breakfast, he looked up at her and smiled sheepishly.
“You weren’t supposed to wake up for a little while you know?” he said cheerfully as he smiled again.
“Oh I’m sorry would you like me to go back?” She said laughing, smiling wickedly at him as she took her place at the other side of the table from her husband. For an hour the two of them ate in silence neither of them enjoyed the fact that William would be leaving for at least a few weeks to complete an inspection of Valhalla but finally William cleared his throat.
“Lin, if you don’t mind me asking what are you going to be doing while I’m away?” his voice was still sheepish as he looked into her eyes, they always comforted him, the strength, dignity and confidence they exuded had helped him through the hardest moments of his life but today they looked anxious.
“Well, I was hoping to tell you later but since your leaving this afternoon, I’ve been given a new commission Wil.” she smiled and William sat back shocked for a moment by her silence.
“Come on the suspense is killer.” he said jokingly, her shrug made him all the more curious.
“It’s no big deal” she started casually “I received word a few days ago, I’ve been given command of one of the Five Swords.” she smiled broadly and William almost fell out of his chair as he stood up to hug her. The Five Swords-often called the Five Swords of Heaven- were the most powerful warships in the galaxy and the true representation of the fighting and engineering prowess of the Icaran people.
“Which one is it?” he said, overjoyed she smiled brilliantly back.
“The Sword of Wrath.” she said, giggling like she had once when she was fifteen.
The two talked for hours before William finally left for the shuttle port that would take him to the Naval base on the southern coast of the primary continent of Icara. As he flew over the scenery below Admiral Lord Ross admired the beauty of Icara’s lush green forests and brilliant blue skies. Icara was a warm world compared to the average human world, but Ross liked it’s warmth it’s long sunrises and sunsets, the beauty of the blue-winged eagles flying overhead in the long summer season and the smell of Chacka Oranges blossoming in the pseudo spring that Icara had. It was hard for Ross to even believe that when his ancestors first landed on Icara they had to struggle just to find food, and that the pleasant warmth that he knew today was once a steaming sauna before weather grids were placed around habitable regions, and that the very heat had killed many of the weaker colonists when they first landed on Icara all those long centuries ago.

So much had changed for Icarans, they were once philosophers, poets and healers when they were almost slaughtered by the Spartans that all changed, they became hardened conquerors, they had swept across the face of Earth like a great shadow, unstoppable, unchecked until they ran against the Asian Empire, for centuries they coexisted peacefully, the Icaran military protected the Empire and the Asian Empire, though an enemy was rarely ever met on the battlefield, until the treacherous independent nations formed their own alliance, the Sol Coalition and nuked dozens of Icaran and Asian cities, colonies and outposts. Billions died in that war and left the remnants of Icara and Asia shattered and homeless, their desperation led them to Icara and Brandenburg, for two hundred years they had rebuilt and finally when they decided to reach for the stars again they again met with disaster as they encountered the Phong and the Neo-Star Empires, the war was brutal and millions died, which again ruined the possibility of peace within the Empire and the crusades began, crusades which claimed billions in a wave of fire and purification, for the first time in two decades the Icaran Empire was in a state of peace, but even in this time of peace, even now there was a crisis and Ross felt an uneasiness about his “inspection tour” of Valhalla and a touch of nerves about the future of the Empire, of a people that had seen so much death, blood and sorrow in their existence.
Ross finally reached the spaceport outside of Sagatarian city, the view was amazing, dozens of sky scrapers rose hundreds of stories into the sky, shuttles and public transports darted around like bees around a hive in an amazing buzz of activity and life. But the crowned Jewel of Sagatarian city was it’s massive spaceport, which was so large that it could land 3 dreadnought sized ships side by side and still have room for a squadron of fighters and a civvie transport or two, not that any dreadnoughts could make atmospheric entry.
Many people even claimed that Sagatarian was built for the spaceport and not the other way around, a theory Ross was willing to accept after he heard that of the 1.6 million souls in Sagatarian one million worked in some function at the Spaceport.
The transport landed silently in the eastern number two landing field, Ross walked down the ramp to find a full squad of marines waiting for him, they were all wearing full combat armor and many of them looked around nervously, something Ross found most disconcerting considering they were all on the capitol world of the entire Empire. As the confused Admiral stepped forward a Marine Lieutenant braced to attention in front of him, when Ross returned the salute the marine cocked his head.
“Lord Star Admiral William Jefferson Ross?” the Lieutenant asked, probably feeling rather stupid about asking such an obvious question, though protocol still demanded it.
“Yes Lieutenant that‘s me.” Ross said a little amused.
“Sir we are here to take you aboard Blackbird by order of Captain Sandra Fowler, please follow me.” The marine turned around stiffly and signaled the squad to move toward a landed cutter, which bore the crest of the Blackbird for some reason Ross always found that ship’s crest disturbing, it was a blackbird of old earth, wings extended to their fullest span, and a body extended as if about to land, with a sunset in the background, it always seemed like a symbol of bad luck to him, especially after Lin told him that many cultures considered a blackbird a foretelling of imminent death.
“Tell me Lieutenant why a fully armed and armored squad of marines to pick me up on our own homeworld?” Ross said politely as he followed the marine.
“Orders sir.” The marine said bluntly, Ross’ face reddened slightly at what could easily be considered a slight to his honor.
“Excuse me Marine?” Ross’ voice had a bite to it this time but the marine didn’t even flinch.
“Sir, I mean you no disrespect, but I don’t know why we were sent down in full armor or loaded out for combat but I am following my orders to the word sir, oh and sir this is not m homeworld I’m from Valhalla.” the Lieutenant said in the same unflinching tone that he would have if he were under fire from the enemy.
Ross however froze in place and instinctively reached toward his holster.
“Marine do me a favor, take of your helmet.” Ross said warily, and noticed with some bit of nerves that the other marines in the group were all looking directly at him, he wished he could see their faces, but the breather attachment and visor to infantry helmets prevented that.
“Yes sir.” The marine replied as any Icaran soldier would, instantly and without question, the helmet came off with a hiss and Ross instantly relaxed, realizing he knew the young officer, of course the man was only a private when he first met him years ago aboard the Yu Hing Pe straight out of boot camp.
“Mahony Isn’t it?” Ross said with a bit of a smile as he let his hand slip away from his holster.
The marine bowed politely and smiled “I’m honored you remember me sir.” he placed his helmet back on his head and gestured for Ross to follow him. Ross had only met the man once during the closing days of the Phong Crusade but the marine made a good impression on him.

