The Beyond Subsector K: Storm

The Beyond Subsector K: Storm

System Data

Hex  Name                 UWP       Remarks                  {Ix}   (Ex)    [Cx]   N B  Z PBG W  A    Stellar                

---- -------------------- --------- ------------------------ ------ ------- ------ - -- - --- -- ---- -----------------

1724 Stormhaven           A876945-C Hi In Ht Cx              { 4 }  (B86+2) [AD9E] - K  - 622 12 ShRp K2 V M5 V              

1725 Brennan              C311322-A Lo Ic Sa                 { 0 }  (C21-1) [1329] - -  - 411 13 ShRp M3 V                   

1726 Bar Shellan          B666544-9 Ag Ni Ga Pr              { 1 }  (A46-3) [768E] - -  - 902 9  ShRp K5 III M1 V            

1729 Quatal               CBC1233-B Lo Fl Bo He              { 0 }  (911+1) [1278] - -  - 312 12 NaHu F6 V                   

1824 Camlaen              C234323-A Lo Sa                    { 0 }  (D21-1) [234D] - -  - 642 10 ShRp M2 V M4 V              

1827 Akarana              B556679-B Ag Ni                    { 2 }  (855-1) [581A] - -  - 510 12 NaHu K5 V M0 V              

1921 Remedius             C511442-A Ic Ni Sa                 { 0 }  (833-4) [946A] - -  - 941 13 ShRp M0 V                   

1930 Endore               D221300-A Lo Po Sa                 { -1 } (721-2) [4279] - -  - 211 9  NaHu F9 V                   

2022 Gapoto               B554523-A Ag Ni                    { 2 }  (746-2) [671F] - -  - 920 7  ShRp G1 V                   

2024 Teas                 B512487-B Ic Ni Co                 { 1 }  (A37-2) [851F] - K  - 613 9  ShRp M8 V                   

2025 Hell                 B612587-A Ic Ni Co                 { 1 }  (942+1) [8648] - -  - 311 10 ShRp M1 V                   

2121 Ardor                B622445-B Ni Po Co He              { 1 }  (D37+3) [255D] - -  - 521 11 ShRp M3 V M8 V              

2122 Ileshanin            C762643-B Ni Ri Co                 { 1 }  (A53+2) [279B] - -  - 712 8  ShRp K0 V                   

2125 Joyful Noise         D566522-7 Ag Ni Ho Pr              { -2 } (541+1) [4358] - -  - 402 12 ShRp G5 V                   

2127 Mercuras             A431587-C Ni Po Ht Sa              { 1 }  (C43-3) [66AB] - -  - 813 11 NaHu F8 V                   

2222 Corrugare            B455644-9 Ag Ni Ho Sa              { 1 }  (754+4) [876B] - -  - 913 11 ShRp G5 V                   

2225 Frostbite            C564423-9 Ni Co Pa                 { -1 } (733-2) [532A] - -  - 422 11 ShRp K1 V D                 

2228 Relam                E512100-A Lo Ic Co                 { -1 } (D01+1) [114B] - -  - 510 7  NaHu M5 V                   

2325 Rector               C211325-B Ic Lo Sa                 { 0 }  (C21+1) [636E] - -  - 631 13 ShRp M1 V BD                

2326 Vanity               A632586-C Ni Po Ht                 { 1 }  (845-3) [6679] - K  - 712 11 ShRp F1 V K0 V K0 V         

2328 Granite              E200000-0 Ba Va Da                 { -3 } (700-3) [0000] - -  A 011 14 NaXX M3 V                   

2421 Sant Rabloes         BB97845-B Ph Pa Pi Asla1           { 2 }  (C79+5) [BA5F] - M  - 920 8  NaHu K2 V D                 

2424 Destiny              A967623-C Ag Ni Ri Ht              { 3 }  (F56-2) [3959] - K  - 613 14 ShRp K2 V M4 V              

2427 Cral                 X9C1000-0 Ba Fl He Da Bo           { -3 } (400+1) [0000] - -  A 011 10 NaXX F0 V                   

2428 Xenogast             X876000-0 Ba Fo                    { -3 } (400+2) [0000] - -  R 012 11 NaXX K0 V                   

2430 Wafoua               C311414-A Ni Ic Co                 { 0 }  (732-5) [5445] - -  - 811 6  AsXX F9 V                   

The Storm subsector consists of 26 systems and 6.938 billion sophonts, of which six billion reside on Stormhaven. The only other system in the subsector with a large population is San Rabloes with 800 million residents. Most of the subsector's population is Human, but on San Rabloes, the Aslan Htearlaaoiyoya clan numbers nearly 100 million. Sixteen of the subsector's worlds belong to the Stormhaven Republic.

