15th January, Space Era Years 101.
After the appointment of Captain Aerys Vilozyver as the nation's heir apparent, the Centory Kingdom Reich entered a period watched closely by the entire galaxy — outwardly calm, yet within, a storm was silently forming beneath the surface.
Inside the Ministry of Economy in the heart of Berlyn, the quarterly financial report was read aloud in a tone both steady and resolute.
The government's deficit had fallen to 27.46%, down from nearly 39% six months earlier — a stunning success for the Crown Diamond Guild System conceived by Aelyzabeth von Thors.Resource management had become efficient, factories ran at full capacity, employment rose, and national income increased by an average of 23% across all sectors.
"If this trend continues, by the end of the third quarter, the Centory Empire shall become the first autocratic nation in history to eliminate its public debt entirely."— Report by Walter von Yigzorch
Yet as the economy ascended, the political foundations began to tremble.The appointment of the eight-year-old Captain Aerys as successor had sparked quiet unrest among conservative politicians and the noble military houses.There were no open acts of defiance — but silence, in politics, often carried more danger than the echo of gunfire.
May, Space Era Years 101.
Lord Aelyzabeth von Thors returned from the Imperial Hospital after another relapse of her ruptured lung.Her figure had grown frail, her movements slower — yet none in her cabinet dared mention it, save for General Aeraera von Escheinsen, the appointed Regent of the Nation, who governed in her stead during her illness.
Aelyzabeth often sat in her pristine white office, the pale glow of the twin moons reflecting on her face. Her eyes, however, were dimmed by a loneliness few could comprehend.
"Aerys... you've grown so far from me,"she whispered into the darkness.
Sleepless nights and unspoken longing had carved away her strength — yet her mind remained sharper than ever.
It was during these solitary hours that she conceived Project SD-Oil (Super Dream-Oil) — a new form of energy distilled from DreamSpear ore, refined through nanoscopic condensation to yield a fuel cleaner than fossil, more stable than hydrogen, and cheaper than traditional DreamSpear energy.
To oversee its production, the government established DSO Petrolius Unternehmen, a semi-state enterprise with 60% government ownership, the rest distributed among the national guilds and technological conglomerates.SD-Oil was soon implemented in Kerlingern Zav-ASC engines, powering both terrestrial and orbital fleets — rendering Centory energy-independent for the first time in its history.
The energy revolution ignited a wave of innovation.Geothermal power plants across the empire's worlds — under the Fryre-Zav Keunler Thermal Initiative — now generated five times the output of conventional systems, all without the perils of pre-space nuclear reactors.
To unify the nation's scientific power, Aelyzabeth founded the Wissenschaft Kerlinzer Schehinler (WKS) — the National Academy of Sciences — uniting physicists, chemists, biologists, and engineers from across the galaxy under a single purpose:
"To forge technologies free from the dominion of Earth."
Yet beneath the brilliance of Berlyn, shadows began to stir.
A confidential dispatch from Lea von Yigzorch, Aelyzabeth's secretary and Commander of the Sicherheitsamt (SSA) — the National Security Office — reached her desk late one night:
"Foreign operatives from CIA, MI6, and Mossad have been identified infiltrating the Berlyn and Althea sectors under diplomatic and trade covers.Their objective remains unclear, but intelligence suggests connections to Project SD-Oil and the WKS."
The Nationaler Geheimdienst (NGD) — under the SSA — launched Operation Schwarzer Mond, a covert hunt for off-world agents embedded across the empire.Thus began the Silent War — a cold conflict fought not with bombs, but with secrets, shadows, and the sharpest minds of the age.
Reading the report, Aelyzabeth allowed herself a faint, knowing smile.
"Let them come," she murmured."Centory is no longer the lamb it once was."
Those words spread like wildfire through the command halls — a quiet vow that marked the dawn of a new era.For the first time in centuries, the universe would witness a Cold War of the Space Age — one not of armies, but of intellect, technology, and the will to command the unseen.
Thus ends Chapter C-VII.