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background

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BACKGROUND (continued)

ABOUT THE GRAND PRINCIPALITY OF THE TIMES OF SOVEREIGN ELESSAR.
“The power of the heir of Isildur and Anarion was recognized by all; at the same time, the rulers and governors of all lands took an oath of allegiance to him, as well as to his future heirs, ”the chronicles of that time say so. It is also written there that during the reign of Sovereign Elessar "peace and prosperity came to the wounded lands of Middle-earth."
During his reign of one hundred and twenty years, Aragorn the Great became famous for many deeds. To count them all, our story will not be enough. So let's just remember the main ones. To the extent of the inquisitive reader, we suggest turning to other, fairly well-known sources.
In the first years of the reign, the bastions of the capital of the southern principality, Minas Tirith, were restored, after them the ruins of the glorious Osgiliath came to life, and life returned to Itilia. Stone crossing bridges over the Anduin near Osgiliath and Erui, a small fortress in the lower reaches of the Great River, were rebuilt.
The lifeless plain of Mordor was surrounded by eight watchtowers, and the former nest of horrors, the fortress of Minas Morgul, was returned to the glorious name of Minas Itil. Restored anew, it also became the main one in the chain of fortifications that encircled the former citadel of Evil. Although the plains and foothills of Mordor were deserted, naked and deserted, “the vigilant guard kept a vigilant watch in order to destroy even the slightest sprouts of Darkness in this fetid abode,” as the Sovereign himself commanded.
In the north, Annuminas (the former capital of the northern principality), Fornost and Forettenblat were rebuilt. A harbor of the same name was founded in South Lindon, which later became a sea stronghold on the West Bank (by that time, the Elven Argent Havens in the Gulf of Lune continued to exist, although there were few inhabitants there). The fortress-port of Belfast was also laid on the shores of Forochel Bay.
Many areas of the united principality received freemen, that is, in accordance with the Law, the lands were transferred to their inhabitants for eternal use, and no one could violate the boundaries of these possessions without the permission of the local rulers. Naturally, first of all, Hobbitania was awarded such an honor, followed by Rohan (Ristania), Erebor and the rather empty Razdol. They were also joined by Lorien, Fangorn, Druadan and the Everlasting Forests (which, however, no one would have put their nose into those places anyway - the fear of their rulers was so great).
By the same time, Umbar (originally Gondorian lands) and Harad, the lands of the southern barbarians, who had plagued the southern borders of the principality, were conquered from the corsairs. As the chronicles testify, the local tribes of the Haradrim were so frightened by the power of the military rati of the united principality that "they came with a confession and took an oath of allegiance to Sovereign Elessar." Nevertheless, five impregnable fortresses were erected along the Harad River - a shield against the possible machinations of troubled neighbors in the future, and a huge fleet was located in the harbors of Umbar.
Having dealt with the troubled southern borders, the Sovereign undertook a campaign to the east and "brought into submission the eastern tribes of the barbarians" (which mainly included the few Easterlings, miraculously survived after the overthrow of Sauron). Then it became clear that "with the death of the Black Lord, the Dark Veil, which separated the original Middle-earth from the vast continent, fell, and the vast expanses of new, unexplored lands opened up to people."
...Here it should be noted the following: The Dark Veil (it is also the Veil of Lies) is a rather philosophical concept than a material one. For many centuries it was believed that a huge icy desert stretched to the north of the Gray Mountains (and there seemed to be irrefutable evidence of this), and the lands to the east of Rune Lake were unsuitable for life. It turned out, however, that this was not true. It is possible that these false ideas are the work of Sauron himself, who tried to prevent the settlement of free peoples across the vast expanses of the continent...
In subsequent years, numerous teams of pathfinders went to explore the New Lands, and the first settlers followed them. In the year 83 (hereinafter all dates are indicated in the New chronology - N.L.) on the steep shore of Rune Lake, in the place where the Begushaya River flows into the lake, a city was founded, which later received the name Runemin (“city on the hills near Lake Rune "). A little further south, also on the shore of the lake, a fortress called Kelon was founded. In the place where the Begushaya and Karaya rivers drain their waters (the latter originates in the spurs of the Iron Hills and is so called for its dark, muddy, yellow waters), the village of Mezhirechye arose. Subsequently, it turned into the largest trading city, since it lay at the intersection of all trade routes in the south and north of New Middle-earth. Thus arose the eastern province of the united principality, known in history as East Gondor or Rhun.
In the north, the pathfinders reached the Amun River - that was the name given to it by the few tribes of people (chords) that huddled in the swampy lowlands near the river. It is said that the first settlers, struck by the greatness of the river, wanted to call it Sirion (after the greatest of the rivers of ancient Beleriand), but for some reason the Elvish names did not take root in the New Lands. At the mouth of the Belbek River, where it flows into the Amun, the city of Amunblat was founded (year 102), which, over time, became the capital of the northern province of the principality - Chordia or Northern Arnor. The locals soon mingled with settlers from the south; perhaps that is why little is known about the history of these tribes.
By the year 120 (the moment the Sovereign left), the united principality had reached such an unprecedented flourishing that “no one could encroach on its power,” as the chroniclers testify.

ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT OF ELDARION.
As you know, shortly before his death, Aragorn II, following the ancient customs of his majestic ancestors, abdicated in favor of his only son.
Eldarion received the scepter of Annuminas from his father in 120 A.D.; then he was only forty-two years old, a short time for an heir of the Dúnedain. In the history of Middle-earth, Eldarion remained (primarily) a sovereign who ruled the united principality longer than anyone before or after him (which is not surprising, knowing who his parents were). He died in 352. Under him, the limits of the "human state" grew to its modern limits. In fact, it has become a huge kingdom.
In the east, the lands of the principality stretched to the very Taishal Mountains, beyond which began endless steppes, where hordes of predatory black-haired barbarians - the steppe people - ruled.
... It should also be noted that the names of the new territories, for the most part, were borrowed from the languages ​​of a few local tribes, related to humans and living on the occupied, or rather, developed lands from the very beginning. So, the names Taishal, Tatyah and Ummah came from the language of the Balklot tribe, who miraculously survived in the forests in the extreme southeast of the New Middle-earth, and Manmuk and Mangup came from Easterlings...
In the southeast, the East Sea became the border of the principality. Traditions in which it is mentioned under the name Ringol go back thousands of years. In the place where the Yuzhnaya River, which originates in the spurs of the Eastern Hills, flows into the Sea, the fortress-port of Estlind was founded (this is how the coastal lands were nicknamed). Ships built in the shipyards of Estlind have traveled hundreds of nautical miles in the hope of finding the fabled Walls of the East. But the rocky shores to the east of the principality “were deserted, only rare caravans of barbarian hermits occasionally descended to the edge of the sea surface; however, seeing the white sails of the majestic ships, they immediately took to their heels ... ". The southern wanderings of the navigators turned out to be more successful: a relatively easy path was found to the city of El Sabbah, the capital of the tribes, which had long been known as the Variags.
In the north, the Sovereign's possessions reached the Ice Sea (much north of Lossoth), but the generally recognized border was the Phantom Mountains (Alyakh-Tam), beyond which stretched a lifeless plain, nicknamed by the local tribes of the Dead Valley. The northeastern border was the Table Mountains (Northern Taishal), in the foothills of which the dwarves discovered magnificent Salt Caves. Next to them, in the upper reaches of the Kalara River, which also flows into the majestic Amun, the settlement of Salihard soon arose, a little to the south - the fortress of Amonfost, and even lower, at the very mouth of Kalara - the city of Libuza, which eventually became shopping mall throughout the northern province.
The Tatyakh River was considered the eastern border of the Grand Duchy. The remnants of the once formidable eastern tribes huddled mainly on its banks, but the settlers settled in these places reluctantly.
The southern border remained unchanged: beyond Umbar stretched a vast desert, where only the tribes of the Smuglings could survive. However, along the Nikhhen River, which flows into the Gulf of Umbar, a trade route was laid to El-Kairy, the only city of the Haradrim, and a sea crossing was established between the city of Umbar and the fortress of El-Kantar, the former stronghold of the corsairs on the east coast of Belegaer.
The western border, as before, was the boundless ocean, beyond which the Blessed Shores were hidden.
By the year 300, the wealth and fame of Arnor and Gondor had grown so much that they could only be compared with the former Numenor. However, the glory of Numenor was legendary, that is, intangible. The wealth of today's kingdom was obvious. Perhaps that is why in 301 the sovereign Eldarion issued a decree according to which the united principality began to bear the name New Numenor, and a year later announced that the capital of the New Kingdom was transferred to Annuminas. There were no clear explanations for this step (the fact that “the native borders of the great parents of the Sovereign are the lands of Arnor” cannot be considered a worthy explanation), but the chroniclers suggest that one of the probable motives for moving the capital could be the very cool relations that have developed recently between the Sovereign and the oldest families of Gondor.
This decision was taken ambiguously by the subjects of the Sovereign. If the inhabitants of Arnor welcomed the transfer of the capital of the glorious principality to the north, then in the south of the country (Pelargir and Erui) even riots broke out.
Within a few years, the small provincial town of Annuminas has grown and completely transformed. On the shores of Twilight Lake, a majestic golden-domed palace was built - the residence of the Sovereign, while Razdol became the summer residence. Dwarves also took part in the construction of the palace.
In Annuminas, the fortress walls were rebuilt, the most beautiful gardens were laid out around the palace, a granite embankment was erected along the lake, and northeast of the capital, also on the shore of the lake, was erected (about a hundred feet high) the mausoleum-tomb of the Great Rulers. Initially, Eldarion intended to transfer the bodies of his parents to this temple, but later he had to abandon this idea. If the body of the father, Aragorn II, rested in the tomb of Minas Tirith, then the body of the mother was not found. According to the chronicles, soon after Arwen left for Lorien, the forest and the valley of the Celebrant (Vorozhei) river were enveloped in such a white and dense fog that it was impossible to see one's outstretched hand in it. Many madmen tried to get into the protected forest, or swim through the river, but not one returned. The mausoleum became a cenotaph; later, the tombs of Eldarion himself and many subsequent rulers of New Numenor were erected in its vicinity.
However, this was not the only thing that Emperor Eldarion became famous for. As the chroniclers testify, he was excessively proud and capricious, he looked at his subjects with contemptuous arrogance and rarely heeded advice, for which he was compared with the legendary ruler of Numenor Ar-Pharazon the Golden.
Shortly after ascending the Throne, Eldarion took Dione, Barahir's granddaughter, as his wife. Two years later they had a son, who was named Aragorn III. They say that the Sovereign doted on his youth, but at the age of ten, the heir to the Throne died under unknown (hidden from historians) circumstances. It is known that the father grieved for his beloved son for several days, and then poured out all his anger on his wife, expelling her from the sovereign's palaces. Dione spent the rest of her days in Emyn Arnen.
The second wife of the Sovereign was Mileddina, heiress of the leaders of Pomorie. In total, four sons and two daughters were born from their marriage. The written sources that have survived to this day are silent about the fate of girls - perhaps their fate was no different from the fate of millions of other women. Eldarion gave his sons the names of the rulers who (in his opinion) became more famous in the history of mankind: Elendil, Isildur, Arvedui and Earnil (later this tradition took root in noble families, although it seems that often the names of children were chosen at random). However, as the chroniclers testify, the Sovereign did not love his wife and children and often grieved for his first, untimely deceased offspring. Perhaps this was the cause of the conflict, as a result of which relations with the powerful southern clans became, to put it mildly, cool; and more and more often the nobles of Gondor began to disobey the Sovereign.
After moving to Annuminas (Mileddina had died by that time), Eldarion took Enya, the daughter of the Arnor governor Valael, as his wife. They had a boy, who was named Anarion, and "again love for his son blossomed in the heart of the Sovereign."
The older sons, rejected by the parent, grumbled - as it is written in the annals. Perhaps that is why (around the year 320), the Sovereign decided to appoint (in many sources it sounds “remove” or “expel”) his sons “untimely governors of princely lands”. So Elendil became the ruler of Umbar and Harad, Isildur of Northern Arnor (Chordia), Arvedui of Eastern Gondor (Rune), Earnil of Gondor. The young offspring, Anarion, got Arnor with new capital principalities - Fornost. Annuminas and Razdol remained the property of the Sovereign.
At the last moment, the Sovereign's sisters, who by that time had been widowed more than once, buried their children and grandchildren, but had numerous great-grandchildren, joined in the "division of the territories". As a result of short negotiations, they "snatched" from Arnor - the patrimony of Anarion - two relatively small principalities. The Elving clan began to rule the coast of Lindon (Western Eriador), and the Idril clan settled in Ostranna (Eregion).
Only Ristania, Hobbitania and Esgaroth were directly subordinate to the Sovereign himself.
Thus ended the Great Division and the seven Great Houses (Dynasties, Clans - in various sources) of New Numenor were formed, ruling Arnor, Gondor and the provinces of the Grand Duchy without change for many centuries. Of course, things could not do without unrest, strife and civil strife; however, we will not dwell on these sad events, since they have no direct relation to our further narrative. Let us only pay attention to a number of deeds of Sovereign Eldarion (fatal decisions, as the chroniclers called them), which played a certain role in the future.
First of all, it should be noted that the transfer of the capital of the Grand Duchy from Gondor, which bore the brunt of the struggle against the Black Lord, to Arnor gave rise to centuries-old hostility between the noble families of the South and North.
Further, it should be noted that the artificial creation of the Great Houses inevitably had to end with the Conflict of the Rulers. We should not forget also: officially the boundaries between the "possessions" were not established, which resulted in numerous border conflicts in the future.
And, finally, shortly before his death, contrary to the centuries-old tradition and precepts of his own father, the Sovereign declared his youngest son, Anarion, the successor to the Golden Throne of New Numenor. There was no explanation for this decision, although, I think, the essence of such a step by Eldarion is clear.

