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

[El_Phil]

[nitpick] No Mobutu is an name. Mabutu is what an illiterate computer virus writer used as the couldn't spell Mobutu.
[/nitpick]

Stalin "Man of Iron" or was it Steel? I can't be arsed to check the interweb but it was one of the two. In any case Superman was worryingly close to passing off.

[Atrocities]

If not for my illiterateness, I would once again start writing. But lets face it, Lucas is a king of the written dialog compared to me. Looking forward to more chapters Starhawk.

[Starhawk]

El_Phil said:
[nitpick] No Mobutu is an name. Mabutu is what an illiterate computer virus writer used as the couldn't spell Mobutu.
[/nitpick]

Stalin "Man of Iron" or was it Steel? I can't be arsed to check the interweb but it was one of the two. In any case Superman was worryingly close to passing off.

Okay Mobutu I misspelled it I've only seen it spelled with an A so don't compare me to an illiterate jerk who likes making viruses

As far as Stalin goes it's much shorter then Iosif Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili which was his real name so yeah I pick Stalin over that any day hehe.

Heh AT is that a jab at the Star Wars dialogue?

[El_Phil]

If I was being fair I wouldn't have added the nitpick tags. CTML Contrived Text Markup Language. Like HTML, but better!

[Starhawk]

2438.6 First battle of Caitia
This month had already brought much bloodshed to the galaxy but it was not to stop there as the 1st fleet continued their ever expanding crusade into the Peoples Republic of Remorhaz at the same time the 5th fleet was purging the Anderman colony the 1st fleet was engaging the last remnants of the Remorhaz navy and to their surprise the Remorhaz fleet launched 500 fighters and charged straight into the battle.

“Sir the Able is adrift those damn fighters crippled her systems, Claw has been destroyed and we’ve got damage reports coming in from all over the 10th division.” The chief tactical officer grimaced as another blue light representing another Icaran warship winked out of existence and with it thousands of lives. Hundreds of red dots swarmed around the forward elements of the fleet as enemy fighters attacked the enemy.

The Superior broke formation and brought her broadside against an enemy carrier, as the two massive ships came relative to one another, the Icaran’s beams raked across exposed enemy hull. Fire and wreckage trails drifted away as the two ships continued towards the main fight.The massive Icaran superdreadnought fired a final broadside and the Remorhaz carrier simply began to tear apart as its inertia carried the wreckage along.

The battle only lasted three hours but the losses on both sides were horrific, as the Remorhaz fought with every last ounce of strength and courage their people could muster until at last the Icaran weight in firepower and numbers overwhelmed them and the last Remorhaz warship and fighter squadrons were swept from the stars.

Icaran Losses:
HMS Able (SD) (71% damage 1,000 dead crew)
HMS Claw (SD) (Destroyed 6,100 dead)
HMS Defiant (SD) (Destroyed 6,100 dead)
HMS Hunt (SD) (Destroyed 6,100 dead)
HMS Warlord (DN) (Destroyed 5,300 dead)
HMS King Roger (DN) (Destroyed 5,300 dead)
HMS Avalon (SD) (Destroyed 6,100 dead)
HMS Andromeda (SD) (Destroyed 6,100 dead)
HMS Sarah (SD) (Destroyed 6,100 dead)
Icaran Casualties: 53,300 dead
Anderman Crusade Casualties: 503,887 dead 1,584,627 wounded

[Starhawk]

The Reformation:

On Icara the Imperial Palace shined like a brilliant wall of pearl as the summer morning sun climbed high in the sky, outside of the palace nearly 15 million people crowded outside of the palace walls, all of them waiting for the Praetor to make an announcement that had been the focus of rumors and speculation for five months. Everyone in the Empire knew that things were changing; the government was in flux as the new Praetor began to reshape the very organization of the Imperial bureaucracy.
The hours passed and still the Praetor did not appear but more and more people on Icara began arriving outside of the palace, so many in fact that the Praetor’s Own Regiment had to call in three Imperial Marine detachments including an armored brigade to help them ensure the security of the Palace. Entire State Security brigades were also arriving to secure various perimeter positions and ensure that no riots or problems occurred.

