The Children of 'Bella Rosa'

[Mímir]

The Cervantes Family
This is the history of the Cervantes family of Maltese Cardamine farmers, dating back to the year 41 A.S. and planetfall. The Cervantes is a large and well-organized farming power-house, based on and around the vast Cardamine Estate 'Bella Rosa'. The family name is well known in rural Malta, but their ventures in space have as of yet to prove successful.

The Early Years (41 A.S. - 600 A.S.)
According to the 5th century A.S. family historian Nestor Cervantes, the family '€“ generally considered one of the larger blood lines on Malta - was officially founded upon planetfall by Aldo Cervantes and his wife Ariella. The Cervantes' were of Spanish descent, but had decided to stay on the Hispania along with Ariella's grandmother, even though the rest of their family chose to leave Hispania and thus became a part of what came to be know as the Corsairs. Ariella's grandmother had insisted that they stay on the heavily damaged Sleeper Ship, as she maintained she had received a premonition in her sleep that they were drifting towards a greater, God-given destination. According to her, what happened on Hispania was not an act of sabotage, but of Divine Intervention.

Arriving at planet Malta with its hard conditions, the acidic oceans and seemingly barren plains, Aldo and Ariella felt more cursed than blessed, although they enjoyed life under open skied after having been cooked up inside Hispania drifting aimlessly through space. They were quick to carve out a piece of land for themselves, and at their early 30's they completed the construction of the farm 'Bella Rosa'. However the family had difficulties growing traditional crops - even the sturdiest of crops struggled under the Maltese environment, and the yield was disappointing. All that seem to really grow on the Cervantes land was that indigenous tall, orange grass that seemed to thrive even better on their land than on any of the neighbours'. Although the Cervantes' had financial troubles, Ariella managed to give birth to 9 children, all of which had been struck by a mysterious birth defect that would later show to play a major role in the Cervantes self-identity: The children were all born with orange irises, the colour of the indigenous grass. In the generations to come it would show that all children born in the 'Bella Rosa' would have this trait. It was not until Aldo's oldest son, Fernando Cervantes I, reached the age of 18 the link between the grass - and its produce Cardamine '€“ and the mysterious illness so many of the Outcast space fares had been prone too was established. Aldo, now a man of age, was quick to seize the opportunity. He bought up large masses of surrounding land and made the transition into solely farming Cardamine as one of the first, and when he died 77 years old he left behind a small fortune for his family to build on. He also left behind a hand-written manuscript containing ideas and visions for generations to come, mostly famous for containing the basics of the three Cervantes tenets: Labour, Integrity and Vision. This manuscript was to be the first of many family heirlooms.

A photo of the first century A.S. handwritten manuscript

A formal seat as the Pater Familias (head of family) was established by Aldo's grandson, Marino Cervantes, in the year 113 A.S., and he furthered the emphasis on the three tenets by having 'Bella Rosa' rebuilt into a vast and complex mansion, with the words '€œLabour, Integrity, and Vision'€ inscribed over the front gate. The building became a symbol of family unity and ideals to the outside world, and has served as a centre for the family ever since, having been modernized and expanded to now hold more than 1500 rooms.

The family grew larger and richer on the Cardamine trade, and by another stroke of luck, the daughters of Cervantes did not experience the same decline in their fertility rate as other families on Planet Malta. On account of this, the family grew rapidly through the generations, and was further added to as the Cervantes women became attractive as wives for wealthy and powerful people all over Malta, not only in the rural areas. The scope of the limited Maltese population growth was apparent to most from early on, and manpower has always been considered one of the most valuable Maltese resources. In some of these marriages, the Cervantes name was chosen, even though it was a clear break with Hispanic paternal naming traditions, and these sub-families were adopted into the larger Cervantes family. On his deathbed Aldo Cervantes had granted full first-class citizen rights to one of his trusted serfs, Anselmo Cervantes, and through the years the family saw more additions from third-class citizens earning the right to call themselves true Maltese.

The seat as the Pater Familias passed on through the generations. However, there were no clearly defined rules on the line of hereditary succession, and in the year 481 A.S. the 23rd formal leader of the family was anointed, and for the first time it was a woman and not a first-born, Ines Cervantes I. Her dying father had not kept it secret that he found Ines more suited to take control of the family, and in consultation with the more powerful individuals in the family Ines was accepted ahead of her older brother Filipu Cervantes. She faced considerable challenges, not only being the first Mater Familias but also in a time of glory of the Maltese Navy. Many young family members felt drawn towards space faring and wanted to give up the farming way of life; and to counter this Ines decided to rekindle the Cervantes legacy: She appointed Nestor Cervantes as the first ever family historian, and had him develop a family crest as his first task, and she initiated a family census. The census was completed in the year 482 A.S., totalling 22,356 registered family members.

