Invictus

*Invictus* is the second book of the first trilogy. It's name is a double-entendre, inspired by both Greek mythology (Invictus as a name of Jove / Jupiter) and the poem of the same name by William Ernest Henley.

This is the story of the great Solar War that tears Sol System apart.

## Poem

Out of the night that covers me,

Black as the pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance

I have not winced nor cried aloud.

Under the bludgeonings of chance

My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears

Looms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the years

Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate,

I am the captain of my soul.

## Plot

Prologue: The Prologue features the von Dehlin family and Sebastian Myrcenae McRae with his United Earth organization and the rise of the Consortium.

--

### Alone

The year is **SY 132**. Jaymeson and Cera Nicks have been living on a tense Dosijing for three years. Cera's Alliance involvement has run deep and she has abandoned her cartography career to work full time for the Alliance under the patronage of the influential Mainer businessman Haydn von Dehlin. Jaymeson has achieved moderate success as a transport pilot running supplies between Ceres, Vesta, Pallas, Hygiea, and the platforms.

### Family

The rise of the Technocracy has thrown Solar politics and trade for a loop. The Battle of Kamijing and Dosijing took place in Sol, while the first Battle of Mars took place during the period between the two novels. When the *Invictus* story begins, there is heavy skirmishing between Technocracy forces and the tight resistance from the Confederacy and the Alliance. Haydn von Dehlin has been handed the admiralcy of the Confederate Navy due to his heroic service during the first Battle of Mars.

### Progress Arise

Arthur Feingold has begun the construction of the Progress fleet from the ruins of the occupied Kamijing platform while the forces under Nikanor's control continue to agitate the Confederacy.

### Second Battle of Mars

The Second Battle of Mars erupts while the *Defiant* is in orbit around Mars. Technical forces strike with a three pronged attack: Confederate navy is fired upon in orbit, technical sleeper cells revolt in industrial Taikograd, and the Technical fleet drops ground forces near Taikograd after a heavy strategic bombing that knocks out vital utilities. Power and oxygen to the city is cut out, leaving every citizen to either stay in their own pressurized home or suit. The battle lasts three days and finally breaks when forces from the Army of Eastern Kamijing jump from orbit behind Technical siege lines in concert with the effective maneuvering of the Defiant to destroy the Technical strike ship. The Free Martian Militia (descended from the 3F of the Freitaika Rebellion) concentrates on the urban fight, leaving hundreds dead and several hundred Technicals taken prisoner. Wilhelm F. Keigel of Noveautrea announces his loyalty to the Technocratic cause. Jaymeson and Cera Nicks are grounded on Mars in Taikojing for three days during the Battle; they are later recovered on the *Defiant,* and Jaymeson's transport ship is mothballed into the Alliance fleet.

### Skyward

With the atrocity of the attempted takeover of Taikograd, the Consortium officially enters the war and declares a state of solar emergency. Jaymeson's bitterness towards the Consortium causes him to publish the existence of Veragrad throughout Sol, thus undermining the Consortium's legitimacy as a united force. It causes widespread controversy.

### Roma

Marcus Cato Scaevola, an influential American Senator and member of the Consortium united legislature, convinces the Consortium to enter the war. He is moved to make the speech after being approached by the major corporate entities of the Consortium, who reveal they have been building a top secret arsenal of weapons in case war ever broke out in Sol. The revelation of the existence of the arsenal by deductive reasoning is a major cause of the formation of the Protectorate.

### Protectorate

Consortium forces, claiming a peacekeeping role, enter both Martian space and the Main Belt and are not welcomed by any faction. There is wide spread skirmishing throughout the Belt. Leaders from the Alliance, Confederacy, Free Martian Militia and Army of Eastern Kamijing all meet on Mars. There they found the city of Freeport as a safe haven for any refugee seeking asylum and declare it under the protection of a new united faction called the Protectorate. The city is quickly populated by mostly Confederate citizens fleeing the chaos on the platforms. They publish a determination to keep Martian and Main Belt life safe from any threat, whether it be Technical or Consortium and commit to a purely defensive war with a zero tolerance policy for acts of instigation within Protectorate space. The Protectorate advises the Consortium to leave the war to the Main Belt but the Consortium refuses. The Protectorate strikes a trade deal with the Rim in return for their safety in the midst of the war.