The system of Wafoua in the extreme rim-trailing corner of the Storm subsector contains the only Aslan governed mainworld in the subsector, with 80,000 Aslan residing under the auspices of the Wafoua Trading Company.

Aslan ihatei have established outposts in the outskirts of a number of systems including Endore, Relam, Xenogast, Granite, and Cral, with the latter two systems being frequent targets of the Stormhaven Republic's Storm Knight's forceful containment program.

Worlds

Bar Shellan (1726 B666544-9)

The world of Bar Shellan orbits the M1 V red dwarf companion of a K5 III giant star. It is not tidally locked, but rotates "backwards" (i.e., clockwise from north) five times for every three orbits, resulting in a solar day of 24 days length in the course of a 64 day year. Additionally, for half the year the six billion kilometer distant giant is visible in the daytime, nearly doubling the total illumination received by Bar Shellan; for the other half of the year it is a "night-time" star that produces near solar illumination. As Bar Shellan rotates on its axis and revolves around its star, this giant star light source follows a complex pattern. The resultant effect on the world's weather system is extreme, with massive cyclonic storms forming in the late afternoon, blizzard erupting during the night, and vicious winds occurring along the shifting terminator line of dawn and dusk. Local flora and fauna have adapted to this environment, but imported species, including Humans, find it difficult to function under these circumstances. As a result, much of Bar Shellan's population resides in sealed habitat cities that are more often seen on worlds with continuously hostile environments. But on Bar Shellan, the domes occasionally fold away to display the clear turquoise skies of late morning days.

Mercuras (2127 A431587-C)

Mercuras is an independent world on the frontline against Aslan expansion. Excluded from the Treaty of Kaiear as it did not belong to the three mains of the Stormhaven Republic, it nevertheless maintains its independence by virtue of military support from Stormhaven's Storm Knights. The habitable zone gas giant moon is a small world with a very thin atmosphere and most of its scant water locked in polar ice caps. Since the destruction of its Highport in a 1064 ihatei raid its Class A starport has been a surface-only facility with a strong defensive perimeter, including deep buried meson gun emplacements. Storm Knight patrols are active in the system, deterring and removing ihatei incursions, though these have become less prevalent since the Storm Knights adopted strong forward deployments at Granite and Cral.

Mercuras is not a wealthy world. Its now unproductive mines have long closed and it does not sit on any major trade routes. The starport is a free trade zone, but berthing fees are high and capacity is limited to 5,000 ton ships, which, with no orbital refueling capability, curtails mega-freighter traffic. Traders and Travellers visiting the starport are not subject to the stultifying regulations of Mercuras' bureaucracy and can theoretically purchase any type of goods in its free trade zone, but selection, especially of exotic items, is very spotty. The tallest building on the planet is the former Travellers Aid Tower, a 300 meter monolith built adjacent to the starport's landing fields, but with occupancy failing to meet expectations, the building sits empty and unpressurized, with the TAS hostel operating out of a squat structure in the tower's shadow.

Sant Rabloes (2421 BB97845-B)

A wealthy independent world near the edge of Aslan space, Sant Rabloes has long gained protection from ihatei encroachment by allowing the settlement of the Aslan Htearlaaoiyoya clan to provide military service and protection.

Physical Characteristics

Sant Rabloes only became a habitable world after its sun's companion passed through its red giant phase and collapsed into a white dwarf. Over the three billion years since that event, the former subjovian world, stripped of its original hydrogen-helium atmosphere, received a bombardment of volatiles that seeded it with a new atmosphere and deep oceans. Its dense core provides the large world with a gravity of 1.39 standard, but its rich mineral wealth overcame that handicap and led to its early colonization.

The geological and biological processes of this world and its unique crustal characteristics have formed a number of unique or very rare minerals, including an iridescent class of minerals called rabloeites that fetch premium prices as far away as the Imperium's Capital.