A 3rd century A.S. oil painting of the 'Bella Rosa' by Leonardo Cervantes. The building has changed radically since, but the hispanic architectonic features are still kept in areas.

It was through Nestor Cervantes the myth of The Holy Family was crafted. According to Nestor, in ancient times people of faith had gathered to build a mighty cathedral, a monumental place of worship that had taken several generations of workers to complete. The strength and unity required to maintain such an endeavour taken up by so many individuals over centuries of times was equal to that of a family, and at the completion the cathedral was named La Sagrada Familia in honour of all those that had worked on it. This myth became very popular, and even today it is told to Cervantes children by their parents, the lesson being that any Cervantes could achieve something bigger than he or she could ever imagine through the generations to come '€“ that family should be perceived as immortal and thus holy. This was to be the Cervantes' vision, so an outline of a cathedral on a Cardamine-orange backdrop was to be at the core of the family crest, also as a reminder of their famous orange irises. Nestor Cervantes went on to produce several possibly similarly counter factual volumes of historic research on the roots and principles of the family. When he passed on in 492 A.S. a bust of him was laser-carved out of an asteroid rock and was placed in the Great Hall of 'Bella Rosa'. Even though he only served for 10 years, he would be remembered as the family's chief ideologist and for being the first appointed servant by any Mater or Pater Familias. This concept has since been employed at various times giving trusted teachers, talented artists, vivid storytellers and sometimes former Pater Familias a special role as a designated family advisor, a Consuasor.

'Vision' was not the only tenet Ines sought to bring back to life. To further keep youngsters with space faring ambitions grounded, the idea of Litatio was brought into play: To show integrity to the Cervantes name, and to show the true understanding of labour, any Cervantes wanting to join the Navy must serve a full year on the 'Bella Rosa' alongside the serfs, living like them, eating with them and so on. This decree kept most of the family gathered on Planet Malta, and for the few who chose the Litatio it was considered a great honour '€“ not only by themselves, but by the rest of the family - to have completed it and shown the dedication to serve not only the family, but the rest of the Maltese Nation. Nestor Cervantes was quick to pick up on this popular admiration of the Litatorem and he added two scythes to the family crest to symbolize the hard labour of Cardamine harvesting. At her deathbed Ines Cervantes had succeeded in keeping the family united but she had also reinforced the family's sense of identity and philosophy for years to come. She is considered the second-most influential Mater / Pater Familias, after Aldo himself. With space faring being a substantial part of Maltese culture, it got fully integrated into the Cervantes family by a group of retired Cervantes Navy pilots going into transporting and trading. The Cervantes Cardamine was soon to be found in every corner of Maltese space, directly delivered by the family itself.

The Golden Age (600 AS-750 A.S.)
The continued growth of the family soon called for structural changes: It started out by officially appointing a family member to keep track of the extended family tree, call for meetings, collect contributions and generally maintaining the infra-structure of the family. This soon proved a daunting task and to help matters Andrés Cervantes '€“ Ines' great-grandson '€“ called for a family meeting at the Great Hall of 'Bella Rosa'. More than 10.000 eager family members showed, among these some more powerful than others: Navy fleet officers, Cardamine traders and particularly successful farmers. A ring of the most powerful family members proposed a radical change, that the family should be loosely governed by a de-centralized group of family members to ensure continued coordination and communication within the family. The fact that Ires had assumed power by being appointed had not gone by unnoticed, and as an outcome it was proposed that all future Pater Familias should be selected on the virtue of their merits instead of direct lineage. This was the will of the family, so Andrés stepped down, and a governing body of 15 influential members assumed control of the family. They fashioned themselves as the caballeros '€“ knightly gentlemen convening in the lounge of 'Bella Rosa' smoking cigars and planning the future in the interest of all. To celebrate the more equal structure of the family but also as a response to the family's growing size, the custom of addressing older family members as 'aunt'/'uncle', younger family members as 'niece'/'nephew' and equals as 'sister'/'brother' was adopted. As the first appointed Pater Familias the caballeros chose Leandro Cervantes, a very wealthy Cardamine entrepreneur controlling a small fleet of transport ships. He showed to be exactly the right man at the time.

