Welcome all returning readAARs, and welcome to all new ones - Stellaris offers a good chance to pick up the megacampaign somewhere along the way, after all 
.
With Libra released, I finally decided not to wait for the inevitable hotfix, hoping it will go well enough to go on - for part 3 of this megacampaign!
What can one expect from this AAR? Well, no longer one chapter per ruler - I'll likely try and keep the style of the previous two parts though, centred around some events of this world, history-book-ish. Though I might also experiment with portraying a chapter or two from a direct observer's experience. Who knows?
I didn't choose to make it interactive in the end and have played through early game so far, but once we've reached the game state, I encourage citizens to give their opinion on how to proceed further, how to shape the Empire.
Either way, here's the screen with the relevant empire information:
.With Libra released, I finally decided not to wait for the inevitable hotfix, hoping it will go well enough to go on - for part 3 of this megacampaign!
What can one expect from this AAR? Well, no longer one chapter per ruler - I'll likely try and keep the style of the previous two parts though, centred around some events of this world, history-book-ish. Though I might also experiment with portraying a chapter or two from a direct observer's experience. Who knows?
I didn't choose to make it interactive in the end and have played through early game so far, but once we've reached the game state, I encourage citizens to give their opinion on how to proceed further, how to shape the Empire.
Either way, here's the screen with the relevant empire information:
Now, how did we get here? No, there's no need to read part 1 and 2 (though I'd welcome that, of course!), here's an introductory chapter, the compact history so far:
History of Gothia so far
Gothia began as the county of Cherson, Byzantine vassal at the nomad border, in 869. With no support from the Basileus, count Philaretos, struggling with Paulician heretics, became a Catholic. The Goths suffered under nomadic raids until the so-called Endless Crusade (932-977), at the end of which Saint Kyrillos was named the first king of Gothia.
Returning under Byzantine vassalage, Kyrillos' successor Theudis II kept pushing the border to the east, before failing to free the Gothic crown from Constantinople, a feat achieved by Theudis III in 1051 – before Kyrillos II, with Gothia struck by the Black Death, had to swear fealty to the Mongols twenty years later.
After a series of assassinations of Great Khans, Theudis VI (secretly grandmaster of the assassins) proclaimed Gothia's renewed independence in 1169, then led the Sixth Crusade to victory against the Mongols, becoming emperor in 1173. Gothic emperors kept advancing eastward under the so-called Eastern Supremacy, granted by pope Nikolaus II, granting the Goths dominion over all land east of the empire in the name of Catholicism.
Gothic power in the medieval period peaked with Theudis VIII, most well-known as the War Saint, at the end of the 14th century. Often called the greatest strategist of all time, Theudis VIII established the steppe empire as a true superpower, placing his cousin on the Egyptian throne in a crusade, dismantling the great Indian Somavamsi empire, also conquering Byzantium, Arabia and China, placing his children on these thrones. He died during a punitive expedition against the rebellious Nepalese tributary, establishing “bringing Theudis' Chest” as an idiom for the worst possible news, as the invincible emperor sent the maharaja a chest filled with the ashes of his army.
The War Saint's successors couldn't keep their influence over the other realms, and the rivalry with Byzantium would not only renew but last until the Miracle Crisis in the mid-21st century. Kyrillos V and Theudis IX would conquer the falling Qi empire of China and incorporate it into Gothia in the 16th century, with the former establishing the Goths' ruthless policies in conquered and colonized land for the future – the Goths not only spread their faith with fire and sword, also their culture.
Adrianos Americ discovered Australia in 1502 and became the first European to willingly reach the continent of the former invaders of Europe – the Aztecs – in 1505, coining the name America. The Goths would eventually colonize and conquer the whole of Australia (Kyrillia) and North America.
With draconic laws and extreme militarization under Theudis X, the Villain, Gothia's extermination of different cultures took a new level of organized genocide, and despite the defeat against a combined Francian-Byzantine attack in the Melting War of 1685-1690, the empire with its vast eastern lands recovered swiftly.
