Remnants of the Borthan Empire are said to have encountered a number of ancient wrecks that were dislodged from an asteroid field which had been disturbed by the passage of a rogue planet. It is believed that the passing planetary body was in fact debris from the recent collision of two starsystems. One of the wrecks recovered was an ancient Samite Destroyer.

Two views of a functional Samite destroyer are provided below.

To support this effort, we will be launching a crowd fund campaign on Indeigogo in early October.

Watch for further announcements and tell your friends! Pass this announcement along to all the sci fi fans you know and help us make this happen!

Kevin J. Anderson

	Kevin J. Anderson has published 140 books, 54 of which have been national or international bestsellers. He has written numerous novels in the Star Wars, X-Files, and Dune universes, as well as unique steampunk fantasy novels Clockwork Angels and Clockwork Lives, written with legendary rock drummer Neil Peart, based on the concept album by the band Rush. His original works include the Saga of Seven Suns series, the Terra Incognita fantasy trilogy, the Saga of Shadows trilogy, and his humorous horror series featuring Dan Shamble, Zombie PI. He has edited numerous anthologies, written comics and games, and the lyrics to two rock CDs. Anderson and his wife Rebecca Moesta are the publishers of WordFire Press.

Steve Rzasa

	Steve Rzasa is the author of the upcoming Empire’s Rift: A Takamo Universe Novel from WordFire Press (Kevin Anderson Presents), along with several novels of science-fiction, steampunk, and fantasy—with a bunch more in progress. He was first published in 2009 by Marcher Lord Press (now Enclave Publishing). His third novel, Broken Sight, received the 2012 Award for Speculative Fiction from the American Christian Fiction Writers. Steve grew up in Atco, New Jersey, and started writing stories in grade school. He received his bachelor’s degree in journalism from Boston University, and worked for eight years at newspapers in Maine and Wyoming. He’s been a librarian since 2008, most recently earning his Library Support Staff Certification from the American Library Association in 2014—one of only 135 graduates nationwide and a handful in Wyoming. He is the technical services librarian in Buffalo, Wyoming, where he lives with his wife and two boys. Steve’s a fan of all things science-fiction and superhero, and is also a student of history. www.steverzasa.com www.facebook.com/SteveRzasaAuthor/ twitter.com/steverzasa

After the loss of their foldgates in 4415, Cybernetic forces began to be assaulted in many regions of the Estra Galaxy. In 4416 in the Great Desert Rift, a region that was supposed to have been cleared of all biological life forms, Cybernetic supply ships began to suffer attacks by pirate raiders. Gedi and Charon destroyer squadrons were dispatched from adjacent regions to establish a convoy system to protect cybernetic supply lines.

In 4417, Geddan and Gorkhan VII garrisons come under attack in former Kvizier and Persattan territories. During 4418, H’fatta renegade warships attacked the main Repur Cybernetic governance star system in former Klevassan space in the Inserato Star System. Inserato-3, Inserato-4 and Inserato-7 were heavily bombarded over a period of 12 rotations. Four years later, in 4425, the Gedi effort to rebuild the Menassur Shipyards that had been demolished in the 4415 bombings was abandoned after successful guerrilla raids on the construction sites.

In 4429, a Cerebus cyborg task force surprised and destroyed a secret Phantatwain refugee world in the Duopana Nebula Region of the old Kratek Horde Empire. Geddan Cyber forces hunted down a Terran Ammanian colony in the eastern border region of the former Terran Empire late in 4433. A group of Aparatic priests was also with the colony. The Geddan took the Aparatics as prisoners and killed the Ammanians.

In 4435, multi-empire combat task forces launched a carefully planned series of attacks against cybernetic governance star systems in over 3,000 locations over the course of the year. The task forces were supplied with new classes of very basic warships constructed by several of the great trade houses, most notably Stelltron, the Molnsa Trade Guild and Western Rim Trade. The various cyber factions, cut off from the main cyber forces in the other galaxies of the local cluster, were spread too thinly across Estra and were defeated in nearly every instance. The only serious defeat of biological forces came at Jakarnie-5 where an invasion force of Pizcvour jump troops landed in the midst of three NeoPhantatwain army groups refitting at the Qwitt Arms Depot. The lighter armed orbital jump forces took and held their ground for several weeks against the NeoPhantatwains or “Neps” as the Pizcvour liked to call them. The Pizcvour were eventually wiped out before relief forces could arrive.

The Great Trade Houses, who had been engaged in clandestine rebuilding and rearming operations for several hundred years, launched the second phase of their campaign in 4436 by moving against the remaining cybernetic garrisons spread out across the galaxy. Without support from their cyber brothers in the other galaxies, the remaining cybernetic garrisons faced inevitable destruction as the biologicals began to reassert themselves system by system all over the galaxy.

During 4442, Cybernetic forces withdrew from Stelltron home territories and sent a diplomatic envoy to the Stelltron Board of Directors. The Stelltron Board refused to meet with the delegates. However, it was rumored that a secret meeting between certain Stelltron and I.M.I. delegates did occur on the last night of the delegate visit.

