Judicial Order

Synopsis

Judicial Order
Origin	L.I.D.F. / C.P.P
Alignment	Lawful
Profile
Date of founding	122 AS A.S.
Founder(s)	Unknown
Current leader(s)	Supreme Judge Logan
Base of operations	unknown
Identification
IFF	Freelancer IFF
Tag(s)	Cadet/Judge
Primary role
To bring order back to a chaotic universe
Secondary role
To rebuild Tanhouser Gate and the great library of human history it once held

The Judges or the Judicial Order as it is called by it's members, is either a relatively new organization or an exceptionally old one depending on ones view of the history books. While the current incarnation is only around 16 years old, the core pilots have traces dating back to the first days of contact between the original four great houses.

History (Pre-Judge Era)

Liberty Interplanetary Defense Force (122 A.S. to 230 A.S.)

The earliest traces of the Judges can be dated back to 122 A.S. in what was slowly becoming the Liberty Republic. Originally a local planetary police force formed to deal with problems in orbit of planets and later to oversee the security of the Valhalla Research operations, the organization would slowly develop into the underlining, if only temporary, military arm of Liberty.

By 155 A.S. this military (Now officially named the Liberty Interplanetary Defense Force or L.I.D.F.) while officially was tasked with protecting the steadily increasing supply of pilots now moving between the worlds in their star systems, unofficially they were tasked with the protection of the recently implemented "Jump Innovative" being developed by the now renamed, Ageira Technologies.

Over the next 60 years, with the development of the first fully functional jumpgate, and the rapidly expanding contact between the four houses, the L.I.D.F. would begin to see an influx of memebers as the mandate was slowly changed from being a military arm for the house of Liberty, to a multi-house defense force. Their job was now to oversee the successful construction of jumpgates throughout the four houses. By 230 A.S. with the creation of the Liberty Navy, the L.I.D.F. would go from a government controlled military, to now a private defense contractor being funded directly through several corporations as well as the four house governments all wanting to see jumpgates built throughout their systems. No longer directly controlled by any one government they were now tasked with the protection of all ships working on jumpgate construction. Seeing themselves as the direct promoters of human progress, they renamed themselves the Civilian Progress Protectorate (C.P.P.).

Civilian Progress Protectorate (230 A.S. - 589 A.S.)

Until the early part of the 4th century, the C.P.P. would continue to see widespread growth and steadily become the recognized protectors of the jumpgates. As trade continued to expand, they began to operate as guards protecting the local traders when outside government controlled sectors. By 310 A.S. , the C.P.P. had become the single largest independent military contractor in all of Sirus. Instilling in its members a firm belief that they were the protectors of humanities best interests, they began the construction of a new base somewhere in independent space. The leader of the C.P.P. was quoted in stating, "We have overseen the creation of the jumpgates reconnecting humanity! It was our ships, our people who created the links that have allowed for this golden age to be created! As such, the C.P.P. has begun development of a new facility. A facility dedicated to protecting the knowledge of humanity. The last stronghold for all knowledge to be stored for any and all who wish to study it. We, of the Civilian Progress Protectorate, introduce the construction of Tanhouser Gate!" By 314 A.S. , with a fully staffed an exceptionally well funded facility at their disposal, the C.P.P. created a base that was not only grand in scale and facilities, but housed the largest library of information in all of Sirus. Modeled after the concept of ancient Earth's Library of Alexandria, the C.P.P had achieved its greatest accomplishment to date. In order to keep the base better protected however, the only way to find the base was for the C.P.P. to take you there themselves. Ensuring that no single government could attempt to take the base and the knowledge it contained by force.

Sadly, all good things must end and so it did. Beginning in 317 A.S. , Bertonia found itself embroiled in a civil war. Until now, the C.P.P. had never seen a full scale military conflict on this scale. With entire battle fleets taking sides and firing on anyone they perceived as a threat. With the BRF and BPN now embroiled in the first true war to ever be seen in the Sirus sector, the Bertonian branch of the C.P.P. found itself caught in the middle. While some of its members felt they should directly interfere with the war, the majority felt it best to simply get out of their way. As such, by 318 A.S. , the C.P.P. had completely pulled out of Bertonia. When the war ended the following year, the newly created commonwealth was not interested in an "uncontrolled outside military".

Problems did not end there. In 321 A.S. , a coup in Kusari would "remove" the Hideoyoshi dynasty from power. Until then, the C.P.P. had maintained a strong connection with the Royal Guard in protecting the local space. With the guard in exile and a new, more militaristic, KNF having been formed, Kusari threw the C.P.P. out of their space. Officially, this was because the C.P.P. "are too ill equipped to protect the nation that is Kusari from the kinds of enemies we now face" unofficially though, it is believed that the now dubbed Blood Dragons owed there escape in part to C.P.P. members who disagreed with the coup, causing the jumpgates to "malfunction" at a critical moment.

