The Consortium

[Lobster]

As written by Ironwatsas and reposed by me.

It should be noted that this information is being posted primarily for safe keeping perposes and just to give a general overview of the faction for people unformiliar with it.

This document is subject to both minor changes, less then minor rewrites, and upto a compleet overhaul.

It should also be noted that the ZOI information is out of date and will be updated accordingly.
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The Consortium... the Transhuman arm of the Consortium Legion. A shadowy group who's origins, goals, and motives were shrouded in mystery. While overt Consortium activity has been reported for little over three years, new information coming to light is beginning to paint a new and darker image of what is much more then a mere Terrorist group...

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The Roots of the modern Sirius Consortium have a long and winding history. Backdropped by exploration with the best of intentions, disaster, politics, and interstellar war beyond anything experienced by the denizens of Sirius.

Prehistory (2059 - 2147 AD)

The first beginnings of what would eventually become the now infamous 'Consortium' can be traced back well prior even to the War of Sol, and the great Exodus to Sirius. In the almost 100 years between the turbulent first half of the 21st century, and the apocalyptic war between the Coalition and Alliance, Earth experienced a golden age of relative peace. However, many nations, with the exceptions of Russia and Japan, had abandoned their space programs to concentrate on the problems of Global Recession and Depression, and Climate Change.

As these crises began to wane though, new opportunities arised. With few governments exploring beyond earth orbit, the rise of the Space Megacorperations was inevitable. With an Aerospace industry ready to mass produce the first generation of practical space vehicles, massive international financial support, and the deteriorating conditions on Earth, the colonization era of the solar system had begun.

Over the next three quarters of a Century, new milestones in human exploration would fall more rapidly then anyone could predict. The first permanent cities on the moon, the first men on Mars, the industrialization of the asteroid belt, the Europa affair, human expansion to the far corners of the solar system was in full swing. Many visionaries however looked beyond the confines of the solar system, to new horizons far beyond. The First-generation of sleeper ships, using newly developed FTL drives, were developed. The Gemini and Orion, destined for the Crayter sector, were the first. Departing in 2139, these would lay the foundation for the next adventure.

Merely months after the Crayter expedition was dispatched, a discovery near Jupiter would set the stage for the next era of exploration, and sew the seeds for the birth of the Consortium. What is now known as a Jump-hole was discovered near Io, it was quickly and intensely scrutinized, and ultimately, probes were dispatched through. They discovered the Jump Hole lead to the star known as Antares, and identified a previously undetected planet which was ultimately determined to be habitable for human colonization.

Based on the first Generation Colony Ships, a new sleeper ship, christened the Mayflower, was sent through the newly found Jumphole to Antares to establish a colony. However, as the massive colony ship entered the Jumphole, disaster struck. The sheer size of the vessel had a destabilizing effect, causing the jumphole to collapse behind it. Most feared the Mayflower lost, and it's crew dead. The massive public sorrow and anguish, while not a root cause of the Coalition/Alliance war that would follow, certainly contributed to the atmosphere of discontent and animosity which would fuel the conflict.

Foundation Era (2147 - 220 A.S.)

While the Jumphole did indeed collapse, the ship, Mayflower, survived unharmed. Now cut off from Earth and it's people, the colonists had no choice but to press on to their new surrogate home, Antares Prime. Fortunately, they had come prepared, the mayflower was capable of setting up a small city on it's own, and previous infrastructure had been established prior to it's deployment. The Colonists quickly took root on Antares, and began to gradually expand and explore their new home.

Twenty Five years later, the colonists were confronted with another crisis. A fleet of Alien ships, patrolling the fringes of a vast interstellar Empire, arrived in Antares to investigate the Jump hole collapse. They were surprised to find a previously unknown species, and confronted the unarmed Mayflower in orbit. Fortunately, the Aliens were not overtly belligerent, and the human colonists quickly developed a computer-translation bridge, and communications began. The Aliens agreed to help these settlers establish themselves, despite being far from the nearest fringes of their own territory. The colonists quickly began referring to this Empire as, the Consortium...

Soon afterward, the settlers officially founded the Antarean Republic and their law enforcement agency, the Rangers. Over the next four hundred years, the settlers expanded across their new world and the space surrounding it. Building new cities, industries, shipyards, planetary infrastructure, and beginning to colonize several nearby systems via the local Jumphole network. The Consortium, while distant, did provide significant technological and material support, and instructed the Settlers on many facets of Jump-Hole use and interstellar hazards.

Prosperity rained, as Antares' capital city grew into an urban metropolis, many of the descendants of the frontiersmen began to adopt a more cosmopolitan lifestyle, resembling early 21st century Earth, this was also the beginning of mass use of Cybernetics and Neurochip technology amongst the population, better adapting themselves to the harsh environment of their new home-world. Fringe worlds such as Ikitar, Bastonagrad, and Mistral Prime were themselves colonized, and mining outposts and some space cities and trading ports were built all across the sector.

However, the beginnings of crime and dissent began to appear around this time. Pirate groups like the Marauders, and the anarchist 'Columbus Movement' started to disturb the peace. Initially, the Rangers were more then sufficient to control these problems. Up until the Bastille Day indecent, in which the Columbians, assisted by the Marauders, attempted to overthrow the government, and raided numerous civilian and Ranger installations in a co-ordinated strike. While this was successfully repulsed, it gave sufficient Political leverage to more hawkish members of the Antarean High Senate to form a proper Military.

Industrialization and Imperialization (220 - 298 A.S.)

The Antarean Republic Space Navy and Army were founded to much protest from more pacifistic elements of the population, who disagreed with the escalation of violence, and sought to maintain peace. However, the Senate agreed that such measures were necessary, to protect against internal dissent and the possibility of hostile Alien invasion. The Consortium did make clear they were aware of hostile, nomadic species which would potentially threaten the small Republic if given the chance.

