Europan Planetary Federation

"With the flags flying high, in the wind, in the sky. With honor and with pride, we stand free, side by side."

- part of the Europan anthem.

The Europan Planetary Federation began as a single planet, that was supposed to be a naval base for the crusading fleet during the Garon Nebulae Crusade, which, however, turned out to be ill-fated and the Imperial forces were quickly driven off the region, abandoning Europa Prime, at the time the only colonized planet behind, to its own fate. The governor saw it as a betrayal and took the matters into his own hands. After several tries, he gave up and cut all efforts to re-establish contact with the Imperium and so the Europan Federation was formed, a cornerstone for the Europan Planetary Federation, a real yet small interstellar empire.

Imperial Naval base
The system was colonized with the intention of setting up a major service and resupply base for the crusading Imperial Navy fleets. Settlements were hastily built, along with necessary infrastructure and industry to support the massive orbital docks, that will be known as the Torus planetary ring station. Things went smoothly, as supply convoys brought millions of tonnes of construction materials and other supplies, while fleets of warships departed repaired and resupplied.

Years later the crusading fleet departed again, pushing deeper into the Garon nebula and life got a bit easier for the colonists. Cities and settlements grew as people were not needed up in the docks. They were, however, ready to repair and resupply any arriving fleet, but nobody returned. Two years later, even supply convoys stopped coming.

Another year later a fleet finally appeared. It wasn't a huge fleet as expected, but only three vessels, one battleship, Spear of Orion, which was also heavily damaged, followed by two cruisers, Thunderstrike and Protector. The captain explained the crusade was met with fierce resistance from the Archenemy. So fierce and overwhelming that the advance ground to halt and eventually general retreat order was issued. In addition, some demonic device deep within the nebula was detected, that somehow interferes with long-range astropathic communication, explaining why no message reached the colonists.

First steps to Freedom
When the Governor learned what happened, he was furious and spoke about betrayal by the Imperium. He was met with mixed responses, but eventually defended his position and had a speech before the masses, that entered the history as the very beginning of the Europan Federation: "Today, my dear citizens have become a day when we, the proud citizens of Europa, cut the ties with the Imperium! They betrayed us, left us alone in the dark, to our own fate. But today, we take the fate to our own hands, we take our very lives from the inbred, incompetent and corrupt imbeciles that call themselves High Lord of Terra! Today, we take out the first step from being a subject to being a citizen. From submission to freedom. It will be a long way, full of obstacles and hardships, but with the Emperor's light over our heads, we will get there. And if somebody or something thinks they can take it from us, so be it! Our soldiers will stand ready. Welcome to the new era, my dear citizens, a new chapter of our lives. Welcome to the era of the Europan Federation!"

- Governor Wilhelm Carther, 614.M40

In the following decades, Europan Federation lived through years of prosperity and expansion. Cities were rebuilt and expanded and also new worlds were colonized, namely Risha, which will become an agri-world and Aetheris, an industrial/mining sky-world, later followed up by Zoyra, a garden world. By this point, Europan Federation evolved into a Europan Planetary Federation.

About two centuries later, the borders moved again as Neutra and Ostrakan were colonized as well. Neutra mainly for its resources of wood and minerals and Ostrakan, which is a frozen, inhospitable planet with vast caverns underneath the surface, for pretty much the same, except the wood. It was selected as a fortress world and because the Adeptus Mechanicus chose this planet as the base for their operations, making it a small forge-world as well.

The population was now stretched so thin, that system-wide, pro-population program was launched, encouraging and supporting people to have more children.

Great Vegetable War
Since the population of Risha is naturally divided into two halves by a massive mountain ridge cutting through the middle of the only continent, there is a natural competition in who grows, catches, mines and manufactures more and more effectively. This competition escalated into civil war through a series of deceptions and sabotages.

When the open fighting broke out, the whole industrial production suffered as crop fields were destroyed, cattle herds slaughtered, factories burned and civilian death-toll raising exponentially. The situation was contained only after the deployment of several Guard regiments with use of lethal force authorized, if necessary. It took 11 years for the industry to recover to the point it before the war.

Aurora Project
With the discovery of a new element (named Solarum) on Aethera, a yellowish mineral with extraordinary electrical properties, that being natural superconductivity and the ability to become a voltage source after intense illumination, a colossal project was created, that would solve the systems' electrical generation issues.

