Greyeye: What has gone before
A short summary
Main plot
Bruce Banter second son of Edmund Banter(The Brute) and with the sobriquet of Greyeye is dissatisfied with the outcome of the war of Cabernet independence.
The Black Forest lost that war to a coalition of Legena(Commonwealth), Emerald star(Emstar), The East India Company, The Republic, Mordock, Flesh, Northman and Bahamas.
It had only been supported by the K'kof (Kif) and Crete and Black Forest clients Nottingham, Hellcat and Leviathan .
Buying a 14 point from The Bear, Geyeye moved out side the territory of the Black Forest and began a commerce war against Legena and it's allies.
In Crete he had met the Pirate known as The Jackal and teamed up with her band of pirates.
The Jackal was Catherine O`Beal, the illegitimate daughter of The Hellcat .
The Hellcat and the Brute families were rivals and enemies so the alliance was disapproved of by both families and initially one of convenience only.
However the two were intrigued by each other and formed a wary friendship.
A series of ever bolder raids took place cumulating in a raid on Cabernet itself.
The commonwealth took action forming convoys and assigning ships to hunt the pirates. Its other allies did the same especially the Republic.
As the raid on Cabernet was finished the commonwealth 20 point Battle Cruiser the Robinette was arriving in the system.
It's Commander RKO Smith(RKO) saw an opportunity to deal a decisive blow at the pirates since so many of them were present. He closed on the pirate fleet.
It split up with one group under The Jackal taking the spoils and running laving Greyeyes 14 point heavy cruiser and a 10 point Light Cruiser commanded by Lexus Dumas1 to face the Robinette.
A group of new Cabernet 7 point destroyer just arriving were sent by RKO after the Jackals force.
The results of the battle were disappointing for RKO. The Cabernet force was fought off by the Jackals force and was badly damaged. It's crews were green while the Jackals were experienced.. His own encounter with Greyeye was more successful resulting in the destruction of Dumas's light Cruiser but Greyeye picked up the crew and though heavily damaged escaped.
Greyeye retreated to Crete where he had repairs made. He and the Jackal became closer to each other during this period. (untold story)
Meanwhile on Cabernet the King Lafitte made an alliance with the Vixen. The Vixen had been expelled by Greyeyes Father Edmund after she had been Brute for brief period. Edmunds excuse for doing so was that the Vixen had too many cloid genes that had been added onto the Vixens genes by Edmunds father King Bruce.(the Victorious)2
The Vixen had retreated to the unorganized areas of the Cluster to forma nomadic nation known as Firefox3. There she and band of followers conducted Piracy and planned vengeance against the rest of the Banter clan.
King Lafitte and the Vixen thus had a common enemy and formed an alliance against Greyeye.
Meanwhile Greyeye and the Jackal had become intimate. Thye were uncomfortable with this being public knowledge and kept it a secret. Each initially suspected the other of using the other. Greyeye broke out of this by publicly proposing marriage to the Jackal while they were in a bar on Crete.
Once repairs were made Greyeye and the Jackal set out in a series of successful raids that accumulated huge amounts of prize money. The raids were expanded from those ships heading for Cabernet to any belonging to the Comounwelths alliance. The Jackals close ties to her Hun relieves gave her plenty of allies and convoys proved to be inadequate.
Accordingly RKO changed Tactics. He gathered a force that shadowed a convoy to Cabernet. It had been deliberately weakened.
RKO had held his ships in real space under stealth.
Sure enough Greyeye attacked the Cinvoy only to be ambushed by RKO's force. Again Greyeye escaped with severe damage to his ships.
As this happened, the Vixen struck Crete with a surprise raid that blew up much of Crete's shipyards and repair facilities. As her force evacuated she sent a message to Crete indicating it would happen again if if Greyeye or ‘his allies' were allowed to base themselves there.
The tactic worked and Greyeye was banned from Crete. He was now in a sorry state. He had no base, no ability to repair his badly damaged ships and was in trouble with his relatives over his affair with the Jackal.