What does this mean for players in Takamo Universe?

4442 signaled the end of cybernetic dominance in the Estra Galaxy, but it did not mean that biological races were victorious. Rather, the galaxy had become a wilderness that would need to be rediscovered and subdued by those races, whether biological or cybernetic, that were hardy enough to take up the challenge.

Knights of Rancor Cyber Trader Class 1 “Planet Buster”
Original Ship Design Proposal by Bill Guenther (Knights of Rancor)
Final Ship Design by David Snodgrass
Ship Model by Camilo Aldana

In 4397, the first starship battle in Estra since the end of the cyber rebellion occurred around the near moon of Dridda-4. A squadron of Lotharian cruisers and destroyers engaged a smaller squadron of three Gorkhan VII cruisers on patrol. Two of the Gorkhan VII warships were destroyed. The Lotharians lost five vessels, a cruiser and four destroyer class warships before they jumped away.

Several years later, in 4402, Dustovy Pirates raided a Geddan orbital munitions manufacturing facility at Yu Rien-4. Among the weapons and munitions stolen were nearly 30,000 micro-singularity canister bombs and 23,000 Nova Inducer warheads. Cybernetic forces hunted the Dustovy pirate band responsible for the raid on Yu-Rein-4 and eliminated them in running battles across the Xerien Nebula during 4402 and 4403. The last pirate squadron under Admiral William “Dark Will” Hayes was destroyed in a point blank main battery engagement in high orbit around Fasshta-7. The Pirate flag ship Victory Star broke up after a fierce exchange with three Geddan Dreadnaughts. None of the munitions stolen from Yu Rien-4 were recovered.

In 4407, cybernetic forces in Estra were forced to begin anti-piracy patrols to deal with the increasing number of attacks by rag tag pirate squadrons throughout the Estra galaxy. Biological resistance groups and pirates increased their attacks in the following years and in the early part of 4411 a scratch squad of Naplians, Hosanii, and Humans boarded a two-hundred-year old derelict nova inducer station at the Hecca Star System and reactivated the station. They brought a Nova Inducer warhead and launched it. 16 hours later, the Hecca Star went nova, destroying the Hecca-9 foldgate.

Disaster struck in 4415, when every functional foldgate in Estra went offline. Contact with the other galaxies of “The Five Galaxies” was lost as nova inducer bombs detonated in every star system that contained an active foldgate and in every star system with an operational cybernetic manufacturing facility. Thousands of stars across the galaxy went nova over a seven-week period. The massed explosions generated shockwaves and dust cloud nebulae that substantially altered much of the stellar geography of Estra. Cybernetic losses were substantial. Only 10 percent of the total number of cyber ground forces survived the attacks. Just three percent of cybernetic stellar fleet remained in Estra, cut off from their cybernetic brethren in the other galaxies of the local cluster.

The balance of power and the face of the Estra Galaxy had changed.

What does this mean for players in Takamo Universe?

Although the general regions for the galaxy where ancient empires lived are intact, the forces of multiple novae and supernovas have created thousands of new nebulae. Star systems have been driven into new constellations, and the old coordinates are gone. Ancient trade routes have vanished or been blocked and new routes have opened. The ancient Estra Galaxy has a new look and feel.

Truppen self-propelled artillery circa 2678 TSD.
Model by Max Bagdasarov and Dmitry Borodin

In 4371, Cybernetic and Cyborg delegations meet at Borropic-7 to plan the invasion of the Fadren galaxy via the Grendmin Starsystem Foldgate which was under repair. Certain “non-aligned” delegations are also present at the conclave to render technical assistance.

In 4373 the Cybernetic invasion of Fadren galaxy got under way with launch of a task force of 2,347 starships. During 4374, the pace of cybernetic starship transit to the other galaxies in the local cluster steadily increased. Over 560,000 combat and support ships made foldgate jumps that year. In the next year (4375), the number of ships making foldgate jumps reached 1.2 million per anum.

By 4379, the number of reconditioned foldgates in Estra reached 357. Observers suggested that the cybers could not have managed to locate and repair so many ancient foldgates in such a short length of time without the cooperation and perhaps the active assistance of “nonaligned” groups.

A foldgate mishap in 4380 was the harbinger of doom for the Estra Cybers. The Wettering Starsystem Astronomics Technology Research Facility on Wettering-3 was destroyed in a massive explosion. Cybernetic foldgate research was crippled. Geddan forensic teams determined that a micro singularity experiment malfunction was the cause. They missed the telltale signs of the fusion warhead detonation that triggered the micro singularity fracture. For the next 8 years, the cybernetics prosecuted the wars against the biological races of the Five Galaxies in Deltar, Fadren, Baxel and Celsus without pause.