Aurora project consists out of a network of orbital stations that focus sunlight and then send it through relay stations to individual planets, where the beam is focused on a plate made of Solar Steel (refined Solarum), generating massive amounts of electricity.

In case of need, this can be used as a potent weapon, able to heat-up or melt starships hulls or target anything on planets' surface. It has other uses as well, like artificial illumination of planets' surface or asteroid mining.

Uninvited Guest
After several centuries of relatively peaceful period, long-range auspex scanners set up alarms as the real-space near the system has been breached and Space Hulk, a vile conglomeration of lost and derelict vessels emerged from the depths of the Warp. The fleet was immediately mobilized in case it was an invasion, but after closer examination turned out that the Hulk is infested with Orks, but they tend to themselves, as they did not launch any offensive actions and with Orks being Orks, that would have happened shortly after their arrival.

Further scanning revealed that a bulk-hauler known as Valerian Starliner is fused in the Hulk and that she should carry a vast amount of supplies for Imperial forces for a campaign that happened two millennia ago. She supplies never arrived and now it's known why. The hulk was boarded by several regiments of the armed forces, Orks were driven back, cargo holds unsealed and the cargo, which consisted out of hundreds of armored vehicles and tanks, including some rarer pieces, like Macharius' tanks or Valdors, was seized and brought home, along with hundreds of thousands of other pieces of weapons and other equipment. Additional sections of the ships were cleared and everything of value taken away.

After salvage operations were stopped, the Hulk was destroyed by a powerful nuclear warhead set inside the warp engine compartment and the Hulk was subsequently sucked back into the warp.

Dark Ages
Occurring several decades after the Space Hulk incident, a new era began. An era that nobody ever hoped would come, except for a one man. ''Victor Keeling. ''Since the federation was still ruled over by a single governor that was, however, voted democratically, this man won the elections. At first, he presented himself as a pragmatic man who followed the legacy of the first governor, Wilhelm Carther. But after a few years in the Aquileian Palace, his attitude took a sharp, 180° turn. He wasn't the patriot he posed as, but a self-obsessed, power-hungry, megalomaniacal autocrat, that ruled with fear and terror under the martial law. Every protest was drowned in blood and his secret police ran rampant, torturing, raping, and executing anybody they chose.

To satiate his megalomania, Keeling ordered the construction of dozens of his own opulent mansions and villas, many of which he never visited, as well as tall statues of himself. The most ambitious project he ordered to build is Palanea, a luxurious underwater city located on the seabed of one of the Europas' oceans, meant to be a place to live for his loyal followers.

There were many attempts to remove him from power. Coups, assassination attempts, and political machinations, but all only strengthened his position, as his opposers revealed themselves, only to be tortured and executed. The final attempt, a successful one began as an innocently-looking traffic accident in front of his convoy, that was meant to stop it. Minute later, the entire avenue exploded as tons of explosives hidden in the sewers went off, killing hundreds of people and gravely injuring Keeling in his armored limousine. He was then captured and publicly hanged.

Purges of his followers took place and almost everybody who was found guilty was publicly executed and then dumped into an unmarked mass grave or sent into the Aethran mines as penal workers with a lifetime sentence. That includes over a hundred children he fathered with his harem of concubines (most of the children were later released, as they were not guilty of anything than being Keeling's relative). In the aftermath, the governor's position was abolished and the system reworked into a democratic system and forming a Planetary Council to prevent this from happening ever again. His reign lasted for 34 years and 80 million people died.

Light of Hope
Another century later, the warning sirens began vailing once more, as another breach into real-space was detected. This time it was at the Mandeville point. The vessel identified itself as "Angel of Astrea", a Hellfire cruiser of the Ecclesiarchy. Two cruisers escorted the damaged vessel to the Torus ring station and both sides got quite surprised. The Europans when they witnessed fully armored Sororitas to march out of the ship, followed by Saint Beltaine herself, and the Ecclesiarchs for the distinct lack of Aquilas on every surface. Thing calmed down a bit when they learned the Emperor's light still shines in this system.