Sant Rabloes's climate is known for two major events that occur regularly during its 200 standard day year: the late summer wet monsoon that brings heavy rains and flooding, and the late winter dry monsoon that brings dust laden with hazardous particulates out from the desert cores of its continents. The dry monsoon and its aftermath are the reason for rating the atmosphere tainted. Only in the period between the wet and dry monsoons are the particulates washed away to the extent that they do not cause respiratory distress.

History

After the discovery of rabloeites, Sant Rabloes was colonized in -762 from Garrone, now Stormhaven. Sant Rabloes declared its independence in -402 after the first Sack of Garrone. With backing from a strong Corellan League fleet, the world was able to keep the Aslan at bay.

During the uneasy truce that followed the fifth Expedition, Garrone made attempts to reclaim its colony. San Rabloes's controversial response was to offer settlement and citizenship to the Aslan Htearlaaoiyoya clan in return for bolstered defenses against ihatei expansion. The first Htearlaaoiyoya arrived in -335 and the League responded with a censure of Sant Rabloes that was only revoked when the world began to develop trade links with various Aslan clans and corporations while ceasing all rabloeite exports to League worlds. Sant Rabloes remained a League member until the Treaty of Kaiear declared Sant Rabloes an independent neutral world in 422.

Since its independence Sant Rabloes has tried to position itself as a neutral party in negotiations between the Hierate, Stormhaven and the Corellan League. It has been marginally successful in this regard and its diplomats are considered second to Nakris in influence in the coreward half of The Beyond.

Social Characteristics

Sant Rabloes is home to 800 million residents, of which nearly 100 million are members of the Aslan Htearlaaoiyoya clan. The world has always been a democracy, and Aslan citizens enjoy the same rights and obligations as all citizens, though they are more heavily represented in the military and business sectors than their numbers would indicate. Wealth is well distributed on Sant Rabloes, with a progressive tax system and fairly generous social services. Unlike Corella, there is no robotic or clone underclass. While the mines operate without sophonts present, much of the work is conducted by teleoperated drones and neither robots nor clones have any significant presence in society. By law, biological clones are citizens with all the rights and responsibilities of naturally born sophonts.

Sant Rabloes is not universally successful in diplomatic solutions, especially in regard to rouge ihatei. As a result, the Sant Rabloes Defense Force maintains a strong in-system presence, with asteroid-hull monitors mounting spinal particle accelerators to discourage invasion and a fleet of system defense boats dedicated to sweeping ihatei from the minor worlds of the system and from the vast asteroid field that surrounds the white dwarf companion.

Stormhaven (1724 A876945-C)

Originally settled as Garrone in -1410 by Sindalian refugees, Stormhaven has had a long and eventful history, twice overrun by Aslan during the Expeditions and twice liberated. Since renamed Stormhaven in 422, it has been the capital of the Stormhaven Republic and the home of the Storm Knights who are tasked with defending Humaniti from Aslan encroachment.

Physical Characteristics

Orbiting a K2 V star with a distant red dwarf companion, Stormhaven is graced with three moons, though the outer, Yagro, is a bright star in the sky, too small for its irregular shape to be seen from the surface by the unaided eye. Garrone was once a garden world, rich in agricultural potential, but three separate nuclear bombardments have rendered large portions of the surface into uninhabitable wasteland. Though the world is recovering, continent-sized expanses remain too hazardous for long-term occupation and radioactive dust storms occasionally sweep across settled regions.

History

Garrone was settled directly from Yggdrasil in -1410, during the final years of the Sindalian Empire. The world lost much of its technological base in the years that followed, but recovered to mid-tech levels after joining the Corellan League in -1235. Distant from the League's core worlds but recovering to stellar technological levels by -1000, Garrone's oligarchic leadership joined the revolt against Corella that evolved into the Second Corellan Crisis when both Valhalla and Garrone seceded from the League in -873. Eighty years later, the growing threat of Aslan expansion forced a change of heart and the Treaty of Garrone brought new strength to the League and its Star Fleet in -793.

But the Aslan continued to expand. In the seventh century pre-imperial, they conquered Oberon and then Halifax, driving refugees to League worlds, including Garrone, which was by then a military dictatorship under an indefinitely extended period of martial law. In -604, Garrone's leader, Field Marshal Beatrice Norton, created an offensive force to reclaim the fallen worlds, naming them the Storm Knights. In -603, the Storm Knights launched the First Expedition against the Aslan by striking at Halifax, now Eteasteah, and dragging the Corellan League into the first of twelve Expeditions against the Aslan.

