History Characters / Centaura

As mentioned in the description, the entire world of ''Dead Ahead'' and by extension ''Centaura'' take place in a planet called Forma. It is 11.8 larger than Earth in terms of volume, but due to it being less dense than Earth, it possesses about the same gravity as Earth does. Most of the land continents are based in the calm Libran Ocean, while the much larger Inanis Ocean has massive tectonic activity that prevents any travel on it. 4 major continents are present in Forma, these being Centaura, Hydra, Ursa, and Libra.

* MulticulturalAlienPlanet: The countries in Forma have their own cultures that may or may not be based on their astranist religion, such as the Corvun's dedication to the Crows and the god Corvus and the Cetan's love for the sea and their attempt to cross the Inanis Ocean.

* TakeOverTheWorld: Downplayed. He didn't want to take control of the ''whole'' of Forma, which was a sensible choice, but rather he wanted to take over all of Centaura and ensure peace and order was maintained in the continent.

[[folder:Aran Tau]]
[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aged_aran_tau.png]]

The Emperor of Antares and the one who expanded his empire to dominate the Centauran continent. He was the older brother of Andrew Tau by 8 years and was the oldest son of Kalvin Tau. He became the Emperor in 1927 at the age of 42 after his father had passed. He was quite paranoid of outside influences, especially the Orion Republic and his own government. To solidify what was essentially a royal dictatorship, he appointed Andrew as the head of parliament and install his children into the military, thus giving him nearly unlimited political power. After hearing about his daughters death at the hands of the Riaans, he was enraged and accelerated his military campaign of Riaa, defeating them in 1940.

Already anxious with Orion's growing power, he conspired with Ursa to pacify and take over the Hydran nations, initiating a war that would transpire into the events of ''Dead Ahead''.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: While Kalvin simply wanted to conquer all of Centaura for his plans of peace (which Aran completed), Aran expanded that to include Hydra as well. What he didn't think about was that Antares was already extremely exhausted from decades of warfare and could not possibly and successfully have conducted ''another'' continental campaign that would have taken ages to complete. Additionally, both Orion and the Hydran Commonwealth had large and/or good armies and navies, making it even harder for the Antareans to conquer Hydra. Ultimately, that causes Antares to lose the Forman War and have their empire crumble and turned into 4 different states after Centaura is liberated.
* TheConqueror: His domination of the Centaura which he continued from his father's actions that caused the Centauran Wars makes him a continental conqueror, although he was restless and continued on to Hydrus as an expansion of his father's original goal.
* TheEmperor: His actual title which certainly fits for him as his entire empire controls the biggest continent in Forma.
* TheParanoiac: He was very paranoid and anxious about the countries in Hydrus, especially the Orion Republic which could match Antares when combined with the other Hydran countries.

[[folder:Kaden Tau]]
[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kaden_tau.png]]

The son of Emperor Aran Tau and the heir to the Antarean throne, born in 1908. He joined the Antarean Imperial Army at the rank of Lieutenant II, albeit reluctantly as his father pressured him to join the army to strength their loyalty to the Emperor like his sister Maya did with the navy. After Columba was defeated in 1933, he was promoted to Lieutenant I and in charge of a company, leading them to the Antarean campaign of Riaa, his first taste of combat. He lost almost his entire company, leading him with trauma and stress throughout his life.

* EnsignNewbie: He was promoted to replace a company commander who was killed in action when he hadn't even seen any combat until the Riaan campaign.
* TraumaCongaLine: His experiences in Riaa truly haunts him as not only did most of his squad get vaporized in the war, but he saw the brutal treatment of Riaan citizens by Antarean soldiers and officers.
* WarriorPrince: He joined the army in order to strength the Antarean Imperial Army's loyalty to the Emperor, similar to what Maya had done (although not what she intended to do) for the navy. He is of course, hesitant to even be in the army in the first place and is very much stressed throughout the Riaan campaign.
* YoungAndInCharge: Given he's the heir to the throne, he already has some leadership responsibilities to begin with, but one of his earliest is in the ''army'' where he could die at anytime and not succeed the throne. Of course, even if he was sent for backline pacification, it clearly wasn't safe since most of his squad was killed in action.

[[folder:Maya Tau]]
[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maya_tau.png]]

The daughter and oldest child of Emperor Aran Tau, born in 1906. Although the oldest, Aran wanted a son to be his heir, so he sidelined her for Kaden once he was born. This led to be jealous of Kaden and made her annoy and pick on him for being supposedly quite weak-willed and lacking in ambition. She also tried to get her father's attention and prove she could be better than Kaden so she could be the heir instead of him. When she was 23, due to her life long interest in the navy, she joined the Antares Armada. Although Aran disliked the idea of her daughter going into combat, he realized it could solidify the navy's loyalty to him, so he accepted it. As Maya rose up their ranks, her ego grew more and more, believing she was intellectually superior to lower ranks and even to officers around her rank. After being promoted in 1936 to Kommander after a great victory in the Annulus Sea and then to Kaptain, she was killed in 1938 by a Riaan fighter plane.

* NukeEm: On the receiving end. After Orion conquered Skorpii Corvus during the Forman War, there were massive riots and protests about the Orion occupation which the latter could not control. [[spoiler:So Orion preceded to ''nuke'' Corvus to stop the riots for good.]]

[[folder:Sandra Campbell]]
[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2024_03_31_173742.png]]
[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screenshot_2024_03_31_173544.png]]

A young Cetan girl born in Blackton in 1892 she was still in the town when the Corvun Army attacked Blackton, being unaware of them approaching. She lost her parents in commotion and decided to hide in a bunch of large crates inside an alleyway, hoping to hide and not be caught by any Corvuns. Unfortunately, a
a Corvun soldier named Warren had found her and decided to use her for his first pascation. She suffered agony while alive and eventually died of blood loss.