The Ecclesiarch explained their whereabouts, as they escaped Vakaria, a world invaded by the Archenemy. How the governor fled, how the Vakarian PDF formed resistance groups and how they fled the planet aboard the Angel, that had damaged warp drive and no navigator, so they could make only short, blind jumps. It still took them 16 years to get there.

With their ship damaged and nowhere else to go, they stayed, re-establishing the Order of the Silver Hand on Europan soil.

New Horizons
With things settling down at the home system, the Council decided to expand once again, this time beyond the boundaries of the solar system. The surrounding regions were mapped pretty well as patrols passed through and surveyed the area with augurs.

In two locations were selected, Ipheus IV and Skyllian VIII. They were colonized in that particular order. Also, a colossal space station was located about eleven light years away, orbiting a gas giant in the otherwise dead solar system:


 * Ipheus IV - Ipheus IV is a barren, lifeless rock with no atmosphere, but yet it holds immense mineral riches. To support any population, life-domes, and biospheres were constructed and thousands of tonnes of soil and liters of water, along with trees, plants and small animals were brought to develop a self-sustainable ecosystem. Due to the isolation, with only cargo haulers arriving from time to time, life is slow-paced and humble.


 * Skyllian VIII - Skyllian VIII is a jungle death-world, colonized for its' crude Promethium deposits, and endemic and nutritious species of edible fruits and vegetables, along with wood and mineral deposits. Due to the fact that this is a death-world, it provides excellent training grounds for the armed forces, that can't be replicated anywhere else. Also due to the fact the jungles are inhabited by the Beastmen, the Europans got themselves a powerful ally.

The station was a different story. When the Europan ships approached the derelict and seemingly dead station, it suddenly snapped to life. Hangars amongst the circumference opened and began releasing swarms or small-sized vessels, with an occasional frigate or cruiser-sized vessel.

The following battle was a real test for the colonization fleet. The hostile vessels were of unusual design, rather sleek than bulky and highly maneuverable. Hails were sent towards them, but no response was given. Despite being outnumbered, the Europan fleet managed to destroy or cripple most of the vessels, with losing only a couple of escort ships. The Protector and Pride of Europa received some damage, though. Later it turned out that the ships were millennia-old AI ships and drones, programmed for automated self-defense. The fleet, however, turned out to be a tough match for them.

The station officially named ORS-038b Croatea CXVIII (Orbital Ringworld Station, model 038, b variant, orbiting around a star known as Croatea 118) and unofficially known as the Foehn station (a name of the ruling dynasty), is a ring-world station of human origin. It is a ring with a diameter slightly over 700km, that rotates around its central axis to generate gravity and simulate the day cycle. The station is largely damaged, with some of its' parts completely destroyed and missing. This was probably caused by a battle that took place roughly at the beginning of the Age of Strife, leaving the station lifeless since then. Some parts, that are still able to support life were colonized mostly by the Tech-priests and workers, who try to restore the station.

The station contained many marvels of engineering, from exoskeletons, through anti-gravitic propulsion system to a hover tank. All were taken back home for study and possible replication.

L-RM - 38 "Großdeutschland"
During a routine border patrol, a strange, cigar-shaped vessel was found. It emitted no biological or electronic sighs, and so was considered dead. Upon closer look, the vessel was identified as probably of human origin, as it had a large, black-white cross painted on both sides, with “Großdeutschland” written underneath.

The strange vessel was boarded and examined. The crew was still present in the form of frozen bodies weightlessly floating around and many documents and books were found, including technical specifications, diaries, history books or novels that belonged to the crew. Technical documentation revealed that this vessel is designated as Leichter RaumKreuzer - 38 (Light space cruiser, type 38). The history book talked about some 3rd Empire from the Ancient Terra from 932.M1, that ended thirteen years later. A man known as Tesla was mentioned, then Philadelphia experiment, his faked death, a secret moon-base, and an interdimensional propulsion system, that had to be his life's work. More entries describe how the survivors of the 3rd Empire escaped Terra and set up colonies elsewhere. The book ends there and it's presumed that if they didn't meet their end earlier, they were assimilated during the Great Crusade.

Captain's diary described the service is this particular vessel, from her launch in 291.M3 to the order to abandon ship at 347.M3. They were attacked by an unknown, presumably alien vessel. The description would match an Eldar vessel, although certainty is not guaranteed.

