First Age of the GHD

Below is information on the First Age of the GHD.

King Kahhn


(~190 Pre-Kahhn - ~10 Post-Kahhn)

The first age of the Great Horned Dragon race begins with the birth of King Kahhn, who united the homeworld Nierdro under on nation and thrust the empire into the interstellar age. This age is the beginning of the Kahhn-Nierdroan calendar, the most widely used calendar in the empire; in which year zero occurs on the year when Kahhn led the empire into the interstellar age. Kahhn lived to be about 200 years old, significantly younger than the average life span of a dragon. Not much anything is known about the world even in this early age, much less anything before the galactic era. Kahhn, whose first name is heavily debated, was born about 190 years (Nierdro) before his dominion was made official. He joined a military career at a young age, and left shortly thereafter because he felt betrayed by his home nation. About 20 years into his life, he encountered Adam Jestico, who at the time was an aspiring weapon designer and engineer. The two became good friends, and shared common beliefs about the condition of the nation they were born to. Sometime around 145 pre-Kahhn, Adam Jestico had become an incredibly successful international arms manufacturer with a huge fortune to squander; it was around this time that Kahhn reunited with his old friend, and first discussed the idea of "fixing" the world they lived in. Adam Jestico was in agreement with the ideas, and the two began formulating a plan to start their own empire and solve all of the problems of the world with an iron fist.

Adam Jestico handpicked some of his most loyal and revolutionary workers and began to have them work on top-secret, advanced weaponry. They developed weapons that would be superior to other nations that had never been seen before. Meanwhile, Kahhn began to rally the people together however he could in order to instigate a mass uprising, and overthrow the government of their home nation. Around 110 pre-Kahhn, Kahhn's massive insurrection, fueled by thousands of oppressed peoples and armed with the most advanced weapons the world could offer succeeded. They formulated a new government, and Kahhn was made the, at the time, temporary leader. A few years afterwards, Kahhn and Jestico decided to move forwards with their plan. They contacted a major military power; a dictatorship led by Ramines Arckas, and several other war-torn nations around the globe, and forged alliances. Within a decade, the allied nations declared that they were one nation, and would work together to wipe out their enemies that continually threaten their existence.

Some time around 70 pre-Kahhn, Adam Jestico passed away, and shortly thereafter, the empire declared Kahhn as the king, and sole ruler. By 65 pre-Kahhn, all enemies of Kahhn's new empire had fallen. Kahhn then offered to every remaining nation an opportunity to join their empire peacefully. While many empires did so, few choose not to accept the opportunity, but soon collapsed under economic struggles. By 50 pre-Kahhn, the world was under one nation.

For the next 50 years, Kahhn pushed for rapid scientific advancement, space exploration, and technological advances. It was a time of peace and prosperity Nierdro, and at year zero, the Empire officially became an interstellar capable nation when they achieved the first interstellar space flight. Around the same time, the Great Horn Dragon race first named itself; calling themselves dragons of the great horn, a mythical horn blown by an ancient king every time an opposing nation was conquered; the king ultimately conquered the known world and gave peace to his people, and so the great horn became a metaphor for their own empire, as Kahhn had conquered the known universe and gave them peace.

Not long after the nation became an interstellar one, a hostile alien threat came about, and threatened to conquer the empire and make slaves of the entire race. Kahhn and his highest officers at the time, including Ramines Arckas, managed to capture one of the opposing empire's warships. The ship was taken apart by Adam Jestico's still thriving weapons designing company, now run by Adam's first and only son, Julius. They managed to reproduce the superior alien technology, and arm Kahhn's warships with it. The war raged on for 10 years after that, and in the last 4 years, Kahn got the upper hand, and conquered the alien empire without leaving a single trace of them. On the way back from their final battle, Kahhn became sick, and died.

When Kahhn's flagship returned with his body, Nierdro held a massive funeral ceremony, and a council of Kahhn's highest officers and closest friends met to discuss the future of the empire. The council included Arterius Arckas, Ramines's son and Kahhn's second in command; Julius Jestico, Adam's son and heir to the weapon corporation; Artes Kahhn, Kahhn's eldest son, and an Admiral 1st Class; Spaca Kahhn, Kahhn's second son, who took up a career in designing warships; and Nikan Jestico, Kahhn's youngest daughter, who was married to Julius Jestico. Arterius Arckas presented to the council what is presumably one of the last things Kahhn ever wrote up; the Kahhn Articles which was considered Kahhn's will for the continuation of the empire. The council agreed to adopt the system of government, and soon afterwards, Arterius Kahhn was elected the first Grand Admiral and Supreme Commander (just "Grand Admiral" for short) of the Great Horn Dragon Imperial Federation.

King Kahhn had four children: two sons, Artes and Spaca, and two daughters, Juliana and Nikan (all of whom eventually had planets named after them). Artes became a fierce war hero and died in combat at the rank of Minor Admiral. Spaca went into the field of weapons design and created Spaca Industries, which would eventually become the chief engineers in charge of designing sovereign class warships in much later eras. Juliana became a captain and was eventually killed in action. Nikan fell in love with Julius Jestico, the only son of Adam Jestico, the wealthiest family in the history of the empire and good friend to King Kahhn. They had three children, Warner (who appears later in history), Magrus (who eventually founds the most important gateway colony in the galaxy, located in the Magrus system), and Jaseus (named after the planet, Jaseeus eventually founds the Jaseus wildlife reserve). More Lineage information can be found here.

