The meetings had gone smoothly, the arrival of the Queen Mother bringing cries of joy from the assembled throng of Hapans and aliens who watched her arrival.

Within a week the course of Gallinores reentry to the Consortium had been set, royal tax collectors and treasury representatives landing to begin the dispersal of the Rainbow Gems to the public. Agreements were also made regarding military postings, although that was where the problems began.

The Consortium agreed to begin construction of orbital moorings for all royal craft, including the behemoth that had allowed Hapes to fight back, the Matriarch. With 5 Craft already built, and more expected soon, the Cluster was more secure than ever, but the division of security was the problem. Due to Gallinores wealth, the planetary council argued, a pair of the superb craft should be based from Gallinore. Royal advisors countered, saying that irregardless of wealth, Hapes yards warrented the utmost protection, and stripping Hapes defence fleet would be to open themselves to piracy that could cripple the rebuilding of the Consortium. Military advisors also intervened but with mixed results, some calling for mobile defence floatillas, others for more yards, some even calling for a massive purge of Gallinores defence forces to ensure no piracy was inherant in the units.

Despite all the argueing, another factor changed the entire decision.

Hannibal Scaur.

The Past... Hapes

Not for the first time, the weekly meeting of the Military Command had descended into utter chaos. Since the outbreak of Wrath, the Consortium's command stucture had deterioarated into what had eventually become... this.

Today's issue of the day: the allotment of defences to Hapan worlds.

"...the Wrath Virus decimated all of our homes, General.... we lack the resources to fully defend or restore everything that was lost..."

The voice was calm, measured, and even cold.

"...what is not absolutely essential to the rebuilding effort we cannot afford to defend..."

Hannibal went out, not batting an eyelid to the hard stare that General Harlam Retak was paying him, speaking to the collected mass of commanders surviving from the Royal Navy.

"...but Gallinore is an essential world, is it not...?"

The general returned, no smile on his lips. He, like many of the others present, was not a fan of this... Hannibal Scaur. The man was to smart, always seemingly one step ahead of the opposition. And far to Imperialistic for anyone's liking.

Or rather, for General Reatk's liking. And General Retak had more than a little say in the opinions of others. He had served as commanding officer in the capital's defence for the last decade, after all, and had most of the council under his control, one way or another.

"...no, General, it is not..."

The room went deathyl quiet. This, however, did not phase Hannibal, who went on speaking.

"...Gallinore can produce one item: Rainbow gems... getting those gems off a planet requires mass lifting capacity, and any group that can get that kind of power in the system can be stopped before they can get off the ground again..."

He paused, looking for comment, but there was none. General Retak was either to flabergasted by these latest remarks to respond, or was looking for something to throw at the Admiral.

"...you can deploy a single Matriarch and her land division, and the economy will not falter... anyone that can deploy enough force and skill to knock out that cruiser, get into the planet, and make off with any gems, is probably not someone we wish to fight, anyway..."

The room remained silent, the only sounds the light coughing of a few of the officers as they waited for their General to offer a reply.

But one was not forthcoming, and the room emptied slowly. Hannibal Scaur was the last to leave, sweeping out of the room with his two bodyguards in two, making his way back towards the [i]Paladin in orbit...

Gallinore

As defence obligation negotiations continued, rumours began to flow as to the threat level of the planet. People of ex military background on the planet who weren't part of the pro-Consortium cells began disappearing, their houses stripped only of the things they could easily carry. Within a week, the sum total of an entire regiment went missing from Gallinores population for unknown destinations. The rumours themselves did reach Royal ears, but advisors dismissed the information, not passing it on to the Prince or either of his two main men.

A few names were mentioned, although non appeared to hold any worth. Alot of the people mentioned had died in the fall or following it, others were simply missing, while the few names that were mentioned brought potential fear to military analysts.

Of the all the names mentioned, only 4 had any credit.

Fleet Admiral Nemesi Nemsien, a Bothan import to Hapes whose personal floatilla was considerable before he came to lead Crusader Fleet in the Royal navy. His tactical and strategic mind was well honed, having harnassed his skills in a number of assaults, including Rodia.

Commodore Zak Tel was an independant businessman before receiving a commission in the Royal Navy for saving a Consortium convoy from attack by pirates outside Danoz. His affluence allowed him intense popularity amongst the royal houses of Hapes which saw a rapid rise for the Hapan through the ranks of the Navy.

Fleet Admiral Sterik Hasger was an outsider, born on Balfron near the Kuat Sector of Imperial Space. He joined the Imperial Navy as a fighter pilot before fleeing to the Cluster and joining the Royal Navy. Fighting his way through the ranks in almost all of Hapes campeigns, he was promoted to Commodore before being given a fleet posting with then Commodore Nemsien. The two, both of advanced military minds, worked with such a coherancy that in any multiple fleet action, this pair was almost always the first choice by the admiralty. Promoted together following the capture of Rodia, Hasger was one of the formost military minds in recent history.

Rear Admiral Hannibal Scaur joined the Royal Military Academy and was in effect a lifetime member of the Hapes Armed Forces, serving from the youngest age possible. Was a Captain aboard a Battle Dragon at Gallinore as well as mounting a number of audacious raids on pirate bases just outside the cluster. He also engaged the infamous New Lorrell Raiders but has yet to gain a conclusive battle, his ship being near to crippled on a number of those engagements. Promoted following an unmerciless assault a pirate base in the Inner Rim that had been leading long range attacks on Hapes export shipping, he was put in charge of the defence of Gallinore following the rise of the New Empire although was subsequintly beaten following overwhelming odds.