ABOUT THE BOARD OF THE ANARION DYNASTY.
Anarion II accepted the scepter of Annuminas in 352, ruled the state for 195 years, died in 547 and did not signify anything special in the history of Middle-earth, except for two circumstances. Firstly, after Anarion II, the years of reign of the subsequent heirs to the Throne declined sharply. So, Anarion IV (96 years old) arrived on the Golden Throne more than anyone else, Ondoger II (34 years old) less than others. Secondly, the tradition of Eldarion was established: shortly before his death (without abdicating the Throne), the Sovereign named the name of his successor. Most often, however, it was the eldest son of the lord, as was customary for a long time.
After Anarion II, the scepter of Annuminas was invariably inherited by the rulers of the Anarion dynasty, and sixteen more Grand Dukes (Sovereigns) sat on the throne of New Númenor for almost a thousand years. They were all half-elves (or thought they were) and all "followed the precepts of Aragorn the Great" (or pretended to follow them). However, the further the family tree moved away from the True Ancestors - Aragorn and Arwen, the less noticeable the hereditary features of the Great Rulers became, and the life expectancy of each successor decreased, although they lived long enough by human standards.
Eärendil III, the eldest son of Anarion II, ruled for only forty-six years (from 547 to 593 - the years of reign are given in parentheses) and became famous for declaring a "campaign for the purity of blood." After him, marriages between close relatives became the rule. Over time, signs of a clear decline of some of the Great Houses appeared, and fewer and fewer children were born.
During the reign of the above-mentioned Anarion IV (742-838), the tribes of the southerners got out of obedience and, under the leadership of their leader El-Hattar (Al-Khatar - according to some sources), undertook an unprecedented campaign against the Grand Duchy. The southerners captured two Umbar fortresses in the upper reaches of the Harnen River, besieged the city of Umbar and even approached the Itil lands, where they were met by the Sovereign's army and utterly defeated. However, for almost two hundred years, the raids of the southerners on the border regions of Umbar did not stop, until the Sovereign Arveleg V in 952 "with a great army (not) besieged and took by storm the capital of the Haradrim - El-Kairi." After that, the smuggling raids practically ceased, but the tension on the southern border remained.
Under Araphor III (1027-1072), the son of Arveleg, the eastern barbarians - the steppes began to disturb the borders of Rune. That, however, their raids were not massive and did not cause tangible damage to the economy of Eastern Gondor. Then, in the years 1048-1050, a plague came from the east (for some time now, all diseases and misfortunes have been called plague); many people died, but this disaster did not undermine the forces of the state.
The son of Arafora, Arafant III (1072-1144) became famous only because after him it "came into fashion" (for a while) to call his sons the names of the legendary leaders of the Dunedans. Thus, Arathorn V became the successor of Arafant, and Aragorn VI (1329-1397) became the fourteenth Grand Duke (after Eldarion). Under him, the corsairs again began to annoy the southern borders of the state, but after several bloody sea battles they were dispersed and were not mentioned at all in the history of Middle-earth. After Aragorn VI, three more princes of the Anarion dynasty sat on the throne of New Númenor.
In 1484, Earnur III, son of Ondoger II, became the seventeenth Sovereign (what an irony: it was Earnur who - in his time - was the last hereditary prince of Gondor). As the chronicles testify, the Sovereign was excessively fond of traveling, and "was greedy for various adventures and dubious pleasures, placing the government of the state on the shoulders of the governors." In 1501, at the age of sixty-seven, he died suddenly after contracting a strange and unknown disease in the forests of Rhovanion. It so happened that the name of the heir to the Throne was not named ...

ABOUT THE ERUIR AGREEMENT.
For many years, none of the Great Dynasties has expressed open dissatisfaction with such a long reign of the House of Anarion. But after the sudden death of the last Sovereign, "hidden envy and the desire for unlimited power poured out." While Annuminas and Arnor were in mourning, in the south of Gondor, in Erui - a small but picturesque and cozy town on the banks of the Great River - representatives of non-royal Dynasties gathered in secret. What was discussed there, I think, is not worth talking about ... In the History of Middle-earth, that gathering was called the “Eruir Conspiracy”. He laid the foundation for the Conflict of Rulers.
Since the name of the heir was not named, exactly one year after the death of the Sovereign, the name of the successor should have been officially announced at the Great Council. It is known that the House of Anarion was going to enthrone the eldest son of the deceased Earnur - Barair II. However, the "Eruirians" began to insist on an open choice of a common leader, referring to the really existing ancient laws of Arnor and Gondor.
The council dragged on for months. Undisguised threats, blackmail, incitement were used. Unrest occurred, several dozen representatives of ancient families died in internecine strife. As a result, the reigning Dynasty was forced to yield.
Possible candidates for the Great Throne were discussed even longer. The trouble is that by that time, hundreds of worthy, wealthy and noble rulers considered themselves direct descendants of Aragorn and Arwen (and quite rightly). Bloodlines in most cases were too confusing - the fates of half-elves and humans were so tightly intertwined over fifteen centuries. It was agreed that each of the Great Dynasties would nominate one, the most worthy candidate; in the future, all Sovereigns will be elected by the Supreme Council.
After two rounds of closed voting, three contenders for the Throne remained: Barair II from the Anarions, Elenorn from the Elendils and Sadrain from the House of Idril.
At the last, secret ballot, by a margin of only one vote, the one hundred and two-year-old Sadrain was elected ruler of the Great Throne. On the day of the Spring Solstice of 1503, together with his retinue, he entered the Golden-domed Palace, taking over the reins of New Númenor.
Thus ended the era of the permanent reign of the Anarion dynasty.