The Military quickly expanded with the backing of the great Industrial Cartels which had been founded shortly after landfall. Many in the opposition claimed fears of a growing Military-Industrial complex, and imperialization of the government. These included the Columbus movement (who following the Bastille Day incident, had renounced violence as a means of achieving their goals), Social Democrat parties, and much of the population of the fringe worlds of Bastonagrad and Ikitar (the latter despite heavy Marauder presence on the fringes). These dissenters were further galvanized when the military detonated it's first Nuclear Weapon in roughly 251 A.S. equivalent.

Indeed, a Military-Industrial complex was forming, a fact which the Senate found impossible to hide. Instead, they glorified it as another step toward further expansion. This was followed by the 'Mistral Prime Buildup', a period of massive industrial expansion on Mistral, the 2nd most populous Antarean world. On the fringe worlds of Bastonagrad and especially Ikitar, the popularity of the Columbus movement swelled, while on the core worlds, Government-friendly media began resembling propaganda. Mass Neurochip usage on the core worlds was also at an all time high, with many core-worlders supportive of the government. This began creating social rifts between more conservative elements who declared the government was becoming Imperialistic, and the population was becoming Hedonistic.

The Columbus movement was by this point, the largest and most Organized opposition entity. Despite their strict attitudes of non-violence, many knew that dark times were approaching. The Columbians began setting plans with other opposition leaders, the Bastonagrad and Iktarian governments, sympathetic citizens, Rangers, and military personnel, and even the Marauders. They made their preparations in secret, continuing to preach reason as the Government became more and more Erratic. In reality, all knew that it was irreversible, and only a matter of time before conflict erupted. The Columbians and their allies bought their time in secret, putting contingencies in place, waiting for the inevitable storm to break.

Civil War (298 - 302 A.S.)

The Spark which would ignite the Antarean Civil war was the sudden and abrupt announcement of the total disbanding of the Rangers, and it's replacement with the Military. Many Rangers had no idea of this until Antarean Officers entered their offices and informed them firsthand. In the days after the Announcement, massive protests and public outrage swept through the Republic. The Military responded by immediately taking Draconian measures to disperse the protests, and kill off anyone who did not comply. A massive lockdown was put in force, with numerous mass arrests and public executions shocking the public.

It was at this point that the first clash of the civil war took place. Anticipating that this day would come, the Columbians and their allies launched a desperate space and ground offensive to rescue as many sympathetic individuals as they could from Antares prime, managing to save half a million people (despite heavy casualties), as well as hijack the Mayflower from Antares Orbit. Using the Mayflower and a flotilla of other ships, the rag-tag fleet fled.

That same day, the governments of Bastonagrad and Ikitar declared secession from the Antarean Republic, and formed the Antarean Confederacy. The Rangers on these worlds, as well as Columbians, Marauders, and local Militias joined forces and took over the Antarean Military Garrisons and space forces. The joint Confederate military announced it's intention to protect the 'free worlds' and people of Antarean space from the new Empire, with the Mayflower as their symbolic flagship.

The Response came not from The Republic, but their alien Consortium allies. On week after the split, A small Consortium fleet assaulted Bastonagrad. The Battle was utterly one-sided, The Defense force, consisting of most of the former Republic Navy fleet, as well as Marauder and Ranger ships, equivalent to two Divisions of ships, were incapacitated by the Consortium's EMP weapons, and subsequently ripped apart. The Consortium fleet then turned to Bastonagrad itself, igniting the entire planet with Atmosphere Deprivation Weapons. All life upon the planet's surface was extinguished.

It was now clear that the Consortium was collaborating with, if not controlling the Antarean Government. On the core worlds, Antarean strategy changed from Propaganda to outright Mind Control. In the months following the Bastonagrad Massacre, the military began going house to house installing Neurochips into anyone who did not possess one, and reformatting those who did. The military went as far as to gas entire settlements with sleeping or paralyzing agents, and then assimilate the population afterward.

The Confederacy attempted several counter attacks, striking Imperial military facilities and attempting rescues of trapped citizens, but with only a few scattered victories. Joint Military/Consortium fleets responded, destroying or seizing any Confederate or Marauder bases and brutally suppressing any opposition, Moving inexorably closer to Ikitar. Realizing what happened to Bastonagrad, the Ikitar government decided evacuation was the only viable option. Minefields were placed around all entry points into the system, and fleets of ships, military and civilian alike, were made ready.

In 302 A.S., it happened. The combined Consortium/ASN fleet entered Ikitar system, shutting down the defenses and easily breaching the minefields. The Evacuation fleet, lead by the Mayflower, departed as soon as confirmation was made. Their destination, a Jumphole to an unknown sector on the Fringe of Antarean space. As the Mayflower's fleet fled, the rest of the Confederate Navy made one final stand. Again, like at Bastonagrad, they were shut down and wiped out. However, this time, the Antarean Military did not ignite the atmosphere, but launched a Land Invasion.

The battle of Ikitar lasted for little over three months, but in the end, the Antarean and Consortium forces were victorious. As for the Escape fleet, in a stroke of pure luck, the Mayflower, the last ship to pass through, destabilized this Jump-hole as well, cutting off it's pursuers... for a while.

Antarean Consortium (302 - 498 A.S.)

In the wake of the Antarean Civil War, the lines between the Consortium and Antarean Republic were erased. The Military began full integration of Alien technology, and Cybernetic Enslavement of the whole population. Scattered bands of surviving resistance went into hiding in the most desolate fringes of the new Empire, occasionally striking back. The rest of the population were subjected to mass re-education and re-engineering. While most retained some individuality and personality, they were utterly and mindlessly loyal to Antares.

This, as it turns out, was the Consortium's ultimate plan. Gradually enslave the population through Cybernetics and conditioning. With the close of the Antarean Civil War, this was done. Antarean Society suddenly and violently shifted. Government, Corporate, Military, and Civilian quickly disappeared as all four essentially became one. Civilian infrastructure, homes, monuments, parks, were quickly cannibalized and replaced by military logistics and factories. Nearly the entire surface of these Antarean worlds became covered in massive engines of industry, and the size of the military exploded to encompass fully half the population.