Having lost it's influence in both Bertonia and Kusari, there presence and frankly, their necessity, was questioned further by the remaining houses. As house militaries grew in size and scope, the C.P.P. found itself growing weaker as further restrictions were being placed on what they could or could not do. By the mid 6th century, the C.P.P. were becoming complacent and when the Eighty years war began in Rhineland in 589 A.S., the C.P.P. withdrew completely from most of Sirus to the protection of Tanhouser gate. No longer attempting to protect the civilian population, but still finding a large number of people flocking to them for knowledge, they would take on a new name better suited to their new task of determining who should gain access to their information and who should not. These would become, the Judges.

The first Judge Era (590 A.S.- 720 A.S.)

(The following information comes from only recently rebuilt records and is not entirely intact as a result. )

Over the next century, the Judges would become a highly trained, yet very limited organization operating exclusively out of their hidden base. They maintained a high level of research and had access throughout the academic world of all the houses but no longer the military or political power they once held. The organization enacted a limited recruitment policy of only accepting the best pilots or smartest scientists they could find. They brought people to the library and labs to study if they deemed the student as worthy and kept ears open throughout Sirus for any new developments.

While it is unknown exactly when ( believed to be sometime between 695 A.S. and 710 A.S.) certain artifacts had been uncovered and brought in by Judicial cadets operating out of Rhineland space. Extensive study showed the artifacts to belong to a unknown alien race ( believed to be Daam K'Vosh) which the organization had not seen since it's original work with Valhalla Research.

Whether or not this technology was of value or not is unknown (the surviving records only have given the name "Project Leviathan" with almost no reference to what it was) but sometime in 720 A.S. , the Judges were attacked by a massive military force (No information has survived indicating who it was) which resulted in the destruction of both the great starbase, and most of the Judges. While there were some survivors and several important data archives were rescued, this would effectively end the organization with very few knowing what happened.

By this point, the organization had become so withdrawn from the other houses, their destruction was not even really noticed, and their name became something more of a legend then a history account.

The second Judge Era (803 A.S. to present day)

In the aftermath of the first Nomad war the Sirius cluster had become Balkanized worse than it ever had before. Instead of one great power fighting the Nomad incursion, or even the four great houses standing together, now there were dozens of tiny states fighting each other, the Nomads, the four houses, and anything and everyone. The economy sank as inter-space transports and traders were routinely attacked, captured or destroyed by tiny powers seeking to increase their resources. Only strongly escorted convoys could get through, robbing military resources needed for Cluster defense. Wars erupted between the great houses showing no end in sight as their fleets battle year after year, and the people die. Many leaders of the major and minor powers would not risk cooperate and potential losing face. Even those wishing for peace could dare not seek it to prevent appearing weak or vulnerable to attack.

It was evident that something was needed to be done.

While now operating in secret, the remaining members of the Judges (Mostly comprised of the great grand children of the survivors) began to reassemble themselves into a small organization based out of Liberty. Using money coming from private financers (some being corporations) and the remaining records from the original library, they struck out to find their lost heritage in hopes that perhaps, they could bring back some of the peace their ancestors once saw.

By 809 A.S. they had succeeded in their goal and located the remnants of Tanhouser gate, left untouched from the battle almost 90 years ago. Over the next decade, using the surviving information from the base, and the connections they have maintained throughout Sirus, they have rebuilt themselves into a small yet cohesive military force with influence spanning both corporate and military assets.

With Bertonia in near ruins, Liberty and Rhineland locked in a war with no end in site, Kusari locked in a desperate struggle to hold its power base, piracy running at its highest level in Sirian history and now a new house called Gallia with it's massive fleet making a play to conquer all in their path. The Judges are now given the near impossible task of trying to restore even a small amount of order in a galaxy on the verge of collapse.

Judicial Mission Statement

Primary Goals

To bring order back to a chaotic universe

• To stem the tide of piracy against the civilian population

• To rebuild Tanhouser Gate and the great library of human history it once held

• To reunite the original four house in peace as our predecessors had seen

Secondary Goal

• Determine what Project Leviathan was and if it can be of any value

Code of Conduct

• Judges seek to bring Justice to all the worlds of Sirius through respect for local laws and respect of Sirius cluster long held believes in the ancient laws of man.

• Judges show integrity as a concept of consistency of actions, values, methods, measures, principles, expectations, and outcomes.

• Judges are men and women of high honor showing strong moral character and adherence to ethical principles. They can and have been invited to pass Judgment on systems local affairs with the certain knowledge that they will judge on the evidence and merits of the case. They do this only with permission of local authorities

• Lady Justice is depicted with a set of scales typically suspended from her right hand, upon which she measures the strengths of a case's support and opposition. She carries a double-edged sword in her left hand, symbolizing the power of Reason and Justice, which may be wielded either for or against any party. The blindfold represents objectivity, in that justice is or should be meted out objectively, without fear or favor, regardless of identity, money, power, or weakness; blind justice and impartial. The Judicial Order serve Lady Justice. We are the sword of her strong right arm and our ultimate goal is to have her stand on every world ensuring pauper and king will be treated fairly at all times and in all things……We are the Judges.

Let this code be your life. Violation of our codes will result in suspension and possible ejection.