Under the guidance of Leandro large parts of the family took up space faring, either in the Maltese Navy or in the family fleet of transports and the practice of Litatio became an honorary but voluntary duty only taken up by the most dedicated. When the Maltese expansion finally led to the discovery of other Houses, the Cervantes were in the forefront of the Cardamine export venture. A fresh and seemingly endless market was fed with Cervantes Cardamine '€“ you could find it in every corner of Sirius, with Liberty as the primary market. The economy boomed for all of the Outcasts, and in the year 735 A.S. Quirino Cervantes '€“ descendant of Anselmo The Serf, the first third-class citizen adopted into the Cervantes family '€“ took control of the family. He immediately ordered the production of a battleship to serve as the family's flagship and new seat of power. Three years later the ship was completed, and Quirino spent a lot of resources transferring the seat of power to the MNS Eternidad. The construction of the flagship was the highpoint in the family's progress, and for a number of years it served valiantly.

When Cardamine became illegal in Liberty in 738 A.S. the Cervantes' suffered a heavy blow. The primary market all of a sudden inaccessible forced the Cervantes' to move into smuggling leading to severe revenue setbacks. As if this was not enough Quirino launched the MNS Eternidad on a bold attack on a Kusari Meiji class Battleship late 742 A.S. with catastrophic consequences: The flagship was crippled and 90 percent of the crew dead, including Quirino Cervantes. The Kusari Battleship left the burning wreck and headed back to Kusari for repairs, leaving a scout wing of Outcasts to discover the wreck and organize the salvaging. This marked the end of the short life of the Cervantes' as warmongers and the end of the family's 'Golden Age'.

The Resurrection (750 A.S. - Present Day)
Following the financial setback and the catastrophic crippling of MNS Eternidad and the death of their leader, the caballeros elected Fabio Cervantes II as their new leader. Fabio II was deeply rooted in politics and was a skilled diplomat heavily engaged in the Maltese diplomatic mission. Upon his death in 754 A.S. his daughter Fabia was elected Mater Familias. She continued in the tracks her father had laid down and formed more alliances on Planet Malta and in all of Sirius. She pushed a shift from a focus on a transport fleet towards focusing on activities on Planet Malta. A steady supply of workers should instead be brought in by Junkers who had started frequenting Maltese space more and more often, and the same Junkers were to be responsible for distributing the Cervantes Cardamine in Sirius. She successfully steered the family through the Nomad Wars only suffering minor setbacks, and in the years 810-813 A.S. she was part of the Maltese diplomatic mission securing treaties with the Liberty Rogues, The Mollys and the Golden Chrysanthemums. Having plenty of Junker ships ready to supply the new allies with Cardamine, the Cervantes' '€“ under the rule of Fabia '€“ have experienced a second boom in economy. After having been Mater Familias for more than 60 years '€“ an unusual long period as the head of the family '€“ Fabia is referred to as Mama Cervantes. For 30 years Mama Cervantes endured the constant pressured by one of the caballeros '€“ Nunzio Cervantes, a descendant of the failed Quirino Cervantes I and of Anselmo The Serf '€“ to use the strengthened economy to construct a new battleship to carve out a niche of space for future generations to prosper on, and in 817 A.S. the Ranseur Dreadnought MNS La Sagrada Familia entered service under the command of Nunzio Cervantes. It is estimated that by 817 A.S. the Cervantes family consists of 1,000,000 people loosely organized around a core of 50.000 more dedicated family members living on the huge Cervantes estate, equating to roughly half a percent of the total population of Planet Malta.

