Gallinore

A world plundered. Once a proud member of the Hapes Consortium, it had left the banner of the Cluster following the Great Rebellion which saw the Sith who had grown to rule the Consortium topple. It had then been ravaged by the vile presence of Lupercus Darksword, the Hapes Prince in exile, under the orders of the so called Galactic Defence Initiative, who themselves were under the dominion of the Rogue Empire, desperate to expand their toehold in Hapes space. In a surprising counter move, Lupercus slaughtered brutally the now Jutraalian troops on planet, seizing the planet for GDI who made a backstep of their own in offering half of the planet to Hapes as a good will offering. The planet itself was in ruins, millions dead, infrastructure crippled and crumbling and thousands of Rainbow Gems stolen by the plundering forces of the Dark Prince.

Years passed and the planet was rebuilt to relative stability. In fact, despite being jointly under the control of LFX Industrial, Gallinore became the economic centrepeice of the majesty of the reborn Consortium. Then tragedy struck. Intergalactic civil war on the grandest scale, Imperial ships shreding the New Republic in the highly publicised Endgame campeign. With the Lightside crushed under the Imperial Jackboot, a conspiracy gripped the Empire, tearing it asunder and in the war that followed, crushed Hapes, as well as every other faction of significance. The Consortium was crushed by massed forces from all sides, the massive concentrations of Hapan ships slowly whittled away until a massive stike pushed the Consortium back to Hapes alone. Gallinore again was ravaged, becoming a prime raiding ground for the various pirates and empires wanting to gain massive wealth. By the end of the war Gallinore was once again a ruin.

And so it became the goal of the Monarchy that the Consortium be restored, and in a mirror of that, the Queen Mother announced the begining of an Era of Restoration. Diplomatic missions would be sent across the Cluster, starting at Gallinore.

Aboard the Hapes.

The Hapan Battle Dragon, named after the planet it would come to represent in the Royal Navy, floated elegantly above the lush planet of Hapes. The newly constructed ship was the first of many that would see Hapes return to its rightful place as the one controlling force in the Cluster. At the helm sat the Crown Prince, his hand holding a large rock. To his left stood one of his aides, and to the right stood his compatriot, Ren Janggar. He twisted the rock in his hand, the array of lights dazzling from its surface astounding the monarch with its beauty.

"This is where we go now gentlemen. To Gallinore."

He tossed the vibrant gem to Ren.

"Helm, jump for Gallinore."

The crew quickly complied, starstreaks slamming across the viewport.

Ren's hands uncleanched, and caught the rock from the air as the ship jumped into lightspeed.

"Quite an interesting little thing this isn't it?

You know Dak, I've been quite intrigued after reading the breifing for this mission. Gallinore seems to a world that's had as many ups and downs as Emperor palpatine had clones."

Ren chuckled slightly at that. It wasn't often that a joke broke through his otherwise fridgid Jedi demeanor. This time he seemed in a rather excited mood.

"It certainly seems an interesting world." said Ren, staring into the glittering lights of the rock. "Truly interesting."


His feelings aside though, this mission was going to be far from easy. The people of Gallinore had been through more than thier share of bad times, and were only now starting to recover once again. They felt helpless and abandonded. It was thier job to reasure them that all was not lost.

Ren would have to use all of his Jedi skills to help maintain thier faith, that they could rejoin the consortium once again.

This new Knight of the Cluster was more than the mere commander he had been before, he was relied upon now more than ever.

He would not fail.

The small jump was over in minutes, the hyperspace reversion coming cleanly and without incident. Suddenly, a small green spark of lightning was discerned from amongst the streaks of hyperspaces that were disappearing.

Sirens sounded readily, flashing a tinge of crimson across the watching bridge. As they fully emerged, their speed rapidly cutting down a Carrack Cruiser was sighted.

"Your Majesty? Radar reports indicate that craft to be the Savage Wanderer, its a pirating craft!"

The battleship surged into action, its crew leaping up to sound battle stations and man their defensive outposts. As they did, the Carrack turned from his heading and made a b line for the red hulled battledragon.

"We'll just mow it down. It can't be modified enough to cause any real problems!"

Suddenly the radar crew shouted.