On the ride Ross looked over at Lieutenant Robert Patrick Mahony “Hey Lieutenant, what do you think is going on, on Valhalla?” Ross knew that it was probably a sensitive question but he figured would be best to ask of a Valhallan native.
“I don’t know sir, Valhalla is as loyal and devout to the Empire as the next world, maybe even more so I don’t understand why my people would go silent like that.” the young man replied and his eyes flashed pain at the thought. The rest of the ride went in an uncomfortable silence, Ross sympathize with the young man, Ross was a native to Icara as were seventy eight percent of the human population that was his age the rest were Brandenburg citizens and Rebels, but there were a lot of people born on colonies, and to them their world was just as important as Icara it’s self. And to them the loss of their world was just as much of a nightmare as it would be to an Icaran native or Brandenburg native.

End of Part One

:As I said Looooong chapter, part two and three are going to be just as long, if not longer:

[Atrocities]

That was a very nice read Starhawk. Thank you. How many words do you have so far for the entire story?

[Starhawk]

So far my empire has 293 planets in 53 systems and a population of 132 billion.

I haven't fully finished colonizing the decimated worlds yet but when I do I'll probobly have an extra 50 or so planets in my empire.

[Starhawk]

I've decided to add a bit more backstory to the Icaran Empire as I write part 2 of "Crisis on Valhalla".

Space Travel Within the Icaran Empire

Civilian Space Travel:
Space Travel within the Icaran Empire for civilians is limited to "sub-stellar" ranges, which means though the vast majorty of starships are equipped with GFGs it is illegal for a civilian starship to exit it's own star system without explicit government edict to the contrary, such as what happened during the early portion of Operation Exodus when all civilian ships with GFGs were permited to attempt a retreat from the systems that were being sealed off from the warp.

Even sub-stellar cruises are rare for the average civilian as the operating liscense the government places on all spacecraft is extremely expensive for the average citizen, which means that most Icarans never see another world, much less another system.

There are ways for civilians to see other worlds and other stars, however, these options are listed in detail below:

Colony Bureau: The Colony Bureau is the first hope for most civilians to see another world. A citizen that signs on to the CB is bound for a period of 20 years to a contract that forbids them from, joining the military or mining corps, in this time the CB attempts to find a colony project that best suits the citizen's skills.
Unfortunately for most civilians in the CB they do not find themselves on a beautiful Icara type world but instead are sent to mining worlds or armory worlds which are only safe because of massive blasteel domes, these worlds are often barren and toxic to human life and so the colonist may spend their entire life inside the dome, never again seeing the blue skies of an I-Type world. And any colonist must remain on world for 5-10 years prior to being allowed to sign on to another colony project.

For some citizens however the CB is their only hope for leaving such a barren wasteland of a world and they are willing to chance anything for the opportunity to leave.

Mining Corps: For some the Mining Corps is a worse choice then the CB, but to others it's a life of excitement and adventure that they would turn down for nothing.

The Space Based arm of the Mining Corps was established in the year 2412 when the remote mining devices requried to mine asteroid belts was invented and has for the past decade provided valuable raw materials to the Icaran economy.

The life of a "world" miner is a dangerous one, and a hard one, they spend hours a day, five days a week, every week of the year below ground digging for precious raw materials that are required to keep Icara's economy alive.