### Luna

Soon after, a coalition of citizens from Luna contact the Protectorate, declaring their intention to defect to the Protectorate. They are welcomed as Protectorate allies but are advised to remain on Luna as a sleeper cell until further notice. They are not content to wait due to the enormous economic pressure put on Luna by the Consortium. The young Protectorate decides that the entry of Consortium forces into what is now Protectorate space constitutes an act of war and thus a strike at Earth is the necessary course of action.

### Terra

Jaymeson and Cera Nicks volunteer for the strike at Earth due to their previous experience with Earth life. They are chosen for the infiltration of Earth rather than Soren to show Earth that it is not invulnerable to external attack. They intend to demoralize the peoples of Earth that way. They decide to burn the Neoparthenon at New Athens while Protectorate forces engage the Consortium support network in orbit, intending to demoralize Consortium citizens to pressure the Consortium to withdraw and destroy their orbital support network, forcing a withdrawal.

### The Battle of Earth

The united Protectorate strike force arrives in Earth orbit by taking a course high above the ecliptic to conceal their movements. With the arrival of the fleet, Luna issues it's declaration of defection and a small Protectorate force arrives on Luna with little blood, though they discover that many Consortium loyalists on Luna had been murdered by decompression. The fleet issues a wave of kinetic weapons towards the support network of Earth, downing many satellites and weapons platforms in low earth orbit. The de-orbiting debris allow Jaymeson and Cera to disguise themselves and enter the atmosphere, landing near Greece in the Aegean Sea. At Heliopolis / New Athens, they meet with their old friend Søren who has secured them transport back off of Earth at Kalamata space port. They burn the Neoparthenon and light Mount Olympus ablaze and flee to Kalamata disguised as CONPOL. Søren chooses to stay on Earth to be of further use to the Protectorate cause if necessary, and the couple achieve orbit to reunite with the Protectorate fleet. The Japanese Uprisng also occurs in Japan, influenced by the Kenshu family.

Wilhelm F. Keigel is unveiling his new invention, the Omniphony 99, during the Battle of Earth and live orchestrates music set to the battle, much to the horror of a Noveautrean scientist who tries to help the Protectorate and later commits suicide, realizing there is no right side to this war. He quips, "So this is the soundtrack to the death of the worlds."

### Main Belt War

With Earth despoiled, the Protectorate strike fleet flees Earth orbit and retreats to Luna. The Consortium and the Technocracy call a ceasefire. With the bulk of the Consortium forces in the Main Belt, light skirmishes occur around Lunar space while heavy space combat engages in the Main Belt. The main Protectorate forces in the Main Belt continue fighting the Technicals in light skirmishes.

### Technocracy

A struggle in the Technocratic government occurs when Keigel and Varkosky approach Feingold and want to divert resources from the Progress project to fight the ongoing war. Feingold refuses and cuts ties with the other two.

### Unity

The terror of the Battle of Earth causes the Consortium and Technocracy to form a unity government.

### The Seige of Mars Begins

They form a blockade on Mars by drawing the bulk of the Protectorate force to defend Freitaika until the *Defiant* can return to Main Belt space. Luna is occupied by CONPOL forces and put under martial law. Søren is discovered as an Alliance member and is publicly executed.

### Progress?

The *Progress* fleet launches from the Main Belt as Solar Trade totally collapses and the first of the scheduled supply ships do not arrive. Krasnygrad on Mars violates the Free Mars agreement by raising the Soviet flag and declaring it's allegiance to the Soviet Union outside of the Consortium, believing the Consortium to now be illegitimate with the collapse of Solar trade. The Soviet Union accepts it as a member state, causing a stall in the global economy and revolts over resource shortages begin on Earth.

### Old Earth

Soon, open war erupts on Earth between Old Earth loyalists and those who desperately want to preserve the Consortium. Technocracy forces commit to controlling Earth and retreat from the Main Belt, their purpose having been served now that the Progress fleet had been launched (not that the common Technical knows that, though). Consortium shipping entirely ceases and open bounties on all Protectorate forces are issued.

### The Battle of Deimos

The Battle of Deimos occurs, with a combined Technical and Consortium force engaging Protectorate forces to heavy losses on both sides. War erupts throughout the Main Belt as panic sets in and the political structure of the Confederacy collapses.