With no concern for concepts such as the environment nor preservation, Antares began to strip-mine it's systems bare, and aggressively expand into new territories. Construction of military and industrial space infrastructure skyrocketed, with Jump-Gates, factories, space-stations, science labs, and military bases appearing as quickly as they could be built. Over the next century The Antarean worlds themselves were stripped clean for any and all mineral or resource content. Even Bastonagrad, stripped of it's atmosphere, was re-colonized with hardened habitats and machines.

All of these resources that did not go to industrial expansion went directly to the Military. New ships were being built at a terrifying rate. With higher automation and robotics cutting down crew numbers for even the largest ships, allowing a much larger ratio of Ships to potential Crew members. Antares, now referred to as the Antarean Empire was fully part of the Consortium Overrace.

All this time, the Mayflower fleet and remnants of the Confederacy continued to flee. Managing to evade the Consortium hunter forces, they made their way far from what became of Antares. After several years of flight, with food and resources wearing thin, they happened across another Alien Race, a peaceful Insectoid species known as the Iashians.

Invasion Period (498 - Present)

The Desperate Antarean refugees were greeted with open arms by the Iashians, who, while not totally pacifistic and devoid of warfare, were largely altruistic to new Alien species. The Iashian civilization was far older then humanity's, having possessed space technology for at least twenty thousand years. The Iashian Queen and Hive-mothers were sympathetic to these humans, citing similar incidents in their distant past before the great unification.

The Confederacy were granted asylum on Iashian worlds, which fortunately, were similar to Tropical Regions of earth. Human communities quickly grew common in the border regions of the Iashian Union, and a few remote worlds were even given to the humans for their own development. As time went on, the Confederacy would re-establish itself, vowing to never allow yet another apocalypse such as that which befell Antares. The Iashians, while not believing Antares or the Consortium to be technologically or numerically sufficient to challenge them, did however increase security as a precaution, and send a few expeditions to attempt to contact and reason with the Antarean Empire.

The latter event proved catastrophic. The Antareans immediately disabled and captured the Iashian fleet, assimilated it's crew, and learned about Iashia's location, history, and the massive amount of population and Resources at it's disposal. The Antarean and Consortium militaries mobilized and assembled outside the borders of Iashian space.

125 years after the Mayflower fleet arrived in Iashia, the Antarean Consortium launched a massive invasion. By virtue of their surprise, numbers, and EMP technology, in the first weeks of the invasion, the Iashians were utterly helpless. Twenty worlds were overrun, including two Confederate ones. The human settlers vowed not to flee their new homes again, and the Confederacy unilaterally agreed to do whatever it took to protect the Iashians.

Quickly, the Confederate and Iashian militaries managed to create countermeasures to the Consortium's EMP weapons, and launched a series of counter-attacks. While these were met with some success, and the Iashians inflicted disproportionate casualties, the sheer numbers and ferocity of the invaders overwhelmed, and their blitzkrieg advance continued. As they marched forth, Iashian worlds were subjected to the same rapid industrialization and assimilation as Antarean ones, and the overrun Iashians subjected to the same Cybernetic Enslavement.

The slow but steady Antarean advance would continue for the next ten years, conquering fully a third of Iashian worlds, bringing the war to the Doorstep of Iashia itself. The Confederacy, still with the updated and militarized Mayflower as it's flagship, as well as a coalition of other Alien species and nations allied to Iashia put their resources into stopping the invasion. Gradually, this increased resistance, and the merciless depletion of the Antarean and Iashian worlds slowed the Offensive to a crawl. The Antareans had overstretched their supply lines, and were forced to settle back into a defensive position. The Iashian Alliance attempted to counter-attack, managing to take back a few of the forward systems, but ultimately proved unable to break the numerically and increasingly technologically superior Antarean fleet.

The war settled into a bloody stalemate, with attacks and counter-attacks raging on to this day. The Antarean forces, while still vastly superior to the all of the Iashian alliance's constituents on paper, were running out of raw materials to build new ships, having stripped most worlds behind them bare. This gave Iashia precious time to gather her own strength, and bring more allies into the fight. To continue to press it's attack and finish off Iashia, and move beyond, Antares would need to open a second front, and gather more resources.

Invasion of Sirius (500 - 630 A.S)

Even before the Iashian war, the Antareans had made preparations for a return to Earth... as Conquerors. However, it's sheer distance at more then 600 light years distant made that a challenge. Using Consortium FTL drives, it would take almost 60 years for any ship to arrive. Rather then send a fleet, they dispatched a number of robotic ships and probes to reconnoiter and gather intelligence. These Probes arrived six decades later to find the Aftermath of the War of Sol, and the Nomad Intervention. The Sol system had been destroyed, and humanity had fled.

However, not all was lost. The probes recovered a few still-functional ships and artifacts, their crews long dead of starvation, as well as comm echos from hundreds of years prior. These indicated that at least some humans DID survive. The data sent back to Antares, after months of travel, confirmed the existence of the Alliance's sleeper ships, and their vector toward the Sirius Sector.

A second wave of probes was dispatched. 500 light years to the Sirius System. These probes began their routine of scanning the systems, identifying planets, nations, people, confirming that Sirius was indeed Humanity's new home. Still, however, the sheer distance involved, as well as the onset of the Iashian war, meant that sending a whole fleet to Sirius was impractical. Plus, the time that would take could give Sirius time to advance to a point where it could potentially defend itself.

The solution was to dispatch a single ship via FTL drives, and highly-trained infiltrators in cryostasis, to go to Sirius and blend with the population. Attempt to gather intelligence and sabotage, and ultimately build a jump-gate to Antares, cutting the transit time from decades to mere seconds. Then, the Antarean fleet would be free to invade and conquer Sirius, giving itself the population and material boost it needed to finally complete the Iashian conquest.

The ship selected to ferry the infiltrators was a nondescript Stealth Battleship, AISN#-19511-E, which would ultimately become known as the Morningstar. The warship was not intended for direct combat, but modified into a sleeper ship and mobile command centre for operations in Sirius. It's stealth characteristics, powerful armament, and internal hangar space would come in handy. Some of it's combat prowess however, was sacrificed to make room for Cyro-cells, on-board refineries and molecular foundries, and other hardware which would be necessary for any Gate Construction, should Sirius' offerings be insufficient to reach Antares.