ABOUT ATTENDANTS.
As eyewitnesses testify, Barair II "deeply experienced his failure, however, suppressing pride in his heart, he took an oath of allegiance to the newly elected Sovereign."
Eleanorn, on the other hand, was an excessively proud, quick-tempered and wayward person. Despite the persuasion of his fellow tribesmen, he left Annuminas with a grudge in his heart not only for Sadraine, but also for all his other relatives. Returning to Umbar, his possessions, he announced his rejection of the newly elected Sovereign and began to gather an army for a campaign against Annuminas. He was not even embarrassed by the fact that by such actions he deliberately weakens the restless, southern border of the Great Power.
It would seem that the Sovereign was obliged to rein in his presumptuous subject (and there was plenty of strength for that), but, contrary to common sense, Sadrain (later called “indecisive”) sent only missions that urged Elenorn “not to sow discord, moderate pride and take an oath loyalty to the Sovereign in order to maintain peace and tranquility in the Grand Duchy.
It soon turned out that many lords, although they publicly condemned the ruler of Umbar and Harad, secretly sympathized with him and even supported him.
In the early spring of 1505, an army of forty thousand led by Elenorn and his eldest son Askeld left Umbar and set off on a difficult campaign. It was necessary to overcome a considerable distance from the extreme south of the united principality to the extreme north-west. Soon the army approached the southern portions of Gondor.
Altaïr, the ruler and governor of the Sovereign in Gondor, at the head of a considerable army met Elenorn near the town of Erui mentioned above, but his army was stationed on the opposite, right bank of the river Anduin. "Faithful to the Oath", Altair, however, did not enter the battle. Elenoorn, on the other hand, moved north along the left bank of the Great River through the flowering Itil lands (“without marauding and without oppressing the local residents”). Along the right bank, parallel to the Umbarian host, the warriors of Gondor silently followed ...
Elenorn's army crossed to the opposite shore above the Reros waterfall, then followed along the northern border of the Ristanian fiefdom and in the middle of summer, having passed the southern spurs of the Misty Mountains, came to the Orym Plains (Dunland) - the southern limits of Arnor. Here they were awaited by the 50,000-strong combined army of Arnor, Ostranna, and Lindon.
The first battle since the reign of Aragorn the Great broke out in the expanses of Middle-earth.
The northerners were more numerous, and the southerners were warriors hardened in battles with the desert barbarians. The army of the West was swept away, and Elenorn's army moved on.
By the beginning of autumn, they reached the possessions of the reigning Dynasty - Idril and laid siege to the city of Osse-Timit (the capital of Ostranna), but they could not take it by attack. Leaving the siege force behind, Eleanorn, at the head of the remnants of the rati, moved further north along the western spurs of the Misty Mountains. Having passed Razdol, by winter the army reached the majestic cliffs of Ettenblat and laid siege to the fortress of Forettenblat. By that time, the southern army numbered about twenty-five thousand soldiers, since a considerable part had to be detached to the siege of the restless Tharbad.
Here they were overtaken by the sixty thousandth army of the Sovereign. A battle broke out, in which the southerners were (naturally) routed, Elenorn slain; the remnants of his army fled. Breaking away from the chase, they found refuge in the northern spurs of the Misty Mountains, where, according to legend, the Black Lord of Angmar once ruled.
The further fate of the "southern army" is overgrown with many legends and tales. It was said that they aroused the wrath of the spirit of the Black Lord himself, and therefore fled further north, where they wandered into the Dead Wastes and finally disappeared in the Northern Swamps.
As it turned out later, the remnants of the Umbar army, which was led by the eldest son of the deceased rebellious prince, Askeld, eked out a half-starved existence in the mountains of Angmar for another ten years, and then set off on a difficult campaign and reached the extreme shores of the North Sea. It happened closer to 1550. There, on the shores of the Gulf of Norren, a “principality in exile” was founded and a fortress was built - Nordfost, now known as the “Northern Stronghold”. Over time (by 1800) the fortress turned into a capital city, overgrown with towns and villages. Life in the north was harsh, but the settlers established strong trade ties with the local barbarians, the Nords and Severins. Later, trade relations were established with Northern Arnor, and gradually these principalities drew closer ...
At first, the northerners called themselves "the people of Askeld", and later simply skelds. In the south, in Hordia, they were called Norlongs. In the Grand Duchy of Elenorn, Askeld and their descendants, they did not call them anything other than apostates.

ABOUT THE SECOND COMING OF MAGES.
Altair remained in disfavor for many years, but continued to sit on the throne of Gondor. The Elendil dynasty with great difficulty retained the former fiefdom of Elenorn, renouncing their kinsmen to the twentieth generation. This was accompanied by an event, the news of which for some time excited the entire united principality.
In 1506, an old man appeared in the vicinity of the fortress of Minas Lambar (the easternmost citadel in the system of fortifications along the Harnen River). He looked incredibly ancient and thin, but wiry, and seemed full of strength. He wore a blue mantle, his head with long gray hair was not covered. In his hands he clutched a staff adorned with a figurine of a mountain hawk cast in pure silver. Even those who only heard about magicians immediately understood who was in front of them. The elder ordered himself to be called Alatar.
At that time, the army of Western Eriador (as the principality of Lindon was often called) stood in Umbar, which was headed by Prince Rianur. Alatar with honors, but also with great fear, was taken to his camp. It turned out there (according to the elder) that even in ancient times he sailed along with other wizards to the shores of Middle-earth so that, at the behest of the blessed Valar, “with his advice to help rulers from people in choosing difficult but just decisions.”
However, fate turned out so that over time he ended up in the lands of the Far East. For long and long years he learned the wisdom of the rulers there, was in great mercy, but he was also imprisoned for many years for innocent misdeeds. Only recently he returned to the lands of the original Middle-earth and learned about what happened here during the years of his forced absence. The only thing that the magician Alatar wanted was to "help the current rulers in their eternal struggle against the hidden evil."
They believed the wizard.
It was thanks to his efforts that (in 1509) Sovereign Sedrain agreed to leave behind the Elendil family their patrimony - Umbar and Harad. Dannethorn, the son of Emol, became the ruler of the principality, and in the south of the united principality (for a while) peace and tranquility were restored. The apostates were forgotten for many years.
Alatar, thanks to his wisdom and deep knowledge, soon won honor and respect in the southern principalities of New Númenor. In 1538 he moved to Minas Tirith to the court of his master, becoming for many years the closest adviser and confidant of the rulers of Gondor.

ABOUT THE MILLENNIUM WAR.
The "Thousand Years' War" is commonly referred to by most chroniclers as the events that followed Elenorn's defection. Note, however, that although after 1505 border skirmishes and military misunderstandings between the principalities occurred frequently, nevertheless, for more than three hundred years, relative peace reigned in the territory subject to the Sovereign of New Númenor.
In 1833, Itenemir from the Isildur dynasty became the Grand Duke, ruler of Northern Arnor and viceroy of the Sovereign in Chordia. The sovereign of New Numenor at that time was the young, energetic Eleborn III (of the Elwing dynasty). And although the prince took an oath of allegiance to the Sovereign, but "his heart was tormented by a thirst for unlimited power, and in his dreams he ascended to the heights of greatness." In addition, it should be noted that the Isildur family had never held the scepter of Annuminas in their hands, and Itenemir was well aware that he had few chances to ascend the Throne “by peaceful means”.
In its vastness (territory) Hordia surpassed Arnor and Gondor put together; however, there were half as many people living there, and cities and settlements were scattered between forests and foothills. There was no way to raise an army capable of seizing the throne of New Numenor. (It is interesting that, in all likelihood, the ruler of the northern principality with his advisers did not consider such options for coming to power as a direct attempt on the life of the Sovereign, etc.).
Nevertheless, by 1840 Itenemir began to gather squads. The preparations of the prince did not go unnoticed by the advisers of the Sovereign, but the northern ruler explained the military preparations by the fact that he was preparing a campaign against the barbarians who were harassing the borders of the principality. Explanations accepted...
Meanwhile, Itenemir began to look for allies and turned, at first, to his southern neighbor, the Grand Duke of Eastern Gondor. The ruler of Runa - Etamin from the Arvedui clan answered evasively to the neighbor's vague proposals: they say "let the kinsman first flash his military prowess, and then we'll see."
Then Itenemir turned his gaze to the north, where the eternal apostates lived - the Norlongs (with whom Hordia had long established trade relations behind the Sovereign's back) and easily enlisted their support.
In 1842, Itenemir gave his second daughter Irinna in marriage to the Norlong hereditary prince Norok. This was how the alliance between the two northern principalities was consolidated, and, perhaps, the plan for the upcoming military campaign was formed at the same time. It seems that from this date the longest, most ferocious and devastating war in the New Middle-earth should be counted.
By the spring of 1845, Itenemir gathered forty thousand troops in the vicinity of Libuza, and soon about ten thousand Norlongs joined him. Only under the rays of the sun did the northern peat bogs seize and the roads slightly dry up, the army moved south along the Great Northern Highway, along the Karakh River, and at the beginning of the month Lotesse (May is the modern name) reached the lands of the province of Dol. Four days before the onset of summer, the army approached Esgaroth, which is on the Long Lake near the Lonely Mountain, or Erebor.
Esgarot was a "free city", so they did not keep a large squad on the walls. The local prince (history did not retain his name), judging sensibly that he would not be able to resist such a rati, and wait for help for a long time, the next day opened the gates of the city. The local gnomes, grown fat from a quiet life and forgot which side to take the ax in general, hid, whoever could, mostly in the caves of the Lonely Mountain or buried themselves in the thickets of the Great Forest, or Mirkwood, as the locals still call these forests. residents.
Emboldened by the first, unexpectedly easy victory, the warriors of North Arnor moved southeast and attacked the nearest strongholds of their neighbor, East Gondor.
Etamin of Arvedui, lulled by his northern neighbor's assurances of friendship and a "possible union in the near future", was simply not ready for such a treacherous attack. Moreover, most of his valiant squads were far from the capital, reflecting the raids of the eastern barbarians. While he was gathering an army and sending messengers for help to his neighbors, Itenemir and the Norlongs captured a good third of his principality (including the trading city of Mezhirechye), laid siege to Runemin, as well as the fortress of Kelon. At the same time, it was the Norlongs who became famous for their particular cruelty, as the chroniclers tell.
The success of the united army of Hordia and the northern apostates was also facilitated by the fact that most of the cities of the eastern principality did not have reliable defensive fortifications: in the years of peace and prosperity, the construction of fortress walls seemed excessive wastefulness. Most of the inhabitants settled in small villages and farms scattered across the vast expanses of Novye Zemlya. Fortress walls encircled only large cities. And then, it was more evidence of their significance and a tribute to tradition than truly defensive structures.
After the first successes, the Forces of the North increased markedly. Their army, according to eyewitnesses, numbered more than a hundred thousand soldiers (all the men in the occupied lands were taken into the army; as some chronicles report, the remnants of the Balklot and Easterling tribes also joined the northerners). The Beornings, dissatisfied with the policy of the Sovereign (a number of their ancestral lands were transferred under the protectorate of Eastern Gondor), for the time being remained neutral, despite the capture of Esgaroth and Dol by the northerners.
And then came an unusually fierce winter.
The Sovereign seemed to have enough time to gather a large army by spring and deal with Itenemir, but the northerners had an unexpected ally.

