Chapter Thirty-Three

Petra was coronated publicly; although admittedly everyone but her at the coronation was muttering almost incoherrently. Resistance sprung up within hours, In no small part due to the efforts of the Nobles.

Her old TacSim rival, and the king of Rhinsla, Pinn was the first to rebel.
"People of Rhinsla." Although ancient even for a Nielda he still stood tall and his armor was brightly polished. He held his claymore, which he had used since his early days in the army, aloft. "Petra, daughter of Tania your empress, is a traitor and a usurper. She has killed her mother and brought the abomination of Necromantic undeath into our illustrious empire."
The crowd was Rhinslan. They were hardworking, upper-lower class blue-collar people. Rhinsla was the industrial heart of the empire, and it's people could live as well as lower class as most planet's inhabitants could as middle class simply out of reduced shipping costs. They, like the Tarans, were accustomed to Semi-despotic nobles who made wild accusations and staged executions at the drop of a hat; often during dinner so they could watch. They'd gotten particularly discerning about the truth during Pinn's reign; not because he was crazier than his ancestors but rather because he was well informed and more of his accusations were true. They saw at once that this was not a matter of personal profit or half-drunken lunacy.
The military had learned to pay attention to the Rhinslans over the years; increased recruitment levels there, coupled with decreased recruitment on Anatolia and increased weapon sales on Gasca and Tara, were a good indicator of a coming war. They should have known anyways, but rarely was the council of commanders as well informed as the significant nobles, or the underlying Ukown guild on Anatolia.

Pinn's rebellion was not alone. Days later the king of Tara announced that they too would fight the usurper Petra. Tara was a critical ally, the entire sector defered to his judgement in military matters. Ukra and Kanto brought their sectors into the fold as well. An alliance consisting of nearly a third of the empire now stood against her.

Two planets were noticeably absent though. The Anatolians continued to hold out for a wartime bonus from the military. No self respecting Anatolian would sign on until one was offered, and no one in the military would change the size of the bonus or risk a mutiny by those who had gotten the lower rate.
The Gascans were also absent. Lord Knod had recently suceeded his mother, and was by all accounts a good and wise ruler. Many planets refused to join until the Gascans made their move; it was a well known fact that if the empire had a good luck charm, it was a Gascan noble on the field of battle. Until one arrived, there would be no chance of victory.