"We've got 4 TIE Line Fighters detaching from the Carrack!"

Looking out the window, Dakkon watched as the turbolaser crews opened up, more and more turbolasers coming online as they moved into a forward facing position on the hull. As the fighters came screaming in, their 4 point diamond formation showing the efficiency of the crews, a turbolaser blast clipped the wing of a TIE, sending it spirling off into the void.

The Carrack now swung into position parallel to the Battle Dragon, modified side turbolasers blasting from the smaller ship as the other TIEs moved into attack positions.

"Well, this didn't start out too well eh Ren?"

<font color=lime>"Not quite." <font color=white>Uttered Ren, grabbing onto the edge of a console in attempt to steady himself from the rocking of the ship.

<font color=lime>"Prime all Ion cannons. It's strange that a ship so outmatched would attack us."

<font color=white>"Very strange indeed."

<font color=lime>"Fire turbolasers, target thier engineering section. "

<font color=yellow>"Direct hit sir." said the tactical officer, "Little damage."

<font color=lime>"Just keep it up, we need to strip thier rear shields, the hammer them with the Ion cannons."

<font color=yellow>" Sir the carrack is breaking away."

<font color=white>"They're high tailing it."

<font color=lime>"Helm, lay in a pursuit course, they wont get away."

The Hapes cruised along slowly, the silence of the bridge interrupted occassionally by the calls of radarman, gunnery commanders and sheild crews reporting the status of their specific positions.

Radar reports sheilds are breached...

Full weapon spread online, that Carracks gone...

@#%$! Sheild damage is coming up around our bridge, get on those damn fighters!

Just as the sheild call came a TIE shot right passed the bridge, the whine of its twin ion engines sending a slight shudder up the Princes spine. Turbolaser emplacements trailed the fighter, unable to keep up with the crafts speed. Despite its lack of sheilds the craft was a true work of modern engineering, easily mass produced and contained the bare essentials of a fighter, and yet retained the ability to destroy all commercial fighters in the market. Before the employment of the X Wing, not a single craft in the galaxy could take on the TIE/ln in single combat, a 3 to 1 ratio being required for at least an even fight.

And now the pride of the Cluster lay in peril from just 4 of these craft. Suddenly, as another TIE made a pass, the Princes eyes sparked.

"Defence Systems Analyst?"

A young gawky Ensign rose from his seat, snapping to attention.

"At ease Ensign. Were the Monarch Class Fletchette launchers equiped to the ship during its construction?"

The mans, or rather boys, reply was surprisingly concise and knowledgeable.

"No sir. They are only standard on the Matriarch Class Battle Cruiser. But, they were installed as a post production amenity for your own protection, and only around the bridge. They are currently offline since i detected no perceptable missile threat from the Carrack and its support fighters."

Dakkon grinned, raising his hand before the Ensign continued.

"Excellent. Activate them for manual targetting. What was your name again Ensign?"

Another Tie shot passed, followed by a rocking explosion.

"We hit one of them with a short range Ion Blast! It was timed perfectly to shut the craft down in the path of a turbolaser blast."

The Ensign sighed in releif before returning the Princes gaze. The Prince himself had already strode to the mans station.

"Ensign Valdez your Majesty."

"Right Mr Valdez, when that Tie makes its next pass, target its side pylons as if they were incoming torpedos. Hopefully the fletchettes might shear off its wing..."

Valdez grinned, happy to be allowed to use his system for his monarch. And, just as Dakkon had said, as the TIE came in, the flettchettes fired, both wings detaching, leaving only a floating eyeball, which drifted slowly away until it came into the fire lane of one of the turbolasers which promptly despatched it. The Prince was back in his seat already, his eyes glimmering.

"Excellent work Lieutenant Valdez. Excellent...

Lets finish up those TIEs, and make a move towards Gallinore. We have an important meeting planned, and we must be ready..."

A moment passed between the time the order was given and the slow accelleration of the Battle Dragon which allowed the Prince to think. His thoughts travelled at hyperspeed as the ships drives increased speed towards the planned rendeavoux and as the comms man started radio contact with Gallinores Ground Control, Dakkon heard the once frequint 'chirp chirp' as the ships databases connected with those which were maintained on the ground for his personal use. The entire crew lay astonished as their hail was returned.