### The Siege of Mars

The unity force begins the Siege of Mars, the last large battle of the war, though fighting will continue well into the Twilight Age. It lasts for twelve standard days as the unity forces attempt to control the shipping lanes between the Main Belt, Mars, and the Rim. On the second day of siege, Alliance irregulars on the ground attack Consortium ground forces that have landed near the polar caps and cut off the water supply. The Alliance fails to try to get them to turn on each other via this false flag attack, with Alliancers posing as Consortium forces. This establishes that the unity government is a practical reality and not only a political dream. Realizing that there will be no winners to this war, the Protectorate decides to issue a retreat towards the Rim and leave the Free Martians to themselves. An AEK daimyo, Moriyoshi Mirimoto, pilots the *Defiant* in a suicide mission to break the blockade and allow the Protectorate forces to retreat.

## Characters

**Jaymeson Nicks** is the husband of Cera, professional spacer, and Alliance loyalist. He supports his wife's efforts to further the purposes of the Alliance. He resides on the *Defiant* for much of the war.

**Cera Nicks** is the wife of Jaymeson Nicks and an active Alliance agent under the patronage of Haydn von Dehlin. She resides on the *Defiant* for much of the war with her husband.

**Haydn von Dehlin** is the current head of the Third Alliance, captain of the *Defiant,* and admiral of the Confederate Navy. He is a personal friend of Cera and Jaymeson Nicks. He is codenamed "Merci", an old French word meaning "thank you". He owns the majority share in Asteroidal Industries, Inc and launders many of the resources from the corporation to finance Alliance activity.He is directly descended from the von Dehlins who helped finance Sebastian Myrcenae McRae's United Earth rallies that led to the development of the Consortium.

**Johann Yun Baker** is the captain of the Nereid, an official Confederate vessel of the 112th Militia and diplomat for the Confederacy.

**Søren Grimmerson** is a dear friend of Jaymeson and Cera Nicks. He is also an Earth-side Alliance member, working in concert with the Japanese Uprising.

**Nikanor Varkosky** is a member of the Technocracy's triumvirate and the commander in chief of the war effort. He is a former Soviet citizen and believes the Technate to be the future of communism.

**Arthur Feingold** is a member of the Technocracy's triumvirate and is the driving force behind the Progress fleet in the Main Belt.

**Wilhelm F. Keigel** is a member of the Technocracy's triumvirate, a Soviet expatriate citizen of Noveautrea and a primary engineer of the Solar War. He is the power behind many prominent public faces in the Technocracy movement and is personally inspired by Heinlein's functionalism, syndicalism, and the early 20th century technocracy movement. A German by birth, his ancestors were loyal communists and helped fight the German Civil War. He is a founding member of the Noveautrean experiment and a true believer in it's ideology. He becomes the propaganda face of the Technical war effort sometime around the second Battle of Mars. He is a devout adherent of Architecture.

**Wu Kenshu** is the warlord of the Army of Eastern Kamijing and one of the founding members of the Protectorate.

**Septimus Severus Gaius Quintus** is an ex-Confederate and devoted citizen of the Consortium. He was born to Mainer parents on Kamijing, served in the Confederate militia and defected to the Consortium.

**Marcus Cato Scaevola** is an American Senator of the New Federalist Party and an influential speaker who presents the case for entering the Solar War during the emergency session of World Congress after the Second Battle of Mars.

**Moriyoshi Mirimoto** is the Army of Eastern Kamijing Daimyo that serves the Defiant's final mission to break the seige of Mars. He is a Faithful Rimmer who expatriated to the Main Belt. He is unwed and left behind no progeny.

## Themes

The war is seen primarily through the lense of Jaymeson and Cera Nicks as a singular entity, the supercouple. They experience growth and change in outlook and personality throughout their participation in the war. This is marked by three primary qualities wherein their most valued principles take on an expression of their shadows:

1. Their sense of *devotion* becomes *fanaticism*. Jaymeson is convinced first subconciously and then consciously that his own actualization is a matter of hard destiny, a destiny of conquest. Joining him in this quest is Cera, who's blind loyalty to his person becomes expressed to the point of foolishness.
2. Their sense of *purity* becomes *xenophobia*. At it's ultimate expression, they have a vocal and strong distaste for anyone who is not a spacer and a growing paranoia of anyone not vocally committed to the Protectorate.
3. Their sense of *traveling light / austerity* becomes *mortification*. While Jaymeson indulges in self-criticism to the point of self-hatred, Cera prefers a more physical expression by cutting herself.

These changed values coupled with Cera's death ultimately provide the catalyst for the transformation of Jaymeson into Nomad in between ***Invictus*** and *Helios*.

## Quotes

"The Consortium my ancestors helped create no longer exists." - Haydn von Dehlin