The Morningstar's journey from Antares Prime to Sirius took close to a century. Finally, in 620 A.S., the Morningstar arrived on the fringes of the Edge Nebula, and it's crew awoke. The next ten years were primarily spent conducting threat assessment, gathering intelligence on Sirius' factions, and assimilating the first few personnel from all houses to act as their eyes and ears. The Morningstar and Antareans remained well out of sight, yet had completed their initial insertion perfectly. It is likely from these first Augmentees that the term 'Consortium' was used to describe the organization, rather then as 'Antareans'.

Pre-Nomad war (630 - 799 A.S.)

Prior to the Nomad War, the Consortium quietly continued their study, acquisition, and preparations for construction of a gate. The latter objective, however, was unfortunately delayed. The infiltrators discovered that most human Jumpgates lacked anywhere near sufficient range to re-connect to Antares. However, all of the pieces were in place for these gates to be sufficiently re-engineered to be viable. The main issue at had was acquisition. The Sirius Consortium began working their way toward this end, beginning to insert agents into corporations across Sirius, especially in Liberty.

By 738 A.S., the Consortium's sights were set squarely on Ageria technologies. One Consortium agent, a mister Allen Kent, was poised to take position as Ageria's trade-secretary. This would allow shipments of gate parts to be siphoned to the Consortium's construction project. Unfortunately, fate would intervene. Worker's strikes and unionization gone wrong would lead to the formation of the Lane Hackers. Kent was shot and killed during one particularly violent worker Riot, and the Consortium's plans were set back significantly.

A second opportunity however, arose shortly thereafter, Samura's Chugoku gate construction site. The Consortium went to great lengths to begin inserting it's agents into DSE, Samura, and the Hogosha in an attempt to gain access (and eventual control) over the gate. However, the Consortium suffered many of the same setbacks as Samura proper. Blood Dragon raids killed several operatives, and the accompanying KNF security presence made it difficult to redirect Gate parts. The chosen solution was to simply have the Chugoku gate completed were it was, and subsequently capture, modify, and redirect it.

This plan, however, was simply out of the Consortium's reach at the time. While the Morningstar could easily destroy the Battleship Matsumoto, doing so would compromise the Consortium's secrecy, and by extension, jeopardize the operation. Alternative plans were purposed, but fate would once again intervene.

Nomad War and Aftermath (799 - 815 A.S.)

The Paradigm shift in Sirius Consortium policy came in 799 A.S., when the Nomad war broke out. They, like everyone else in Sirius, were caught by surprise. Consortium covert agents began to batten down the hatches, while others (those in a position to to so) attempted to bring in Infested specimens for study. However, the Consortium agents were too few and far between to have any major impact on the war.

The Morningstar itself was involved in several skirmishes with the Nomads in Omicron Delta and Kappa toward the end of the war, while attempting to relocate itself to a secure location. This was a further setback, as the original Gate construction site, despite being only a small fraction of a percent complete, was abandoned. As the situation deteriorated, the Consortium considered breaking their undercover status to openly assist Sirius' factions against the Nomads. However, the war ended before this took place.

In the aftermath, a number of Consortium agents were dead, including most of those involved in the Chugoku Gate construction site. In the Chaos that followed, most of the remaining operatives were de-activated or recalled to the Morningstar, to avoid the Order or anyone else detecting them during Nomad-Screening. Over the next few months, the operatives slowly re-deployed into the world. By this point though, many of the earlier operatives had died of natural causes, and the survivors realized that they would need a single leader to consolidate and co-ordinate operations if they were to continue into the long-term. Covert ops personnel began searching and assimilating prospective, but one man stood out in particular...

Ironwatsas, formerly an independent Mercenary was detected by Consortium Agents inside the Hogosha. He was eventually contacted, hired, and performed several jobs for the Hogosha. While Watsas' proved extremely proficient, and highly promising when placed in a command position over other Mercenaries, the Consortium agent on whom's payroll Watsas was working was discovered by the Hogosha. While not knowing anything about the Consortium, they did realize this man was funneling money to some outside entity. The Agent was sent to prison, but not killed outright (as he was scheduled to be Interrogated), and Watsas kept on Hogosha payroll temporarily. Eventually though, Watsas too was arrested (with the intent that he was to be made to think he had been betrayed, and that he would kill the Consortium agent himself in Prison).

Infact, Watsas did not attempt this, he realized that the Hogosha sent him to prison deliberately, and learned that the Hogosha agent was certainly not who he claimed to be. The two had made plans to attempt to escape, but fate would once again intervene. A Golden Chrysanthemum operation was launched against the Prison in which Watsas was held, he along with many other prisoners were rescued and taken to Ainu. During his time among the Golden Chrysanthemums, Watsas became sympathetic toward their goals, and grateful for their rescue. It was also here that Watsas briefly met a miss Zetsumai Keisotsu. Their time together was brief, but the two reached an understanding. Zetsumai gave Watsas a new ship, and allowed him to leave. Watsas vowed to return after his affairs were in order to assist the GC and get Revenge on the Hogosha.

Watsas made his way to Planet Harris, to contact some acquaintances in Planetform and Bretonia. Unfortunately, this coincided with the KNF's push into the system. During one raid, Watsas was caught in a bombing raid, and nearly killed when his ship was blown up on the landing pad. Details after this point are sketchy, but the Consortium quickly stepped in, recovered Watsas' body, and took him to the Morningstar in Stasis. There, his consciousness was transferred to a new Cybernetic body, and his perception altered in preparation for him becoming the Consortium's new Leader.

Transition Period (815 - 817 A.S.)

The newly augmented Watsas initially wasn't immediately accepted as leader. Over the next several months, he went on a number of operations to familiarize himself, and prove his command capability. Most of these operations were covert, with Watsas disguised as a Mercenary. Such operations included the 'Junker Air' incident, in which Watsas assisted several renegade Junkers in establishing a makeshift passenger line. Following this, Watsas was active in Rheinland attached to another Consortium cell active inside the Rheinland Military. Attempting to sell prototype RM ships, including Wrath class heavy fighters, to the RHA. This operation, unfortunately, was uncovered by the BDM, and many Consortium operatives were compromised and killed or arrested. Watsas, however, managed to escape with a transport ship containing a number of disassembled Wraith class fighters. He and his ties to the Consortium have not been identified up to this point.

