Bonus Chapter: Astra Nostrum

A view of Antediluvian History by Consul Johannes Seneca

Four hundred years ago, the kingdom of Gracchia launched an expedition towards an unknown part of space. The expedition team was led by two ships, the GCS Romulus and the GCS Remus, twin ships, identical hulls. Together they stumbled through the galaxy and eventually they reached their destination.

Four hundred years ago, two expedition ships, each manned by two thousand strong crew, found the sol system.

But it wasn’t a great trip, they crashed on Mars on the way to Earth, highly coincidental as the first colonists that birthed the kingdom of Gracchia were once colonists of Mars before the colonial wars. On this planet, the sons of Mars fought. Though they were twin ships, they could not decide upon who should really be in charge in such a situation, they were both qualified, they were both great men. But they could not keep the idea of being held down by another in mind, it’s sad. Perhaps if things were different, they could work together.

But as the blood of their brothers are spilt on the rust surface of Mars, it was clear that the actual instinct of man was not to work together, but to spill the blood of those that are seeking to wrong them.

The people of Romulus won, keeping those who survived from Remus prisoners. From there they started to build their kingdom from scratch, they made cities on Mars, discovering the delicate technology that was lost during the retreat from the Sol system.

Eventually they traveled back to Earth, untouched for a millenia. Plants, trees, the flora and fauna consumed the once mighty structures of humanity, a testament that in the end, nature will overrule all. A broken statue stands in the middle of a plaza in the middle of what once was Europe, beside it, a haunting visage lies. Whose sneer of cold command is nothing more than a testament to the lengths humans would go through to mark themselves in the mindlessness of the universe, the universe… the hand that mocked, and the heart that fed.

The galaxy is filled with the ruins of empires that believe themselves eternal. But it is in this eternal graveyard that new empires may live, that some people in the future would take the mantle of reviving what once was. It is for that reason we are Antediluvian, old, ancient, but we are more than an empire that aged before it was birthed. We are Rome, sons of Mars recognize sons of Mars. We recognize their greatness, and we will take the mantle from their fall.

“Astra Nostrum”. The chant of the Antediluvian Empire of Rome, it means “Our Stars”. It is a testament of our ambition, our will, that one day we will rule not only the kingdoms, the barbarians around us that mocks us, that hates and detests us. We will rule more than the people, the hearts of those we conquered.

We will rule more than the Galaxy, we will rule the stars, our home, our stars. And become as Gods. We are more than an empire whose ruins will be prevalent and to be studied by future generations, we are the empire that will conduct the studies of those that fell.

“Astra Nostrum.” Every man, woman, and child shall know of the true empire of Man. The sons of Mars, and the daughters of Earth. To the stars, our home. Ad Astra, Domus Nostrum.

In this mantra, we conquered and subjugated those that surrounded us, there were moments where we almost collapsed, like the time with the Great Chilinuke brothers, senators who waged war on the Empire themselves. They were defeated in the battle of Sierra and we saved the Empire.

After that was the Karranian war, at first it was a minor skirmish to acquire a planet in a system. But as time went on, as we got defeated, as we fell and rose again, we found a way to fully take them out of our rightfully owned land. What followed after were a series of follow-up wars. In the second Karranian war, we were flanked by the great General Hannibal. He crossed with his army through dangerous star-lanes, losing most of them.

But even then, as he waltzed through the heartlands of our empire, we felt defeat after defeat after defeat. It was us at our most humiliated, but never again. We defeated Hannibal, though at a great cost to the both of our Empires. Nothing changed in borders, nothing changed in treaty. Just that we learned, Karrania must be destroyed.

In the third Karranian war, we burnt down their system, their capital planet. We burnt to the stake every man, woman, and child, we salted their grounds so that they may never be able to plant crops ever again, it is a dead planet in our name.

We annexed the rest of their clay, and the Karranian Empire ceased to be. Directly after was the conquest of the far eastern galactic sphere. We subjugated, one by one, one after another, the Far Eastern Galactic Kingdoms. They stood no chance against us, not even when they fought together.

And then? The Caledonian War. It is a terrible war that we fought for no reason, nor purpose, done for the sake of a general’s ego. Perhaps I speak intently like this as I am a veteran of the said war. Where I’ve witnessed my Empire’s ideals be thrown to the ground, where we acted like barbarians in the lands of Caledonia.

All I can say is that those people did not deserve what occurred to them. For the Karranians, I could justify it, they were terrible people longing for the downfall of our Empire. But for the Caledonians? The only sin of the Caledonians was that they were in the crossfire.

Perhaps it is the same with Concursus. That the people there did not deserve whatever is coming to them, but with the stories i’ve heard of the planet, I figured that they would be more capable of defending themselves than the Caledonians.

But it seems that the rumors were false. Their great city, whose name matched that of our great founder, was never there. Only the ruins of an Empire that once was, quite ironic. And as the war marched on, as it dragged on there is only one thing that remains in my mind.

An empire that was once lauded throughout the entire galaxy, missing, fallen. Would there be anyone to take its mantle, would there be anyone to revive the Empire of Concursus? But whenever the thought sets in, I just laugh it off, a scoff, if you may. After all, was there even really one? And even if there was, we will conquer it anyway.

Ad astra, domu nostrum. Astra nostrum.