She actually can be found in-game in the Blackton map near the Corvun spawn, in between the first few buildings near said spawn, crying and sobbing alone. Interestingly, while she will not react to any Cetan soldier near her, she will scream if she sees a Corvun soldier, although she will go back to normal after a few seconds. She used to be able to be killed by any team although this feature has since been removed.

Sandra first appears in the now purged but still existing story [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/12GtrQSeepnON9nh8tjUGLYTseZRk78l0iVXO6gGF9-8/edit "SANDRA"]], but she also appears in the story [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/11_AFWIYUkfveSThO_YlWB9rCZsAHroOK2j_xtUfchb8/edit "WARREN"]], this essentially being "SANDRA" from the killer's point of view.

* DeathOfAChild: She died in 1908, being 16 years old, so this qualifies.
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Instead of being killed instantly or captured by Warren, he decided to use her as his victim for his first pascation ritual, which was of course brutal and agonizing for Sandra, as she had to endure her skin being cut off and being dismembered, and then her head being cut off after she perished.
* InelegantBlubbering: Given that she's a teen in a warzone, you can't exactly blame her for crying a lot throughout the whole ''SANDRA'' story and in game.
* PrimAndProperBun: Her artwork by Classic shows her having a bun, which is also seen in game, although its sort of hidden by her crouching feebly.
[[/folder]]

!Kingdom of Aquila
[[folder:General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquila_flag.png]]
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquila_map.png]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote:Aquilan Army Standard uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquilanfront.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote:Aquilan Army Officer uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquilanofficerfront.png[[/labelnote]]]]
----
The Kingdom of Aquila was a constitutional monarchy situated on the eastern part of Centaura. It was well-developed, being a truly democratic country that the populace were content with. Aquila itself is covered in temperate forests and flat grasslands with these areas being mixed with populations of urban dwellers and farmers. Due to the amount of trees, the lumber industry in Aquila is massive, with many houses and buildings made almost entirely of wood.

Aquila is well-known for its military successes and the effectiveness of its army, nicknamed the "Iron Army". It had beaten Cetus, Antares, Vega, and Grusa in wars throughout a millennium, and had also defeated Antares a few times.

However, in 1912, just after Antares conquered Cetus, they immediately turned to invade Aquila. While the Aquilans were very good at the defense and had beaten Antares multiple times, they proved to be a struggle to fight as the Aquilans could not push back the Antarean tanks, armored vehicles, motorized infantry, and Shokk troopers. In 1914, they were totally conquered by Antares as they set their eyes onto Vega and Grusa.
----

* AuthorityInNameOnly: Due to centuries of peace and growth in Cetus, the Cetan monarchy's power had been greatly reduced, which affected Scapha's control during the Southern Corvus War heavily. This was more accentuated during the Southern Corvus War, as his already weak control over the military essentially boiled down to the Army and Navy rarely listening to him and the two being pretty much independent.
* MeaningfulName: Scapha in Ancient Greek means "light boat" or a "skiff". It makes sense when you realize he's the leader of a majorly naval-based and fishing nation but doesn't have much authority, mean he's indeed a "light boat".

* PrimAndProperBun: Her artwork by Classic shows her having a bun.

* AllNationsAreSuperpowers: Due to Forma being much bigger than Earth, all small countries in Forma are actually quite big in Earth. For example, the small country of Corvus in Forma is massive on Earth and covers much of Central Germany, all of Denmark, most of Austria, Czechia, and Croatia, and parts of Northern Italy. A document [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ebvgKu-njcLKaixRmb7dpBmN7btp24QJndjUjBiITYU/edit here]] shows the size comparisons between Forman countries and Earth countries.

** While Corvuns could generally sacrifice any soldier, especially [=POWs=], some [=POWs=] needed for intel gathering or hard labour were given armbands known as "pascation marks".

* EliteArmy: In the ''Dead Ahead''/''Centaura'' discord server, an Army rankings list by [=AbsoluteDuck=] put Riaa as number ''one'', which is saying something when we compare that to Antares' placing of two.

* TakeOverTheWorld: In the lore, Antares' final goal is to ultimately conquer the entirety of Forma, much like the ancient Libran Empire. The motivations are different however, with Antares' reason ultimately stemming from Emperor Kalvin Tau. He was sickened of the concept of war and was aware that war would always occur due to political and ideological differences and the various countries' needs to constantly expand their borders. He decided that if Antares conquered the entirety of Forma, then there would be no more concept of war and there would be peace.

* TheEmpire: A continental empire at that. They unfortunately crumbled into a small state after the Hydran Commonwealth and Orion liberated Centaura.

* TheConqueror: His domination of the Centaura which he continued from his father's actions that caused the Centauran Wars makes him a continental conqueror, although he was restless and continued on to Hydrus to continue his father's ambitions.

* TheSquadette: Unlike other nations in Forma, Antares is surprisingly inclusive of women regarding the military, as by the Antarean invasion into Vega, they start to accept women into ''all'' branches of the military. For comparison, the Commonwealth of Hydrus, Lepus, and Canis, a Hydran commonwealth that is considered the most progressive nation in Forma, allows women to serve but only in the navy.

* Qurac: Zigzagged. While most of their land is inside a desert, camels are said to exist, and most people live in the coasts, they don't speak Arabic or anything Middle Eastern like but rather Spanish.

* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: Needless to say, when the Corvun soldiers invaded Cetus and retook southern Corvus in 1908, they were ''VERY'' motivated to take revenge against the Cetans whom they all agreed ruined their lives and caused the 22 year old hardship. They showed no mercy as shown in the Battle of Blackton where they're implied to have killed unarmed civilians they saw in the town.

