Cera

Affiliation

Cera is the name of a Planet situated in the Neutral Rim, a class 11 Habitable Planet, and that of the country which controls it.

Being class 11, its a planet with resources comparable to the Alliance's Core Planets, so it is one of the most industrious planets of the Neutral Rim and with a population of 4.5 billion. Due to this Cera has long been sought after by the galaxy's main powers. However, its distance from both the Alliance and the former New Empire (and now PACT) have allowed Cera to remain relatively neutral in galactic politics since the end of the Alliance-Imperial War.

Formerly ruled by a tyrannical regime, a puppet of the New Empire, the people of Cera are skeptics of nationalistic governance and are an individualistic lot. Because of this, they generally distrust their government, and so frown upon any sign of it increasing its power, such as increased military strength or strong ties with other nations. Thus, Cera is mainly an isolationist nation with an average military for its population and development level. Despite this, in comparison to lesser countries, Cera is certainly powerful enough to play a larger role in the galaxy, but Cerans have been content to remain on the sidelines and let the Alliance and PACT play out their squabbles - far away from them. The capital is Cera City, a seemingly coastal city which concentrates both the political and military headquarters of the nation, and has a population of several million.

This isolationist policy however, ended being the cause of its downfall. After being surrounded by PACT territory due to their conquest of most of the Neutral Rim, the accelerated rearmament of the Ceran military wasn't enough to stop its defeat by the superior PACT forces in the Invasion of Cera. The swift invasion destroyed all the Ceran civilian and military hierarchy with the destruction of Cera City, and successfully absorbed all what was left into PACT, the only exception being the Assault Carrier Sunrider.

Cera is the home planet of captain Kayto Shields and his first officer, Ava Crescentia (together with their families).

## Cera Space Force

Despite being one of the most powerful Fleets in the Neutral Rim, the Cera Space Force is still only average when compared to the resources and population of the nation. Being a democracy with a strong isolationist sentiment and a distrust for the government has resulted in the voters resisting attempts to expand the military. Despite it, the Cera fleet can be proud of the possession of at least 5 Battleships (including the Sunrider, that technically is an Assault Carrier), an unparalleled force within the neighbouring planets. The vanguard of the fleet is composed by the Ceran Battleship, a vessel with 729 meters of length and equipped with the powerful precursor of the Vanguard cannon. While its size is relatively small compared to other Battleships so its capabilities are more similar to a Battlecruiser, it is still unmatchable by any of the competitors she was designed to fight (Pirate Raids and other Neutral Rim militaries). The problem started when due to PACT expansionism the duties of the Space Force shifted from protecting shipping and trade routes from pirates and guarding Cera from other Neutral Rim nations to avoid a complete and total adhesion of Cera by the PACT. While still powerful, the fleet was completely outmatched by both the technology of their superweapons (like the Legion) and the numbers of their regular fleet. Due to this, despite some resistance from the population, the military started an important rearmament with the central point being the creation of the first Assault Carrier, the Sunrider class. This ship was to use the latest technologies, with both offensive capabilities of a Battleship and Ryder capacity like a Carrier. Despite, or maybe because, its small size, the Ceran command realized how the introduction of shielding had fundamentally changed the way wars were fought, thus requiring a corresponding change on the Military Doctrine. The Assault Carrier was the answer to that, thought for extreme tactical flexibility and increased short range capabilities to fight together with its Ryders, with the Sunrider class being a relatively small and cheap, yet still more advanced that anything else, model that the Ceran military could afford. Enhancing it's capacities were top of the line reactors, warp drive and an easily upgradeable design. There were also plans to install shielding technology, but the Invasion of Cera put an end to them. While the first one of its class was finished by the Invasion of Cera, the reluctance of the nation to strengthen its military and to form alliances with other nations still left the Ceran Space Force woefully outmatched by the PACT Invasion fleet, which resulted in the destruction of Cera City and the fall of the Ceran nation. The Cera Space Force was formally disbanded and the remaining ships were absorbed into the PACT Fleet. The only exception is the Sunrider, which refused to surrender and still fights against PACT, with hopes of one day liberating the planet.

## Gallery

* Cera's description on the galaxy map
* Next generation Ceran warship Sunrider in drydock