After the death of Basileus Witiges II in 1777, Liuva I, whose absolute throne came out even more secure after the St.Kyrillos Day Massacre of 1759 – a revolt of Cherson's starving poor – claimed the Byzantine throne for himself in 1780, and his son Leon the Absolute crushed the Jangladeshi revolution in 1784.
Gothia seemed poised to take over the world militarily, but both Leon and his son Theudis XII found fairly early deaths, and Sergia IV, the Pacifist, enforced some sort of Pax Gothica in the industrializing world. Theudis XIII reignited Gothic-Byzantine tensions, and as the Greeks flocked to republicanism, the assassination of emperor Kyrillos VIII the 13th October 1900 by extremist Greek republican Pavlos Samaras ended up causing the Great War.
This war engulfed the entire world and lasted until the 14th July 1922, leaving a lasting impact on the world, divided between the Gothic, autocratic side (“the Imperials”) and the side of the newly-proclaimed, democratic Byzantine Republic (“the Allies”) - nations on both sides drifted more towards the leading ideology of their faction, perhaps with the exception of England, becoming communist.
With fascist Sviþjoð clamouring for England's destruction, another Great War seemed likely in the 1940s, but was narrowly averted, mostly due to the reluctance of Empress Valeria of Gothia. Born after her father's assassination, Valeria the War Princess wouldn't back the Swedish plans without a very good reason – and in 1950, England's demonstration of their new nuclear weaponry ended the Swedish ambitions. The world's powers nearly all gained nuclear weapons over the next decade.
The 5th August 2061, the Miracle Crisis shook the world, which had kept mostly peaceful due to the nuclear deterrent. Former Gothic top agent and hacker turned terrorist Roderic Chertans and his organization, Miracle, had gained control over Earth's nuclear arsenal and sent an ultimatum, backed by the annihilation of London – swear fealty to Gothia until Saint Kyrillos Day or be eradicated.
Under great upheaval, most governments ended up giving in, with the exceptions of Ajuraan (nuked on the fourth day as they attempted to take back their nuclear bases), the Mayan Confederation (accepting their fate as end of the cycle) and Kikondija (without a functioning government). Chertans lived for more than six decades longer, and with Miracle's threat still looming, the empire of Gothia, led by widely loved monarch couple Cixila the Beautiful and her husband, the last Francian emperor Folbert, managed to create a stable world government, widely referred to only as “the Empire” over time. In order to elevate themselves over the empires of the past and to symbolize that they were no longer just emperors of the Goths, Cixila introduced the title of High Empress, rulers of the entire planet.
High Emperor Theudis XIV vanished on the Americ's maiden voyage – Earth's first FTL-capable vessel – in 2195. His daughter Riccilo, destined for the throne, decided to retire to a convent when her father was proclaimed dead, after leading the regency for two years. Thus, High Emperor Kyrillos X rules Earth now, widely known as the Decadent for his legendarily debaucherous parties.
Returning under Byzantine vassalage, Kyrillos' successor Theudis II kept pushing the border to the east, before failing to free the Gothic crown from Constantinople, a feat achieved by Theudis III in 1051 – before Kyrillos II, with Gothia struck by the Black Death, had to swear fealty to the Mongols twenty years later.
After a series of assassinations of Great Khans, Theudis VI (secretly grandmaster of the assassins) proclaimed Gothia's renewed independence in 1169, then led the Sixth Crusade to victory against the Mongols, becoming emperor in 1173. Gothic emperors kept advancing eastward under the so-called Eastern Supremacy, granted by pope Nikolaus II, granting the Goths dominion over all land east of the empire in the name of Catholicism.