Following this incident, Watsas made use of several of the Wraiths as his personal ship of choice during the next phase of Consortium Operation. By this point, Watsas had officially been granted the title of Overwatch-Industrialist, and was given control over the Consortium's agents and controlled ships. Immediately after his 'promotion', Watsas called a meeting with the Ranking members of the Consortium, pitching forth his own strategy for the entire Sirius theatre... a paradigm shift in perception away from mere Covert Operations. This would be the turning point, the Consortium would begin to mobilize, gather strength, and transition from a loose affiliation of covert operatives, into a Paramilitary. Their new objective, install a client state in one of Sirius' houses, use that both to leverage the rest of humanity, and grant resources to construct a gate back to Antares.

It was an extremely bold plan, too bold for many of the more Regimented agents. A few actively resisted Watsas, and attempted to replace him. Watsas however, was not completely trusting, nor was he utterly under the Antarean Consortium's control... this lead to 'Operation Defrag', in which several of the opposition leaders were executed or re-conditioned. Once Watsas knew his control was complete, and the remaining agents supported him, he began putting his plans in motion. The first stage was to set up a base of operations, far enough away from Sirius as not to be noticed by the Houses. The Morningstar set out for the Epsilon Eridani system, with the intent to use it's on-board molecular foundries and mining drones to begin constructing a military-complex to support the Sirius Consortium.

Watsas himself, meanwhile, as well as his Blackwatch shock units began adapting Consortium Augmentation methods to mass-production of memory-erased cyborg soldiers. A small laborotory was built in the Wreckage of the RNC Kassel, in the Sigma-13 system, safely hidden from prying eyes by the volitile gas pockets. The first Victims of the Consortium's "Project Olympus" were the crew of the Kusari Destroyer, the IKN Yukikaze, including it's captain, Ichiro Daisuke. As the first to be Augmented, and the prototype, Ichiro was placed under Watsas' direct observation, quickly becoming his right-hand man. However, Steve did retain a significant fraction of his personality and freedom, despite some memory modification. Subsequent generations of soldiers were more strictly controlled. While Project Olympus continued, largely under Steve's watch, and that of Blackwatch leader, James Dacker, Ironwatsas went to Kusari to commence the second-phase of Consortium operations.

Kusari was chosen as the Consortium's first target of choice for a number of reasons. As the most powerful and militarily aggressive house (at the time), Kusari was also nicely bent-over militarily, due to the Tau-conflict. The Consortium would attempt to gain alliance with the better known unlawful parties, the Golden Chrysanthemums and Blood Dragons. Watsas initially sought out the GC, and his old acquaintance, Zetsumai Keisotsu. However, Zetsumai proved difficult to locate, though Watsas quickly gained the Sisterhood's trust after personally intervening in several Key battles with the Farmers Alliance and Hogosha. For several months, Watsas continued to work for the GC as an unpaid Mercenary, gradually becoming more and more well known, on both sides. Watsas however, adopted an unorthodox counter-intelligence strategy, often, when not in combat, acting like what can best be described as a 'complete loon', and often creating 'humorous' situations (such as attempting to give rapidly breeding 'Lizard Cats' to the AFA in an attempt to infest their base). Most of Watsas' Kusari adversaries did not take him seriously, nor did they suspect that he was anything more then a crazed robot.

This all began to change after what became known as the 'Morioka Incident'. In which, Watsas participated in the recovery of a GC pilot, Enya Shinkaku, as well as an undercover agent of the LSF, Evangeline Knight. After escaping AFA forces with the assistance of the GC, Watsas re-encountered Zetsumai Keisotsu. Details of what happened next are sketchy, but Watsas and Zetsumai agreed to mutually assist one another in removing the Kusari Empire and replacing it with a Client State. It was also during this incident that a Consortium covert AI, Siren.1-7 (casually referred to as 'Kathryn') was activated and began to assist Watsas. The following months also saw the integration of Keiko 'Eskaluur' Tanizaki, and Zio Internecine. With the pieces beginning to come together, and the Consortium becoming larger and more organized, the modern phase of the Consortium came into being.

The Dark Harvest (816 A.S. - Present Day)

Over the next several weeks and months, as Project Olympus began to expand, and new Consortium warships began to come online. The rapid expansion period was well underway. Zio Internecine was by this point, assigned as Augmentation director (merging Project Olympus into his own research), and 'Steve' being given command of the \CS\-Abyss, as well as the true emergence of separate Airwatch, Blackwatch, Logistics, and other Consortium divisions, and Arms deals with the Outcasts via the GC. This lead to the acquisition of a large number of Outcast-designed ships and new vehicles and devices. As well, the Consortium had acquired several Prison-Liner hulls which were converted into light warships. This began a more dangerous phase of Consortium operations, independent armed incursions into Kusari core sectors, and more disturbing, mass abductions of both military and Civilain personnel.

The Consortium's undercover status began to wane, as factions began to become more aware. After several intense battles with a number of Mercenaries and Bounty Hunters, as well as the AFA, KNF, and Hogosha, media attention began to mount. The threat of a new, and seemingly well organized unlawful organization in addition to the Dragons and GC was not a prospect which Kusari could not allow to fester. Via media manipulation, the Consortium were downplayed as little more then Outcasts, or more GC or Dragons. However, most in the ranking KNF structure were aware that the Consortium were much more then simple Outcasts. Ironically though, it was the Farmers' Alliance who had the most detailed intelligence, most commonly encountering Airwatch warships.

Consortium activities began to expand, key incidents including the Consortium-Bretonia alliance, the attempt to capture the Planetary Governor of Kyushu, and the Botched attempt at diplomacy with the Lane Hackers. The latter incident was (possibly deliberately) disrupted due to Watsas' extremely heavy-handed approach at the time. Since then, no further attempts have been made to expand into Liberty.