* DemocracyIsFlawed: Despite them being a republic, they're pretty much corrupted with an outdated class system and there being a strong difference between the wealthy and poor. Additionally and ironically, they have very traditional views and ideals as a republic.

* DeadyGas: To break the brutal stalemates occurring in 1910, the Corvuns decided to use chlorine gas in hopes of breaking through Cetan defense. While used in the cities for sanitation, it proved devastating when repurposed as a weapon, especially since the Cetans had no counters to it at the time. However, the Cetans soon developed gas masks and filters to protect against chlorine gas, although the gas had already dealt huge amounts of damage to the Cetans, losing lots of territory. A representation of fighting in the chlorine gas occurred in Kelson Village in 1911.

Warren technically first appears in the now purged but still existing story [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/12GtrQSeepnON9nh8tjUGLYTseZRk78l0iVXO6gGF9-8/edit "SANDRA"]], but he was first identified in and is the main protagonist of the story [[https://docs.google.com/document/d/11_AFWIYUkfveSThO_YlWB9rCZsAHroOK2j_xtUfchb8/edit "WARREN"]]. An aftermath of the "WARREN" story appears in the Lore channel of the ''Centaura'' discord server.

* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Instead of being killed instantly or at least just beaten heavily by Warren, he decided to use her as his victim for the pascation ritual, which was of course brutal and agonizing for Sandra, as she had to endure her skin being cut off and her head cut off after she perished.

---
* CruelAndUnusualDeath: Instead of being killed instantly or at least just beaten heavily by Warren, he decided to use her as his victim for the pascation ritual, which was of course brutal and agonizing for Sandra, as she had to endure her skin being cut off and then when she was dead, get her head cut off.

!Empire of Cetus
[[folder:General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cetus_flag.png]]
[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cetus_map.png]]
[[quoteright:243::[[labelnote:Cetan Army Standard uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cetanremadefront_4.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote:Cetan Army Officer uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/cete_officer_f_5.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote:Exercitus Maris Standard uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/front_of_cetan_naval_infantary.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote: Exercitus Maris Officer uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/em_officer_f.png[[/labelnote]]]]

The Empire of Cetus was a developing maritime nation that had a sole objective which was to explore the Inanis Ocean, which never came to fruition due to their defeat in the Southern Corvus War and subsequent annexation by Antares. Cetus was one of the larger remnants of the dissolved Libran Empire, where they were mostly a neutral fishing nation for most of their existence. During an age of conquest and industrialization, they allied with Antares to conquer countries eastward, before being stopped by Aquila. After the Persean treaty and some parts of southern Cetus bought off by Antares, the territories remained much the same for a while.

In 1886, seeking to expand their naval capabilities but finding it to costly to trade with the neighbor Corvus for materials needed for massive naval ships, they decided to annex the prosperous southern Corvus. This would anger Corvus, culminating in the Southern Corvus War in 1908. While initially Corvus was dominating Cetus, in 1909, a stalemate occurred between the two nations due to trenches and other massive defenses. Corvus eventually requested Antares to attack Cetus from the unprotected south side in exchange for being peacefully annexed to become a puppet state. Cetus lost the war and was soon conquered by Antares.

* ArchaicWeaponForAnAdvancedAge: Compared to the Corvun T05 and the Antarean E/VIII bolt action rifles, the Cetans use the M1889 LA (''lever action'') rifle when they first fight the Corvuns in 1908. For balance purposes, it has the exact same stats as both bolt-action rifles so the only differences are visual ones. However, in the lore, it is said that it had superior firepower than the T05 (only when it was in perfect condition though) and a simpler reloading mechanism, making it easy to fire. The M1889 LA being in perfect condition was of course impossible as mud and dirt frequently broke the rifle's lever mechanisms which made it difficult to cycle and caused it to jam.
* EmbarrassingNickname: Soldiers of the Cetan Army are referred as "tortoisemen" due to their helmet's shape and their nature of being on land compared to the navy. While this does sound neat, tortoises are also sluggish and placid, which is not exactly something an army should be known for, on top of the Cetan Army already being overshadowed by the Cetan Navy in popularity and reputation.
* GratuitousLatin: The Cetan Marines are officially called the "Exercitus Maris", meaning "Army of the Sea", likely highlighting that the marines are more important and vast in Cetus than in other nations because of how big the Cetan Navy is (and how small the Cetan Army is).
* InterServiceRivalry: The difference in reputation and prestige between the Navy and Army is very noticeable, as the navy has way more men than the army does, including a higher level of prestige. The naval command also refused to support the army with actual ground troops (the Exercitus Maris) in the Southern Corvus War and even made them camp around the Western Islands for the whole 4 years of the war, ostensibly to preserve their numbers. Despite this, it clear that many marines and lower ranking officers did not approve of this and even mutinied to join the army, who happily accepted them despite orders to execute them for treason.
* MilitariesAreUseless: Despite the Exercitus Maris being a part of the esteemed Cetan Navy and being slightly lower in size to the Cetan Army (if not equal or bigger), it was not as skilled or effective as the Army, likely due to their lack of experience and the fact that they were facing against the much larger and prepared Antarean Army. Their loss at the Whitemouth Estuary proves that as well.
** This is heavily downplayed for the Cetan Army. Although they did end up losing and not be able to fend off the Corvun and Antarean invaders, there wasn't much they could do as they were heavily undermanned and were forced to send all of the soldiers to the northern side, leaving the south vulnerable for the Antareans. The Cetan Army also did quite well despite being smaller than the Corvun Army, as shown when they were able to repel them for 4 years before Antares joined in.
* TheEnemyWeaponsAreBetter: In the lore, it is said that many Cetan soldiers dropped their unreliable M1889 LA's for the more reliable and accurate Corvun T05 rifles from dead Corvun soldiers. Picking up weapons (presumably enemy weapons as well) is slated in the "Uncategorized Content" in ''Centaura's'' Trello.
* TheMutiny: Due to major inactivity of the Cetan Navy and the Exercitus Maris under orders of the naval command despite the Cetan Army losing ground and manpower progressively, many marines, lower ranking officers, and sailors could not bare to stand around anymore and angrily mutinied and left the Western Islands to help out the Army, the latter happily accepting them due to their manpower shortages.
* ThemeNaming: Cetus is named after the constellation of the same name, which has a generally aquatic theme. Interestingly, Cetus was a general term for a a sea monster in Greek mythology, with both Perseus and Heracles killing on in their own stories. There even is a sea monster in ''Centaura'', with the region where it was sighted named [="Cetus"=] after it.
** It is likely that a in-lore universe explanation for Cetus' naval power and dominance in ''Centaura'' was because of the overall aquatic aspect the name Cetus gave.
* SuspiciouslySmallArmy: Cetus' army is ''very'' small, so much so that Aquila, which has an all-volunteer army, has ''more'' men than the Cetan army.
** This is explained in the lore by Cetus focusing much onto it's navy due to it's goal to explore the Inanis Ocean which is pretty much empty and unexplore. Cetus also cutback it's army due to perceived safety from it's neighbors, not realizing that it's trading relations with nations were crumbling. This of course meant Cetus' Army was massively undermanned (although not underequipped due to an abundance of iron and other materials), as many recruits joined the more popular and comfortable Navy instead of the Army, and there are even signs of interservice rivalry and stigmatizing of the army in the lore.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Their annexation of southern Corvus in 1886 which caused the Corvuns to attack them in 1908 essentially doomed Centaura as the Southern Corvus War prompted Antares to join in and begin their plans for world domination.