Other books found contained drawings, pictures specifications of infantry equipment and vehicle designs, that were later reproduced and seeing they are technologically more advanced than the commonly used Leman Russ and Chimera designs, customized versions of said found designs were introduced into the service.

The ship was towed to the orbital docks, restored and now it can be seen in the national museum at Europa Prime.

Pirate's Den
Strange disappearances of merchant and transport vessels started to occur, along with unidentified vessels being reported to roam the territory of the Europa Federation. The attacks and abductions escalated to the point a patrol fleet was sent to investigate. What they found was beyond any expectations. In the asteroid field, there was a huge fleet of various vessels, imperial or not and with a hollowed-out asteroid serving as their flagship. As the Europan patrol fleet got closer, it got ambushed and was forced to withdraw from the area.

After they returned back to Europa, with the report of a marauding pirate fleet present, the whole Battlefleet Europa was mobilized, including the mighty battleship, departed to hunt down the pirates. The following battle was fierce, but the technological superiority gave an edge to the Europan fleet, that kept advancing despite being outnumbered nearly three to one, There were some losses, mostly amongst escort vessels and the Dawnlight and Thunderstrike had to retreat for suffering considerable damage. Some pirate ships were boarded, many were taken out of action or outright destroyed. The asteroid could be easily destroyed but since the pirates abducted dozens of thousand Europans, a decision was made to infiltrate a team inside to get intel and then the asteroid ship would be boarded. The mission was eventually successful, but the horrors the soldiers and abductees seen and went through will haunt them until the end of their days.

It turned out that the pirates were under the influence of an unknown, spider-like alien species that had the ability to control their minds if they were under its influence for long enough. Some of the abductees were to be fed to the alien, who imposed itself as the god, some were to be indoctrinated and become followers and some, mostly women, were just slaves, either for work, pleasure, or to breed new cult followers. The asteroid was then destroyed by a plasma bomb from the inside.

Despite all of that, from over sixteen thousand people reported missing, eleven thousand was rescued and in addition, two pirate ships were dragged back to the orbital docks to repair, repaint and retrofit. Their slave-crews were liberated and given the status of a civilian. Several dozen of Sslyth and Eldar slaves were also present aboard. Those were given asylum on remote locations on Zoyra and this fact was kept a secret from the general population. Their future fate is not known.

Latest events
Many years after the Battle of the Pirate's Den was won, the unexpected had happened. The stable, yet weak light of the Astronomican flickered, which means something is going on, and it is most probably very good. The astropaths has begun hearing an echo of a desperate call for help from many places in the galaxy, which confirmed the darkest apprehensions. The forces of Chaos are on the rise and launched a massive attack against the Imperial forces.

The government immediately approved a fast, but subtle military build-up to keep people from asking, yet to prepare themselves for a potential confrontation. Europans are there on their own, after all, and especially the outer worlds, like Skyllian VIII or Ipheus IV were further reinforced and fortified with additional regiments, bunkers, weapon emplacements, and anti-orbital batteries.

Reports from automated survey stations began showing increased activity of unknown vessels operating near and even within Europan borders. The real horror was the creation of a warp-storm of massive proportions that engulfed most of the Garon Nebulae (The warp storm is otherwise known as the Siren's Storm), connecting the two, previously existing storms, the Vortex of Despair and the Tallarn Rift, into one.

Years of uncertainty and fear are about to come. The Europans stand in their little empire alone, yet proud and ready. The question is, are they ready enough?

Europa Prime
- Civilised Jungle-world.

Overview: Capital of the Europan Planetary Federation

Population: ~2,950,000,000

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Zoyra
- Garden world, formerly Eldar Maiden world.

Overview: Homeworld of the Europan Convent

Population: ~311,000,000

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Risha
- Civilised Agri-world.

