Novy Moscva

Novy Moscva (Russian for New Moscow) was the intended capital for the Star League-in-Exile, the largest and sophisticated city on all the Pentagon Worlds.

Geographical Location[edit]

Located on Eden, in the narrow equatorial band of vegetation on the continent of Noruff.

History[edit]

Ironically, Eden became the Star League-in-Exile's capital almost by accident – General Aleksandr Kerensky refused to establish a home for himself and his family until the settlement of the other exiles was done, and he chose to live on Eden because it was the last planet to be settled.[1] The city was intended to give the Star League-in-Exile a capital worthy of its society. Arranged like a great wheel around the government hub with broad boulevards at the cardinal points, its centerpiece was the government district, with massive structures inspired by designs from Terra's late nineteenth and twentieth centuries.[2] Like the dream of the Star League-in-Exile, Novy Moscva was never realized – the city was still incomplete when the Pentagon Civil War began. A bunker served as Aleksandr's command post prior to his death. After the Second Exodus, the city became a battlefield between the main factions of the planet – the Sarvat Khanate and the Levic Ascendancy, along with minor factions. The still-in-construction capital was heavily damaged, and over time, only the Khanate and the Ascendance remained under its control.

Operation Klondike[edit]

Twenty years after the civil war began, it came to an end when The Clans, founded by Aleksandr's son Nicholas, launched Operation KLONDIKE. Their objectives were to retake the Pentagon Worlds and crush any minor factions. They liberated planet after planet surprisingly easily. Eden was one of the last battlefields. The planet was attacked by four Clans: Clan Wolf, Clan Jade Falcon, Clan Hell's Horses and Clan Smoke Jaguar. They successfully took most of the planet, leaving Novy Moscva until the end. By then, the Ascendancy Martial Foundation, or AMF, leaders, had retreated all their forces into the city. Unwilling to raze his father's capital, as Jaguar Khan Franklin Osis suggested, Nicholas ordered all four Clans to assault the city at once: the Falcons were charged with the northeastern thrust, securing the industrial sector; the Jaguars, the southeastern approaches – the city's former business sector, now a slum area. The Wolves got the Eden Military Academy. In each case, they made a series of lightning strikes to secure advanced bases. All the Clans found themselves immersed in a guerrilla war against a numerically superior enemy, reacting differently – the Jaguars, for example, razed entire buildings from which they were attacked, killing many more civilians than AMF troopers. Nicholas took his father's old command post, using it to direct the battle. The Wolves located and took out the AMF high command, decapitating their enemy. One of the Clans- key casualties was Andery Kerensky, whose Exterminator was surprised alone and downed by a lance of AMF in Cameron Park on 1 December. The Wolves went into a frenzy and slaughtered Andery's killers. Two days later, after the fall of the Palace of Justice, Nicholas declared the end of the Eden campaign. KLONDIKE still hadn't finished, but for Novy Moscva, the Exodus Civil War was over.[3]

After Klondike[edit]

After the end of KLONDIKE, Nicholas didn't allow Novy Moscva to be rebuilt or finished; he ordered the city abandoned and left in its present state, turning it into a memorial to the achievements of man and his weaknesses. The exact reasons for this are unknown – maybe it was because the city was too damaged, because he needed a memorial to remind everyone of the devastation of the Civil War, for being the place of his only brother's death, or because he, like his father, had already built a new capital for all the Clans: Katyusha City on Strana Mechty.[3]

Notable Locations[edit]

  • Cameron Park, a large park in the center of the city
  • Cameron Most (Cameron bridge), a key location in the center of the city
  • Novy Moscva Bourse
  • Ploshchad Kerensky (Kerensky Square)
  • Eden Military Academy
  • Aleksandr Kerensky command post
  • Unity Station: terminus maglev station (unfinished)
  • Palace of Justice

References[edit]

  1. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 138
  2. Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 95
  3. 3.0 3.1 Historical: Operation Klondike, p. 96

Bibliography[edit]