ABOUT THE THREE FORCES.
The Grand Duke and Viceroy of the Sovereign in Gondor at that time was Naorion of Earnilov, thirty-eight years old - a young man by the standards of the ruling Dynasties. All of his youthful years, as the chroniclers testify, the young governor spent in the company of the magician Alatar and was literally enchanted by stories about the greatest states of antiquity, great rulers and valiant warriors. Years passed, and Naorion not only “desired power, but most of all, great glory for himself and his ancient family.”
The story turned out so that in the same year, when the army of Itenemir crossed the border of a neighboring principality, in the south of Gondor, Naorion with the magician Alatar (a trusted adviser to the prince) gathered a fifty-thousand army, having managed to enlist the support of Umbar and (with some reservations) the golden-headed Edoras.
Of course, it was not possible to hide military preparations from the Sovereign, but the red-speaking Alatar furnished everything with the fact that Gondor was preparing for war with Itenemir. A plan of action was drawn up.
In the spring of 1846, the sixty-thousandth army of Arnor, led by the Sovereign, crossed the Anduin in the Carrock region and invaded Thranduil, subject to the Beornings (this is how the area where the northern elves once ruled is still called). The plan was simple: cut off the main enemy forces from Chordia; Gondor was to strike the decisive blow in the south.
After waiting for the Sovereign's army to get bogged down in battles with the northerners, Naorion and Alatar moved their troops to the west and soon entered the territory of Arnor.
However, it turned out that the Sovereign did not trust his southern neighbor too much. Near Osse Timit and Tharbad, the army of Naorion was met by the well-trained squads of Ostranna and West Eriador. The vigilantes did not get involved in serious battles, preferring to inflict cavalry strikes at night or from ambushes, which brought tangible losses to the Gondorians. Dozens of small but bloody battles and skirmishes took place daily.
It soon became clear that the seemingly victorious campaign of Gondor against the Golden-headed Annuminas failed, just begun. Nevertheless, by the middle of summer, having transferred reinforcements from Umbar, and with the help of the Ristani, Naorion took Tharbad by storm. On this, the forces of the southerners and the military impulse dried up.
The sovereign’s army also got bogged down in small battles and could not achieve a decisive advantage in the east, although by the end of the summer the free city of Esgarot was taken (liberated, as recorded in the annals) and “law and order were restored on the territory of the Undermountain Kingdom.”
The Hordians (warriors of Hordia) with the Norlongs, meanwhile, not only entrenched themselves in the occupied lands, but by the end of 1846 they stormed the fortress of Kelon and increased the pressure on the capital of Rune, the capital city of Runemin. Etamin Arvedui, Grand Duke Eastern Gondor, without waiting for the promised help, was forced to back down, and at the beginning of winter a "peace treaty" was concluded with the northern neighbor.
At the same time, the first clashes between the squads of Gondor and the northerners took place - the expanses of the Brown Plains became the cause of contention. Thus, within two years, Middle-earth was divided - torn apart! - into parts between the Three Forces (as it is customary to call the alliances that formed then among the chroniclers).
The forces of the West were Arnor, West Eriador (Lindon) and Ostranna (Eregion). On their territory was the Golden-domed Palace in Anuminas, which personified the Supreme Power, as well as the legendary Razdol and the Silvery Harbors.
The forces of the South were composed of Gondor, Umgar-Harad and Rohan (the Ristani supported the Gondorians rather out of habit, so to speak, and in the name of good neighborly relations that had developed over the centuries, as well as according to old, thousand-year-old treaties, than to please their present interests). On the side of Gondor was the undying glory of victorious over the Common Enemy.
The forces of the North - Hordia, Rune and the Norlongs owned a huge - three times larger than the expanses of the original Middle-earth - a territory with potentially limitless, but little explored wealth of lands, rivers, forests and mountains, which in the future could lead (but did not) to a decisive advantage in the confrontation.
It soon turned out, however, that the forces of the parties in the current Conflict of Rulers are approximately equal ...

ABOUT THE GREAT DIFFERENCE.
Years passed.
None of the parties to the bloody conflict managed to tip the scales in their favor for a long time. Dozens, maybe hundreds of large and small battles took place every year in the expanses of the former united principality. Less and less often, its inhabitants remembered the once glorious name - New Númenor. The best of the best representatives of the ancient Dynasties perished in the smoke of the conflagrations, and there was no end in sight to internecine strife. Ordinary people increasingly sought salvation in the vast expanses of the East and North.
In 1888, taking advantage of the fact that the southerners had long and unsuccessfully besieged Lindon and Maven (a port on the shore of the Gulf of Lune), the army of the northerners, led by Itharn, the son of Itenemir, who had died by that time, invaded Gondor. Crossing the Anduin north of the legendary island of Cairo Andros, they besieged and stormed Amon Beacon, a small fortress north of Minas Tirith. Then, not daring to attack the well-defended capital of the southern principality, the army moved west and soon laid siege to the golden-domed Edoras (the main forces of the Ristanians were then in Ostranna).
Upon learning of this, Naorion ordered all his troops to hastily follow to the aid of the besieged Ristanians. But it was too late. The capital of Ristania, Edoras, famous for centuries, as well as Dunhar (a small city in the spurs of the White Mountains south of the capital) were plundered and burned to the ground, while the inhabitants were all put to the sword. In the heat of battle, the young wife of the Ristani king was also killed, and their young offspring also died. However, the northerners also suffered unheard-of losses.
The Gondorians with the Ristani overtook the remnants of the Northmen's host at the crossing at the mouth of the Ontava River. As a result of a short battle, the northerners were literally torn to pieces, only Itharn with a handful of warriors crossed the Anduin and fled from the chase in the Dead Marshes.
Naorion was so enraged by the scale of the tragedy that befell the southerners that, without hesitation, he sent his faithful adviser, the magician Alatar, into exile. The place of exile was determined by Minas-Sul - the easternmost watchtower, one of the eight that surrounded the dead Mordor.
Iodoret, king of Ristania, according to eyewitnesses, mourned for two days at the ruins of the glorious Edoras. On the third day, having gathered all the surviving Rastanians (warriors and civilians), he "publicly cursed the peoples of Middle-earth, whose minds were eclipsed by pride." Some time later, about thirty thousand Ristanians (the remnants of the Eorling tribe) left their once ancestral lands and moved in a camp to the east.
The river Anduin they crossed opposite the Morannon; then they followed the Brown Plains, repeatedly clashing with the squads of the northerners. Five months later news came that the Ristani camp had crossed to the eastern bank of the Tatyah, at the place where the small river Manuk flows into it, in the extreme east of Rune. For a long time, nothing was reliably known about the further fate of the famous horsemen ...
Thus began the Great Scattering.
The next, presumably, left the vastness of Middle-earth hobbits. This is understandable: a corner of paradise was in the path of movement of innumerable troops, and the war swept over Hobbitania several times, leaving "non-healing ulcers and bleeding wounds on her tender body."
However, in what year exactly the descendants of Bilbo and Frodo went on a new wandering, the chroniclers do not know. This people was too secretive and inconspicuous, and it’s good to hide ... It is believed that this happened not earlier than 1920, but not later than 1980. amusingly, the hobbits called their settlements) it was not clear. But it can be assumed that, like most of the then refugees, they went to seek peace and quiet somewhere in the east or in the north of Middle-earth. However, Norgord, the capital of the former Hobbitania, has survived to this day, although it is now inhabited by the descendants of the Arnorians who fled from the even more troubled lands of the Grand Duchy.
The gnomes split up. Some of them, still calling themselves the people of Durin, held to the age-old tradition and remained to live, despite adversity, in the halls of the Lonely Mountain, the Blue Mountains and in the caves of the Iron Hills. Unless they dug deeper... As you know, the dwarves never returned to Moria: perhaps the reason for this was a long-standing fear of Durin's Curse. But it is also possible that the treasures of the legendary Khazad-Dum have become so diminished that for the practical Dwarfs their ancient cradle simply ceased to be of any interest.
Some of the Dwarves who called themselves the "Children of Gimli" (although he had no children) settled in the Shining Caves, from where many settled, over time, throughout New Middle-earth, looking for rare metals and outlandish gems in the depths of the most remote spurs of the Taishal Mountains and reviving ancient crafts. By the way, the Dwarves of Salihard also consider themselves descendants of Gimli.
For the most part, the gnomes took root in cities and towns - these were nicknamed "earth gnomes." However, they did not dig in the ground. They preferred trade, usury and everything that brings income. But the war forced them to look for quiet places. Therefore, today it is rare to meet a gnome, although it seems that the total number of this people has not decreased in any way.
Scattering also gave rise to multi-belief - faith in the One, inherited by the peoples of Middle-earth from the high elves, was shaken by the war. Initially, small monasteries appeared in the vicinity of the age-old Fangorn, where they worshiped the "true protectors of people" - the Ents. The hermits called themselves druids. Later, communities of hermits were found in the most unexpected places (about a dozen still exist in the spurs of the Black and Izgarny mountains, where people rarely bring people). They worshiped who knows. At one time the hermits were persecuted, but without success.
Scattering gave rise to another force - the Force of the East. In 2220, an unprecedented invasion of the steppes began on the eastern, unprotected lands of Runa. Their warriors were “small in stature, but fierce; all as one on horseback, while equally well wielded short curved swords, bows and spears. The barbarians were led by Emid, the great-grandson of the Rastanian king Iodoret. The army of the Ristani barbarians was then stopped only at the gates of Runemin, but all subsequent years the raids did not stop, causing considerable harm to the already bloodless eastern principality ...
That's such a terrible echo resounded scattering ...