The First Expedition took and held Halifax for six weeks -601 before a counterattack forced the fleet to retreat, abandoning the troops on the ground to be slaughtered. No other Expedition managed to secure the system. After the First Truce was signed at Destiny in -598, Garrone kept pushing for more action, reluctantly dragging the League into all-out war against the Aslan again and again. The Fourth Expedition ended in disaster in -402 with the sack of Garrone. More than three million Humans accepted a truce to depart the world, but just as many refused to leave their homes and suffered under occupation for 26 years until exiled Storm Knights led the liberation of Garrone in the Fifth Expedition, driving the Aslan from the world in -476. What they found was a cowed human population, reduced to slavery conditions.

Despite building up the world's defenses and reinforcing its population with some returning exiles, Garrone fell again in -269 during what would become the end of the Sixth Expedition, a war that had been launched from Garrone in another vain attempt to reconquer Halifax.

This time, the Aslan did not allow many Humans to escape and the conditions for those that remained were grim for a lifetime. It was 73 years before the Seventh Expedition, launched to protect Sant Rabloes from a concerted attack, managed to free Garrone again in -198 after bombarding the world from orbit and slaughtering the Aslan clans in the massive slave revolt that followed. The Seventh Truce saw the Aslan driven all the way back to their current borders, surrendering worlds like Teas, Vanity, and Destiny that they had held for more than 200 years.

Garrone never fell again. For the next six centuries and five Expeditions, Garrone led the fight against Aslan encroachment, sometimes gaining a few worlds, sometimes losing a few, often without no change in borders when a truce followed years of warfare. All the time, the influence of the Storm Knights on the government remained strong, with the Grand Master of the Order of the Inconstant Star becoming the effective ruler of the world.

The Twelfth Expedition began in 415 with a Storm Knight push to take Kaiear and Easakhou (once Araniopa) from the Aslan, a costly and ineffective campaign that drained ships, funds and goodwill from the Corellan League. In 421 the Storm Knights seized direct control over Garrone, expelling League forces and the diplomats who were intent on negotiating another truce. The three Grand Masters renaming their world Stormhaven. The fighting intensified, but the Storm Knight offensive stalled into a siege at Kaiear. When the Third Imperium's base at Delta Cephei became threatened by both Aslan envelopment and the uninvited arrival of a Storm Knight "protective" squadron, Imperial consul Alberto Rannvik took the initiative to bluff the opposing forces into another truce and used the divisions within the League and among the Aslan to achieve a lasting end to the Expeditions.

In 422 eleven Aslan clans, the Corellan League, and the Storm Knights signed the Peace of Kaiear, which recognized the independence of Stormhaven and surrounding worlds as the Stormhaven Republic and set borders that effectively contained Aslan expansion in the Delta Cephei subsector.

Surprisingly, Stormhaven did not remain a Storm Knight-ruled military dictatorship, but adopted a democratic constitution that limited the power of the Storm Knights on the world itself. While they became the official space force of the new Stormhaven Republic, the planetary Republic of Stormhaven elected a civilian government and wrote a constitution with separation of powers among civilian branches of government and with strong civil liberty guarantees.

Since that 422 constitution Stormhaven has become a prosperous world, growing in population and wealth. Behind Bundestag, Peopus, and, questionably, Zydar, Stormhaven has the largest human economy in the sector. It has enjoyed centuries of peaceful growth, and though the Storm Knights still spar with ihatei, the thousand years of struggle against the Aslan and the hardships of war and occupation are a fading memory. Except when the winds of the Death Ash blow.

Social Characteristics

The meaning of Stormhaven has changed from its original connotation as a fortress against Aslan expansion to a place of refugee against the Death Ash, the occasional winds of radioactive ash from the Dead Lands. The need for ash protection has shaped cities into arcologies and towns and villages into circular settlements with retractable domes. Despite the risks of Death Ash, Stormhaven is known for sound government and the relative prosperity of most of its citizens. It lacks the underclass of robots and drones present on many Corellan League worlds or the ostentatious upper class of worlds like Valhalla. The ideal citizen is a productive and skilled individual with class mobility always within, at least theoretical, reach. The Storm Knights are not as revered as they were in the past. They are a constant presence in popular media and given respect, but after so many centuries of peace, their relevance to the average Stormhaven citizen is muted, unless that citizen desires to undertake a military career. Stormhaven's population of six billion even includes a few million Aslan, something unthinkable during the Expeditions. In place of the motto of Old Garrone of "Ever Watchful", the mantra of modern Stormhaven is "Forever Forward".

