Day of Shattered Stars

‘It was the Prince!’ cried the Merovech.

‘It was the Merovech!’ cried the Family-Preeminent, or what remained at dusk.

‘Cygnus Terrorists!’

‘Synths in our midst!’

‘Noble traitors!’

‘Corporate goons!’

And so began the war, father against children, sister against sibling, grandchildren against Primeborn. The blood pooled in Wintermoon, in the Hammerbergs, in Ven, and from there it was dragged across Hiera, through every town and city.

A single moment was all it took. Years of questions, doubts, and quiet disdain below the crumbling facade of Crux’s most popular Prince in centuries gave way as a dam breached. And all it took was someone to pull the first trigger.

The Lunatic Rain

It began, some would say, on Throphe, the Noble’s Moon, high above Hiera. In the early hours of the morning, as Ellis flared across the curvature of Hiera, its first rays touching Throphe, an explosion the size of a small city rocked the moon’s main spaceport. Wintermoon, one of the Crux Prince’s many estates, was situated just a few miles away, a lavish series of neutronium glass domes surrounded and filled with ornate ice sculptures, cut from the moon's frigid surface. Spires of glass and ice intertwined, rising high above thick, pine forests, and in an instant they were gone. 

A weapon powerful enough to wipe out a small city was detonated over the central dome, though satellites, orbiting vessels, and local observatories would later find themselves unable to discern how and by what means the device could have been moved into place. The glass, strong enough to have weathered centuries against the hazards of space, shattered in an instant, an outward cascade of flame, melting shards, and the contents of the domes torn from the surface below. 

The central palace of the estate was reduced to a crater, bodies incinerated before they could be flung into the void of space by the massive, explosive decompression of both the dome and the palace itself. The explosion’s force cascaded to other domes, destroying or damaging all but one of them, the furthest, a small garden, empty at the time of detonation.

Hiera’s sky glittered, the velocity of the explosion propelling larger remnants of the strong dome glass across and into the upper atmosphere over the following day, where they burned up in dazzling displays of strange, unnatural lights. People would have watched in awe if they had not seen the blast and its remnants, the cloud of dust and atmosphere that blurred and twisted the face of Throphe in the skies above.

But where was Hektor?

Some reports suggested he had secretly moved to Wintermoon but several days before, taking a small number of his family and personal guard with him. With the immediate Preeminent Family hidden from the public eye and no announcement given following the attack, there was no way to know for sure. Whoever had been within the domes of Wintermoon when the blast hit, though, would certainly have died in moments.

Others claimed the Prince remained sequestered in the Hammerberg Estate, only a few miles deeper into the mountains from the Hall of Ancient Princes. Or perhaps he had fled Ellis altogether, smuggled offworld by his allies in some lowly shipping freighter. There were another seven estates across Hiera as well, what was to say he wasn’t hidden away within one of them? The rumors mounted, and the truth grew ever more distant.

Regardless, what portions of the Preeminent Family yet remained in the public sphere cried out in disgust and anger that such a vile act of terrorism should have been allowed to happen. The House Guard was called incompetent, despite no one being able to find sensor data of the device being moved into place. Such claims were marked up as lies, attempts to hide the truth. Families across Hiera were blamed, and hidden Cygnus remnants, and traitorous Synthetics hidden amongst the Nobles of Hiera since the War Against the Artificials, waiting for the right moment to assassinate Prince Hektor. Someone had struck first, but no one was admitting it was them.

The Assassination of Merovech Igorek

Only a few hours later, the second trigger was pulled. Family Merovech announced the discovery of the body of their patriarch and Primeborn, Merovech Igorek, in the study of his Ven City mansion. He had been stabbed only three times, once through the throat from behind while eating breakfast, once through the heart from the front, and the last through the side of his torso. The blade used contained a necrotizing poison that rendered Igorek unsuitable for psychic or medical restoration within moments.

A piece of evidence left at the scene of the crime suggested members of the Fireseekers had assassinated Igorek as part of their plan to undermine and disable groups opposed to Hektor and the Preeminent Family. Later, the validity of the evidence would be called into question, as the only fingerprints and DNA present on it were those of members of Family Merovech and Igorek’s personal maid and serf, who claimed to have been out of the room at the time of his death. But in the moment, it was proof enough.