[[folder:Frederick Scapha]]

The King of Cetus, he led Cetus during the Southern Corvus War up to its annexation by Corvus and Antares in 1912.

* AuthorityInNameOnly: Due to centuries of peace and growth in Cetus, the Cetan monarchy's power had been greatly reduced, which affected Scapha's control during the Southern Corvus War heavily. This was more accentuated during the Southern Corvus War, as his already weak control over the military essentially boiled down to the Army and Navy rarely listening to him and the two being pretty much independent.
* MeaningfulName: Scapha in Ancient Greek means "light boat" or a "skiff". It makes sense when you realize he's the leader of a majorly naval-based and fishing nation but doesn't have much authority, mean he's indeed a "light boat".

!Kingdom of Aquila
[[folder:General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquila_flag.png]]
[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquila_map.png]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote:Aquilan Army Standard uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquilanfront.png[[/labelnote]]]]
[[quoteright:243:[[labelnote:Aquilan Army Officer uniform]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aquilanofficerfront.png[[/labelnote]]]]

The Kingdom of Aquila was a constitutional monarchy situated on the eastern part of Centaura. It was well-developed, being a truly democratic country that the populace were content with. Aquila itself is covered in temperate forests and flat grasslands with these areas being mixed with populations of urban dwellers and farmers. Due to the amount of trees, the lumber industry in Aquila is massive, with many houses and buildings made almost entirely of wood.

Aquila is well-known for its military successes and the effectiveness of its army, nicknamed the "Iron Army". It had beaten Cetus, Antares, Vega, and Grusa in wars throughout a millennium, and had also defeated Antares a few times.

However, in 1912, just after Antares conquered Cetus, they immediately turned to invade Aquila. While the Aquilans were very good at the defense and had beaten Antares multiple times, they proved to be a struggle to fight as the Aquilans could not push back the Antarean tanks, armored vehicles, motorized infantry, and Shokk troopers. In 1914, they were totally conquered by Antares as they set their eyes onto Vega and Grusa.