Xenogast (2428 X876000-0)

In theory, Xenogast should have been a prime target for colonization. Its mass and atmosphere closely match Terra; its climate is temperate and its small continents moderate temperature conditions. Unfortunately, Xenogast is already populated with native life forms. Though none are advanced enough to have developed a central nervous system, the native life is effectively corrosive, with its fungoid life forms spreading spores that infect and consume most organic life. While the ecosystem is lethal to any who come into contact with it, it requires symbiotic groups of organisms to thrive, and without a wholesale transfer of lifeforms, the nastiness of Xenogast cannot easily spread to other worlds. Nevertheless, the world is interdicted by both the Stormhaven Republic and the Aslan Hierate. Even rouge ihatei know better than to attempt to land on the planet and though the two gas giants are available for refueling, the entire system is generally shunned. Occasional Stormhaven and Hierate clan patrols sweep out anyone who lingers in system, often conducting bio decontamination boardings of ships they encounter, just to be sure.

Articles

Stormhaven Republic

The Republic was founded in 422 after the expulsion of the Storm Knights from the Corellan League and the signing of the Peace of Kaiear which ended the Expeditions against the Aslan. The world of Stormhaven, formerly Garrone, is the center of the Republican government of Stormhaven, which rules over three seven-system Mains named after their most prominent world: Stormhaven, Excalibur, and Destiny. Nearly the entire six billion population of the Republic resides on the world of Stormhaven.  Only 70 million are spread among the remaining 20 worlds and more than half of these people reside on Excalibur. The Destiny Main is the least populous and, despite being home to three of the Republic's five Storm Knight bases, the seven systems of Destiny still suffer from occasional encroachment by Aslan ihatei searching for new lands.

History

The Peace of Kaiear established the Stormhaven Republic in 422 as a buffer zone encompassing three seven world jump-1 mains centered on the Storm subsector. Granted as a home for the Storm Knights who had fought Aslan expansion for a thousand years, the Republic was meant to be a tripwire, with both the Corellan League and the eleven signing Aslan clans agreeing to come to its defense if anyone, whether Aslan, Corellan, I'Sred, Florian, or even Imperial violated its independence or threatened its worlds with conquest.

In that regard, the Republic has been successful. While ihatei attempt to infiltrate the Destiny Main at times, the focus of conflict has shifted to the thin line of neutral and unoccupied systems between the Republic and the Hierate.

Structure

As with other smaller states on the periphery of the Corellan League, the Stormhaven Republic is a lopsided interstellar state with the vast majority of the population and wealth concentrated in one system, in this case the world of Stormhaven. Despite this, the Republic functions with broad representation. The legislature is a bicameral body of a Senate, with three delegates from each of the 21 worlds, and a House of Delegates, with logarithmic representation, such that Stormhaven only holds nine of the 99 seats. The executive branch, which has veto authority and requires unanimity to sign legislation and authorize expenditures, consists of three Executives, one from each of the Mains. As the Executive of the Stormhaven Main is always appointed by Stormhaven, in the end, while Stormhaven cannot set the agenda, it can thwart it, but so can Excalibur or Destiny, leading to a government that sets policy by consensus. The High Court of the Republic includes three judges from each Main, but relative to the other two branches, has little effective power in matters of policy. The Grand Masters of the Orders of the Storm Knights are subject to oversight by the Executive and funded by the legislature.

Military

The Storm Knights are the official military of the Republic, with its three Orders providing system defense, mobile operations, and covert and special operations.

The Order of Thunder is responsible for system defense and operates the capital-sized monitors, squadrons of system defense boats, deep meson installations, and a fleet of jump-capable tugs to shift resources from system to system. Despite its lack of prestige, it is by far the largest Order.