Gothic power in the medieval period peaked with Theudis VIII, most well-known as the War Saint, at the end of the 14th century. Often called the greatest strategist of all time, Theudis VIII established the steppe empire as a true superpower, placing his cousin on the Egyptian throne in a crusade, dismantling the great Indian Somavamsi empire, also conquering Byzantium, Arabia and China, placing his children on these thrones. He died during a punitive expedition against the rebellious Nepalese tributary, establishing “bringing Theudis' Chest” as an idiom for the worst possible news, as the invincible emperor sent the maharaja a chest filled with the ashes of his army.
The War Saint's successors couldn't keep their influence over the other realms, and the rivalry with Byzantium would not only renew but last until the Miracle Crisis in the mid-21st century. Kyrillos V and Theudis IX would conquer the falling Qi empire of China and incorporate it into Gothia in the 16th century, with the former establishing the Goths' ruthless policies in conquered and colonized land for the future – the Goths not only spread their faith with fire and sword, also their culture.
Adrianos Americ discovered Australia in 1502 and became the first European to willingly reach the continent of the former invaders of Europe – the Aztecs – in 1505, coining the name America. The Goths would eventually colonize and conquer the whole of Australia (Kyrillia) and North America.
With draconic laws and extreme militarization under Theudis X, the Villain, Gothia's extermination of different cultures took a new level of organized genocide, and despite the defeat against a combined Francian-Byzantine attack in the Melting War of 1685-1690, the empire with its vast eastern lands recovered swiftly.
After the death of Basileus Witiges II in 1777, Liuva I, whose absolute throne came out even more secure after the St.Kyrillos Day Massacre of 1759 – a revolt of Cherson's starving poor – claimed the Byzantine throne for himself in 1780, and his son Leon the Absolute crushed the Jangladeshi revolution in 1784.
Gothia seemed poised to take over the world militarily, but both Leon and his son Theudis XII found fairly early deaths, and Sergia IV, the Pacifist, enforced some sort of Pax Gothica in the industrializing world. Theudis XIII reignited Gothic-Byzantine tensions, and as the Greeks flocked to republicanism, the assassination of emperor Kyrillos VIII the 13th October 1900 by extremist Greek republican Pavlos Samaras ended up causing the Great War.
This war engulfed the entire world and lasted until the 14th July 1922, leaving a lasting impact on the world, divided between the Gothic, autocratic side (“the Imperials”) and the side of the newly-proclaimed, democratic Byzantine Republic (“the Allies”) - nations on both sides drifted more towards the leading ideology of their faction, perhaps with the exception of England, becoming communist.
With fascist Sviþjoð clamouring for England's destruction, another Great War seemed likely in the 1940s, but was narrowly averted, mostly due to the reluctance of Empress Valeria of Gothia. Born after her father's assassination, Valeria the War Princess wouldn't back the Swedish plans without a very good reason – and in 1950, England's demonstration of their new nuclear weaponry ended the Swedish ambitions. The world's powers nearly all gained nuclear weapons over the next decade.
The 5th August 2061, the Miracle Crisis shook the world, which had kept mostly peaceful due to the nuclear deterrent. Former Gothic top agent and hacker turned terrorist Roderic Chertans and his organization, Miracle, had gained control over Earth's nuclear arsenal and sent an ultimatum, backed by the annihilation of London – swear fealty to Gothia until Saint Kyrillos Day or be eradicated.
Under great upheaval, most governments ended up giving in, with the exceptions of Ajuraan (nuked on the fourth day as they attempted to take back their nuclear bases), the Mayan Confederation (accepting their fate as end of the cycle) and Kikondija (without a functioning government). Chertans lived for more than six decades longer, and with Miracle's threat still looming, the empire of Gothia, led by widely loved monarch couple Cixila the Beautiful and her husband, the last Francian emperor Folbert, managed to create a stable world government, widely referred to only as “the Empire” over time. In order to elevate themselves over the empires of the past and to symbolize that they were no longer just emperors of the Goths, Cixila introduced the title of High Empress, rulers of the entire planet.