Cervantes family time line[/size]
- 41 A.S.: Planetfall. Cervantes family officially founded.
- 42 A.S.: 'Bella Rosa' constructed and the birth of Fernando Cervantes.
- 60 A.S.: Aldo Cervantes makes the move into full-scale Cardamine production.
- 87 A.S.: Death of Aldo Cervantes and the adoption of Anselmo the Serf into the Cervantes family.
- 113 A.S.: The formal seat as Pater Familias '€“ head of the family '€“ established.
- 481 A.S.: Ines Cervantes I the first appointed (and female) head of family.
- 483 A.S.: Nestor Cervantes publishes the hugely popular '€The Legend of The Holy Family'€.
- 485 A.S.: The practice of Litatio introduced.
- 492 A.S.: Death of Nestor Cervantes.
- 507 A.S.: Death of Ines Cervantes.
- 601 A.S.: Formation of the caballeros, Andrés Cervantes stepping down from power. This is the starting point of the 'Golden Age'.
- 603 A.S.: Leandro Cervantes assumes power. Cardamine export revenue rockets.
- 735 A.S.: Quirino Cervantes, descendant of Anselmo '€The Serf'€ Cervantes, is appointed Pater Familias.
- 738 A.S.: Battleship MNS Eternidad enters service and functions as the seat of power for the Cervantes family.
- 742 A.S.: MNS Eternidad crippled by a Kusari Meiji class Battleship. The wreck was salvaged and brought back to Maltese space. Quirino Cervantes dies in the battle, marking the end of the 150 year Golden Age.
- 754 A.S.: Fabia Cervantes is appointed Pater Familias succeeding her father.
- 756 A.S.: Shift in the family economy towards more planet-based activities. Transport fleet getting phased out.
- 774 A.S.: After 20 years in control Mama Cervantes has accomplished the shift in the economy: More than 85% of the family's direct imports and exports are handled by the Junkers.
- 785 A.S.: Nunzio Cervantes assumes the position as caballero.
- 794 A.S.: Birth of Mama Cervantes' grandsons, the twins Carlo and Bruno Cervantes. Rumour has it she considers them both candidates as her successor.
- 810-813 A.S.: Fabia is part of the diplomatic mission ensuring treaties with the Liberty Rogues, the Mollys and the Golden Chrysanthemums.
- 817 A.S. The Ranseur Dreadnought MNS La Sagrada Familia enters service under the command of Nunzio Cervantes, a year later he joins the 101st Ghosts of Razgriz before being reported killed in a skirmish with Corsairs early 820 A.S.

Notable currently living family members
Small description of a few of the many influential family members.

Fabia '€Mama'€ Cervantes (Born 725 A.S. / Age 92)
The strong-arm Mater Familias for more than 60 years. Strong supporter of a focus on planet-based activities and encourages the rest of the family not to join the Navy and follow the example of the failed Quirino Cervantes. Fabia took power following her father, and it is no secret that she prefers to see one of her direct descendants as her successor. Fabia is very popular within all of the family as a true example of Outcast genetic superiority and the glory of the Maltese Nation.

Carlo and Bruno Cervantes (Born 794 A.S. / Age 23)
As a testament to Mama Cervantes' alleged genetic superiority, her daughter gave birth to twins early 794 A.S. The birth of her grandsons were considered a significant anomaly '€“ with the low birthrate of the Maltese Nation, twins are extremely rare. The brothers have been objects of fascination from the beginning. Showing extraordinary high levels of intelligence they both succeeded in achieving University degrees in the summer of 816 A.S., Carlo majoring in astrophysics and Bruno in genetics. Being admired wherever they go, the brothers have adopted a rather lax attitude towards more or less everything, and outside the family they are generally considered a bit spoiled and lazy but easygoing and nice people. In a hope to mature them Mama Cervantes had them signed up for the Navy. They served 6 months in the same squadron before utilizing some of the family wealth to purchase a Tridente and heading off to Liberty and Bretonia to avoid the wrath of their grandmother. They are occasionally spotted doing a bit of piracy in or around Liberty, shooting up Kusaris in Bretonia, and frequenting bars all over Outcast-influenced space.

✞ Nunzio Cervantes (756 A.S. - 820 A.S.)
Growing up in the shadow of his grandfather's failure Nunzio has always felt like an outcast to his family, looking to the Navy as something to hold on to. Completing the Litatio as a form of personal penance for his forefather's failure he joined the Maltese Navy in 774 A.S. at a time where Mama Cervantes strongly advised the family to not join the Navy, publicly using the example of Nunzio's grandfather. This was a further humiliation of Nunzio, who instead devoted himself full-heartedly to the Navy. However with the Maltese Nation's demand for a strong Navy, Nunzio's position in the Navy was soon recognized as a seat of power by the rest of the family, and in 785 A.S. he was offered a position as caballero, to the dismay of Mama Cervantes. Rumours say the Mater Familias deliberately piled tasks onto Nunzio's desk to make sure he was planet-bound, and for 30 years the two butted heads regarding the family's engagement in the Maltese Navy. After having been grounded on Planet Malta for 30 years, Nunzio finally managed to gather enough supporters among the rest of the caballeros to use some of the enormous family wealth to construct a Dreadnought, based on the new Maltese designs, and in 817 A.S. he assumed command of the vessel. After a crushing defeat a year later, the Cervantes family decided to stop its active engagement in the Navy, and Nunzio was left disgraced in the eyes of the family. It was then he joined the 101st and flew in their wing for a little while, before reportedly gunned down by Corsairs while on a patrol in Sigma-13. Like so many others before him his body was never reclaimed.

---