The Order of the Inconstant Star is the oldest and most well-known group of Storm Knights, responsible for jump-equipped starships and strike force troops who are constantly patrolling the worlds just outside the borders of the Republic and able to act as quick-reaction forces within the Republic as necessary. Most Inconstant Star ships are in the destroyer and escort size range, with just a few light cruisers available for backup firepower. By Treaty, the Republic cannot expand its borders and can theoretically call on other signatories of the Peace of Kaiear, including Aslan clans, to dislodge large threats to its systems, though this has only been tested in a handful of orchestrated exercises over the centuries, the last of which occurred in 1038 with Corellan League and Syoisuis clan participation.

The small but elite Order of Shadows conducts special forces operations including jump troops actions, covert intelligence, and direct action against threats to the Republic. By design, it is the smallest Order, more seen in fictional representations than in action.

The Storm Knights are not wide-ranging in their duties. Thunder never leaves the three Mains, Inconstant Star patrols tend to stay within five to ten parsecs of the Mains, and Shadow does not advertise its operations.

Relations

Stormhaven is by treaty a neutral Human state on the frontier between Humaniti and the Aslan Hierate. As such, it attempts to stay out of foreign entanglements with larger regional states, and avoids antagonizing the Aslan clans that could, if they put their minds to it, overrun the Republic in one massive surge. Relations with the ten remaining signatories of the Peace of Kaiear are determined by that treaty and ambassadors are exchanged on a regular basis, with the four Tlaukhu clan signatories maintain large permanent compounds on Stormhaven. In return, the Republic has posted ambassadors on a half-dozen Aslan worlds.

The rise of the Zydar Codominium has prompted a more aggressive Republican foreign policy with regard to Human-dominated states. Joint patrols with Nakris are common and the furthest patrols of the Inconstant Star are those to deter the Zydarian Star Legion. The largest trading partner of the Republic is still the Corellan League, and Gateway Consortium stations maintain links between the two states, who have enjoyed cordial relations since the end of the brief Corellan Federal period in the eight century.

The Republic has mutual defense treaties with Sant Rabloes, Beriel and Lod, though relations with the Monarchy of Lod have been strained since Anne III reacted poorly to Inconstant Star ridicule of Lod's performance in the Sant Rabloes fleet exercise of 1096.

Storm Knights

For more than 1700 years, the Storm Knights have fought to hold back the tide of Aslan expansion. Their founding dates back to -604, when Field Marshal Beatrice Norton, leader of Stormhaven, then known as Garrone, established the Order of the Inconstant Star as an offensive force to reclaim the fallen worlds of Halifax and Oberon. In that endeavor, they were never successful, holding Halifax for only six weeks in -601 before the Aslan counterattacked, driving off the fleet and slaughtering the troops on the ground. The first of twelve Expeditions against the Aslan ended in failure in -598 with the signing of the First Truce, but the Storm Knights continued on.

Operating separately from the Corellan League Star Fleet (CLSF), the Storm Knights were at first an order of chivalry confined to and authorized by the planetary government of Garrone. Field Marshal Norton's military junta failed with the First Expedition, but her eventual successor, Fleet Admiral Joachim Blaunck, himself the former Grand Master of the Order of the Inconstant Star and a veteran of the ill-fated Halifax Campaign, codified the parallel and independent duties of the Storm Knights in -589, secretly authorizing the Order of Shadows as a separate covert action arm of the Knights and granting control of three ageing asteroid-hull mass-driver-equipped monitors to the Order of Thunder for defense of Garrone. In -580, the Storm Knights launched the Second Expedition, dragging the Corellan League into another war against three major Aslan clans and dozens of their vassals. The main result of the five year struggle, other than eight million deaths, was the fall of the planet Araniopa, now known as Easakhou, to the Aslan.

Another ten Expeditions across ten centuries changed very little, though Garrone fell twice and the Storm Knights shifted their headquarters, to Bushido in -402, and then to Excalibur in -269, and spread their influence across the League, rivaling the CLSF in power. While most Expeditions had recorded beginnings with major offensives and conclusions with the signing of truces or treaties, the conflict against the Aslan never truly stopped. Somewhere along the frontier some Storm Knights fought against the forces of some clan. After the end of the Seventh Expedition in -197, the border essentially stabilized. The Stormhaven and Destiny Mains were back under Storm Knight and Corellan League control but remained beleaguered and besieged intermittently for the next six centuries.