ABOUT OUR TIME.
Active hostilities continued with varying success until the year 2400 (as is known, the only major battle after that took place within the limits of Hordia in 2462), finally destroying the former good neighborly relations between the principalities. Trade, agriculture, crafts fell into decline ...
However, in Our Time, the war has practically ceased. The reason, it seems, lies not in the lack of military prowess, the desire for glory, greatness, power. Everything is much simpler: former opponents simply no longer have the strength.
The world has not changed, but the world is tired of fighting.
And so came the year 2488 according to the New Reckoning ...

Sergey Tarmashev

Ancient. Background. book two

“Native land is sacred and priceless. It cannot be given to the Strangers either as a gift, or for the sake of self-interest, or for the sake of mercy, for every race has its own land. The Shining One, who gave away even an inch of the land of his race to the Strangers, commits a crime for which there is no forgiveness. From that moment on, both he himself and his entire Family are doomed to degradation. And if the enemies, by the power of Weapons or Deception, have taken away its land from the Shining Clan, then there will be no rest for that Clan until it destroys the enemy and throws out its stinking dust from the land of its Ancestors.

(From the Commandments of the Shining Civilization)

Chapter first

958,000 years ago, a four-dimensional layer of the Universe, dead space, low-energy space beyond the perimeter of the Edge galaxy, board of the Shining Beacon of close combat, 2 hours 87 parts according to the time system of the Shining civilization.

The ship's power circuit received an incoming short-range signal, and Alina, sleeping in the glow of the pilot's station, opened her eyes, restoring full fusion with the ship with an impulse worked out to automatism. By an effort of will, she forbade herself to integrate into the stream of her lover on duty, so as not to lose her working mood, and she delved into the essence of the radio exchange he was conducting. Looks like the long inactivity is coming to an end.

Commander Harald's 40th Strike Group hung in the middle of dead space for the second week, observing the ban on the use of long-range communications, and in order to maximize secrecy, all activity of warships was reduced to a minimum. Nothing should give the enemy away from solar systems building. For in the very center of the battle formations of the strike group, which had taken up all-round defense, flurry of activity. Fifty civilian construction and installation ships in exceptional haste erected a colossal object. You cannot hide a stationary intergalactic zero-transition inside the solar system, and the point here is not even in the absolutely gigantic size of the structure. The perturbations of the space-time continuum caused by its functioning are too huge and will not allow maintaining secrecy. Here, beyond the outskirts of the spiral galactic arm, beyond the Frontier, at a considerable distance from the nearest solar systems, there is an endless cosmic void that does an excellent job of maintaining secrecy. Around for many hundreds of light years [The civilization of the Shining Ones does not use the unit of measurement "light year", hereinafter this measure of distance is used for the convenience of the reader.] there is nothing but vacuum. And the Dark Ones have no way even to guess about the ongoing construction, which is the determining factor. The stationary zero-transition will not just be assembled under the nose of the enemy, it will appear inside the space of low energies, in the operational rear of the enemy hordes attacking the space of the Light races. And a powerful fist from the combat groupings of the Shining Ones will hit the rear of the enemy directly from the epicenter of the high-energy space. The chances of the enemy to avoid a crushing blow are rapidly approaching zero, because the object has already been built and the only thing left to do is to have time to complete the pre-launch debugging of the object before the Dark Ones discover it.

- ...from the intelligence center on Dey they report about the detection of multiple disturbances in hyperspace, - Alina listened to Harald's voice coming from the flagship cruiser, - at least three dozen hyper-tracks are stretched to us. The Guardians give a time estimate of two hours [One hour of the Radiants is approximately 1.5 hours of Humans.] before contact with the main enemy forces. Thirty-six parts [One part of Radiants corresponds to 37.5 seconds of Humans.] before contact with the advanced squadrons, moving at the slowest speed in maximum stealth mode.

The dark ones threw troops at us only from Pogranichnaya? said Thorbrand.

While there is no other data, - Harald fell silent for a moment, receiving information from the ship's stream of his flagship. - But, according to the plan of the headquarters of the fleet, it should be so. First, the Dark Ones will want to make sure we're actually building here. And if that's the case, then they'll throw everything they can muster quickly towards the zero-transition.

Alina smiled wickedly. This was the calculation. The construction of the stationary zero-transition is carried out in the strictest secrecy, but several high-class civilian specialists in the construction of space objects from the Master caste were urgently recalled from the solar systems of the two Allied Light races. Skillful Masters assisted the allies in the construction of space defenses, and although the bioenergetic technologies of the Shining Ones are inaccessible to technical races, it was often the calculations of the physical processes that accompany space construction that turned out to be truly invaluable support for the allies. And suddenly, in the midst of these vital works, the Shining Ones suddenly recall their specialists urgently and without explanation. And only the Masters themselves, leaving in a hurry, saying goodbye to friends and colleagues from among the allies, sparingly dropped vague phrases about some stationary zero-crossing, which they would have to build in the shortest possible time, no one knows where.

The agents of the Dark Ones from among the traitors occupying various positions in the allied civilizations have swallowed the bait. The traitors wasted no time sending reports to their masters and were ordered to determine where the recalled Radiant Masters had gone by all means. And since the Masters are a civil caste, when they flew away, they did not take the observance of conspiracy in good faith and were not able to thoroughly confuse the traces. As a result, a week later, the entire sector of low-energy Dark Space that fell under the suspicion of the Dark Space was teeming with enemy reconnaissance ships, and three days ago, the reconnaissance center on Day recorded the presence of one of the Emissaries of the Arrogant Dark Ones in this sector. From that moment on, the fortieth shock trooper froze in anticipation of an attack, the crews of the ships continuously carried out combat duty, and the soldiers of the resting watches slept right in the glow of their combat posts.

And it was very sad, because the crew of the "Shining" consisted of only two people, and Alina had no choice but to keep watch when Thorbrand was sleeping, and sleep when he was awake. She stifled a sigh. Almost two weeks alone with her lover turned out to be the most silent period in their two-year communication. In conditions when a bloody battle could break out at any moment, military discipline was strictly observed, and one had to be content with stingy phrases of acceptance and surrender of combat duty, accompanied by a short kiss. Sleep - watch - sleep. The expectation of a battle in complete inaction exhausted her, and Alina once again regretfully agreed with her own conclusion ten years ago: it is better to be born in a military caste than to appear from the outside ... In general, with the number of crew, everything turned out much better than it could.

And this consisted in the fact that the correspondence of her personal energy flow to the flow of Torbrand was ideal, as a result of which their energy connection Fighter - Valkyrie had an efficiency coefficient objectively equal to one hundred percent. The same circumstance led to the fact that he and Thorbrand decided to create a marital union, because they are ideally suited to each other. And the Valkyrie half always fights alongside her man. Therefore, she was immediately assigned to serve on Torbrand's Light, for which his crew was officially increased to two people.

In general, all warships of the White Death class have very serious dimensions, and aircraft carriers are gigantic colossi at all, accommodating the Great Circle of assault cruisers - one hundred and forty-four combat units, nine full circles. Such a hulk is not planted on the surface of the Earth, all operations for its maintenance are carried out in orbits or in outer space. But Melee Beacon is an exception in the class. It is relatively small in size, because it is completely subordinated to close combat, justifying its name. His Space-Time Warp is so powerful that it inflicts monstrous damage to everything within its reach, and therefore the Melee Lights operate in isolation from the rest of the ships of the squadron and almost always in the "battle to the death" mode. Only an extremely strong Radiant is capable of initiating the launch of physical processes in the Distorters and inflicting the maximum possible damage with them. Therefore Lights are the weapons of the Battle Aces and mighty Harmonious fighters, no one else can launch the Distorters. And such powerful warriors are able to control the ship alone. Therefore, the entire crew of the Melee Beacon is a single Radiant. But if such a powerful fighter has a Valkyrie-half, then he has the right to include it in the crew of his Light, because both in battle and in life they are a single whole. So we can safely say that she was still lucky with the quantitative composition of the crew.

Because at first Thorbrand did not want to take her in the carriage. Even after she solemnly handed him an engagement beacon instead of a wedding ring with the engagement Light of melee combat, almost with all the fortieth shock. Svetocha latest model Thorbrand was glad as a little child at a sweet present. But he drove her off the ship a moment after he handed her his wedding ring ...

In a difficult hour for the Motherland, the race of the Shining Ones continues to wage a mortal battle. Their enemies are countless, and their leaders are immortal - for it is not the Sovereigns themselves who fight and die. dark worlds, but only their avatars. For them, death in battle means nothing more than the loss of expensive equipment, and they do not experience fear of death. But the warriors of the Shining ones die for real, and they don’t know the word “fear” for another reason. The mighty veteran Thorbrand, known as the Thirteenth, and the young Valkyrie Adelheid, who recently became his half, can sometimes stand alone against the armada of enemies - but the streams of invaders arriving from the Dark Worlds are endless ...

Sergei Sergeevich Tarmashev

Ancient. Background. book two

* * *

“Native land is sacred and priceless. It cannot be given to the Strangers either as a gift, or for the sake of self-interest, or for the sake of mercy, for every race has its own land. The Shining One, who gave away even an inch of the land of his race to the Strangers, commits a crime for which there is no forgiveness. From that moment on, both he himself and his entire Family are doomed to degradation. And if the enemies, by the power of Weapons or Deception, have taken away its land from the Shining Clan, then there will be no rest for that Clan until it destroys the enemy and throws out its stinking dust from the land of its Ancestors.