* ArchEnemy: Antares. Aquila had fought with Antares multiple times, winning pretty much every war against them. Unfortunately, the Aquilan Campaign from 1912-1914 had Antares get the last laugh and not only defeat them, but entirely conquer their lands.
* ChameleonCamouflage: The Aquilan uniforms have the same color as the Aquilan grass, meaning it allows them to camouflage and blend in with it nearly seamlessly, likely due to their defensive nature.
* EliteArmy: They certainly live up to their nickname. While the Aquilan army was small (although bigger than the Cetan army) due to it relying solely on volunteers, this was made up by the fact that all recruits had to go through tough training cycles intended to make them efficient soldiers and make them adapt to environments that they will be in during war. Recruits were also expected to operate in fields without food or water for multiple hours, which would be useful in the plains and grasslands that did not have much water. Seeing as it is an all-volunteer army, it is likely Aquilan soldiers were more motivated as well.
** Indeed, while Antares did eventually conquer Aquila through new innovative tactics with tanks, it is said that the Aquilan infantry were mostly able to overpower the Antarean ones (and the fact that the Antareans actually suffered ''heavy'' casualties which caused them to commit "The Scorch"), proving that they could have defeat Antares had they not faced such large amounts of armored vehicles and lagged behind in innovating new methods of war.
** Somewhat downplayed as an Army tier list in the ''Centaura''/''Dead Ahead'' server places it in the 10th place, which is worse than Vega and Grusa.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: Technology wise, they're based on France-Poland. However, their helmet is based on the Swedish M21 helmet and the M99 rifle looks similar to the British Lee-Metford, which are rather interesting choices for a French-Polish based Aquila.
** Their defense against the Antareans is very similar to France defending itself against Germany in [=WW2=] (and [=WW1=] to some degree), relying on the Ring of Fire that seems similar to the Maginot Line and also struggling to defend against new Antarean tactics like how France struggled against the German combined arms tactics and Blitzkrieg. This is not mentioning that Antares itself is based on Japan-Germany, two Axis factions in [=WW2=].
* HoldTheLine: The sole strategy for Aquila when fighting Antares in 1912 is to rely on the "Ring of Fire", a line full of forts, artillery batteries and field guns to prevent the Antares from advancing too far. Of course, Antares' armored vehicles, aircraft, and tactics eventually break through the Ring of Fire, although it is worth noting that Antareans had attempted to break through the Battery Liberius of the Ring of Fire two times, failing both attempts before being presumably victorious in the third attempt, meaning that it seemed to be quite effective at what it was intended to do, just that it could not sustain multiple direct attacks.
* HomeGuard: Aquila had a special formation known as the "Civil Guard". This was essentially a militia intended to complement the Aquilan Army in wartime. When Antares invaded Aquila in 1912, they had some successful in defending farmlands and fields, although their lack of explosives meant the armored vehicles soon pushed them back. They were generally more effective when fighting alongside the Aquilan Army and especially in urban warfare, as materials in homes were used to create makeshift bombs and incendiary explosives to use against the Antareans and specifically their armored elements. Unfortunately, as all of the Civil Guardsmen fought in their normal civilian clothes, it caused Antareans to become more hostile to Aquilan citizens and even shoot them on sight in some cases.
* StoneWall: In contrast to Antares' aggressive and fast-paced nature, Aquila is more focused on defending its lands, clearly represented by its Ring of Fire, a massive line of field guns, fortifications, trenches, and bunkers. Interestingly, Aquila wasn't as defensive and conquered many smaller nations in its younger days. Unfortunately, Aquila's defensive strategies don't go anywhere as Antares' tanks and tactics prove too much for Aquilan defenses to handle.
* ThemeNaming: Aquila is named after the constellation of the same name. Aquila in Latin means "eagle" and is the bird carrying Zeus and Jupiter's thunderbolts in Greek mythology. Due to the fact that real eagles are quite tenacious and fearless, it is likely that Aquila's stubbornness derives from the eagles' own traits. Also, most of Aquilan territory would be suitable habitats for eagles to live in.
* TheGreatFire: Due to heavy losses the Aquilans were inflicting, Kalvin's military advisors convinced him to allow the Aquilan grasslands and forests to to be burnt in order to demoralize and weaken the Aquilan army. While Kalvin strictly ordered it to not continue over a week, it instead kept burning for more than half a year. This burning was known simply as "The Scorch" which devastated the Aquilan countryside by ''40%'', something that affected the Aquilan economy and industry for a while even with Orionite aid. Ironically, the Scorch did not demoralize the Aquilan soldiers, instead doing the opposite and causing them to fight harder for land that was not already taken and burnt by the Antareans. It also meant the Antareans couldn't forage food from farms as they were burnt, on top of supply lines being stretched, which proved to be more of hindrance than the forests themselves.
* UrbanWarfare: In 1914, Antares pushes deeper into Aquila, with troops managing to attack Talona, an Aquilan city. This battle appears in ''Centaura'' as the last battle where Antares fights Aquila, and it will see Antarean trucks with machine guns on the back, the Aquilan Civil Guard, and flamethrower tanks.
* VelvetRevolution: In the 1800s, Aquila had a mostly peaceful revolution that took away political power from the monarchy and gave it to the people, turning it in a democracy. However, because the Royal Family had a mostly positive past associated with them, they were allowed to stay in power, albeit only to serve a ceremonial role as the nation's representatives.
* WeHaveBecomeComplacent: Unfortunately, due to the Aquilan Army not launching many offensives and instead mastering in defensive warfare, this caused them to not innovate as much into warfare compared to their rival Antares. Indeed, Antares was invading with a fleet of tanks and armored vehicles while Aquila had ''nothing'' to speak of, developing such things too late in the war to have much effect.
* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: The Aquilan Army is nicknamed the "Iron Army" due to their stubbornness and having multiple military successes while defending.

!Dominion of Vega (Domínio de Vega) (part of Skorpii Grusii)
[[folder:General]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vega_map.png]]

The Dominion of Vega is a monarchical country located in the eastern part of Centaura. It is neighbors with Aquila and Grusa and is quite close to Columba geographically. In between Aquila's forests and the Grusan deserts, Vega's environment consist of chaparrals (warm and dry but rather grassy). Vega and Grusa in particular are traditional rivals, as they were originally a part of one kingdom before splitting into two due to disagreements between the two royal families. Unlike the other Centauran countries, they primarily speak Vego (''Centaura's'' version of European Portuguese). This language was created out of spite against the Grusan language (that being Grusi; European Spanish), although Vegans can speak Grusi due to the languages being similar and likely because of years of being with the Grusans.

Vega's main industries are the food and mining industries. Food was an important cultural part of Vega before they had ever separate from Grusa; in fact, most pastries in southern Centaura were from Vega. As for the mining industry, Vega had tons of ores and minerals located at the edges of the Murus Plateau, an area of land in southern Vega that protected against invaders coming from Aquila, and the rocky northern border with Columba. As Iron was the most abundant ore for Vega, it was incorporated widely into the Vegan Army, such as steel plates for infantrymen and thicker armor for tanks leading up to 1914.