Finally, the League had grown tired of the parallel military organization of the Storm Knights, a force that drove them into wars they didn't want, and the Third Imperium had begun to appear on the far horizon. The Eleventh Crusade dragged on inclusively for 24 years, and the Twelfth was in its thirteenth year in -421 when the League finally had enough. The CLSF moved against the Storm Knights, and the Storm Knights seized the system of Garrone to hold them at bay, renaming their world Stormhaven and daring the League to weaken Humaniti in a futile civil war that would only benefit the Aslan.

Fortunately the Imperial consul at Waypoint, as Tartakover was then known, intervened, and Alberto Rannvik through bluff and force of personality brought a final end to the endless cycle of Expeditions and skirmishes in the Peace of Kaiear, which in 422 set up the Stormhaven Republic as an independent state with the Storm Knights as its military force.

The headquarters of the Storm Knights is on Yagro, the small outermost moon of Stormhaven, in a fortress rebuilt after the bombardment of the moon in -89 at the end of the Eight Expedition. Buried deep within the 120-kilometer-wide captured asteroid is the Hall of Heroes, a tomb or cenotaph for every full Knight Commander of the three Orders of Storm Knights.

The three Orders of the Storm Knight are, in order of precedence:

Order of the Inconstant Star (OIS): Responsible for the mobile forces, e.g., starships and deployable troops whether inside or outside the borders of the Republic.

Order of Shadows (OS): Responsible for covert and special operations, e.g., jump troops, specialized commandos, and espionage, though prevented from conducting espionage within the Republic except by permission of all three Republic Executives.

Order of Thunder (OT): Responsible for system defense, including monitors, system defense boats, and their jump transports, starport defenses, and planetary defense batteries. Deployment outside the Republic's borders is only allowed by permissions of all three Republic Executives.

Ranks within the Storm Knights are a combination of heraldic title and numbered, not named, ranks and all officers are by definition, Knights (though not in the Imperial honors sense), e.g., what in the Imperium would be a Lieutenant Colonel or a Commander would an O5 Knight, unless they were granted Knight Commander status, in which case they would be an 05 Knight Commander.

The Imperial equivalent of a Petty Officer is referred to as an Acolytes, thus, a Petty Officer Third Class would be an E4 Acolyte, though if awarded Knight Commander status by deed, they could be an E4 Knight Commander. Junior enlisted, the Imperium's Spacers, are referred to as Aspirants. There are have rarely been any Aspirates who were also Knight Commanders, as any deed worthy of such an award would at least be recognized by promotion to E4 or above, and any action infamous enough to strip rank below E4 would also strip away a Knight Commander award, except in rare instances.

The rank of Knight Commander (KC) is a rank equivalent to an Imperial Knight and is awarded by two criteria: Rank or Deed. Rank is issued to any member of an Order who reaches an O5 (Commander) rank and serves in a combatant command capacity (for instance command of a Scimitar-class frigate or command of a battalion-sized combat unit) or any member that reaches an O7 (Commodore) rank by any means. Deed is an award for heroism, roughly equivalent to an Imperial Starburst of Extreme Heroism. Anyone becoming a Knight Commander by any method is afforded the rights and responsibilities of Knight Commander and has theoretical emergency command authority in times of crisis, meaning that a lowly E4 Knight Commander could seize command from an O6 Knight who had not been assigned a combat command billet. This has happened on a number of occasions in combat with generally favorable results. The favored grade of Knight Grand Cross (GC) is only issued to those who earn status by both Rank and Deed, or those who reach the rank of O9 (Admiral), normally the highest rank in active service of any Order, though the head of each Order is the Knight Grand Master (GM) and has an equivalent rank of O10.

Each Order awards a Sword of Honor to its Knight Commanders. It is a long blade of black industrial diamond with a titanium hilt inlaid with rabloeite iridescent gems. The sword of the KCOIS is a longsword, the KCOS a katana, and the KCOT a cutlass.