High Emperor Theudis XIV vanished on the Americ's maiden voyage – Earth's first FTL-capable vessel – in 2195. His daughter Riccilo, destined for the throne, decided to retire to a convent when her father was proclaimed dead, after leading the regency for two years. Thus, High Emperor Kyrillos X rules Earth now, widely known as the Decadent for his legendarily debaucherous parties.
Petronas Thaticos (*804 - † 25th Apr, 870) (reigned 1 year)
Philaretos the Heretic (*844 - †16th Dec, 888) (reigned 18 years)
Cixila I the Builder (*882 - † 10th July, 932) (reigned 43 years)
Cixila I the Builder (*882 - † 10th July, 932) (reigned 43 years)
Theudis I, the Dove (*908 - † 16th March, 944) (reigned 11 years)
Kyrillos I, the Young/ the Lionheart/ the Castellan/ Saint Kyrillos the Myrrh-Streaming (*10th May, 941 - † 1st July, 994) (reigned 50 years)
Theudis II, the Great/ the Broken (*15th February, 977 - † 24th October, 1031) (reigned 36 years)
Theudis III, the Hunter (*18th September, 1012 - † 19th June, 1068) (reigned 37 years)
Kyrillos II, the Shrewd (*9th October, 1036 - † 1st September, 1096) (reigned 26 years)
Theudis IV, the Quarrelsome (* 16th September, 1061 - † 16th June, 1106) (reigned 10 years)
Theudis V, the Bold (* 12th September, 1089 - † 25th July, 1125) (reigned 19 years)
Regency under Margarita the Fratricide until 1135
Kyrillos III, the Crusader/ the Mad (*27th May, 1123 - † 5th April, 1155) (reigned 29 years)
Theudis VI, the Sword of the Lord/ the Scourge of the Mongols (*24th June, 1142 - † 20th October, 1215) (reigned 60 years)
Liuvigoto the Noble (*13th September, 1188 - † 17th March, 1256) (reigned 40 years)
Achila the Fool (*17th January, 1212 - † 2nd March, 1257) (reigned <1 year)
Aikaterine I, the Holy/ the Halved (*19th September, 1230 - † 20th June, 1300) (reigned 43 years)
Theudis VII, the Strange (*20th November, 1256 - †11th January, 1303) (reigned 2 years)
Theudis VIII, the Cleansing Flame/ the War Saint/ Horseman of Conquest/ the Angel of Death/ the Blazing Demon (*8th August, 1327 - † 14th October, 1401) (reigned 39 years)
Sergia I, the Daughter of Satan/ the Fearless (*11th January, 1286 - † 8th March, 1362) (reigned 58 years)
Sergia II, the Young (*6th April, 1395 - † 24th July, 1409) (“reigned” 8 years)
Valeria I, the Saintly (*23rd February, 1392 - † 7th March, 1444) (reigned 34 years)
Sergia III, the Matricide/ the Gilded Peacock (*3rd January, 1421 - † 21st October, 1468) (reigned 24 years)
Kyrillos IV, the Lawful (*4th March, 1446 - † 11th September, 1498) (reigned 29 years)
Kyrillos V, the Zealot/ Ironfist (* 8th August, 1477 - † 12th December, 1539) (reigned 41 years)
Theudis IX, the Long (* 2nd January 1524 - 9th December, 1602) (reigned 62 years)
Kyrillos VI, the Old Boy (* 6th November 1540 - 1st January, 1612) (reigned 9 years)
Theudis X, the Villain (* 8th May 1593 - 20th May, 1658) (reigned 46 years)
Kyrillos VII, the Radiant (* 3rd March, 1633 - 1st November, 1682) (reigned 24 years)
Regency of Maria the Molten (1st November, 1682 - 16th April, 1696)
Theudis XI, the Frozen (* 16th April, 1680 - † 24th April, 1722) (reigned 26 years)
Regency of Aikaterine the Avenger (24th April, 1722 - 21st January, 1733)
Liuva I, the Ruthless (* 21st January, 1717 - † 1st August, 1781) (reigned 69 years, 11 years of regency)