Long live the Queen Mother. Long live the Crowned Prince!

The crew broke into cheers, officers and enlisted men alike cheering the name of the Queen Mother, her husband and the name of the Dynasty. It took no time for the ship to be granted clearance to dock with the small orbital station that served as the ruined Gallinores last link to the cluster, and to the greater galaxy.

HMOP Gallinore’s Eye, orbiting the planet Gallinore.

The Prince stood stock still in front of the boarding ramp, his eyes focused on nothing and everything at the same time. His clothing had been changed from relatively informal military garb to that which reflected his station as the leader of the Clusters Royal Family. The regal gown of purple was gilded with gold lilies which shimmered down his tall form. A simple band of gold around his head would have been enough, but despite being the least formal crown in the Princes inventory, it was still lavish, a sparkling Rainbow Gem being the crowns centre piece, protruding slightly from the crowns front. The rich velvet material was itself a beauty to behold and went perfectly with the colours of nobility and the perfectly tailored outfit that was worn by the prince. To his right and immediately behind him stood his right hand, Knight of the Cluster Ren Janggar, wearing his dress uniform of the Hapes Navy bearing the rank of Commodore in the Royal Naval Intelligence Bureau. Around his neck and under his collar lay the highest honour that could be awarded to a citizen of the cluster, the prestigious Order of the Knights of Hapes, the medal itself seeming to emanate out of its simply gold design to something much larger than life itself, as if the inanimate object was itself singing. To his side hung his light sabres, which dangled loosely but securely, which were noticeably out of place in conjunction with the uniform, such was Hapes dislike for Force Users in general that as an accessory, light sabres were a fashion fop aux. Ren stood confidently, as did the man on the Princes other shoulder, Provost Zakharov. His wild white hair was in a relatively groomed state and he too bore a uniform of military nature, noting him as a member of the Palace guard, as well as being a part of the highly prestigious Royal Science Institute. Despite looking like a wild eyed theoretical scientist, his intelligence in all matters of state had served him well, elevating him to the Crowned Princes chief advisor.

Behind the triumvirate sprawled the Royal litter, junior advisors talking candidly while courtiers tittered amongst themselves over the latest court gossip. The noise was building up slowly, more and more people joining in more and more raucous conversations as they waited some stirringly, others nervously for the boarding ramp to lower. Suddenly, drawing complete and utter silence from those in the royal entourage, the boarding ramp began to slowly lower. As the airlock hissed and the airtight seal was broken, the royal herald could be heard announcing the arrival of the royal party.

“…sent to you, the Crowned Prince of Hapes, Dakkon Darksword accompanied by Knight of the Cluster Ren Janggar.”

Timed perfectly, as Ren’s name was called, the boarding ramp lowered completely, allowing the three to step into the light of the docking bay. The resounding cheers that greeted them caused a broad smile to cross Dakkon’s face. Still smiling, he turned momentarily back towards Ren for reassurance before pressing on towards the throng. As he reached the bottom of the ramp he was greeted by Governor Phillip, the former governor of the planet before it was lost to pirates. He too smiled broadly, quickly bowing on bended knee, before rising and clasping the Princes outstretched hand with force.

“Your Majesty, welcome back to Gallinore and welcome aboard Her Majesties Orbital Platform Gallinore's Eye. It has been a long time since you were last here, many troubles have come and gone since we left the protection of your great family… As the pirates landed, the knocked out most of our communications, crippling out ability to call for help. Our militia beat them off, but lacking any working ships to either reach Hapes or get parts for our long range holocoms we were forced to make do as we were. The planet united under my rule in absentia to the Royal Family. We have been able to maintain some divisions, targeted at fighting off mercenaries and any of the groups that think they can try to plunder the gems. We also maintained stockpiles in accordance with royal law of Gems for Taxes, plus the required stock pile for Royal Currency.

We now petition you for re-entry to the royal cluster. Our divisions are your divisions, our wealth is your wealth. Our financial infrastructure remains at the ready; all it needs is to be activated. We have papers already drawn up regarding our re-entry to the cluster. My King, please accept us…”

Meanwhile, on the ship Starhome, the streaks of light dropping from the ship as it slows down, the stars shining brightly, Hapan Queen Mother, Jasmine Darksword, is on her way to Gallinore with troops to finalize a few negotiations.