(From the Commandments of the Shining Civilization)

Chapter first

958,000 years ago, a four-dimensional layer of the Universe, dead space, low-energy space beyond the perimeter of the Edge galaxy, board of the Shining Beacon of close combat, 2 hours 87 parts according to the time system of the Shining civilization.

The ship's power circuit received an incoming short-range signal, and Alina, sleeping in the glow of the pilot's station, opened her eyes, restoring full fusion with the ship with an impulse worked out to automatism. By an effort of will, she forbade herself to integrate into the stream of her lover on duty, so as not to lose her working mood, and she delved into the essence of the radio exchange he was conducting. Looks like the long inactivity is coming to an end.

Commander Harald's 40th Strike Group hung in the middle of dead space for the second week, observing the ban on the use of long-range communications, and in order to maximize secrecy, all activity of warships was reduced to a minimum. Nothing should betray to the enemy the ongoing construction far from the solar systems. For in the very center of the combat formations of the strike group, which had taken up all-round defense, stormy activity was in full swing. Fifty civilian construction and installation ships in exceptional haste erected a colossal object. You cannot hide a stationary intergalactic zero-transition inside the solar system, and the point here is not even in the absolutely gigantic size of the structure. The perturbations of the space-time continuum caused by its functioning are too huge and will not allow maintaining secrecy. Here, beyond the outskirts of the spiral galactic arm, beyond the Frontier, at a considerable distance from the nearest solar systems, there is an endless cosmic void that does an excellent job of maintaining secrecy. Around for many hundreds of light years there is nothing but vacuum. And the Dark Ones have no way even to guess about the ongoing construction, which is the determining factor. The stationary zero-transition will not just be assembled under the nose of the enemy, it will appear inside the space of low energies, in the operational rear of the enemy hordes attacking the space of the Light races. And a powerful fist from the combat groupings of the Shining Ones will hit the rear of the enemy directly from the epicenter of the high-energy space. The enemy's chances of avoiding a crushing blow are rapidly approaching zero, because the object has already been built and the only thing left to do is to have time to complete the pre-launch debugging of the object before the Dark Ones discover it.

“...from the reconnaissance center on Dey they report about the detection of multiple disturbances in hyperspace,” Alina listened to Harald’s voice coming from the flagship cruiser, “at least three dozen hyper-tracks are stretched to us. The Guardians give a time estimate: two hours before contact with the main enemy forces. Thirty-six parts to contact with the advanced squadrons, marching at the slowest speed in the maximum stealth mode.

– The Dark Ones threw troops at us only from Pogranichnaya? Thorbrand said.

“There is no other data yet.” Harald fell silent for a moment, receiving information from the ship's stream of his flagship. “But, according to the plan of the headquarters of the fleet, it should be so. First, the Dark Ones will want to make sure we're actually building here. And if that's the case, then they'll throw everything they can muster quickly towards the zero-transition.

Alina smiled wickedly. This was the calculation. The construction of the stationary zero-transition is carried out in the strictest secrecy, but several high-class civilian specialists in the construction of space objects from the Master caste were urgently recalled from the solar systems of the two Allied Light races. Skillful Masters assisted the allies in the construction of space defenses, and although the bioenergetic technologies of the Shining Ones are inaccessible to technical races, it was often the calculations of the physical processes that accompany space construction that turned out to be truly invaluable support for the allies. And suddenly, in the midst of these vital works, the Shining Ones suddenly recall their specialists urgently and without explanation. And only the Masters themselves, leaving in a hurry, saying goodbye to friends and colleagues from among the allies, sparingly dropped vague phrases about some stationary zero-crossing, which they would have to build in the shortest possible time, no one knows where.

This book is part of a series of books:

Current page: 1 (total book has 23 pages) [accessible reading excerpt: 16 pages]

Sergei Sergeevich Tarmashev
Ancient. Background. book two

© S. S. Tarmashev, 2015

© AST Publishing House LLC, 2016

* * *

“Native land is sacred and priceless. It cannot be given to the Strangers either as a gift, or for the sake of self-interest, or for the sake of mercy, for every race has its own land. The Shining One, who gave away even an inch of the land of his race to the Strangers, commits a crime for which there is no forgiveness. From that moment on, both he himself and his entire Family are doomed to degradation. And if the enemies, by the power of Weapons or Deception, have taken away its land from the Shining Clan, then there will be no rest for that Clan until it destroys the enemy and throws out its stinking dust from the land of its Ancestors.

(From the Commandments of the Shining Civilization)

Chapter first

958,000 years ago, a four-dimensional layer of the Universe, dead space, low-energy space beyond the perimeter of the Edge galaxy, board of the Shining Beacon of close combat, 2 hours 87 parts according to the time system of the Shining civilization.

The ship's power circuit received an incoming short-range signal, and Alina, sleeping in the glow of the pilot's station, opened her eyes, restoring full fusion with the ship with an impulse worked out to automatism. By an effort of will, she forbade herself to integrate into the stream of her lover on duty, so as not to lose her working mood, and she delved into the essence of the radio exchange he was conducting. Looks like the long inactivity is coming to an end.

Commander Harald's 40th Strike Group hung in the middle of dead space for the second week, observing the ban on the use of long-range communications, and in order to maximize secrecy, all activity of warships was reduced to a minimum. Nothing should betray to the enemy the ongoing construction far from the solar systems. For in the very center of the combat formations of the strike group, which had taken up all-round defense, stormy activity was in full swing. Fifty civilian construction and installation ships in exceptional haste erected a colossal object. You cannot hide a stationary intergalactic zero-transition inside the solar system, and the point here is not even in the absolutely gigantic size of the structure. The perturbations of the space-time continuum caused by its functioning are too huge and will not allow maintaining secrecy. Here, beyond the outskirts of the spiral galactic arm, beyond the Frontier, at a considerable distance from the nearest solar systems, there is an endless cosmic void that does an excellent job of maintaining secrecy. Around for many hundreds of light years 1
The civilization of the Shining Ones does not use the unit of measurement "light year", hereinafter this measure of distance is used for the convenience of the reader.

There is nothing but a vacuum. And the Dark Ones have no way even to guess about the ongoing construction, which is the determining factor. The stationary zero-transition will not just be assembled under the nose of the enemy, it will appear inside the space of low energies, in the operational rear of the enemy hordes attacking the space of the Light races. And a powerful fist from the combat groupings of the Shining Ones will hit the rear of the enemy directly from the epicenter of the high-energy space. The enemy's chances of avoiding a crushing blow are rapidly approaching zero, because the object has already been built and the only thing left to do is to have time to complete the pre-launch debugging of the object before the Dark Ones discover it.

“...from the reconnaissance center on Dey they report about the detection of multiple disturbances in hyperspace,” Alina listened to Harald’s voice coming from the flagship cruiser, “at least three dozen hyper-tracks are stretched to us. The Watchers give a time estimate: two hours 2
One hour of the Radiants corresponds approximately to 1.5 hours of Humans.

Before contact with the main enemy forces. thirty six parts 3
One part of Radiants corresponds to 37.5 seconds of Humans.

Before contact with the advanced squadrons, moving at the slowest speed in the maximum stealth mode.

– The Dark Ones threw troops at us only from Pogranichnaya? Thorbrand said.

“There is no other data yet.” Harald fell silent for a moment, receiving information from the ship's stream of his flagship. “But, according to the plan of the headquarters of the fleet, it should be so. First, the Dark Ones will want to make sure we're actually building here. And if that's the case, then they'll throw everything they can muster quickly towards the zero-transition.

Alina smiled wickedly. This was the calculation. The construction of the stationary zero-transition is carried out in the strictest secrecy, but several high-class civilian specialists in the construction of space objects from the Master caste were urgently recalled from the solar systems of the two Allied Light races. Skillful Masters assisted the allies in the construction of space defenses, and although the bioenergetic technologies of the Shining Ones are inaccessible to technical races, it was often the calculations of the physical processes that accompany space construction that turned out to be truly invaluable support for the allies. And suddenly, in the midst of these vital works, the Shining Ones suddenly recall their specialists urgently and without explanation. And only the Masters themselves, leaving in a hurry, saying goodbye to friends and colleagues from among the allies, sparingly dropped vague phrases about some stationary zero-crossing, which they would have to build in the shortest possible time, no one knows where.

The agents of the Dark Ones from among the traitors occupying various positions in the allied civilizations have swallowed the bait. The traitors wasted no time sending reports to their masters and were ordered to determine where the recalled Radiant Masters had gone by all means. And since the Masters are a civil caste, when they flew away, they did not take the observance of conspiracy in good faith and were not able to thoroughly confuse the traces. As a result, a week later, the entire sector of low-energy Dark Space that fell under the suspicion of the Dark Space was teeming with enemy reconnaissance ships, and three days ago, the reconnaissance center on Day recorded the presence of one of the Emissaries of the Arrogant Dark Ones in this sector. From that moment on, the fortieth shock trooper froze in anticipation of an attack, the crews of the ships continuously carried out combat duty, and the soldiers of the resting watches slept right in the glow of their combat posts.

And it was very sad, because the crew of the "Shining" consisted of only two people, and Alina had no choice but to keep watch when Thorbrand was sleeping, and sleep when he was awake. She stifled a sigh. Almost two weeks alone with her lover turned out to be the most silent period in their two-year communication. In conditions when a bloody battle could break out at any moment, military discipline was strictly observed, and one had to be content with stingy phrases of acceptance and surrender of combat duty, accompanied by a short kiss. Sleep - watch - sleep. The expectation of a battle in complete inaction exhausted her, and Alina once again regretfully agreed with her own conclusion ten years ago: it is better to be born in a military caste than to appear from the outside ... In general, with the number of crew, everything turned out much better than it could.