Overview: A vital supplier of food and refined promethium

Population: ~1,710,000,000

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Aethera
- Industrial Sky-world. Overview

Population: ~530,000,000

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Tiron
- Arid Landfill-world. Overview

Population: ~0

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Neutra
- Civilised Taiga-world. Overview

Population: ~1,560,000,000

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Ostrakan
- Forge-world/Fortress-world. Overview

Population: ~4,315,000,000

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Ipheus IV
- Barren Mining-world. Overview

Population: ~750,000

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Skyllian VIII
- Jungle Death-world. Overview

Population: ~42,000,000

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Foehn space station
- Orbital Ring-world. Overview

Population: ~137,000

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Governmental System
The governmental system could be described as Federative Stratocracy. (from Proto-Gothic "stratos" - "army" and "kratos" - "power"), but contains key elements from, and not only, Democracy, Technocracy, and Meritocracy.

The defining element is, that the right to vote and participate in the politics is granted only to those, who are willing to give up something from their lives for the good of the society as a whole. This takes form in the so-called " Federal Service, which is an umbrella term for specific actions and requirements, which a civilian must take to become a citizen. A person who can vote, claim service benefits, and pursue higher political goals.

"What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value."

- proverb from the Old Earth.

The higher executive branch of the government takes the form of the Federative Council, where each planet has its fifteen representatives, chancellors, that are voted into the office for six years by the citizens. Major organizations, like the Central Army Command, Admiralty, Ecclesiarchy and the Adeptus Mechanicus have their representatives present as well, by the number of three for each organization. The supreme chancellor, who presides the whole council, is then voted by other chancellors and representatives. They deal with federation-wide issues and laws.

The lower executive branch, the Planetary Parliament, has fifty-one representatives, again voted into office for six years by the citizens and only those from the exact world the parliament belongs to, who deal with the issues and laws of each individual planet. The parliament is presided by the prime minister, who is again voted by the parliament. Things are, however, bit more complicated here. If somebody wants to become a minister, he or she has to have working experience from the exact same branch for at least ten years. That means, for example, only somebody who had worked in healthcare can become a minister of health. In addition, the same organizations have their representatives present in the planetary parliament exactly as it is in the council. The planetary parliament is directly subordinated to the council, but they have a right to vote to veto a law or a directive if it directly violates the planets' interests. The Planetary Parliaments largely act on their own, dealing with issues that affect the individual worlds and not the federation as a whole.

Life under the Europan flag
For most people, the lift isn't very hard, compared to rumors about life on the Imperium of Man. Majority of people live on relative safety, abundance and wealth (depends on location, however), as they are not burdened with the extreme demands the Imperium puts on their citizen in order to meet the production quotas and feed the ever hungry meatgrinder of war, by their crushing hand of Imperial judicial system or unopposable will of the planetary governor. Yet the wealth and abundance have to be still earned by hard work or some wits. Life of a person can go with two ways, either staying a civilian or earning the title of a citizen.

Civilians
Civilians are people who do not wish or were unable to earn citizenship. Despite that, a civilian is not limited in many ways. There is no restriction to the freedom of movement, education and healthcare access, freedom of speech, freedom to pursue one's career goals, etc. The only restriction, that is imposed on civilians is to vote and to work on citizen-only work positions.

Citizens
A citizen is a person who reached the goals needed to earn citizenship, either through the Federal Service or by long-term work that benefited the society as a whole. Citizens enjoy the same level of freedom as civilians, but they are entitled to several benefits. They can vote, both to local governments and to the federal council, they receive a lifetime rent of small amount of money, enough to pay for housing and food to survive, state-paid health insurance and discounts offered by various enterprises. Citizens are not protected from the law in any way and if they commit a crime, they are stripped of their status.

Federal Service
Federal Service is the most common way how to obtain citizenship. The only restrictions for the applicants are the age, one has to be older than eighteen years, and clear criminal record. An applicant can choose from two main ways to obtain citizenship. The first is become a soldier by joining the Europan Armed Forces and finishing the basic training, either as a professional soldier for at least three years, or become a reservist for at least six years. Same applies to the Naval forces. Joining the Adeptus Mechanicus or Ecclesiarchy does not count towards the Federal Service. The other way is Civic service, where the applicant becomes one of many professions that may not be pleasant or lucrative to do, yet are necessary for the society. For example nurses and doctors, firemen, policemen, public service workers, social workers, construction workers, teachers, farmers, miners, woodcutters, cooks, craftsmen and more. One has to work at this position for at least seven years to earn citizenship. The less common way is through the Eugenic program and citizenship is awarded after the successful completion of the cycle and to females only. The last way is rather individually evaluated. Citizenship can be given as an award for a lifetime work that benefits the society, either at local or global society, like organizing community events, doing charitable work or for some extraordinary deeds, most frequently for a selfless act of bravery when saving another human's life. Citizenship cannot be bought and is not awarded to artists and athletes for their careers.

