No one escapes The Great War, not even the stars themselves!3rd book in the BALADA series..........“When I dream of the stars, do they dream of me……………….of anything?” From his perch on what could be considered the top side of the ship, Metternich took in that small fragment of the vast visual wonder of the universe. He could see the light of countless stars that where so old they exploded hundreds of millions of millennia ago, yet continued to shine brightly in the night’s sky, the endless clouds of nebulas that from this distance seemed no bigger that a speck of dust, the great planets of the system he was passing, all shining brightly from the light of their sun, all with their unique beauty. The gas giants, whose immense gravitational pulls could shatter any comet that threatened its smaller brethren and had moons larger than planets that could sustain life. There where celestial bodies, that where so close to the sun that no water exited on them, instead there where rains made out of mercury and oceans of melted iron, inhabiting its surface. The distant bodies of the outer edge planets that during their many millennia long orbit moved so far away from the sun, that the atmosphere would freeze, encasing them in a giant shield of ice, giving the impression that some Titan had been here and created these wondrous sculptures for all mortals to look before them in wonder. And this was just one small speck, of one tiny fragment, of a single flake, from a great field of snow that was the great beauty of the galaxy and of the universe. Far beyond this system, he knew that there laid other things of wonder and beauty, to great to have ever been imaging by mere mortals, but was the creation of something grander than themselves. He gazed into infinity and although he could not see them directly, he knew that before him lay things like diamonds the size of planets, systems with multiple suns that graced them with eternal protection from the darkness of night. Worlds that left their stars and where now wondering the vastness of space, galaxies than seemed to be forever stationary but where forever moving, some were on a collision with each other, one that took thousands of years for it to begin, millions of years for them to finally meet, and a billion trillion years for the offspring of such a union to exist, until it too eventually finds its own pair. There where ice planets than burned hotter than any fire and bodies of fire that where colder than any winter, gas giants than rained diamonds, vast bodies of space dust clouds that stretched for light years and tasted like raspberries. Oceans that could encompass whole star systems, a cluster of stars and mass so great that the laws of physics’ denied its existence, yet there it had been for countless eons, ever present, ever defiant! Beyond where Titanic black holes, who generated massive thunderstorms, that could engulf anything. There was somewhere out there, stars bigger than any sun, as a sun is bigger than a speck of sand on a beach. There would be a great field of gas and matter, which existed from the very first moment of creation and would no doubt would sound the final rally, when the twilight of all would come. There would be countless bubbles of space and time always being born into existence, growing, expanding, popping, and from their remains new ones would emerge, each one of them was a universe that was new and young one moment and a whisper latter it would be old and then dying, only to be replaced by the next one. Nothing but a passing moment in the infinity of space, but an eternity among eternities for mere mortals! Despite all these wonders, the gaze of the young Commodore always shifted back towards the rear of his fleet, where the mighty Volunian host was chasing him. A fleet that was at least 15.000 ships strong moved through this system with a speed many times that of light, and as a cause of that they actually outran their own image. From the journal of Deux,

Yesterday was Oblivion, tomorow Desolation arrives, but tonight we stand in the silence between both and neither.*Excerpt, from the works of Grand Scholar, and The Great War expert Djanus Todomari from the Imperium Archives*The battle of Volun 3, fought from Daliupus 24th to the 27th was the decisive large scale fleet engagement of the Volunian-Imperial war of 1894 and thus turned the flow of the whole conflict decisively in the favor of the Empire.The stunning victory had not only destroyed the Volunian Navy, but also effectively neutralized any immediate threat of Federal intervention, since what managed to escape the battle was in no condition to fight.This combined with Field Marshall’s Cornelia’s rapid call for reinforcements and taking of Volun 4 now directly threatened not only Galiana, but much of the Federal and Republican economy.Galiana was more than a fortress, it was located at the intersection of the entire western galactic warp highways, making it vital for commercial trading and military supplies and an essential route for previous invasions of Imperial territory.But with Volun 4 now taken, the Imperial’s now