A Minor setback came when the first signs of a new threat began to emerge, Aoi Iseijin. The first signs of activity came when Rheinlandic Wilde were sighted near Tohoku, possibly attempting to re-establish communication with their Kusarian brethren. Not taking any chances, the Consortium intervened. Unfortunately, the Order were close behind, with the intent to remove the Wilde permanently. The Consortium, not wanting any witnesses, destroyed the Order ships. Unfortunately, combat camera images, and records of communications WERE leaked, which indicated an attempt at a ceasefire with the Wilde, resulting in a rift between the GC and Consortium. Some within the GC were, however, more supportive of the Consortium, while others were quick to take the opportunity to cast them out. Watsas himself intervened, quickly closing the rift.

Meanwhile, the Wilde had already attacked GC forces, prompting an aggressive Consortium response. What became known as Operation Cataphoria. While strategically inconclusive, the Consortium won most Tactical engagements (save one with a Keeper tentacle cruiser, in which the flagship of the Airwatch reaction force, the Darak.Ti, was damaged and forced to retreat). Never the less, Airwatch forces were largely successful in containing the (at the time, small) Exogen Breach, and repairing the diplomatic rifts with the GC.

Over the next few months, the Consortium returned their attention to Kusari proper. In response to several Hogosha raids into Okinawa, the Consortium quietly began communication with the Gas Miners' Guild. The Guild's control over most of Sirius' H-fuel reserves, as well as the situation between them and Samura made a Consortium intervention almost certain. Again, details on GMG-\CS\ interaction are largely unknown, but Airwatch ships have been largely ignoring GMG trade ships when conducting commerce interdiction, and have been extremely effective in tactical engagements against the Hogosha.

Following a high-profile raid on Fuchu Prison, and a more recent campaign of orbitally-inserted robotic artillery turrets on Kyushu, the Consortium is becoming more and more severe a threat to Kusari security, moreso in the wake of Kusari's practical declaration of war on the Junkers. The Consortium's main limiting factor is it's logistical capacity, or lack therof. Lacking any Bases, Factories, or Planets (yet known), the Consortium is still dependent on outside factions for much of it's manufacturing and materials capability. The Junkers would make ideal allies, given their underworld ties, vendetta with Kusari, and their manufacturing capability. As well, the Consortium are gradually becoming closer to the newest factions of the resurgent Blood Dragons, and Airwatch logistics ships have now been seen regularly supplying Dragon controlled territories.

Ironwatsas is no longer on the front lines, having withdrawn to oversee the Morningstar, and the Epsilon Eridani expedition, still however, he commands the Consortium. It's machines, artificial intelligences, and augmented men, women, and indeed, children. He however, has steered the Consortium in Sirius dramatically away from their original objective. Despite the Consortium's newfound power, military capability, and connections, no attempt has been made to complete the Antares Jump gate. Now, perhaps, Watsas has broken from the Sirius Consortium's original directive. Rather then open the door for a belligerent alien race to consume the Sirius sector, the Sirius arm of the Consortium will try to control it on it's own.

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The Modern-day Sirius Consortium functions like a military-styled insurgency, with a significant logistical backbone and a highly decentralized network of Coordinator AI's, personnel, and covert operatives. Compared to it's main enemies (and most of the established Kusari factions), the Consortium have very small numbers, less then 200,000 personnel overall (though this number is constantly increasing). Because of the massive force ratio in their enemy's favor, even despite the bulk of the Kusari Military being deployed in the Tau systems, the Consortium must use other means to gain an advantage.

If the Blood Dragons are the stoic and masterful warriors, and the Golden Chrysanthemums are the populist faction, then the Consortium complete the Triad with advanced technology and networked co-ordination. By means of their Cybernetic nature, they are capable of rapid communication, not only between individual troops, but with co-ordinator AI's, robotic war machines, and sensor networks.

Awareness, knowing where and how to strike, is main reason for the Consortium's success thus far. Between covert operatives, reconnaissance probes and platforms, and interrogation and assimilation of captured personnel, Consortium forces have been able to thrive in the Kusarian environment. The Consortium's success is by no means simple superiority in weaponry or technology, but a fusion of man, machine, and information to a particular goal.

Surgical Strikes, Commerce interdiction, and often counter-intelligence and PSIOPS are the main means by which the Consortium operate. Old fashioned 'take and hold' style strategies are simply untenable and impractical, given the Consortium's relatively low numbers and amount of hardware. Any spot-invasions are usually temporary affairs designed to deal a blow against a particular target, and be conducted before overwhelming forces can be arrayed in response.



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The Consortium's primary objectives are more complex then meets' the eye. While many would think control of Kusari, if not all of Sirius is the intent, the truth is much less linear. The current conflict in Kusari is merely a means to an end.

The List of objectives in assumed Chronological order are.

1. Continue to expand and grow, and establish new infrastructure
   
2. Begin to insert more covert operatives into the population to sew dissent and create social rifts
   
3. Keep the conflict in the Taus going as long as possible, this will distract the Kusari military
   
4. Damage the Kusari economy and industry by means of strikes on transports and infrastructure
   
5. Destroy, Pacify, or Assimilate any organized crime syndicate, ultranationalist group, or sympathetic government allied to Kusari
   
6. Damage the military directly through destruction of infrastructure and difficult-to-replace field units and personnel
   
7. Gradually divide and pacify or control the military, corporations, and gain public support (or at least eliminate public support as a factor for the government)
   
8. When the military is sufficiently weakened, begin invasions for territory and population control, and direct destruction of the government
   
9. Install a Consortium-run or Consortium-allied state over Kusari
   
10. Use the remaining military infrastructure, population, and natural resources of Kusari to begin exercising hegemony over neighboring houses, or securing said houses' aid diplomatically
    
11. Removal of Exogen (Alien) presence from human-occupied areas
    
12. Gradually secure imposed control over other houses, by indirect means preferably, to ensure the status quo beyond Kusari remains as-is, and to ensure no further Exogens can intervene
    

Beyond this plan for Kusari, little is known. The Original motives of enforcing Antarean Hegemony to support their war with Iashia seem to have evaporated following Watsas' takeover. It might be assumed that Watsas and the Consortium are actually trying to prevent the conquest of Sirius by hostile aliens (such as the Nomads), and attempting to stabilize humanity's political divisions through accumulating a sufficiently powerful hegemony to politically, and if necessary, militarily, block aggression between the houses.