The Queen Brady (the unlucky) barred him from being repaired in the Black Forest.4
However the Black Forests ally the Ka-kof (the Kif) was also engaged in raiding on the Commonwealth mostly for opportunistic reasons. If Greyeye and the Jackals alliance drew back this promising source of revenue would end.5
So The Domacrater(autocrat) Sooner LongClaw offered to reeguip and repair Greyeyes ships.
Greyeye and the Jackal thus moved their base to the Ka-kof port of Chanur.
There they met Sooners daughter Callista. Callista was the commander of a large fleet of ships and third in the Ka-kof hierarchy.
She befriended the couple supplying them not just with repairs but with additional ships drawn from mothballs".
The Bear, who agreed with Greyeye on the matter of Cabernet snuck out some ships from the Black Forest for Greyeye as well.
Thus armed Greyeye and the Jackal set out on a series of raids. The Jackal did the raiding with her impressive fleet of destroyers (7 points) while Greyeye followed along in stealth mode with a group of Cruisers.
Thus when RKO ambushed the Jackal he found himself ambushed,
Much of his force was destroyed and Robinette and RKO barely escaped.
Greyeye and the Jackal now were able to launch a huge number of raids almost strangling the commerce of the Legena alliance.
Greye went back to the Black Forest to raise money and support among the nobility for his war against Cabernet while the Jackal commanded the military forces of their enterprise.
He used the occasion of the wedding of his favorite Cousin Eleanor to the heir of the Bair.
He persuaded Eleanor to back his wedding to the Jackal despite her hereditary distrust of the O'Beals.
He was hugely popular among the nobility and was able to openly recruit many young nobles for enterprise.
Queen Brady disliked this but Greyeye flock of supporters persuaded her to hold her hand.
His Father and old brother Robert continued their opposition to the enterprise and were incensed by his relationship wit the Jackal. Eleanor and Greyeye's mother Oren Ishi however prevented an outright break between Greyeye and the rest of his family.
Greyeye returned to the Ker` Kof base with his new recruits and additional ships. The raids continued.
Meanwhile RKO had been retired from the commonwealth navy because he reached the end of his term as a military man6 and because of his defeat by Greyeye. He was despondent as because of his ‘disgrace' the only career open to him was that of restaurant manager.
However the Republic, a rising power with an ambitious naval building program, had been impressed with RKO and offered to hire him as commander of their anti piracy fleet and of training program for their growing fleet. Moreover they had purchased from the commonwealth the Robinette. The Commonwealth was about to scrap the damaged ship.
RKO accepted the offer but the price paid was becoming a citizen of the Republic and taking his salary in Republican bucks.
Disgusted with the country of his birth he gladly paid this price.
He brought with him a number of other of other officers including Jenny Trout, Don Carlos, and Reginald Royal.
Once in the Republic RKO began to train the Republican Navy and eventually become its commander.
Meanwhile Queen Brady died and Joyce Viserbrook, The Scorpion., was elected Queen. She and her husband The Spider both admired Greyeye and had backed him convertly over the years.
They did so covertly because if the Banter clan hated the O'Beals the hated even more the Spiders family the Porters. Now they openly backed him endorsing all private backing for the effort.
Still Oren Ishi was able to prevent a break. Greyeye had Eleanor organize the wedding and she persuaded Greyeyes sister Kieko to support her brother.
So the two were married and Greyeye seemed to have reconciled with his family.
In accordance with custom Greyeye and the Jackal planned and had heirs at this point7
During the reception after the wedding Queen Joyce asked to speak to Greyeye privately. There she informed him that the Commonwealth wanted to end the conflict and was willing not just to end it's pact with Cabernet but to sign a trade treaty and full peace treaty. She asked for Greyeye to endorse the treaty, lead the delegation to Legena (Commonwealth) and to head the protection of commerce between them.
Greyeye was surprised and deeply flattered to be consulted and given an official position.