After seeing Aquila fall to Antares in 1914, Vega prepared to defend against Antares, which was a good move as the Antareans did invade Vega. However, they were overrun rather quickly in just a year as a weak point in the eastern coastal regions was exploited and invaded by the Antareans since it was not defended. After Grusa was defeated by Antares later, Antares combined Vega and Grusa into the puppet state Skorpii Grusii.
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* ArchEnemy: Vega's arch-enemy is Grusa, having a hostile relationship since the 1600s. Despite that, they have apparently never engaged in open conflict, and the fact that many Grusans seem to actually like Vega (as there were multiple pleas for reunification and multiple protests in Grusa about them not supporting Vega, not to mention multiple Grusans volunteering into the Vegan Army) seems to show that only the government and royal families dislike each other.
* InherentlyFunnyWords: The demonym for Vega is "Vegan", which is... unique to say the least.
* FantasyCounterpartCulture: As mentioned above, Vego is just European Portuguese in the ''Centaura'' universe. They're also geographically and culturally close to Grusa, a country that speaks Grusi or European Spanish, in a similar situation to how Portugal and Spain are.
* OvernightConquest: While a year is not particularly fast, the fact that Aquila took 2 years to be taken down by Antares and Grusa in 4 shows that Vega was conquered comparatively easier and quicker.
* ThemeNaming: Vega is the brightest star in the Lyra constellation. While the reason for this naming in a [[Main/WatsonianVersusDoylist Doylist]] view is not particularly clear, Vega is believed to have come from an Arabic term (Al Nesr al Waki) that was translated into Latin as Vultur Cadens, or the "Fallen Eagle/Vulture", which could perhaps show that Vega is the opposite of Aquila that is also an eagle but fell a bit slower than Vega.

!Kingdom of Grusa (Reino de Grusa) (a part of Skorpii Grusii)

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The Kingdom of Grusa is a monarchical country in the east of Centaura. They border Vega to the southwest and Columba to the west, but they also share a sort of maritime border with Centauri via the Sagittarius Strait. Most of Grusa is comprised of a barren desert, so it seems many people live in the coast lines and in the Murus Plateau that is compromised of savannahs. Grusans speak Grusi, ''Centaura's'' European Spanish, which is derived from Librae (which is English and that is derived from Old Librae which is Latin) and similar to Vego and Aurigan (which is Italian). Vega and Grusa have been rivals since the 1600s after an event that split Vega and Grusa into two different kingdoms.

In 1915, after Vega was invaded and conquered by Antares, they attempted to do so for Grusa. Unlike Aquila, Cetus, and Vega, they managed to hold off the Antareans in the southern deserts for 3 years until 1917. The year after, Antares changed their strategy and invaded Grusa through the coastlines, using naval ships to bombard targets on the shore. Despite their resistance, they ironically fell like Vega as they too were overrun via the coastlines. Grusa and Vega were later combined to form Skorpii Grusii and act as a puppet state, helping out Antares with reinforcements in later wars, including their invasion into Hydrus. Grusans were considered expert shots and were equal to Aurigan shooters and snipers.

* ArchEnemy: Grusa's arch-enemy is Vega, having a hostile relationship since the 1600s. Despite that, they have apparently never engaged in open conflict, and the fact that many Grusans seem to actually like Vega (as there were multiple pleas for reunification and multiple protests in Grusa about them not supporting Vega, not to mention multiple Grusans volunteering into the Vegan Army) seems to show that only the government and royal families dislike each other.
* DesertWarfare: As Grusa mostly consists of deserts, Antareans had to fight in desert warfare a lot of the time, and a desert map is planned to be one of the maps Antares will fight in against Grusa.
* ThemeNaming: Grusa is based on the Grus constellation, meaning Crane (the bird species) in Latin. This could be a contrast to Vega which is a fallen Eagle instead of a Crane.

!United Columban Territories

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The United Columban Territories is a mountainous country whose mountains serve as a natural barrier against invaders. They border various countries, which includes Aquila, Cetus, Riaa, and Grusa. Due to the amount of mountains, there are only 2 major cities near the Annulus Sea, while villages are spread throughout the mountains. To help with traveling and access, railways and travel routes were built to help Columbans do so. A Columban engineer in 1846 invented a telegraph system that not only made communications easier for Columban towns but revolutionized long-distance communications across Forma.

In 1915, while simultaneously attacking Grusa, Antares attacked Columba through various points from Cetus, Aquila, and Vega. Although Corvus in 1917 attempted to aid Antares from the west, they were stopped by the Columbans and thus were unable to do so. Throughout the fighting in Columba in 1923, the Antarean army suffered enormous casualties as the Columbans skillfully used the mountain terrain to their advantage, putting machinegun nests in unexpected areas and creating easy spots to ambush Antarean soldiers along the main trails. The high mountains also impeded the Antarean advances as well. In 1924, the Antarean high command ordered mass production of medium bombers to bomb positions.

After more than a decade of fighting in 1931, the Antareans managed to push through the east coast of Columba that bordered Grusa. Antares would then send forces to march through the Corvun-Riaan border and attack from the west in the same year. In 1932, Columban forces in the mountains were cut off from the northern areas and surrounded as Antares continued their march to northern Columba, ignoring the trapped enemies. By 1933, the Columban capital was sieged and taken in weeks. The remaining soldiers would be cleared as the war progressed.

* CapitalOffensive: In 1933, the Antareans manage to siege and take the Columban capital city after 18 years of pretty much no progress. The fact that the capital was taken in weeks compared to almost 20 years of fighting to get to there is worth mentioning.
* ForeverWar: For the Antareans, it seemed like the war with Columba was this, given that it was nearing 2 decades of warfare in Columba and yet had only made substantial progress in 1931.
* HomeFieldAdvantage: The Columbans used the mountains to their advantage as much as they could, which had already impeded Antarean advances and caused them to move quite slowly, by creating ambush spots and putting machine guns in areas Antareans would not expect. The effects of the Columban mountains are shown when you compare Grusa, Aquila, and Vega falling in 7 years combined, with Columba taking ''18'' years to be taken down.
* MountainWarfare: Considering that Columba is full of mountains, this was to be expected when Antares and Corvus attacked Columba. It seemed to have been extremely arduous, as compared to Aquila falling in 2 years and Vega & Grusa falling in a combined 5 years, Columba fell in ''18'' years.
* ThemeNaming: Columba is named after the constellation of the same name. In Latin, Columba means "dove". Since the dove usually represents peace and love, it can be an ironic name as the Columban War saw 18 years of violence and destruction as well as the deaths of numerous Columban, Antarean, Riaan, and Corvun soldiers.