Leon I, the Absolute (* 27th April, 1753 - † 18th March, 1794) (reigned 12 years)
Theudis XII, the Stone (* 15th May, 1778 - † 1st October, 1810) (reigned 16 years)
Sergia IV, the Pacifist (*1st February, 1800 - † 22nd March, 1880) (reigned 69 years)
Theudis XIII, the Arrogant (*30th July, 1842 - † 31st August, 1895) (reigned 15 years)
Kyrillos VIII, the Weak (*21st June, 1882 - † 13th October, 1900) (reigned 5 years)
Regency of Aikaterine, the Angel of Vengeance (13th October, 1900 - 25th December, 1916)
Valeria II, the War Princess (*25th December, 1900 - † 12th September, 1990) (reigned 79 years)
Kyrillos IX, the Humble (*2nd April, 1943 - † 14th September, 2020) (reigned 30 years)
Liuva II, the Lucky (*20th March, 2002 - † 30th October, 2077) (reigned 57 years)
Cixila II, the Beautiful (*17th May, 2050 - † 3rd January, 2140) (reigned 62 years)
Sergia V, the Star (*6th May, 2092 - † 1st March, 2159) (reigned 19 years)
Theudis XIV, the Lost (*2nd November, 2130 - † 31st December, 2197) (reigned 41 years)
Kyrillos I, the Young/ the Lionheart/ the Castellan/ Saint Kyrillos the Myrrh-Streaming (*10th May, 941 - † 1st July, 994) (reigned 50 years)
Theudis II, the Great/ the Broken (*15th February, 977 - † 24th October, 1031) (reigned 36 years)
Theudis III, the Hunter (*18th September, 1012 - † 19th June, 1068) (reigned 37 years)
Kyrillos II, the Shrewd (*9th October, 1036 - † 1st September, 1096) (reigned 26 years)
Theudis IV, the Quarrelsome (* 16th September, 1061 - † 16th June, 1106) (reigned 10 years)
Theudis V, the Bold (* 12th September, 1089 - † 25th July, 1125) (reigned 19 years)
Regency under Margarita the Fratricide until 1135
Kyrillos III, the Crusader/ the Mad (*27th May, 1123 - † 5th April, 1155) (reigned 29 years)
Theudis VI, the Sword of the Lord/ the Scourge of the Mongols (*24th June, 1142 - † 20th October, 1215) (reigned 60 years)
Liuvigoto the Noble (*13th September, 1188 - † 17th March, 1256) (reigned 40 years)
Achila the Fool (*17th January, 1212 - † 2nd March, 1257) (reigned <1 year)
Aikaterine I, the Holy/ the Halved (*19th September, 1230 - † 20th June, 1300) (reigned 43 years)
Theudis VII, the Strange (*20th November, 1256 - †11th January, 1303) (reigned 2 years)
Theudis VIII, the Cleansing Flame/ the War Saint/ Horseman of Conquest/ the Angel of Death/ the Blazing Demon (*8th August, 1327 - † 14th October, 1401) (reigned 39 years)
Sergia I, the Daughter of Satan/ the Fearless (*11th January, 1286 - † 8th March, 1362) (reigned 58 years)
Sergia II, the Young (*6th April, 1395 - † 24th July, 1409) (“reigned” 8 years)
Valeria I, the Saintly (*23rd February, 1392 - † 7th March, 1444) (reigned 34 years)
Sergia III, the Matricide/ the Gilded Peacock (*3rd January, 1421 - † 21st October, 1468) (reigned 24 years)
Kyrillos IV, the Lawful (*4th March, 1446 - † 11th September, 1498) (reigned 29 years)
Kyrillos V, the Zealot/ Ironfist (* 8th August, 1477 - † 12th December, 1539) (reigned 41 years)
Theudis IX, the Long (* 2nd January 1524 - 9th December, 1602) (reigned 62 years)
Kyrillos VI, the Old Boy (* 6th November 1540 - 1st January, 1612) (reigned 9 years)
Theudis X, the Villain (* 8th May 1593 - 20th May, 1658) (reigned 46 years)