He and the Jackal ended their war with the Commonwealth8 and began planning to use their huge profits and considerable fleet to establish their own independent duchy
Greyeye headed the delegation to the Commonwealth and was instrumental in negotiating the peace.
Peace was offered to other members of the Commonwealth alliance and the EIC and Emstar signed on.
However the Republic, Morlock, Flesh, Northman and Id supported Cabernet. They broke with the Commonwealth and became know as the Six.
War broke out between Greyeye and his forces and the Six. Again Greyeye was able to make huge inroads into the commerce of the Six.
Greyeyes father Edmund who was Warmaster suggested to Greyeye that he call a truce as otherwise a general war might breakout between the Black Forest and the Six.
Greyeye refused to consider it and Edmund broke with him throwing him out of the family. Greyey widened the gap by allying with his Mother in law the Hellcat and the queens husband the Spider
. Oren Ishi and Kieko supported Greyeye and Robert backed Edmund. Eleanor broke with Greyeye as well much to the distress of Greyeye.
In fact the Banter clan was now bitterly divided between pro and anti Greyeye groups.
The Republic at RKO's urging began searching for major power to ally with. Luna and it's ally the AKT offered support and technological aid in return for an trade treaty.
The Republic and the Six accepted the offer and Luna began selling modern warships to the,
RKO was able not only to build an impressive anti Piracy force but to begin a main battle fleet.
Luna moved two modern Dreadnaughts (28 points) to the Republic.
The anti piracy unit lead by A.Jackson made inroads on Geyeye and the Jackals ships and their Hun allies.
Jackson initiated a policy of hanging all pirates on board ships captured. Theis departed from Hun practice of hostages and ransoms. More Huns flocked to Greyeye and the Jackal.
With a fleet made up of Hun, Hellcat, Ka kof (Kif) and his own forces Greyeye led a retaliatory raid into the Republic territory called the One Star Republic. The raid destroyed most of that areas orbital factories and captured many prisoners.
Greyeye handed all Prisoners over to the Hun who indicated they would kill them on a one to one basis if any more Hun where executed.9
This was simply too much for the Six and they demanded the Black Forest either curb Greyeye or face war.
Queen Joyce refused to restrain Greyeye and the Jackal and the Six declared war.
The Ka Kof (Kif) declared war in support of the Black Forest.10
Immediately after this Edmund died. The funeral was a bitter affair with Greyeye and Robert now The Brute openly shouting at each other in argument.
The Dragon- an old enemy of Oren Ishi but an ally of Roberts was appointed Warmaster.11
The Dragon conspired to overthrow Oren Ishi with an underground operation in Nottingham. A major raid led by Oren Ishi and her daughter Kieko crushed one group of rebels.
He told the Queen that they might as well go to war with the aim of re-capturing Cabernet.
After the Queens approval The dragon invaded Cabernet. The Northman and Flesh sent forces to aid Cabernet.
The Republic sent a force led by RKO that seized Hellcat and espelled the Jackals mother from it. Greyeye swore he would return her.
Both the Dragon and the Brute opposed any diversion of Forces to help the effort to free Hellcat.
Nottingham ruled by Oren Ishi and Leviathan led by Kieko allowed Greyeye, the Jackal and the Hellcat to organize and base forces for there-taking of Hellcat.
During this Greyeye and the Jackal were forming a new state, Haven, with Black Forest colonists, including a large number of serfs hungry from new land and better contracts and several Hun tribes talked into joining by the Jackal. They included
The tribes the Jackals father had led.12
Another major tribe's adhesion was secured by Greyeye marring its Khans daughter, Carob. All these arrangement were made by the Jackal while Greyeye used the pairs large fortune to buy heavy equipment. A series of diplomatic visits resulted in alliances with Champaign, the Ka Kof , Capella and Triania.
The last two were brought in by actions by the actions of the Vixen.
She been given Privateer stauus by the Six and sent to taid Capellan shiping.
Capella had a tight trade arrangement with the Ka Kof.. When the Vixen attacked she sought to cover her tracks by ‘spacing' the crews of the captured ships.