Family Merovech, incensed by such a bold and despicable action, mobilized their forces immediately. But without Igorek to lead them, their direction was divided, a large force heading towards the Hammerbergs while the remainder marched on the streets of Ven City, attacking and vandalizing shops and homes showing explicit support for Prince Hektor and his Family. The House Guard was quick to move in, pushing back Family Merovech and holding a number of its members for JES arrest, but allies of the Prince were quick to begin their response.

Terror Spreads

Though Merovech Igorek was one of the most prominent figures slain, he was not the only one. Across Hiera and Ven City, calculated attacks were carried out, some successful in eliminating their targets, others failing spectacularly. An attempted bombing in Darvasa only served to distract local JES personnel from the gathering of the Summer Court. Erzherzogin Heinrich Lydia, public supporter of Prince Hektor, was shot dead by her own driver as her gravcar arrived in Ven City. The first trigger had been pulled, the reason everyone needed to make their move. Or at the very least, the reason they would make use of.

Ven City: The Twelve-Hour War

Though Family Merovech would be claimed by many to have marched first on the streets of Ven City, forces of the Fireseekers, the Preeminent Family, the Pact of Mercy, and disparate, unaligned Crucian families were also mobilized within the same hour. Who swung first would never quite be agreed upon, but Merovech was quick to make a large impression. 

Outraged by the death of Merovech Igorek, an act believed to be an act of the Preeminent Family and its allies, a large portion of the Merovech family and its levies stormed the streets of Ven City, vandalizing any home or establishment bearing flags of the Preeminent Family or other signs of support. Nobles and serfs alike were dragged out into the streets and shot, a small price to the Merovech for the death of their patriarch. The Preeminent Family and their allies responded, opening fire on the Merovech forces in the hopes of holding off the slaughter.

The House Guard was quick to move. While individuals within the Guard supported Hektor’s ousting, the tactics of the Merovech and the swelling violence would quickly turn Ven City into a warzone, potentially halting the work of the Department of the Judiciary, who had resolved to remain out of any emerging conflict. This could not be allowed. The fighting had to be controlled, if nothing else.

Guard forces, including gravtanks and riot mechs, were deployed to the streets, holding a perimeter around the Oberlandesgericht and the Imperial School of Law. From there, Guard incursions were sent out, allegedly to halt the violence, but often their actions proved a strategic boon to anti-Hektor forces. Blockades cut off reinforcements to the Preeminent Family, gravtanks interposed in battles that pro-Hektor forces had begun to win, and some would later claim they had seen members of the House Guard openly firing on Hektor’s allies, though this would be explained away as rogue troops acting outside their orders.

In a matter of twelve hours, the House Guard was able to secure most of the city, driving the fighting towards the outskirts and holding Hiera’s most significant government and legal buildings. Martial law was imposed by Strategos Cordula in an attempt to prevent new conflicts from emerging, but many of the Primeborn expressed outrage, believing the House Guard was attempting to seize power amidst the fighting.

Within Ven, smaller battles emerged and died out, a constant game of putting out fires by the House Guard. Primeborn hammered on the doors of the Oberlandesgericht, demanding that Strategos Cordula’s martial law be overturned, and the sounds of sobbing as the dead were found and identified filled the streets. The battle had not been long, but it had been bloody, particularly for the serf Levies that served as the weapons of Hiera’s Primeborn.

The Burning of the Hammerberg Estate

Claims would be made, after the Day of Shattered Stars, that it was news of the assassination of Merovech Igorek that first reached the forces in the Hammerberg Mountains. In truth, the jumbled transmissions of violence across Hiera, gargled by interference in the aftermath of Wintermoon’s destruction and the dabbling of the Outer Garden, came through in a flood to those on both sides of the conflict. 

