9th November, Space Era Years 103.
The scent of gunpowder hung heavy over the skies of the galactic metropolis Berlyn. Explosions thundered without pause, and sirens wailed like the cries of the dying. Thus began the first day of the Centorian Civil War — a war between two ideologies that could not coexist.
The Thorsian Loyalists, sworn to the sacred blood of Thors, clashed against the Freedom Uprising, who sought to restore the republican order. Across the heavens, warships hovered above the burning capital, and streaks of laser fire split the night like the lightning of judgment.
By 10th November, the fighting had reached the royal sector of Berlyn. President Rudolf von Escheinsen, in a desperate bid for control, ordered the full military occupation of the capital. He declared martial law throughout the empire, abolished the Constitution of Space Era Years 100, and crowned himself "Acting President-Regent of Centory" — wielding absolute authority over both the Parliament and the Armed Forces.
Two days later — 11th November — an emergency session of Parliament was convened to negotiate peace between the warring factions. Yet the meeting only deepened the divide.Rudolf declared himself President for Life, amending the new constitution to make his title hereditary — just as the Lordship of Centory had once been — and granting himself exclusive power to appoint electoral candidates.
That declaration was the final spark. The war ignited once more.
12:36 Centory Time —A thunderous explosion tore through the Parliament Hall. The main gate was blown apart by the SSC (Schtuam Schuztavle Cerlinkle) — the elite black-armored guard of the Thorsian Loyalists — led by Colonel Aerys Vilozyver, the young heir of Centory, marching at the front beside his father, Marshal Vito Vilozyver.
As chaos erupted among senators and journalists, the great doors opened once more.The sound of iron boots echoed through the marble chamber.
"Alle aufstehen jetzt."
The voice was calm, commanding — the voice of a woman thought lost to the void.Through the smoke, she appeared — clad in black, her head wrapped in bandages, her right hand gripping a cane of steel. Her eyes, sharp as blades, glimmered beneath the shadow.
Lord Aelyzabeth von Thors had returned.
The hall fell silent. Cameras flashed in a storm of disbelief.Some collapsed to their knees.And Rudolf von Escheinsen — pale as death — could only tremble where he stood.
Aelyzabeth smiled — not with joy, but with the quiet coldness of one who had looked upon hell and returned unbroken.
"I have returned… and now I see what you have done to our Empire."
Within an hour, the Loyalist forces secured the capital.Rudolf was "escorted" away from the chamber — his fate unknown.
That night, Lord Aelyzabeth Thors broadcast her proclamation across the empire through Centoria One:the Loyalist armies were to purge the rebels and restore the Constitution of Space Era Years 100.
"The Kingdom of Centory shall not fall by the hands of traitors —but rise again from its ashes, by the hands of those still loyal to Iron and Blood."
Soon after, she personally ordered the arrest of Margaret von Thors, her elder sister and leader of the Freedom Uprising.Margaret was confined to Underground Prison No. 1 — a classified facility for high political offenders.Yet unlike others, she was forgotten there.All other inmates were transferred out; none would see her again.
Her cell lay in perpetual dim light — no sun, little food, and visits from her children cut to twenty minutes per day.Her husband was placed under house arrest.Over 6,000 members of the Freedom Uprising were executed for treason.
Even President Rudolf was not spared humiliation.Though he was not physically punished, his authority was publicly stripped — save for the one decree Aelyzabeth allowed to remain:the hereditary presidency, a grim irony she permitted to stand.
In the following days, Aelyzabeth issued the Imperial Decree of National Unity, commanding all seceded star systems to rejoin the Kingdom within seven days — or face annihilation by military force.Most capitulated out of fear. The rest dared to resist.
She did not negotiate.She simply said:
"Commence reclamation operations."
Within three days, every world had fallen back under Centorian rule.
With peace restored, Aelyzabeth enacted the Restoration and Relief Act, reviving an economy devastated by years of war.Homes were rebuilt, trade revived, and vast public works created to restore dignity to the people.
She then opened a partial foreign policy — inviting interstellar investment.The Tiraxinosys System, newly renamed Centoria, was designated as a Special Economic Zone,its trade tax reduced to a historic low of 12% (compared to the usual 29%).
Merchants from across the galaxy poured into Centoria, drawn by its vast resources — oil, metals, vehicles, electronics, and rare minerals.Wealth returned, and with it, Centory's economy was reborn.
Yet when asked about her openness to the galaxy, the Lord merely said:
"I have opened the gates for the world to see…but I still hold the key."
And so, the Kingdom of Centory rose once more —reborn from ruin beneath the shadow of its resurrected sovereign,the Iron Empress who returned from darkness,while the echo of steel still thundered through the halls of power.
Thus ends Chapter C-XXIV.