Of course, this remains open to speculation.

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In the Short Term, Consortium operations seem mainly focused around disrupting the Kusari economy and military, through surgical strikes, support of the Blood Dragons and Golden Chrysanthemums (and to some extent, Bretonia), and covert operations designed to fracture relations and create rifts between groups such as the great Kusari Keiretsu, Hogosha, Farmers' Alliance, and Corsairs.

In the case of the latter, the Consortium are up against the long-standing rivalry between Samura, Kishiro, and the Gas Miners' Guild. While the Consortium often attack Samura and Kishiro indifferently, a unique situation with the GMG has emerged, with the Consortium providing at least some indirect assistance against Hogosha incursions into Okinawa, as well as sparing GMG transport ships. Weather the GMG reciprocate these 'good intentions' and in what capacity is again, unknown.

With the Consortium's better known allies, the GC and Blood Dragons, the lines are more clearly drawn. The GC were one of the first allies the Consortium secured in Kusari, and the alliance has strengthened with the waging of numerous joint battles against the factions' mutual enemies. The Blood Dragons have always been more reserved and suspicious toward the Consortium, given their natural distrust for foreigners, let alone ones which cannot be considered fully 'human'. Like the GC however, the Dragons and Consortium have earned one another's trust through engagement after engagement with the military forces of Kusari. Despite this however, elements within both factions still possess varying degrees of distrust and suspicion toward their strange, new allies.

As important as pressuring the defenders of Kusari, and preying on their seemingly petty divisions, the Consortium is also constantly attempting to improve itself. While possessing a few examples of advanced technology brought from Antares or Built themselves, most of the Consortium's hardware is for practical reasons, based on 'off the shelf' technology. This is simply because many of Antares' more exotic technologies and advanced weapons cannot be easily replicated with the resources available to the Consortium (if at all). Humanity's offerings however, are more then sufficient with some modification.

The Consortium, from a technological perspective, are among the most formidable factions in Kusari, rivaling even the Naval Forces themselves. This is not necessarily due to the sophistication of their individual weapon systems and devices, but the means by which they are integrated together.

The Doctrine of Network Centric Warfare is emphasized to an extreme degree among the Consortium. Nearly all Consortium soldiers are heavily Cybernetically augmented to varying degrees. The main advantages of this are practical mind control, and the ability for Consortium soldiers to communicate directly with Ships and Vehicles, Other Consortium Soldiers, Coordinator Artificial Intelligences, and other Machines. This also allows commanders to send data to soldiers in the field, as well as dynamic linking between platforms, personnel, and other systems like sensors and robotic machines.

This level of streamlining is accomplished through several Co-ordinator Artificial Intelligences. These AIs are decentralized, sentient, and capable of connecting to almost any Consortium soldier, vehicle, computer system, or other platform. These AIs are heavily based on human consciousnesses, complete with the closest approximations to emotion. This is a mechanism primarily install a sense of 'care' and 'duty' into the Intelligence, minimizing the chance for it to potentially see it's overseers as unnecessary and go rogue. As well, due to the largely custom software and numerous security systems, it is highly difficult for even the best hackers or non-Consortium AI's to attempt to directly and maliciously attempt to damage the AI systems.

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The Consortium space fleet (referred to as 'Airwatch') maintains a full spectrum of fighters, warships, and logistics vessels to fill it's various needs. Of these, all but the Morningstar itself are Sirius-built vessels (often with extensive modification) either purchased from other factions, captured and converted, or in some cases replicated and built by the Consortium themselves.

Below is a list of Consortium Airwatch shiptypes used in the Sirius theatre of operations. Including details of their employment and modifications made to the original airframes.

[color=#FFFFFF]-Strike Craft-

The Primary arm of Airwatch Force Projection capability, combat ships, manned or unmanned, below what is deemed 'Frigate' class by tonnage (this definition is also variable based on a ship's role). Most Airwatch strike craft are manned by cybernetically augmented pilots, given superior reaction time and decision making compared to DCU hardware.

Most Consortium strike craft are, for practical purposes, re-engineered versions of Sirius-designed ships and built with as much 'off the shelf' technology as possible for ease of maintenance. Some examples of Consortium native engineering (mainly to do with improved manufacturing techniques and human-ship computer interface, as well as stealth technology) are integrated. Though not as extensively as on larger ships.

The following is a list of currently active or likely-to-be-acquired Airwatch ships.

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Type-81 ACH
Callname: Series-Z 'Sabre'
Role: Space Superiority

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This shipclass and it's derivatives are commonly used by all manner of individuals in Sirius. And the hull's availability, adaptability, and tactical prowess were it's primary appeals to the Airwatch inventory. As well as it's ability to 'blend in' with other traffic, and potential capacity for growth. However, the design would need extensive modification for it to be compatible with Airwatch doctrane.

The Type-81's power systems were switched from a single fusion reactor to a pair of smaller CX reactors, which provide roughly the same power output in normal operation, but have the benefit of redundancy. The Ship's cockpit was heavily re-engineered with Airwatch Neural Interface equipment, and holo-display systems. As well, accommodations were made for easy conversion to accept a Drone Controller if required (by removal of the pilot's station and installation of the DCU module and Sensor device, replacing the cockpit canopy.

The existing engines in the baseline model proved inefficient due to high emissions versus fuel consumption. Replacement with re-engineered models served to both decrease the temperature output and emissions, and allow the engines to run on both conventional H-Fuel, and Cardamine-Imulsion with no modification beyond switching settings on the burners and injector nozzles, which can be done in flight while the engine is functioning.