!Riaan Republic (Skorpii Riaa)

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The Riaan Republic is an old and aging republic that has existed for centuries, with a government similar to Antares. They ruled over the northern parts of Centaura through long-lasting traditions. Although not quite as fanatical as Antares is, the government still rules the country with absolute power and Riaa is plagued by inner turmoil and protests over its outdated class system and unfair wealth distribution. Due to their old school beliefs and laws, they're technologically outmatched by Antares but compensate for it by being the largest country in Centaura both in terms of population and territory size as well as friendly relations with neighboring countries.

To explain how Riaa got into its democratic form, the Riaan Civil War has to be discussed. It occurred in 1888 as the Nationalists revolt against the Imperialist government. The Nationalists quickly gain support from Riaa's neighbor Tucana, who help push out the Imperialists. They eventually fled into the Vulpan Islands, declaring independence from the Riaan mainland and naming themselves Vulpa.

Although Riaans can speak Librae, they're bilingual, as they primarily speak Rodinese (Russian), now called Ursan, which is a language that their continental neighbor Ursa speaks and the language of the Rodinese Mandate that had conquered and influenced Riaa.

After Antares conquered them, they turned it into a puppet state, likely due to Riaa's territorial and population size making it impossible for Antares to manage directly.

* BilingualBonus: Riaans speak Ursan as their first language and Librae as second, the former being because of their close relationship to Ursa and them being under the Rodinese Mandate.
* DemocracyIsFlawed: Despite them being a republic, they're pretty much corrupted with an outdated class system and there being a strong difference between the wealthy and poor. Additionally and ironically, they have very traditional views and ideals as a republic.
* EliteArmy: In the ''Dead Ahead''/''Centaura'' discord server, an Army rankings list by [=AbsoluteDuck=] put Riaa as number ''one'', which is saying something when we compare that to Antares' placing of two.
* ElitesAreMoreGlamorous: Due to the Riaan Army's enormous size causing challenges in deploying them to specific theatres of war, a decision was made to grab all of the elite Riaan soldiers and consolidate them into one ''corps'' size unit; most elite units would probably not number more than a division. They were better trained than a normal Riaan conscript and possessed more equipment and gear. They even had their own air and mechanized units. They would be the main force that the NCA (Northern Centauran Alliance) relied on for their massive counteroffensive against Antares. In ''Centaura'', they're expected to have their own battle against the Antarean Shokk troopers.
* GrimUpNorth: For the Antareans invading Riaa. In fact, Kaden Tau's first time commanding a company ''and'' going into combat is in Riaa, where we hear that his entire company was nearly wiped out by Riaan guerillas.
* NorthIsColdSouthIsHot: While its not explicitly said for Riaa, the fact that Tucana, a country that is to right of Riaa, is covered in snow and ice implies that it is the same for Riaa as well.
* PuppetState: After Riaa lost to Antares, they turned it into a puppet state to make it easier to manage as its size would be impossible for them to do so directly, installing governors to help with this endeavor.
* {{Ruritania}}: Riaans speak the in-universe version of Russian and are located very much up north like Russia. The Riaan Civil War also bares a remarkable resemblance to the Russian Civil War, with the Imperialists (Russian Republic) fighting against the Nationalists (Bolsheviks) and losing to the Nationalists, leading them to take over Riaa like how the Soviets took over Russia after they were victorious.
** Interestingly, while the northern Riaans write in traditional Ursan cyrillic, the southern Riaans write in romanized Ursan. The government also embraces and supports romanized Ursan in the modern age.
* ThemeNaming: Unlike the other nations, it is {{averted|trope}} for Riaa, as its name is not based on a constellation or star since it resisted Libran influences effectively. In fact, even its name under the Rodinese Mandate is unknown, although the Libran Empire called it "Riaa" based on the war cry of its native warriors.

!Empire of Tucana (Imperio Tucani)

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The Empire of Tucana is a monarchical country located in the northeast of Centaura. It is allied with its neighbors Centauri and Riaa. Its lands to the north comprise of taiga forests and heavy snow areas, so most of the population of Tucana live near the Tucana-Centauri border. Tucana's main industry is in lumber and ice, with lumber mostly being used by towns in the frozen northern areas.

Tucana was under the reign of the old Grusan Empire before it collapsed, so the Tucanese speak Grusi. However, plenty of Tucanese people speak Ursan due to its proximity to Riaa and Centauri. The Tucanese can also speak Librae due to influences from the Libran Empire. Thus, Tucana is technically trilingual although the languages spoken heavily differ from region to region.

* NorthIsColdSouthIsHot: Indeed, being a northern country, it is filled with taiga forests and areas with heavy amounts of snow, which are common characteristics for countries up north. Ice being a ''main'' industry especially demonstrates the environment in Tucana.
* ThemeNaming: Tucana is named after the constellation of the same, the latter being named after the toucan. It is close with Grus, as those two alongside 2 others are considered the "Southern Birds". The country may be named Tucana in ''Centaura'' because of its in-universe connection with Grusa, having been conquered by the Grusan Empire many years ago, being geographically close to it, and many Tucanese speaking Grusi.