Institutions
The Europan Federation hosts several, semi-self-governing institutions that are vital for the operation of the Europan society. Only the most noteworthy are listed, though. The unlisted organizations, such as Adeptus Astra Telephatica, Merchant's Guild, and Navigator's Guild, are present in some form.

Central Army Command
The Central Army Command often called Central Command, or just "CC" for short, serves as the headquarters for all, land and aerial forces the Europan Federation has. The building or rather bunker complex itself is located deep beneath the city of Aquileia, the Capital city of the Capital world. It has its surface building as well, namely the Ven Graaf's Palace, that serves only for the representative roles. All important facilities are under dozens of meters of soil, rock, and reinforced concrete. It is connected both to public and secret governmental subway system.

The Central Command also has its buildings, knows and Planetary Headquarters on each world, that commands, and overseers the units on each, individual world. The Planetary Headquarters on Ostrakan is especially notable, as it was built as an impenetrable fortress that takes over the role of the Central Command if the Central Command on Europa Prime ceases to exist.

Naval Command
Located again on Europa Prime, but not on the surface but rather on the orbit, residing a part of the Torus Ring station that is reserved only for military purposes. It works similarly as the Central Army Command, overseeing, directing and commanding the Europan Battlefleet and all other naval assets and traffic, including unarmed freight ships, passenger transports, and private vessels. It has no regional offices, however, but identically to the Central Command, in case the Naval Command is lost, Ostrakan Planetary Headquarters takes over.

Adeptus Mechanicus
Adeptus Mechanicus naturally has its strongest presence on Ostrakan and on the Torus station. Its relation hasn't changed much, they are still, more or less, an autonomous organization with their own internal leadership. They are still tied closely to the Europans, as they are mutually dependent.

Europan Mechanicus is, however, quite different from the typical martian Mechanicus. The religious dogmas fell with the Archmagos Ingwar Kotov (rumored to be a distant relative to the famous Lexell Kotov) getting into power. Away from the Prefecture Magisterium, Ordo Machinum and prying eyes of other aspiring Magii, he broke the 5th Warning and began experimenting and improving the old technologies and inventing new. At the apex of his career, he committed the cardinal sin by breaking the very first warning, when he and his team of Xenologists secretly lit up a webway gate, deep within the fortified vaults on Ostrakan.

The military might of the Adeptus Mechanicus is organized into six Skitarii Legions.

Ecclesiarchy
The Ecclesiarchy has only a small presence, as they are not that numerous, but they still operate at least a chapel in each major city, giving the Europans an official and organized way to worship the Emperor. Apart from providing spiritual services, they also serve as a charity, that cares for the homeless, poor, ill and injured. They run several hospitals, schools, orphanages, and abbeys. Their role is also that of overseers, that keep an ever-vigilant eye for any hints of chaos worshiping and mutation, but also on human rights of the Europans, ready to express their concerns whenever it happens or may happen.

They also have a minor order of Adepta Sororitas stationed in St. Beltain's Monastery on Zoyra, the Order of the Silver Hand, that serves mostly as a guarding force for the ecclesiarch and governmental buildings, bodyguards for high-ranking officials, but also as peacekeeping and the law-enforcing unit, that works (mostly) in cooperation with the Europan government and the Police or Intelligence services.

The beginnings of the Ecclesiarchy were rather escalated, as the more zealous priests demanded to be given a fully operational ship, threatening to use lethal force if their demand will not be met, so they could depart immediately and inform the Imperium of Man about this rogue realm, but St. Beltaine, the living saint of the order intervened and negotiated the terms of stay. They can rebuild their order and serve the Europan people at the expense of limited autonomy. After all, the Emperor's light still shone over this part of the galaxy, and with their help, it will be kept that way.

Europan Armed Forces
Europan Armed Forces, as they are officially called, but most people refer to them as "Europan Guard", or just "Guard", ale the primary fighting force of the Europan government, serving both defensive and offensive purposes.

(to be continued...)