This enraged the Capellans who signed with Greyeye and sent forces to be based in Haven..
The same attack killed the Heir apparent of Triania so Triania also sent forces to be based in Haven. Both powers were mostly interested in getting the Vixen but making life difficult for the Vixens allies was another objective.
With this force Greyeye and Jackal were able to re-invade Hellcat and restore the Jackals mother.
Recruited and serving in this campaign was the son of Nottingham's Chancellor (the right hand of Oren Ishi)
Young David Davies was put in charge of a fighter squadron and together with a group of friends became a highly effective squadron ‘Davies Daredevils'.
Meanwhile Eleanor had volunteered to serve in the Cabernet campaign and had become involved in an extramarital affair with her cousin Rudy Banter, The Blue Sword.
The Dragon then led an attack on Cabernet and defeated a combined fleet of Northman, cabernet and Flesh.
In the Republic RKO was dismissed as Commander over these failures but was recruited by the opposition New Horizon party to run for the office of War Secretary. RKO won and thus became in charge of the War effort. He warned the public that war was heading toward failure.
Earlier coming down from the far north was the Trilar. The Trilar consisted of three Races each culturally and genetically inclined toward different roles. The Draco were a military class, The Gorgan a working and commercial class and Illian a class of diplomats, intellectuals and administrators
They immediately raised suspicions and fears because rumors came out they had wiped most of the Pathogen race. The rest of the pathogen had been bred for docility and manufactured and exported by the Gorgan.
At first the Six had seen the new power as a possible ally especially Id.
Id also marketed manufactured (but human based) "servants" (called Azi).
The Emstar ever suspicious when slavery might be involved was hostile to both.
(Though not at war with them)
The Draco decided to attack Id because of it's proximity to Trilar but were defeated by Id. Haven supported the Trilar attack though no forces were sent13
Id was immediately backed by Luna and the AKT taking both of those powers flotillas from the Republic for the purpose.
While the Trilar attack failed Id's defenses were still under assault by Raiders from Haven and from Campaign. Until the Lunar, AKT and Republican forces arrived.
The six were now staggering under a series of blows.
The Back Forest continued the Pressure by invading Morlock. The Brute who hoped to carve out a reputation as a military leader rivaling his hated brother, Greyeye was placed in charge of that operation.
The Republic managed to take some pressure off by ending its alliance with the Vixen and reconciling with Capella and Triania.
Triania and Capella began a steady pressure against the Vixen closing down her operations. Faced with capture and probable extinction her nation the Vixen with her people fled to the Far North.
This weakened Greyeye allowing the Republic to send forces to the relief of Morlock.
There RKO managed to defeat the combined forces of the Dragon and the Brute but lost fearsome casualties.
The Six sued for peace and a negotiated settlement was reached.
Greyeye had gone from a small dissident nobleman to the Ruler of a growing independent duchy. He had become a skilled diplomat and had built a diverse coalition of powers.
In many ways he had started the Second Cabernet war and enflamed the rivalry between the Black Forest and the Republic. During that conflict he had shown skill in commanding naval operations.
Along the way he had married the Jackal causing the Banter clan to split and forging an alliance between himself, the Jackals family (the Hellcat) and the Spider.
Notes
1. Original Character was called Dartainian. I decided to change it for ease of use.
2. No reason was given in original text. This has been added to supplement a new subplot.
3. New detail added. Not In original text.
4. Not stated but implied in original text.
5. New detail added
6. Legena, the largest part of the Commonwealth has ‘term limits' on all professions.
7. In the story this happened much later. I made it earlier since in a aristocratic society it follows that it would be the first order of business for a noble couple
8. Not stated but implied
9. New detail not in text
10. Implied in test added for clarity
11. Robert was ‘fostered' and trained by the Dragon as part of settlement between Edmund and the Dragon.
12. New detail
13. Actually the Trilar and Haven arrangements were made later in the story. I have backdated them here and this will be added to the story later.
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