Kyrillos VII, the Radiant (* 3rd March, 1633 - 1st November, 1682) (reigned 24 years)
Regency of Maria the Molten (1st November, 1682 - 16th April, 1696)
Theudis XI, the Frozen (* 16th April, 1680 - † 24th April, 1722) (reigned 26 years)
Regency of Aikaterine the Avenger (24th April, 1722 - 21st January, 1733)
Liuva I, the Ruthless (* 21st January, 1717 - † 1st August, 1781) (reigned 69 years, 11 years of regency)
Leon I, the Absolute (* 27th April, 1753 - † 18th March, 1794) (reigned 12 years)
Theudis XII, the Stone (* 15th May, 1778 - † 1st October, 1810) (reigned 16 years)
Sergia IV, the Pacifist (*1st February, 1800 - † 22nd March, 1880) (reigned 69 years)
Theudis XIII, the Arrogant (*30th July, 1842 - † 31st August, 1895) (reigned 15 years)
Kyrillos VIII, the Weak (*21st June, 1882 - † 13th October, 1900) (reigned 5 years)
Regency of Aikaterine, the Angel of Vengeance (13th October, 1900 - 25th December, 1916)
Valeria II, the War Princess (*25th December, 1900 - † 12th September, 1990) (reigned 79 years)
Kyrillos IX, the Humble (*2nd April, 1943 - † 14th September, 2020) (reigned 30 years)
Liuva II, the Lucky (*20th March, 2002 - † 30th October, 2077) (reigned 57 years)
Cixila II, the Beautiful (*17th May, 2050 - † 3rd January, 2140) (reigned 62 years)
Sergia V, the Star (*6th May, 2092 - † 1st March, 2159) (reigned 19 years)
Theudis XIV, the Lost (*2nd November, 2130 - † 31st December, 2197) (reigned 41 years)
And current monarch is Kyrillos X, the Decadent (*3rd March, 2158)
... and for those interested, here are the game settings:
... and for those interested, here are the game settings:
Earth and the development of FTL-travel
There's some kind of network covering the galaxy. This discovery made FTL-travel possible. Where that network comes from – if it's of natural or divine origins or created by some highly-advanced aliens – will likely remain a mystery. But humanity managed to harness the hyperlanes, manage to travel vast distances in a flash. Although it would only link a few hundred systems of the galaxy at most, the void was in reach. The lead of the team who made it possible, Helena Chintis, described the technology as “literally cheating the laws of physics” – the hyperdrive doesn't bend space-time and actually doesn't cause FTL-speeds either, at least not directly. It manages two things: place the ship into a parallel dimension and shield it from said dimension. This place, which the team called “the Shroud”, is utterly alien – and it holds the hyperlanes. A short burst of acceleration of the ship's normal thrusters is enough to accelerate it to impossible speeds, leading it to reach the end of the lane in an instant, where the drive disengages and sends the ship back into the normal dimension.
Leading theory of the Americ's disappearance was an unstable trajectory through the hyperlane towards Alpha Centauri, shooting out of the lane and reappearing in the normal dimension somewhere in no-man's-land . The moment it activated the hyperdrive was the last time it was seen, and if it “fell out” of the lane, nobody would likely ever hear of it again, stranded lightyears away from Earth. And with no way to communicate with the homeland, as one of the Americ's problems was the lack of communication.