!Kingdom of Centauri (Reino de Centauri)

[[quoteright:325:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/centauri_map.png]]

The Kingdom of Centauri is a peninsular country located in northeastern Centaura. It is bordered with Tucana and is allied with them and Riaa. It is also surrounded by three bodies of water; the Libran Ocean, the Sagittarius Strait, and the Annulus Sea. Its shores boast the greatest coastal batteries and defenses in Forma, armed with loads of heavy-caliber guns (203mm-356mm) and several concrete fortifications that are reinforceed. These lines of defenses were constructed in 1890 due to tensions with Grusa across the Sagittarius Strait.

Uniquely, Centauri is not motivated by imperialism, but rather protecting its lands and improving its society, the latter through means other than dictatorships or authoritarianism.

After seeing Riaa and Tucana fall to Antares, Centauri prepared to defend against them. Even before Riaa and Tucana had fell, many Centaurian citizens boarded ships and planes to Orion, Ursa, and Libra, with much chaos ensuing when Riaa's capitulation made its way across headlines in 1940. Ships became overcrowded and there were soon not enough liners available to transport those who wanted to flee. The last planes and ships left in 1941, never to return to Centauri. Unfortunately, it was not safe even for those who had escaped on ship, as many of were sunk by Antarean naval ships conducting a blockade, and most passengers drowned or froze in the water as the number of lifeboats were insufficient for the overcrowded ships. Those stuck on the lifeboats were forced to either go back west to Centauri or simply starve to death, with no way of getting past the Antarean Armada.

Back at Centauri, it was not much better, as when the harbors and airports officially closed down, those inside awaited their fates, as even if it hadn't started, it would soon. Even before the siege had started, many Centaurians committed suicide as they feared living under the Antareans after hearing about the brutal treatment of the Riaan occupation. This greatly impacted the morale of the Centaurian military, who were certain they could defend against Antares.

In 1942, Antares officially sieged Centauri. The Antares Armada began a 2 week bombardment of the southern coastal defenses, following by an amphibious landing. In the north, the army commenced an attack with their new "bunker buster" vehicles.

Much like Aquila, the Centaurian battle doctrine focused very much on defending, with the borders littered with bunkers supporting each other which made it hard for Antareans to capture. Guns and artillery camouflaged in forests and foliage, bunkers and anti-tank obstacles lining the countryside, and the Centaurian armored elements made it quite difficult for the Antareans to get through.

Despite this, in 1943, most of the Centauri's defenses were demolished via a new strategy by the Antareans that used mass artillery barrages to defeat hard points. The southern coastal defenses were destroyed by this new strategy and the Centaurian army got encircled. Later in the year, they had been pushed back to the capital, holding on for months before finally being defeated in 1944.

The fall of Centauri marked the end of the Centauran War, which had lasted from 1908 (1912 for Antares) to 1944 and lasted for 32 (36) years.

* TheSquadette: Unlike other nations in Forma, Antares is surprisingly inclusive of women, as by the Antarean invasion into Vega, they start to accept women into ''all'' branches of the military. For comparison, Orion, a Hydran nation that is a republic and not a monarchy, also allows women to serve but only in the navy.

Aquila is well-known for its military successes and the effectiveness of its army, nicknamed the "Iron Army". It had beaten Cetus, Antares, and Vega in wars throughout a millennium, and had also defeated Antares many times.

Aquila is well-known for its military success and the effectiveness of its army, nicknamed the "Iron Army". It had beaten Cetus, Antares, and Grusa in wars throughout a millennium, and had also defeated Antares many times.

After seeing Riaa and Tucana fall to Antares, Centauri prepared to defend against them. Even before Riaa and Tucana had fell, many Centaurian citizens boarded ships and planes to Orion, Ursa, and Libra, with much chaos ensuing when Riaa's capitulation made its way across headlines in 1940. Ships became overcrowded and there were soon not enough liners available to transport those who wanted to flee. The last planes and ships left in 1941, never to return to Centauri. Unfortunately, it was not safe even those who had escaped on ship, as many of them were sunk by Antarean naval ships conducting a blockade, and most passengers drowned or froze in the water, as the lifeboats were insufficient for overcrowded ships. Those stuck on the lifeboats were forced to either go back west to Centauri or simply starve to death, with no way of getting past the Antarean Armada.

Despite this, in 1943, most of the Centauri's defenses were demolished via a new strategy by the Antareans that used mass artillery barrages to defeat hard points. The southern coastal defenses were destroyed the Centaurian army got encircled. Later in the year, they had been pushed back to the capital, holding on for months before finally being defeated in 1944.

* ClassicalTongue: Somewhat downplayed, as due to Antares' proximity to Libra, parts of southern and southeast Antares can speak Old Librae (Latin), with Antareans there even mixing both languages.
* EliteArmy: Despite their large numbers, the military doesn't seem to plagued with ineffective and/or poorly trained soldiers, as they're said to be well-trained and do appear to be well-equipped as well. The military culture Antares has seems to help out too. Notably, an Army ranking tier list puts Antares as number two, just behind Riaa.

* NicknamingTheEnemy: On the receiving end. Opponents of Antares, especially those in Hydra, rudely refer to Antareans as [="Ants"=].

* TokenMinority: Unlike the other Centauran countries, Antares recruits black soldiers (and players can randomly spawn in as one in-game). Antareans having black soldiers while the other countries don't is {{justified|trope}} in-universe as Antares is close to the black-dominated Libra, so there are much more people of color in the lands of Antares compared to other countries. There also appears to be no racial discrimination in terms of progression as black officers can appear in game.
* TheEmpire: A continental empire at that.

* EliteArmy: In the ''Dead Ahead''/''Centaura'' discord server, an Army rankings list by [[=AbsoluteDuck=]] put Riaa as number ''one'', which is saying something when we compare that to Antares' two.