A "space" miner's life is just as dangerous but far more exciting to many. A "space miner" serves on a mining ship and spends years on end in space with his/her crew mining the valuable asteroid belts of Icaran space.

The benefit to being a member of the mining corps aside from high pay, is the chance of reasignment, the chance to be asigned to a "core world" that has already been terraformed or is at least undergoing the terraformation process.

Of course the opposite is also true, a miner may go from being based out of a beautiful gem of a world to a barren rock where ferocious creatures are trying to kill you in horrible ways.

The Royal Navy: The Royal navy is another option for a civilian who wishes to see the stars and other worlds, however service to the navy has it's price as well. Miminum service is for no less than 50 years, meaning that a person who signs up at the minimum recruitment age of 16 will get out when they are nearing middle age, It is also a dangerous occupation if you are assigned to a warship or frontline base, or a tedius one if the navy assigns you to a freighter or interstellar transport. Even with the chance of a boring assignment millions of people every year flock to the service of the Royal Navy.

Royal Marines: Like the Navy the Royal Marines attract millions of volunteers every year, civilians who want to see the stars and live a life of adventure and danger. Millions every year washout however and are forced to wait yet another year before they can try again.

Royal Army: Unlike the Romance of the Royal Navy or Royal Marines the Royal army is a machine of no finesse but instead is a hammer of destruction, a blunt objecct used to crush enemy worlds into submission. Those who join the army know they will likely spend the rest of their lives moving from world to world on a troopship in the middle of a warfleet, only seeing a world when they are deployed into battle or deployed for Garrison duty.

State Security: The SS is the only option for those who seek to serve Icara but are unable or unwilling to join the military, a citizen with a clean record and a loyal background may join the SS and hope to be assigned to one of the dozens of brigades guarding Icaran worlds, the main fear of joining the SS is being assigned to one of the "frontier" brigades on an occupied world where the population may be hostile or may not even be human at all.

The Warp:
The reason FTL travel is forbidden to all but government liscensed ships is because the only form of FTL travel is a "warp point" and travel through such points must be strictly enforced and scheduled to prevent tragic accidents.
Another reason for banning FTL travel to all but liscened ships is because millions of citizens would flock away from in-hospitable worlds and leave the vast majority of worlds within Icaran space empty, leaving massive ammounts of resources unreachable.

[Starhawk]

This is a little bit of stuff I actually got the idea from someone who said it would be interesting to know how the average soldier feels when they are going to war in the days of Icara.

Well the best way I feel I could do that is to write prayers or battle hymns/songs because it is often in the songs of war that we can most often feel what the soldiers feel in my humble opinion.

Imperial Battle Prayer:

Lord you have chosen us to do this work
Give us Strength to face the fire.
And courage to face the sword

Give us resolve to be victorious
And Wisdom to be merciful

Give us this day to conquer
And tomorrow to spread your word

Give us your love and care
And allow us to do the same

We ask you now for your final blessing in prayer
So that when we die we can raise our faces to the sky
And know that no matter where our bodies lie
We are home, and have seen the end of our struggles. Amen

1st Icaran Regimental Battle Hymn:
The stars cried out the heavens fell
Yet still we charge into gore and hell
The earth may shake and burn with fire
Yet we fight on till our bodies meet the pyre
They Sound the call Fleet and Army into the endless night
So Come on brave lads be ready to fight
No matter the world green or barren
They shall say of us they died Icaran!

Call to Arms: Spoken in Icara city by an unknown speaker Circa 2402
They say of these Phong, They are too powerful!
They say they can not be overcome by mere humans
I say they know not the strength of our hearts!
They know not the strength of our soul and our faith!
These Xenos are just another test placed before us on our quest to unite man under one banner
They are just another obstacle which must be overcome for our future
And I say when history looks back upon this day it will say Icara can not be overcome, Icarans can not be overcome for as long as we stand together we are unbreakable! Stand and fight these creatures and bring us victory, in the name of all we consider holy by the time we are done with this galaxy they will say We are the only power in all of creation behind God that can not be overcome!

P.S I am still writing the rest of the story

[Atrocities]

Thank you, I needed a good read this morning. LOL, please keep up the great work Starhawk. I tried to sing this to a tune but could not find one that fit. Perhaps the melody "Battle Without Honor Or Humanity" might fit.

[Starhawk]

Well you have to remember AT they don't speak english so that's of course a translated version, played to a foreign military march, yup that's my story and I'm stickin to it .

[rdouglass]

Starhawk said:
Well you have to remember AT they don't speak english so that's of course a translated version, played to a foreign military march, yup that's my story and I'm stickin to it .

LOL! All I can picture is B-rate KungFu movies that were poorly voiced-over.

EDIT: Oh yeah, still a great read.

[Atrocities]

One way to explain away why every alien race speaks english is to "discover" a gene that all races share that make them develop their language to be simular to english.

Something that an ancient race instilled into the genetic make up for each planet they seeded. (English, the ancient english language)