As the new drives were installed in the next science ship, the Liuvigoto the Noble, it came with Athanaricos Kelant's absolute breakthrough – miniature wormhole comm systems. Kelant's invention would make long-scale communications a piece of cake. No longer would messages “only” travel at the speed of light, but be instantaneous. Kelant theorized that some sort of gateway might be created at some point, but that would necessitate far, far more energy than available. As of now, the system created miniature wormholes, only big enough to send a few waves of information through, with a central hub in Tana as destination, from where it could either be connected to Earth's network or anywhere else with the system. The system's abilities were impressively inaugurated with a networked play of the popular strategy game “Conqueror's Cross VII”, in which the Io, Haumea and Mars stations could play without a second of lag (Mars won, honouring their name, using the Goths' abilities to full effect to prevail over Io's Mongols and Haumea's Byzantines, leading to the head of Io station famously ragequitting while shouting “Those cataphracts are riding cheat codes - and we are the Mongols, so that means something!”).
The presence of the hyperlane network was seen by some as a sign that there where aliens somewhere out there. One of the theories postulated a highly-advanced species as creators of the network, after all. Others still pointed out that while the presence of aliens somewhere in the galaxy, or the very least the universe, was likely due to the sheer number of planets – but that humanity might make contact with another species was drastically reduced with the hyperlanes' limited accessibility. That life evolved in a few hundred systems was far less probable than in millions upon millions of systems.
Still, the military was insisting that they would be ready. While many questioned the continued importance of the army after Earth's unification – protests against the military fairly commonplace –, the dominance of Gothic culture and the inseparable unity of Imperial Crown and Imperial Army meant that it was still highly present. The military often served as additional police force, with the actual police with very little manpower. Supporters of the military were always quick to point at the ever-present terrorist threat as well: Miracle's success in enforcing their ideals proved that terror could lead to change if the methods are only radical enough, and thus there were a multitude of organizations who took many pages out of Chertans' book to try and enforce their ideals, which the military and its intelligence service tried to prevent.
Theoderic Audaric, Marshal of the Imperial Forces, thus remained second only to the emperor in importance, no matter what the prime minister might say about that. His aloof stance towards the protesters – completely ignoring them save for his usual comment that any unauthorized approach of a select number of locations provokes the use of lethal force – together with his regular sunny disposition, unexpected for the military man, made him highly popular, enough to leave a mark in language – people no longer just drew a line, they “made an Audaric”.
The iconic Marshal had just ceremoniously launched Earth's first FTL-capable space warships – the Sword, Lance and Bow. Terrorists and pirates didn't peacefully remain on Earth and had already raided transports from the mining stations across the solar system. They wouldn't stop in other systems, and the armed forces had to be ready to patrol there as well.
The three ships were classified as “corvettes”. Audaric lamented a few facts: firstly, that naval terms were to be used in spaceflight (for lack of a Gothic naval tradition – why not invent new terms), and secondly, that they could only build such “small” ships (despite their firepower being enough to carve through any vessel), but he defended the classification with the explanation of the military's engineers – the ships' engines could not be built bigger without overheating, the hyperdrive would take too much energy and be unable to shield a bigger ship from the Veil's weird physics. But it was only a matter of research until this barrier might be lifted. Sure, it sounds less impressive when your flagship is a mere corvette, but galleys of the antiquity would also be dwarfed by modern battleships, after all. And the ship's names would reflect it.
Humanity was reaching for the stars – at least some of them.
The three ships were classified as “corvettes”. Audaric lamented a few facts: firstly, that naval terms were to be used in spaceflight (for lack of a Gothic naval tradition – why not invent new terms), and secondly, that they could only build such “small” ships (despite their firepower being enough to carve through any vessel), but he defended the classification with the explanation of the military's engineers – the ships' engines could not be built bigger without overheating, the hyperdrive would take too much energy and be unable to shield a bigger ship from the Veil's weird physics. But it was only a matter of research until this barrier might be lifted. Sure, it sounds less impressive when your flagship is a mere corvette, but galleys of the antiquity would also be dwarfed by modern battleships, after all. And the ship's names would reflect it.
Humanity was reaching for the stars – at least some of them.
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