had the means to effectively stop such a vital artery from flowing.The war was now for the most part won, but we had to be careful, less we lose the peace!For the battle was a complete success, the economy would flourish and our then foes where for the most part vanquished, too many it seemed like everything had ended well.As such it was plain for the few wise ones amongst the Empire that it was a recipe for disaster!The most effective way to explain this was by analyzing the words exchanged by the high ranking officer during the strategic meeting after capturing Volun 4.The Empire up until that point had never been acknowledged as a sovereign nation by the Federation.Despite the fact that it was not originally part of the Old Commonwealth, which the Federation and the Republic was its successor, they had always used as their main argument for battle the right of governance, since the Federation like the Commonwealth, claimed that it and it alone was the only legitimate body for ruling all of space.And that was why the capture of Volun 4 was the recipe for disaster.To them and the Federal public at large, it’s loss meant that Galiana, the fortress that was the only thing that stopped the ‘imperial barbarians’ was now directly threatened , thus any and all reservations for the war where being swept away in a sea of panic and hysteria.Also, it was by then clear for all to see that the Volunian-Imperial was would escalate into the Federal-Imperial war and with Galiana on their side the Federation had a decisive advantage.And although taking Volun 4 was a sound decision from a strategic and tactical point of view, from a logistical one it was a nightmare waiting to happen!The supplies needed for such an endeavor could only be brought either by a convoy which itself needed a sizeable escort, or by a small warp train which could not be depended to supply the full needs of the fleet and fortress required to hold Volun 4. In contrast Galiana had hundreds of trains, a huge storage capacity, massive defensive capabilities, and on top of it all it had its own agricultural, industrial and military facilities, along with access to solar and other means for energy made it a self sufficient fortress which even cut off from the rest of the galaxy could sustain a fleet of 60 to 80.000 ships indefinitely and a sizable population of 18.000.000 without too much difficulty.Thus even with the fleet in shambles, they could still hold on against an Imperial assault and if and when the Federals would send a fleet to reinforce Galiana, the combined forces could in a battle of attrition defeat the Imperial forces and outlast them supply wise. And even worse the Republic who up until that point had maintained neutrality would no doubt use this instance to further their influence.We had gained power, now we had to use it wisely!Grand Scholar and Great War Expert Djanus Todomari Imperium Archives8th BALADA book.

When war rages across the universe, tell me, which side are you on?First book in the Balada series.On Caliupus 27th, Imperial year 1898, Federal year 3941, and Republican year 953 on the small home world of the Tolstoy sector, a Federal fleet clashed for less than 3 hours with an Imperial one. This small battle which was the first shot in The Great War was situated above a place called Graperust Manor, owned by a Novo Albetan lawyer called William Murasaki Kuckluck. After the Battle of Graperust, mister Murasaki said that he had enough of the whole affair and decided to move his family 560.000 light-years to a town called New Hope within the Tremera system, to a house called Woodgrom Courthouse with the intention of avoiding the war in its entirety. Years later the commanders of the belligerent forces came to that very same courthouse to sign the ending of all hostilities. So when it was over Mr Murasaki could boast that the war began on his front lawn porch and ended in his backyard gazebo. The Great War raged across millions of star systems, billions of planets and trillions of light years, within it farm workers from Nova Bronze City of the Towar System, clashed with fisherman from Seshrim 9, lawyers and schoolteachers from the Brumbaki Plains of Bulla 8 with doctors and accountants from The Tjigu asteroid cluster. Whole nations and ways of life would disappear only to be replaced by new ones and within this age of chaos great heroes and villains would emerge, several sentients would join the war, each from the three superpowers, they would be at the most crucial and most bloody of the battles and somehow survive them all, and give testimony of just how unrealistic reality could become. A smuggler would save a country , a shadow warrior would emerge from the darkness, a rebel would reshape the galaxy, a sentient would change the way things were forever, and a potions brewer who did not go a single day to military school would become the greatest commander the known universe had ever seen or perhaps would ever see. So the sands of time flowed and with their passing the universe changed forevermore. Grand Scholar and Great War Expert Djanus Todomari Imperium Archives