Timeline of the Aslan Expeditions:

1st	-603 - -598	Attempt to liberate Halifax, which is held for six weeks in -601. 1st Truce signed at Vanity.
2nd	-580 - -575	Second attempt to liberate Halifax. Araniopa falls. New border at Destiny Main.
3rd	-452 - -440	Bombardments strip atmospheres from Teas and Hell, but Destiny Main held.
4th	-407 - -402	Sack of Garrone  in-402. First Aslan occupation of Garrone. Destiny Main lost.
5th	-379 - -376	Garrone recovered in -376 by Order of Thunder battlerider assault. Excalibur recovered.
6th	-269 - -264	Garrone falls in -269. Siege of Garrone ends with League withdrawal in -264.
7th	-200- -197	Garrone recovered in -198 after nuclear bombardment. Destiny Main regained.
8th	-92 - -81	Bloody stalemate. Garrone's moon Yagro bombarded. Ended status quo antebellum.
9th	93 - 101	Araniopa (Easakhou) briefly recovered in 97. Fighting ended by Treaty of Destiny.
10th	194 - 215	Vanity and Rector overrun and then recovered. Ended status quo antebellum.
11th	309 - 335	Very long stalemate with deep raids and sporadic sieges. Ended status quo antebellum.
12th	408 - 422	Peace of Kaiear. Garrone becomes Stormhaven. Stormhaven Republic established.

Scimitar-class Frigate

Stormhaven's interstellar warfighting branch is the Order of the Inconstant Star, tasked with rapid deployment and offensive operations against ihatei incursions into both the neutral and Republican space. By convention, nearly all this capability is contained in destroyer, frigate, or corvette-sized starships, with support vehicles filling out a small task force. The current core fighting vehicle specifically designed to counter incursion by Aslan Halaheike and Sakhai warships is the 2400-ton Scimitar-class frigate. While unable to hold the line against a major clan incursion, these ships are more than sufficient to counter raids by smaller clans and families seeking to test the limits of the Republic's resolve. Heavily armored, fast, and armed with a medium fusion bay to deliver a devastating punch in close combat, and, for stand-off attacks, dual missile bays plus four each of particle and torpedo barbettes, the ships can defeat either a Halaheike or Sakhai in a fair fight; on occasion, a single Scimitar has defeated both. For the past century, command of a Scimitar has become the most common criteria for achieving status by rank as a Knight Commander of the Order of the Inconstant Star.

Stargrazer-class Pinnace

The Stargrazer pinnace is the standard small craft of the Storm Knights. As a general purpose heavily armed and armored fighting ship with 8.2 tons of available mission-specific space, it is a decent vehicle, but despite its name, it lacks the heat shield protection of the equivalent Nakris Confederation Star Force Hornet. It also lacks aerofins for high performance atmospheric flight. Still, it has a sturdier hull, assault escape pods for the base crew of six, and performs equally well in space combat. It is also almost 15% cheaper than the Hornet.

Sword of Oberon

The Sword of Oberon may only be a myth, based on little more than a cleric error and some wishful thinking, or it may be part of a grand conspiracy. The only known "fact" is that a mothballed Cemplas-class dreadnaught named Kaskii disappeared from the inventory of the Imperial Navy's Deneb Sector Depot in around 1100. The Cemplas-class of 288,000-ton warship was active in the last years of the Solomani Rim War a century earlier. The ship, based on a massive spinal meson gun design and supplemented by a dozen each of large mass driver, torpedo, missile, particle beam, and fusion gun bays was designed specifically to crack bypassed Solomani worlds with overwhelming firepower. Capable of only jump-3 and 5-g acceleration, the warship could not keep up with a fast moving modern Imperial fleet, and these characteristics, plus the infamy of being responsible for the destruction of megatons of orbital infrastructure and bombardments that cost tens of millions of lives, turned the entire class into something of a pariah, and all Cemplas ships were either mothballed or scrapped by the 1030s. Only one of these ships, Kaskii(998), was mothballed at the Deneb Depot. It was recorded as present in the inventory conducted in 1098 and missing in the one conducted in 1101. Whether it was ever present, or if its disposal at some earlier date was poorly documented because of incompetency or corruption is uncertain. In some circles within the Stormhaven Republic, the rumor persists that agents of the also likely apocryphal Order of the Thirteenth Expedition stole the vessel and transported it to a secret base somewhere in The Beyond in preparation for a strike against Aslan clans that, according to some versions of the rumor, have not signed the Peace of Kaiear, or, in other versions, have signed it, but don't take the treaty seriously, or have in some way offended this secret Order. Some stories have Imperial Navy sympathizers as coconspirators, others credit, or blame, GeDeCo. In any case, the starship could destabilize the entire region if it were ever crewed and put into action. If it exists at all.