The Preeminent Family heard of the uprisings in Darvasa, believing it to be a strike against their allies. The Athonite League, perceiving the sudden escalations, withdrew, siding with many of the Judiciary in keeping the Empire’s legal system out of whatever was to come. The Diune, till then uninvolved, caught wind that the Merovech were moving everything they had left into the Hammerbergs and mobilized to defend. The Fireseekers struck against the anti-Hektor forces with guerilla tactics as they mobilized, and the Pact of Mercy, hearing that martial law had been imposed in Ven and believing it to be the Prince’s doing, moved out towards the Hammerbergs as well. What forces could be spared of the House Guard made haste after the wrathful Merovech, allegedly to contain them should violence break out, but in fact to reinforce and protect their advance.

Clashes were sporadic at first, the sounds of gunfire and cries of pain echoing through the valleys of the Hammerbergs for miles as rain and snow poured from the heavens. There was fighting on the steps of the Hall of Ancient Princes and in the rolling foothills that approached the Church of the Mother of Mercy. The Merovech lost a whole group under Merovech Ferdinand, cut off by the Fireseekers and melted under the laser fire of the Great Diune and their Levies. The Pact of Mercy found a critical opening, left by the retreating Athonite League, and struck a hard, flanking blow against the Diune, killing the firstborn Diedrich and routing his levies in a narrow eastern pass. The House Guard caught a distant cousin of the Preeminent Family and her allies advancing towards the Hammerberg Estate of the Prince, looking to reinforce the Estate and surprise the Merovech from behind on the way. Detained and pushed back by the House Guard, under pretenses of stopping further violence, the reinforcements would never reach the Estate, turned back towards Ven.

Fighting continued towards the Hammerberg Estate, where many believed Prince Hektor yet lived in hiding. Small clashes turned into all-out battles, gravtanks and heavy weaponry brought to bear as the Guard both moved them into position and in some cases lost control of them to other factions. The winding valleys and poor visibility in the gathering storm proved both boon and bane to every side. Soon, the Diune and the Merovech clashed in full force, less than half a mile from the Hammerberg Estate, other factions, alliances, and families pouring in from every side.

No one knows how the fire started. Perhaps it was an errant gravtank round. Perhaps the Preeminent Family started it themselves as a distraction for their flight. Perhaps the Pact of Mercy, or a rogue family fought their way inside the Estate and opened fire. Whatever the cause, the Hammerberg Estate was soon a flaming beacon above the battlefield below, not even the rains able to hold it back. Members of the Preeminent Family and their serfs fled, but many were gunned down in the snowy forests before long. A body was cast out from the front door of the Estate, burned beyond recognition, by an unknown Noble, many claiming to have been him in the aftermath, and the fateful words were spoken.

“The Prince is dead!”

The cry would spread across the battlefield, and as some wept others cheered. But the reprieve was only brief. As the Preeminent Family’s remaining forces attempted to retreat, the Merovech pursued them, and so then did the Diune, and thus all the others. The House Guard had regrouped its forces and received reinforcements from Ven City by then, and were quick to scatter the factions and halt the fighting, the snows stained red with enough blood already. But the fighting was far from over.

The Violence Spreads

With Hektor assumed dead, some desired to see the Electors gathered and a new Preeminent Family chosen. But those who had fought in the Hammerbergs, and others who had not even been present, claimed leadership should be theirs, seeking to upend the old ways and claim power for themselves.

With Igorek Merovech dead his family shattered, lesser alliances and factions emerging as his children fought over who should claim the right to rule Hiera in his stead. The Preeminent Family split as well, with Hektor and his closest family dead or their whereabouts unknown. The extended family was quick to turn against each other and claim that it was their right to fill Hektor’s place. Other alliances strengthened, but the result across Hiera was the same; the fighting continued. 

While some sought to turn to politics and negotiations, the anger and divisiveness that had been boiling up within House Crux for years had finally reached a head. Battles spread across Hiera, in every city and quiet glen. The House Guard struggled to keep the peace, especially with so much of their force needed to hold Ven City. Some of their own forces even joined with the various factions, fighting in battles against their own Guard comrades in support of ideals or names or their own personal desires.

Battle lines have been drawn. Hektor, supposedly, is dead, his alleged body incinerated but never truly identified. Factions have formed and reformed and splintered across Hiera. Forces begin to group and regroup, and many wonder how long the fighting will continue before House Crux is finally whole again.