Waiting for her destination to be annouced, Jasmine sits in her quarters, going over last minute information, when a voice on her comlink interrupts her thoughts.

"Queen Mother, the planet Gallinore is approaching."

"Alright, thank you, Captain."

Jasmine puts away her notes and goes to the cockpit, awaiting her arrival.

The visit to the surface had done much to curb Ren's belief that this mission was a lost cause. He assumed that the people of gallinore would be extremely reluctant to embrace any form of reentry back into the cluster after the years of turmoil they'd seen.

Even Jedi are wrong every once in a while. He thought.

Looking around he could now see the joy in the faces of the people. The pain in thier minds outweighed the joy on thier faces, but was genuine nonetheless. That would take a long time to heal.

However that's exactly what he was here to do.

The men and women of the cell were frenetic in their haste. They moved with a speed that belying demons nipping at their heels and yet still wished the could go faster. Moments after the Hapes had entered Gallinorian Space, they were able to send a key message across Hapes Military Frequincies thought lost after the 'dark ages' arrived. And across the Cluster, the message was received by the few who could receive it, and all were joyus.

The Royal House has reawakened...

Meanwhile, on Ut.

Few actually received the message, communications stations that held the encryption codes from that era having primarily been destroyed in the ravages of what was being called 'the dark times'. But despite that, there were a few, mostly older people who clung to the memory of shelter that the Consortium had provided, who had their ears to the skies, awaiting that simple message.

Among those who received the message were what could be constituted as 'Loyalists', men and women who knew full well that the only safety for worlds in the cluster lay under the banner of the Consortium. These loyalists has formed small cells on every single world of the Consortium whos goal was to moniter activities by the Consortium of Hapes and await the begining of what the cells had affectionetly called the Rebirth.

And as the Battle Dragon Hapes entered the gravity well of Gallinore, that cell had done what it was ordained to do. Let all Hapans know that their rebirth was at hand. Within an hour a meeting had been organised bringing the most loyal Loyalists together.

Unknown Location, 3 kilometres from the Ginalo Mansion.

Ten men and woman sat around the hard oaken table. Its surface was worn down, the once shiny varnish now matted and stained, blade marks scaring its surface. At the foot of the table sat a tall man, his shoulder length brown hair looking stylishly disheveled. He was a big man, broad shoulds framing a body that had been toned by a harsh upbringing and built through military service. His Service record itself was impeccable and bore the name Andrew Cahill, a.k.a Angel. Directly opposite him at the head of the table sat a much older man, his features regal and weathered. Enrico Chivaldori was the former governer of the planet and of royal Hapan lineage. His slightly portly frame reflected his position as a beaurocrat, not a warrior, but the other 7 men and women around him were more than able to make up for that short coming.

On his left from closest to furthest sat four men. James 'Scully' Sullivan spoke with a twang, his blonde curly hair and tanned skin reflecting a life lived to the full. His hands were calloused and hard, the grip strong. To his left sat Trevor Colby. He appeared to be a much younger version of Scully, speaking in the same accent and with many of the same mannerisms. Although darker haired, the bond the two shared was a strong one. To the left of Colby sat Igor and Ivan Dolovich. Their accent was much thicker and more robust than the others and the fact that basic was their second language added to the potential communications problem between them and the rest of the party. Ivan was a solid man, known across the Hapes Army for breaking every conflict kill record that ever stood. His light brown hair was partly brushed off to one side. All in all he looked extremely unremarkable. Igor, his cousin, was much slimmer, having served in the Red Army in Rodia and Danoz. Although less experianced than his famous cousin, he was still a more than competant soldier.