And this consisted in the fact that the correspondence of her personal energy flow to the flow of Torbrand was ideal, as a result of which their energy connection Fighter - Valkyrie had an efficiency coefficient objectively equal to one hundred percent. The same circumstance led to the fact that he and Thorbrand decided to create a marital union, because they are ideally suited to each other. And the Valkyrie half always fights alongside her man. Therefore, she was immediately assigned to serve on Torbrand's Light, for which his crew was officially increased to two people.

In general, all warships of the White Death class have very serious dimensions, and aircraft carriers are gigantic colossi at all, accommodating the Great Circle of assault cruisers - one hundred and forty-four combat units, nine full circles. Such a hulk is not planted on the surface of the Earth, all operations for its maintenance are carried out in orbits or in outer space. But Melee Beacon is an exception in the class. It is relatively small in size, because it is completely subordinated to close combat, justifying its name. His Space-Time Warp is so powerful that it inflicts monstrous damage to everything within its reach, and therefore the Melee Lights operate in isolation from the rest of the ships of the squadron and almost always in the "battle to the death" mode. Only an extremely strong Radiant is capable of initiating the launch of physical processes in the Distorters and inflicting the maximum possible damage with them. Therefore Lights are the weapons of the Battle Aces and mighty Harmonious fighters, no one else can launch the Distorters. And such powerful warriors are able to control the ship alone. Therefore, the entire crew of the Melee Beacon is a single Radiant. But if such a powerful fighter has a Valkyrie-half, then he has the right to include it in the crew of his Light, because both in battle and in life they are a single whole. So we can safely say that she was still lucky with the quantitative composition of the crew.

Because at first Thorbrand did not want to take her in the carriage. Even after she solemnly handed him an engagement beacon instead of a wedding ring with the engagement Light of melee combat, almost with all the fortieth shock. Torbrand was pleased with the light of the latest model, like a small child with a sweet gift. But he drove her off the ship a moment after he handed her his wedding ring ...

Alina smiled, remembering the events of two years ago. She reduced the hardness of her combat armor to a minimum and gently touched the elegant silver thing hanging on her chest, feeling a particle of her lover's energy flow. The radiance of her blue eyes involuntarily increased in intensity, and the white-golden hair echoed the burst of energy. The name "Thirteenth" is embossed on the inside surface of Thorbrand's wedding ring. She chuckled softly. He bore the child's name for so long that on his thirty-second birthday, when the warrior of the Shining Ones reaches the age of marriage, his mother gave him an engagement ring with the name Thirteenth, because he had no other at that time. This is so cute!

But before Alina had time to be touched by this detail, Torbrand put her out of her own Light in no time. Well, in a sense, now the Light was no longer hers, more precisely, he was the engagement Light, which means Thorbrand would return it to her on her wedding day, as it is supposed to do with wedding rings, but for the next two summers the ship belongs to him, that's right, but that's it equally embarrassing! Alina even tried to be indignant at such a blatant injustice, but immediately received a palm in an elastic place, and she immediately got sick of being indignant. For personal safety, they had to transform the dress back into armor and leave the ship, after which the immensely saddened Alina was saved by Sigtrud.

“Did you transform the armor into a dress before you decided to argue with him?” - Sigtruda knowingly looked at the drooping Alina, painfully rubbing the injured part of her body with her palm. – It was a mistake. Don't be upset, everyone in our circle is so pierced.

“It hurts,” Alina complained, letting out a sigh filled with universal sadness.

“I know,” a mischievous smile flickered on the lips of the famous warrior. “But this place doesn’t care, so it will pass quickly. And in other places, the Valkyries do not get from the infinitely harsh warriors. It will even benefit - you will always be on the alert in the future! Even when nothing foreshadows danger. Incidentally, it is very conducive to the development of the reaction.

Did he somehow explain his decision? – in the voice of Sigtruda sounded notes of curiosity.

– He said that since he always fights in deathmatch mode, he can die in any battle. And therefore he is not going to destroy me along with him without any sense. - Alina jumped up passionately: - But this is wrong! I won't be a burden, I can help him! I am a good pilot, in the training center I managed all the maneuvers of the highest category of complexity better than anyone else, even better than many Mentors! I can hold the Shield, at the decisive moment it can save the ship if enemy attacks exceed the threshold of survivability of the Shield Crystals!

The four-meter beauty gently stroked the short Alina on the head, as if reassuring an upset child.

“Actually, he's just amazing. Well, think about it, a little harsh! Well, sometimes it can get stubborn, who doesn’t happen to? It hits your ass painfully and can throw you with all your might for two hundred meters if your Crystal of Flight is activated, and if not, then before that it activates it itself ... - The fearless Daari warrior sighed philosophically and smiled again: - But if you don’t anger him, he is very caring, monstrously kind and brutally cute. Again, you can keep the increased hardness of the armor in a soft spot, this significantly reduces the risks. Happy you, Adelheid! I'm terribly jealous of you! Come on, I'll take you to us, to the location of the Valkyries. As long as you fit in our circle, the sisters will be happy! And there you will see.

Sigtruda took her away to the Valkyries' living area to mourn, and submitted a report to Commander Harald asking him to consider the benefits of including the Harmonious Valkyrie Adelheid in the crew of the Veteran Torbrand's Melee Beacon. Harald approached the issue in detail. He took advantage of a short respite that stood out in the battles and summoned to himself all the interested persons, of whom there were unexpectedly many, because not only the entire circle of Thorbrand, but also half of the fortieth shock, which at that time was not on combat duty, came to the call. Since the entire strike group of Harald consisted of fighters of the Fornar clan, the number of those interested was in the hundreds.

As soon as everyone gathered, Harald read Sigtrude's report and formally asked Thorbrand the reasons for his unwillingness to include the Harmonious Valkyrie Adelheid in the team of his Light. He expectedly stated all the same reasons, and Harald decided to check how useful Alina could be as part of the crew of the Light, which by that time had received the name "Shining" from Thorbrand. At first, everything did not work out in favor of Alina. Thorbrand proposed to conduct a mock battle at Lights, because now there are two of them in the fortieth shock. He even lost to her for this duel "Shining", which, being the model of the latest generation, surpassed his own Light in all respects significantly. The firepower of both ships was conditionally recognized as equal, and pilot skill had to decide everything. Alina outdid herself then, desperately trying to win, but of course she lost the fight. Fight against Harmonious Veteran none female forces it is not enough if you have not managed to become a Fighting Ace by that moment. Alina emerged from the ship as the embodiment of sadness.

But Harald was not only a skilled commander. Wise with experience of more than a hundred years of life, the mighty commander was also a loving spouse and a wise father of sixteen children who grew up as worthy particles of the Race of the Shining Ones. Three of his eldest sons fell in bloody battles, covering themselves with unfading glory, and Rod Fornar entered their names in the ancestral Tablet of Valor. Harald understood everything perfectly and knew how to look deeply into the root. He bluntly admitted that Adelheid was far from Thorbrand's mastery, and there was nothing to argue about.

“However, we are now talking about the combat effectiveness of joint actions as opposed to individual ones,” he said immediately after the defeat of Alina. “That’s what we’re going to find out now!”

After this phrase, Harald immediately ordered the start of a second training battle, in which Alina was not allowed. In the ensuing battle, Thorbrand, on his Light, fought against several circles of his comrades-in-arms. Thorbrand was defeated and carried out a casualty count, calculating combat effectiveness. Sigtruda, who watched the fight with Alina, said that Harald often conducts such training fights and always calculates the number of Thorbrand's opponents so that the Harmonious Fighter could not emerge victorious. This makes Thorbrand improve. But as soon as the analysis of the training battle was completed, Harald ordered the battle to be repeated. However, this time, on his orders, two will fight on the Light: the veteran Thorbrand takes control of fire and protection, while the Harmonious Valkyrie Adelheid is appointed as the pilot. Having heard the order, Sigtrud conspiratorially exchanged glances with Harald and whispered in Alina's ear:

Don't let yourself and me down! This is the best chance to show how much you have comprehended your destiny! And impress Thorbrand! I will root for you!

Alina didn't need to explain twice. She flew like a meteor into the glow of the Pilot Station Crystal, blazing with determination to explode into atoms, but to show her best aerobatics. Thorbrand took up his battle post, filled with thoughtfulness, and before the command "Attack!" didn't say a word. Then the battle began, it merged with the Torbrand stream that filled the Luminary's energy circuit, and events rushed at the speed of flight clean energy. Alina was so immersed in her work that she even missed the end of the battle, and Torbrand himself extinguished the ship's course. It turned out that they won. At first, Alina even thought that Sigtrud had managed to negotiate with all the conditional opponents of Torbrand, but during the analysis of the battle it became clear that no one thought to give in. The combat effectiveness of the Harmonious Veteran - Harmonious Valkyrie combination significantly exceeded the potential of a single player.

“You freed yourself from aerobatics and focused on the conduct of combat,” Commander Harald demonstrated several arrays to Thorbrand at once with calculations of the maneuvers used in the training battle. – This significantly unloaded your energy flow, and the power of the Crystals of Shield and Might increased. Which automatically means a peak increase in the impact force of the Matter-Space Distorters in a real battle. Therefore, your Beacon has given out increased firepower and increased maneuverability, which allowed you to destroy a number of mock opponents that you cannot cope with on your own. Draw conclusions.

“Actually, it was only supposed to get in the way,” Thorbrand said thoughtfully, carefully studying the strings of calculations glowing in the air. - After all, when I myself pilot, I know exactly when and what maneuver I will perform. Now I had to spend time giving her orders. In theory, this was supposed to slow down the speed of the battle.

