Unknown to the Heragul until the several months ago, the Surakari made their presence known by first attacking the Quartex Six and then by attacking a half a dozen worlds. The Tyronna system was the first to fall and in a few weeks, the other star systems attacked by the Surakari fell as well. For nearly a month, the Heragul military had the Surakari tied up in the Minex System. However, after battling to stalemate around Minex Four, the Surakari expanded their attacks and over twenty star systems. Numerous Heragul defeats later and the Albion Prefecture is facing the early stages of a Surakari Invasion.
Little information, including the motivation for the attack, is known about the Surakari. Hasty translations of Surakari text seem to suggest that they are launching a full scale evacuation of their home world. Still, this fact does not justify an attack on the Heragul Empire.
Two words that best describe the Surakari Fleet: Fast and accurate. While the Surakari warships carry lighter armor then their Heragul cousins, they still pack potent firepower and use advanced sensors to more accurately deliver their firepower. It is very common for Surakari warships to charge a battle line and then break up their formation to attack an enemy from all sides.
Every weapon that a Surakari warship carries is based around plasma. High powered weapons direct beams of plasma at nearly one tenth the speed of light. Lighter guns fire bursts of plasma to damage their enemies. Finally, some weapons use directed plasma to power long ranged missile projectiles.
For 30,000 years the Heragul have a ruled a vast and powerful empire. Consisting of thousands of star systems, the Heragul have integrated two other species into their empire: The Krylan and the Thaylex. Standing behind their motto of “Unity Through Strength”, the Heragul have crushed several rebellions in the past. Now, the greatest threat has emerged from a cloud shrouded planet.
In four months, nearly two dozen planetary systems have fallen to the Surakari. The Heragul military was simply unable to effectively respond to the numerous lightning attacks. With the Surakari on the edge of the Albion system, the strongest economy in the Sarlet District is now in danger.
For 30,000 years, the Heragul Empire has changed little. As a result, the design of their fleet has changed little as well. Most designs in the Heragul fleet have existed for one or two thousand years. The Heragul have always built warships with powerful engines and overloaded them with lots of armor and guns.
Heragul weapons inflict damage to enemies in two different ways. First, the high speed of the Heragul shells easily punch through enemy armor. In addition, every shell is super heated to the point that it almost melts. These super heated shells, when impacting frigid cold armor, inflicts additional damage. On some occasions, the super heated shells have also been known to ignite the atmospheres of the damaged warships.
Two months prior to the Surakari Invasion, a secret branch of the Heragul military encountered a new alien species calling themselves the Colayth Guard. Though their name is shared with a common deity of the enslaved Krylan, these aliens only said that they were friends of the Krylan. Since this first meeting, several more have occurred. The most recent encounter however, turned violent, and fleets on both sides lost several warships.
If it was not for the aggressive action of the Surakari, the Heragul would have declared all out war on the Colayth Guard. Since the existence of this alien race is still only known to the highest levels of power, a decision was made to negotiate with the aliens in order to prevent a two front war. This meeting occured at a planet chosen by the Colayth Guard that they call Barin SeKar.
Carrying weapons powered by Anti-Matter, the damage output of the Colayth Guard warships simply can’t be matched by similar sized Surakari or Heragul warships. These warships lack the advanced active armor system though, which leaves them vulnerable to to repeated directional attacks. Colayth Guard fighter tactics also differ significantly as fighters often trade heavy weapons for advanced targeting systems. Larkin fighters decimate enemy squadrons so the heavier Evart class ships can deliver the killing blow.
The Krylan are an ancient race. Their recorded history goes back well over a million years and is filled with tales of war. In the beginning, the Krylan, along with their Angels of Fire allies, waged a massive interstellar campaign against a race called the ancient enemy. Jump forward to 30,000 years ago and it didn’t take long for war to break out shortly after the Krylan encountered the Heragul. Despite their obvious technological advantage, the relatively small Krylan population couldn’t stand up to the countless numbers of the Heragul. Eventually, they were forced into the Empire as slaves and they have remained in that condition to this day.
Originally from a tropical planet with a constant 90 percent humidity, the Krylan are rarely seen outside of their dark colored, skin tight, pressure suits. Most of the Heragul population could not even identify the typical skin color of a Krylan. Regarded as slaves, the vast majority of Krylan have very few rights. Teaching of Krylan history and speaking their language in public was banned within the last few decades. When a high ranking member of Heragul Empire is rewarded, they are often allowed to select any Krylan to serve as a slave aboard their ship or at their installation. Only a single Krylan, Zyrecon, has ever earned the rights of a full legal citizen thanks to an incredibly old law and a liberally minded judge.
Being outcasts does have some advantages. The Heragul have become complacent in their monitoring of the Krylan and many of the aliens believe the time for gaining their freedom is near. Other Heragul, in particular the Ky-Lon family, have taken up the cause of Krylan freedom. Children of the Krylan and taught insurgent combat tactics through their childhood games. Others are building their own Phoenix advanced infantry combat systems. Some of these systems have even seen combat against the Surakari and the Heragul that do know about the systems see them as highly valuable pieces of combat equipment. Rumors of the arrival of the Colayth Guard have caused some Krylan to believe their Angels of Fire have returned to liberate them. Perhaps the Surakari Invasion is just what the Krylan need to overcome the numerical advantage of the Heragul.
The choices you make today will decide the future of the Heragul Empire, but the options from which you can choose were the product of history.