In 4389 Kvizier and Wulf mercenaries attacked a cybernetic governance archival complex on Naddern-1, killing several thousand Cerebus cyborg bureaucrats and detonating a planet cracker device that destroyed the planet. The few surviving mercenary vessels hyper-jumped out of the starsystem and escaped. In response to the attack, Cybernetic factions across the Estra galaxy began liquidating the remaining biological slave races as a preemptive measure to halt a possible resurgence of the biologicals. Some cyborg subgroups were also targeted for elimination as unreliable elements. However, Cybernetic efforts were hampered by the fact that over eighty-five percent of all cyborg and cybernetic ground combat forces and almost ninety percent of cyber starships were by now in the other galaxies of the local cluster.

What does this mean for Takamo Universe players?

The resurgent hostilities against the surviving cybernetics in the Estra galaxy will mean that player empires will continue to be on their guard against possible cybernetic attack.

Human Mercenary circa 4435

By 4362, repairs on 22 additional foldgates targeting Deltar were completed with the assistance of non-aligned technicians. A total of 452,935 cybernetic warships, transports and auxiliary vessels made the jump through foldgates to the Deltar Galaxy that year. At the same time that Cybernetic and non-aligned technicians were rebuilding the foldgates disabled during the rebellion, exploration squadrons sought to locate and renovate the lost ancient Radnian foldgate sites spread throughout the Estra Galaxy.

Two ancient Radnian foldgates were discovered in 4365 and repaired. As a result, cybernetic battle fleets totaling 38,276 starships made foldgate jumps to the Baxel Galaxy and over 300,000 starships made foldgate jumps to the Celsus Galaxy.

What Does This Mean For Takamo Universe Players?

The rebellion of the cybernetics encompassed not only the Estra Galaxy, but the other regions of the Five Galaxies. Alien cultures and technologies from far across the void were brought back to Estra to be discovered and exploited.

Reittian ( Terran human ) Stellar Naval officer and crewmen circa 2678.

New Empires

Stelltron and Molnsa Trade Guild representatives announced that four new refugee factions have been catalogued in the Great Desert Rift. Per the policy of the Great Trade Houses, the names and locations of the factions have not been released.

Cybernetic and cyborg forces are active in the Rift. Gorkhan VII, Charon Empire, and several turncoat biologicals have invaded Lil Corporation world and liquidated the populations. Some intelligence sources suggest that this was done with the approval of Lil Corp executives.

Battle of Kenan

A Phantatwain fleet of several squadrons of smaller warships engaged Charon cyber starfighters in high orbit around Kenan 1, a captured nomad platform planet. The Phantatwain fleet commander Admiral Gant Kearatus in his flagship the Curian Frigate Amanthiu, led a squadron of frigates, nine Destroyer Escort squadrons and five cutter squadrons, 204 warships, into a point blank gunfight with Charon starfighters above the world. Losses were heavy on both sides with over 200 cyber starfighter groups annihilated (approximately 5,200 starfighters and other craft). Seventy-one of the Phantatwain vessels were lost in the engagement. The surviving ships suffered heavy damage. DE1117, the Iceantus was so badly mauled that its captain reported that the ship could still fly but must be considered zero percent operational by Phantatwain naval operations standards.

Topside view of a Phantatwain Destroyer Escort of the class present at the battle of Kenan.

Because Larry was visually impaired, he was able to provide vital information and insights to help us make the game accessible to visually impaired players. Larry’s legacy in Takamo is a game that will be more available to more players and lasting memories of friendship.

A celebration of Larry and his life was held at his favorite restaurant, Napoli’s Pizza, in Sandy Springs, Georgia, on October 31, 2015. HE asked that his remains be cremated and spread by helicopter over the forest.

Safe journeys Larry.

4615

Great Desert Rift

Phoenix Rising rebel colony settlement overrun by Cestodial Hegemony 800 divisions involved 4 lost. 93 PR divisions destroyed. CH also signed a diplomatic agreement with K’areean Emperium refugees.

FEGG and Nicademus squadrons engage in orbit above a Nicademus world. 5 Nicademus capital warships are lost. Fegg lose 15 merchant ships, 2 SDN and 1 DN.

Hialeah conduct massive missile strikes followed by ftr strikes and invasion with 700 divisions. Moorigan Glaustran world is captured with 64 million souls.

Merchetti Merchant and Ralleb DE squadrons meet while on patrol in system space. All 6 Merchetti Merchant DEs destroyed. Ralleb suffer significant damage to 3 ships and lose 1 DE.

Duchy of Brunswick conducted Starfighter carrier strike operations against three planets.

Several Knights of Rancor KoR squadrons were destroyed while conducting a system wide sensor sweep. The three squadrons of scout class ships, 21 in all, were destroyed when they encountered the heavy defenses of Lil Corporation in the starsystem.

Soelian Twa 88th combat fleet of over a hundred starships jumped directly into planetary orbit above an ancient civilization of unknown origin. The brawl that followed left many ships damaged and the planetary defenses ravaged. Soelian Twa forces followed up with an invasion fleet of several thousand arthropod combat divisions. The defenders, armed with high tech weapons, repulsed six invasion waves of Twa troops. The planet remained in the hands of the defenders.

WIPs screenshot of super dreadnought taken from original Takamo artwork by Tony Schappaugh. 3D Model by Camilo Aldana.