Finally, the Type-81 has been equipped with Active Stealth systems. While a true Cloaking device is beyond capacity currently, the combination of Wave-blackout systems, reconfigurable ECM/ECCM pods, deployable ELINT microdrones, Laser Blinders, Spoofer Flares, and Light Emitter pods can create a similar effect, blinding most sensor systems (with the exception of those which match the ship's mass against the background of space, but this isn't generally a factor given the ship's small size).

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Type-89 SFA
Callname: SV-17 Virage
Role: Stealth multirole fighter/Atmospheric Intruder

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While the Type-81 remains the general purpose attach fighter of Airwatch fleets, it has two main flaws which limit it's effectiveness. 1: The ship's design is not conductive to Atmospheric Flight and Maneuvering, 2: the ship's sensor signature requires much more effort to mask then other ships.

The Type-89 class was adopted in small numbers by Blackwatch units and infiltrators primarily for transportation with self defense capability. More recently, Airwatch forces have begun adopting these ships and modifying them to fill the role of Stealth Raiders and atmospheric fighters, an environment wherein they are vastly superior to the Type-81s in Airwatch service.

It possesses a very similar combined active stealth system to the Type-81, but the Type-89's hull design makes the system much more efficient, due to the smaller cross section and limited reflectivity to laser-based sensors.

For atmospheric flight, the Type-89 has been equipped with external munitions stores (including freefall guided bombs, air to air missiles, surface scanning radars, and ballistic gunpods). Due to the fact that space shields are much less effective due to atmospheric scattering, they do not offer complete protection from projectiles. The Type-89 has the option of equipping reactive armor and ceramic tiles to mitigate the effects of these weapons.

As well, Directed Energy weapons common in space flight, also suffer from 'blooming' or 'scattering' due to the density of air molecules. The Type-89 was designed with a pair of dorsal mounts, which Airwatch forces have fitted with a pair of repeating KEWs. Which, while ineffective in space, are devastating against atmospheric and surface targets. However, their topside location makes them difficult to train on surface targets. One tactic is to temporarily fly the ship inverted, though this can cause disorientation for the pilot or expose the top of the ship to ground fire.

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Type-72 ACM
Callname: Series QX Switchblade
Role: Fighter/Interceptor

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A derivative of the Type-81, the Type-72 was intended as a lower-end export model, but has a few advantages which make it useful. The Type-72 has a somewhat lower mass then it's larger cousin due to the removal of wing connecting spars, but at the cost of structural integrity. In Airwatch use, Type-72s are deployed mainly as a supporting wing or in situations where a compromise between the Type-81 and Type-55 are needed.

Type-72s are also more dependent on numbers to offset their slightly lower damage potential, whereas Type-81s are often known to inflict disproportional casualties alone. In most cases though, the use of the Type-72 and Type-81 are subject to pilot preference, as both ships can perform essentially the same tasks.

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Type-44 ACE
Callname: CTE HF Kingfisher
Role: Recon/Electronic Support

Versions of this ship were aquired for evaluation purposes, but proved woefully inadequate as front-line tactical fighters, even despite modifications made to their power systems. Rather then scrap them, however, most Type-44s in Consortium service received a significant redesign to fit the niche of Tactical reconnaissance and support, while still retaining some defensive capability.

The Type-44's main advantages in this role were it's lower sensor profile, powerful engine array (even before Consortium modification), and forward hull design being an ideal mount location for internal sensor hardware. The baseline model's power core has been replaced to power the sensor array and ELINT hardware, and the engines have been refined to give the Type-44 extreme acceleration to escape intercept.

Due to the often long duration of Type-44 patrols, and the inherent danger of their missions deep into enemy territory, they are usually flown autonomously via DCU hardware. Beyond long range strategic reconnaissance, Type-44s may be attached to other Airwatch forces to provide valuable sensor cover and electronic warfare support.

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Type-55 ACL
Callname: Series CX Scimitar
Role: Light Interceptor/Swarmer



Another derivative of the Type-81, the Type-55 is optimized for maneuverability and cost effectiveness. The removal of the entire lower drive pylon lowers the mass of the basic frame significantly decreases the ship's profile, mass, and sensor cross section. However, this comes at the cost of firepower (due to the loss of the hardpoints on the ship's lower wing) and to some extent, armor (as some the ship's heavy external armor layering was removed to compensate for the loss of the second engine).

Another side benefit was the change in mass made a much lower surface area for conducting atmospheric flight. The Type-55 is much more commonly used in that role then the larger models for this reason, though Type-55's require significant modification to make them airworthy (addition of small tailfins, winglets, and flight control surfaces, under the sublcass of Type-55C).

In atmospheric flight roles, they are typically used as air superiority fighters, having lower mass and superior agility to the Type-89. However, Type-55C's are almost always flown by DCU's and without inertial dampers, lowering their mass and freeing up their power grid to the point where they are comparable to purpose built atmospheric fighters.

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Type-121 ACB
Callname: Series ZX Falcata
Role: Dedicated Bomber


Purchased from the Outcasts through mutual deals with the GC, the Consortium has a number of ships designated 'Type-121' in their inventory. These ships fulfill much the same role in Airwatch fleets as they do in Outcast ones, Destruction of enemy warships and hardened targets. In this tasking, they are usually deployed as part of a combined arms strike force, due to tactical inflexibility and lack of maneuverability. Despite this, they fufill an essential role as Artillery for Strikecraft wings, and commerce raiders, and even capital ship flotillas.

While they possess the same stealth systems as contemporary Airwatch vessels, their profile and mass render these less effective then on other ships. As well, they are highly vulnerable to almost any enemy strikecraft. Due to the cost of their weapon systems and limited tactical flexibility, they are almost never seen unescorted.

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Type-111 HAC
Callname: KS-1093 Mafic
Role: Assault Bomber/Strike (potentially)

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While currently not in service with Airwatch forces, the 'Type-111' is under evaluation for potential aquisition and deployment to remedy some of the faults in the Type-121, and provide a more flexible platform for interception of enemy warships. It's power systems are capable of deploying heavy antiship weapons, as well as smaller weapon systems for use against strike craft.

Though, it's size and mass are the primary limiting factors. Evaluation of it's exact capabilities and scope for modification would need to be conducted to integrate it properly into Airwatch fleet strategy.

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