“Calculations show that this is always the case,” agreed Harald. But not in your case. Merging your streams is ideal. As long as you are in a common circuit, you act as one person. It takes your thoughts the moment your brain creates them. In other words, at this moment it is part of you. He handed the Tablet to Thorbrand. These are archival data from the times of the First Great Assa, they are one and a half billion years old, they were sent from Asgard, from our ancestral castle. It documented the effect of the perfect Fusion of Harmonious fighters with their Harmonious Valkyries halves. This happened more than once, and all the information fully confirms the data we received. This archival array has already been sent to all the Caste Training Centers. This is a very timely help, considering that in a few years new Harmonious Valkyries will be in service. Your future wife is the first of them, even though she is just a baby! We're all very lucky, don't you think? Especially you!

Frankly, at that moment Alina was terribly afraid that Torbrand would say something like that if they both died in battle, then here's your luck - everyone fell without leaving behind children. And he still refuses to take her to his Lighthouse. But the fate of the military caste is not similar to the civil one, and warriors look at the world differently. Thorbrand did not hesitate. On the contrary, he studied all the calculations and was very pleased with her. By the evening of the same day, Alina had already placed her simple belongings on board the Shining Light, rejoicing that from now on she would always be near her lover. True, her lover promised that if she piloted worse than today, he would drive her back to the Valkyries barracks, but Alina managed to get used to the peculiar humor of the military caste over the eight years of training. But the harsh military restraint was not given to her, and therefore she quietly contacted Astrid that evening and shared the good news with her friend.

- Happy you, Adelheid! - Astrid met her story with delight, and the Crystal of Long-distance Communication conveyed to Alina the imprint of her friend's energy flow. The young Daariyan warrior rejoiced at her happiness as if it were her own. - Just think about it! You have the Perfect Fusion in combat! So it will be the same in life! Now you will be everywhere and everywhere together! From now on, you are inseparable forever and ever! Just like in the legends! Have you already been in his stream? I mean, not in combat?

“Not yet,” Alina wrinkled her nose in annoyance. “I just moved in with him on Svetoch! I can’t just brazenly get into his stream, what will he think of me?! No sooner had we met than I was insolent! In general, I do not know under what pretext to organize this. I'm not tired of the battle...

- Hee! Astrid squealed. - Well, you give, girlfriend! Just ask him, you are in the military caste, pretexts are not in use here. If you need something, you must say it directly, and your soul mate will always help you. You are now forever together, remember?

“Two more summers before that,” Alina reminded. We've only been engaged for a few days.

- In your case, this is a mere formality! Astrid waved her hand nonchalantly. - You have the Perfect Fusion! This is Love at First Sight, it cannot be otherwise. Just ask him, you'll see, he will be pleased to let you into his stream. Warriors love to take care of their halves! Ah... – she dreamily closed her eyes, shining with delight with a starry glow, – I want that too! - Astrid was silent for a moment, after which her gaze blazed with indomitable determination: - But the Great Assa is being performed, we are fighting for the future of the Race of the Radiant, so now there is no time for personal happiness. Our whole circle unanimously decided not to declare themselves Wests for the next nine years, like Sigtrud's circle.

– Not too long? Alina was worried. “Still, Sigtrude's circle is made up of High Valkyries, they didn't become Vesti because they held Thorbrand's Shield Circle. But now they are all married, half of them keep their spouses in battles, the rest have left the inheritance of the Valkyrie and become mothers. Only Sigtrud still rejects Vesta's lot. The other day, she once again refused the engagement, although, as eyewitnesses say, her energy flow and the energy flow of the candidate corresponded well to each other. Command believes that something strange is happening to her, and Commander Harald generally announced that he would send her for a thorough examination to the Healer caste as soon as our strike group was removed from the front line for rest.

“Uh-huh,” the Daari beauty confirmed. “The command told us the same thing. King Gudborg even said that, despite our unanimity, four years later our circle would be charged with the duty to discuss again decision and change it in accordance with the situation on the fronts. And everyone says the same thing: endless participation in hostilities has a detrimental effect on the Valkyries, and they cite Sigtrud as an example. But in fact, Sigtrud has nothing to do with it. This is a military trick of the command.

- The trick of command? Alina thought for a moment. - In this way they wish to save the Valkyries for future motherhood?

"Of course," Astrid agreed. - Everyone immediately understood this! We have contacted many Training Centers in different galaxies and several hundred Valkyrie circles on all major fronts. Everywhere is the same. There are not enough Valkyries, fierce battles are going on everywhere, all our units are overworked. The transfer of several circles of Valkyries across the Galaxy from one spiral arm to another in order to participate in a combat operation is a common practice. Therefore, everywhere the Valkyries voluntarily renounce the lot of Vesta until better times. And the command is concerned that the carriers of the reference genotype are postponing motherhood, and their risk of dying increases.

- The command can be understood, - Alina objected, - the reference genotype should give offspring.

“No one argues,” Astrid agreed, “any of us dreams of meeting our soul mate and prolonging the Family of valiant warriors, giving birth to many beautiful children!” But fierce battles rage in which the Valkyries save the lives of millions of wounded soldiers! If we all get married as soon as we finish our training, who will carry the wounded out of battle? Warriors? And the number of combat units fighting the Dark Ones will have to be reduced in favor of the deployment of evacuation units? And who will exhibit the Circle of the Shield? The young Valkyrie shook her head decisively, which caused the two-meter waterfall of her hair emitting a snow-white radiance, feeling the activation of the combat mode, moved from her chest to her back. “None of us will abandon the Race in such difficult times!” Our warriors give their lives for the future of the Shining Ones, and we will not be left behind! Absolutely all the circles of the Valkyries throughout the space of the Shining Ones are postponing the acceptance of the fate of Vesta!

Alina reproached herself for belatedly understanding the meaning of her friend's words. This is for her, Alina, there is nothing to worry about, she is Harmonious. Soon she will become a woman of a mighty fighter, and she will not have to merge with her fighting friends into the circle of the Shield, for she is able to hold the Shield of her lover alone. The Higher Valkyries, born in the Sacred Summer, when marrying a husband, do the same, because their fighter halves, also born in the Sacred Summer, are very strong, and the energy bond formed as a result of the conclusion of a marital union is very powerful.

But the laws of bioenergetics of the race of the Shining Ones apply to all the Shining Ones, regardless of the power of their personal flows. The Valkyrie is able to hold the Shield only as long as her energy flow does not belong to anyone, because the Shield is held because the capacity of the Valkyrie is neutral and not rebuilt for male potential. As soon as the Valkyrie finds her soul mate and becomes a woman, her capacity is mated with the flow of her man, and the personal energy flow ceases to be neutral forever, because from now on the two halves have merged forever. This change happens once and for all, such is the nature of the Shining Ones, and therefore, in the event of the death of her fighter, the Valkyrie ceases to be a Valkyrie, because her capacity will never be able to correspond to another male stream. The same thing happens at the time of the birth of a child. As soon as the Valkyrie has carried a child, her container loses its integrity, because from now on it belongs not only to her man, but also to her children. A splintered container can't mount a reliable Shield in a fierce battle, except to help its lover just a little. From focusing on the lot of the Mother, there will be an order of magnitude more benefit.

Therefore, at such a difficult time for the Motherland and the Race, many Higher Valkyries who have entered into a marital union set aside the Mother's inheritance in order to keep their half-fighters in fierce battles. So did half of Sigtrude's circle, and reports of similar decisions are increasingly coming from other divisions. But if the High Valkyrie's bond with its warrior born in the Holy Summer is an unusually deadly unit on the battlefield, then the bond of an ordinary Valkyrie with an ordinary warrior is not powerful enough. It is much more efficient to place the Shield around a whole circle of Valkyries, because in this case their capacities are added together during the Battle Fusion process. The resulting Circle of the Shield has a high margin of safety, it can be set both to the wounded, slain in the area of ​​​​direct combat contact, and to soldiers going to the forefront of a foot or air attack, and to civilians or objects hit by a blow, if only a few parts of time are not enough for their evacuation . In such a situation, the Valkyries cannot afford the fate of Vesta, because the training of the Valkyries ends at twenty-one years, and at the same time the way of the military caste allows her to become Vesta. In the midst of merciless battles, no one wants to exchange the fate of the Motherland and the Race for personal well-being, only the Dark Ones do this, it is in the order of things for them. Therefore, they will never defeat the Shining Ones and will never equal us. It is not surprising that the Valkyries, whom the Rasa trained for twenty-one years, are eager to fight in order to fulfill their destiny, and do not want to shamefully hide behind the Mother's destiny a couple of months after graduating from the Training Center. Alina mentally smiled. The dark ones can't really understand this! But the Valkyrie, in the end, must become someone's soul mate and extend the Family of her man. Therefore, the command strives to protect the carriers of the reference genotype and does not allow them to get carried away by the lot of the Valkyrie excessively.

“So you think that the command is specifically referring to Sigtrude in order to prevent the Valkyries from postponing motherhood for too long?” She's not canceling the engagement herself, she's following orders? Alina tried to summarize Sigtrude's behavior during the days they spent in the High Valkyries circle. “Honestly, I hardly believe it, her flow does not carry insincerity ... And what do the sisters think about the warriors who wanted to make her their soul mate? Do they also follow the orders of the command? This is such a tricky operation - one after another they propose to her an engagement, and she refuses?

"We're not sure about that," Astrid admitted. – Most likely, only she and her true half received the order. With this warrior, the command secretly agreed on everything, and his name is kept secret. Sigtruda with her strange deeds cools the ardor of the Valkyries. The command came up with all this, and no combat injuries of the psyche have anything to do with it. The best representatives of the Healer caste have always dealt with her wounds, they could not allow such a serious mistake and not notice, much less heal such a wound! In addition, we contacted the Valkyries, who are representatives of all Clans that make up the First Hundred and a half, and they turned to the Guardians. So, during the time of the First Great Assa, nothing of the kind was recorded. Therefore, the case of Sigtrude is either a secret cunning of command, or exceptional nonsense, which, to put it mildly, poorly correlates with the continuity of nine billion years of military genetics. After all, Sigtruda belongs to the Fornar Family, and they are among the First Hundred and a half. In general, everyone understood.