Grand Admiral Arckas


In the new system of government, set up by King Kahhn, the head of the military and international affairs branch of government was given the title of Supreme Commander and Grand Admiral of the Armed Forces, Grand Admiral for short. The first officer to hold this title was Grand Admiral Arterius Arckas. Directly after the death of King Kahhn, the empire once again found itself at war, this time with the Dyno Empire. In an effort to appear just as ruthless and cunning as the Great King, he sought to wipe out his enemies completely, and that he did. After the destruction of one of his flagships, a Federation Mach II Battlecruiser, which at the time was considered top of the line, he went on a merciless path of destruction. He annihilated the Dyno Empire, captured 5 stars, and destroyed 80 enemy flagships.

Shortly after the conquest, was the legendary first appearance of the Instruments of the Harbingers. At first, they were not assessed to be of any threat, but upon their second arrival, they struck. Only two of their flagships were destroyed, which, after the nearly instantaneous defeat of the Dyno Empire, put a strong fear in the hearts of every local empire. Grand Admiral Arckas and the Council of National Affairs together decided to attempt to open communications with the mysterious foe. In their search, Grand Admiral Arckas mysteriously disappeared, only 30 years of age.

Minor Admiral Warner Jestico
Without Grand Admiral Arckas, and lightyears away from home, the small search fleet was left without anyone in command. The crews needed a commander but were weary of simply promoting the highest ranking officer, so they put it to a vote. By a small margin, Minor Admiral Warner Jestico won the election. He made the decision to continue on to locate the Instruments of the Harbingers, and he succeeded. At first, the decision was to attempt to open an alliance, in hopes of warding off further Instruments of the Harbingers attacks. When that failed, the only choice was to defend. When the fleet returned home, war was officially declared.

Jestico was not promoted to the rank of Grand Admiral, in fact, he retired, 43 years of age. To replace him was the widely considered incompetent Grand Admiral Gerald Plocts.

Grand Admiral Tyra Jestico


After what was considered a pointless and ill-minded 20 year war with the Ser'stablot Empire, Plocts was forced to resign by the Council of National Affairs. They then elected the promotion of Tyra Jestico, the first daughter of Warner Jestico. Both the first female to claim the rank, and the youngest, Tyra was considered a prodigy of military expertise. In a sudden recuperation of the war against the Ser'stablot Empire, she led a small force of 3 flagships against the largest fleet ever assembled at the time, 92 warships. In less than a year, the war had been finished.

She re-organized a large force of 30 flagships and waged war against the Instruments of the Harbingers, this time, in their own territory. The demonstration of military might led to massive battles. What is today known as planet Jestico was established as a close military base, and at the time, left unnamed. Back home, production of a new warship began. By the time the re-armed fleet arrived, the older fleet of 30 had wiped out 83 Instruments of the Harbingers Flagships. At this time, even the newer flagships wouldn't go face to face with more than a couple Instruments of the Harbingers Flagships. Another military colony was placed on a nearby planet.

Almost 100 years had passed since the former Grand Admiral Arckas had vanished. But on that day, he re-appeared, he was in a spaceship wreckage on the planet, alive. Apparently, local pirates had taken him captive, and over time he found himself a ship and a small crew, and then headed off in his own attempts to establish communications with the Instruments of the Harbingers, although it didn't turn out to well, as his junker ship fell victim to high gravity. The planet was named Arckas in recognition of his determination.

Another 50 years would pass before Tyra's death. She was destroyed in the destruction of her flagship in an assault on the Instruments of the Harbingers front.

Grand Admiral Arckas
Because Arckas was still alive, and the spot was now opened once again, the Council saw fit to offer the seat to Arckas, after all he was directly appointed by King Kahhn in his will. This time Arckas would lead the most daring front ever conceived. To make a trip to the center of the galactic core, to see what exactly the Instruments of the Harbingers were so intent on protecting. What he found was the Instruments of the Harbingers' homeworld. Scientists on his ship detected massive amounts of encoded messages, after several review and attempts at deciphering code after code after code, they learned that the Instruments of the Harbingers homeworld was a centerpiece for their entire existence -the center of all of their machinelike communication. Without it, any Instruments of the Harbingers defensive or offensive position would be lacking, scrambled, and disorganized. If they had any kind of a warning, the communication center could simply be transferred somewhere else. Grand Admiral Arckas made the decision to fire the most advanced weapon in the galaxy, a weapon that would destroy their whole planet, without giving them any kind of warning whatsoever. Unfortunately, it forced him to give away their position, and the Instruments of the Harbingers destroyed his fleet. According to hacked code from centuries later, it was determined that the Instruments of the Harbingers could not locate one final escape craft, and their search for the greatest military leader that ever lived, turned up nothing.

After a massive funeral service for both Tyra Jestico and Arterius Arckas, the un-named military colony was named. It became known as planet Jestico, and has been a centerpiece of military power, and the front of the Instruments of the Harbingers since. This was also considered the official ending of the first age.