At exactly 15:00 hours the massive palace doors opened and a tall figure wearing the dark gray tunic and space black trousers of an Imperial Official, his cap was plain and unadorned and he carried only a saber and a sidearm with no other adornments. The lone man walked up to a podium at the end of the pathway leading from the palace doors to the gates of the palace grounds. For a moment the crowd expected the man to announce the Praetor or for drums to begin playing, it was not until every news camera in the area focused in on the man that the crowd realized they were looking at Praetor Rodric himself; and for a long moment a stunned silence came over almost the entire crowd bringing an eerie silence to the Palace grounds, there was none of the pomp or circumstance people expected of the Praetor, no trumpets or guards lining the pathway it all seemed to quiet, and except for the humming of tank and APC engines the moment seemed frozen in time until the Praetor cleared his throat and the crowds began cheering.
After a moment Rodric lifted his hands to call for silence and the crowd slowly responded, Rodric smiled; an almost embarrassed expression on his young face.
“Ladies, Gentlemen and fellow citizens of the grand Empire of Icara, as you all know our people have been engulfed in an almost endless war for the past 30 years, in fact we’ve been at war since before I was born and entire generations have been swept up in battle and warfare and millions of our people have died. Yet it is with pride and honor I say that we have not wavered, that you my people have not wavered in our great cause even though we have all become tired of warfare and even though many of us have lost those we love to the Crusades.” Rodric paused and cleared his throat for a moment.
“My friends, my people it is with all my heart I swear to you that the wars will end within our generation if there is anything I can do about it, I have begun increasing military production, and have raised entire regiments of soldiers to go to the front lines and I have given our military commanders the control they need to take initiative and to crush our enemies!” the crowds began cheering again but Rodric quickly raised his hands for silence “However….” He paused as the crowds began settling down again “However, we have a long dark road ahead of us, and there will be much more blood shed in the cause of Humanity, and it is because of this long dark road that I have chosen to reform our security forces, as such I am hereby dissolving the State Security and changing responsibility for our citizens security to the newly formed military controlled Federal Security Division, it is my belief that placing this officer under the control of the military will help with some of the disciplinary problems that some of the SS brigades have suffered from in the past due to poor leadership choices made by civilian leaders including certain nobles who have raised SS brigades as a private security force.” The Praetor paused long enough to allow this momentous statement to sink in, the SS had been with Icara for over a thousand years but it was true that it had been becoming a more and more controversial and corrupted organization but to have it replaced in one fell swoop would still be shocking to most citizens who were used to the “Status Quo” of the Empire.
“I am also reforming the Army so that Regiments may be raised from any loyal world with enough populace and not simply those who are core worlds, the Navy and Marines have also promised that they will begin recruiting from all loyal worlds no matter their heritage, whether they are pure blood Icaran or are one of our conquests.” Rodric swallowed hard and waited as the crowds thought about what had just been said, some openly began shouting and screaming down the proposal others just stood in stunned silence, allowing non “pure” Icarans to raise entire regiments and to be recruited into the Fleet and marines seemed outlandish, it took generations for a world’s population to be considered “pure” Icaran but it had only been 20 years since many worlds had been brought into the Empire.
“This is necessary if we want to end the wars within our lifetimes, we can no longer afford to allow millions of people that could serve our Empire on the front lines go unused simply because they have not been part of this Empire for generations.” Rodric spoke calmly over the crowds shouting and gently nudged his mic volume up several levels to ensure he was heard.

After several hours the crowds calmed and the Praetor’s edicts went into effect, the office of State Security was dissolved as well as several of the “discipline challenged” brigades the rest were absorbed into the new Federal Security Division and the new officers and officials took over. The other reforms were quietly taking place as preparations for raising several regiments on worlds previously considered unacceptable was underway as well as the creation of armory worlds, who’s entire industrial base was switched over to the production of arms and munitions for the newly expanding military machine.

Throughout the Empire preparations for a war on a scale never before seen progressed slowly but ominously as hundreds of thousands of men and women were undergoing training to march against worlds many of them had never even heard of before and many had to come to terms with the fact that in all likelihood they would never see their homeworlds again.

[cshank2]

Wow, sounds like the Imperial Guard from WH40k, I like.

[Starhawk]

Well more like the way the English used to raise regiments but since WH40k based the IG recruitment style on that than indeed they do sound much alike either way glad you like.

And hey guys you can all be happy now I have officially disbanded the SS for the SD please tell me there are no evil organizations out there with the initials SD hehe.

[El_Phil]

Uhhhh sadly yes there is. The SD did stand for the Sicherheitsdienst which was another Nazi 'security' organisation. You don't have alot of luck with these acronyms do you?

[Starhawk]

Holy crap on a stick your joking!

:Charlie Brown: AAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGHh

Screw it SD is final as I've never heard of them before lol