Opposite him lay an empty chair next to which a woman sat. Her blondy brown hair was up in a bun and her clothes were neat. She appeared groomed and proper, but all knew that she was a deadly shot. She toyed with two pistols, one in each hand, flicking them with an ease bourne of expertise. Her name was Monica Sondergard and whos nature, as well as hair style had earnt herself the name 'Buns' from all who knew her. The other woman in the room sat beside her although they could not have been more different. Where Buns was slim and lithe, the woman simply known as Meltdown was built extremely powerfully, her forarms easily a match for any of the other men in the room. She too played with twin weapons, old projectile weapons about the size of a machine pistol. Attached to each end was a large suppressor and each clip had another two attached to it. She growled slightly as a lock of her long think and dark brown hair dropped in front of her face, it being carelessly brushed away by one of the weapons silencers.

The last man at the table bore the callsign 'Reaper'. Carl Sheperd was a large man who held an equally large assault rifle on his lap. His dogtags lay revealed outside his jacket as Reaper idly scratched his small brown beard. Leaning back he sighed slightly. Reaper was another former member of the Hapes Armed Forces, having been called by his own C.O 'too dangerous even for military service'. Despite his size, he was known specifically for his stealth skills, as well as being an expert marksman and locksmith. Famous for being able to reach his target no matter where they hid, it was a little known fact that he enjoyed to spit in his enemies eyes before they died.

They sat idly chatting until footsteps were heard on the stairway behind Angel. Out of the darkness of the staircase appeared another man, his face obscured by camoflage paint and a yowie suit. In his right hand he hefted a large sniper rifle, and he appeared slightly wet as if he had been outside in the rain. In fact he had come from the roof of the building, having kept watch for any sight of persuers. Kyle 'Shadow' Symonds was something many Hapans weren't, ordinary looking. He was of average height and was all in all fairly non descript. He sat down quietly in the only empty seat, leaning the large sniper rifle against the edge of the table. He cleared his throat quickly before he spoke to the entire table.

"We are ready to begin, noone with a kilometre of note..."

All at the table were perceptable enough to note the small smirk that crossed Angels mouth as Shadow spoke. And all at the table instantly reached for their weapons as the front door was heard to open and shut quickly.

"Settle settle, its only me..."

The man appeared from the shadows of the doorway looked much like Angel, only with shorter hair. He grinned broadly, white teeth showing through. As his face was revealed the group eased considerably. Thomas Teh was easily the best among them, in all arts. Callsign 'Vilik', he was the only one able to equal Angel in all areas. Together they were a perfect team, not a weakness to be seen. He quickly made for a spare chair off to the side of the room, speaking as he did so.

"Kyle, you're getting a little slow in your old age! I had you pinged from 3 different vantage points."

The reply was joking but hurt.

"You and i both know all things being equal you'd have never spotted me..."

The group laughed, some nervously, others in actual mirth, but all quieted down quickly as Enrico cleared his throat.

"As you all know, it has begun. We know what we have to do. All resistance to the Cluster must be expunged. The Consortium is our only hope..."

Cruiser Paladin,
Hapan Space

Standing there, on the bridge of the Paladin, he thought back to the past year and a half. The Wrath Virus had devestated the Hapan Conosrtium - his consortium.

A year long fight between every faction the galaxy knew, and then some, had reduced the powerful group to not more than a snivelling child, a paper doll caught in an updraft.

He remembered watching as Hapan ships fell, drifting lifelessly though space as the New Empire pushed into Hapan space, firing Wrath-tipped missiles towards the defending fleets.

It was a one sided battle. Where the Hapans could do their best to shoot down the missiles, and save perhaps a dozen ships, they could not respond in part. Eventually, everyone knew, Hapes could fall.

Gallinore was among the last to be taken. It was there that the pride of the Hapan Navy, the Hand of Fate, had been destroyed, caught between to of the New Empire's diabolic pincers and shattered.

The war had gone downhill from there... until, inexplicity, the enemy had retreated on all fronts. Hapes was spared, but the devestation to the rest of the Cluster was unfathomable.

In the days following the New Empire's defeat over Bastion, the Hapans began to rebuild their Empire, setting out to repair the damage to their fleets and worlds, sewing the torn cluster back together.

He smiled.
Tears have a way of growing larger before they are
fixed. The Crown had done a poor job of keeping the commonwealth together, he thought sourly. They had seen it all fall... it did not matter than it had happened everywhere, it was their fault... the Prince's fault...

The Prince would learn, and Hapes would be restored to a true glory...