A/N: Just something I'm doing in my spare time, so don't expect frequent updates.

Humanity. A species that is united yet divided. A species more adaptable and flexible than many; such traits allowed Humanity, as a species, to evolve from the constraints of mother nature to become a ruler of the galaxy.

But before the time of the Humans' ascension to the stars, there was no unity, no era of enduring peace, only an era of darkness and endless war.

From the grim darkness of the middle ages would arise great empires, four of them the greatest of all; the Irish Empire, the Russian Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, and the Ethiopian Empire.

It began in the year of our Lord 1460. The Eastern Roman Empire was but a dying shadow of its former glory, the light of Rome doomed to be permanently extinguished by Ottoman Expansion. The Pope, frightened by the thought of the Islamic Turks encroaching on the Vatican City itself - the holiest of places sacred to the Catholic church, called for another Crusade to drive back the invaders, but as nearly the whole of Europe was embroiled in continuous war, only the Kingdom of Hungary was able to answer the call.

In Britannia, the soon-to-be capital of the Irish Empire, an Irish King by the name of Cathal O'neil - ruler of the province of Ulster - sat on his throne, brooding with hatred at the thought of his homeland conquered by the English Kingdom under King Henry III of the House of Wancester.

Henry III was infamous to many, even his own subjects, for he tried to raise an army to conquer France even after being repulsed by the Valois Dynasty numerous times, suffering terrible losses to both his military and treasury.

To fuel Cathal's hatred further, he continually conscripted Irish men - his kinsmen, not the King's - to fight his wars for him, often using threats of brutality to get his way.

The Irish King then decided Henry III would rule Ireland no longer; sending orders for his army - numbering not more than two thousand soldiers - to be strengthened, he ordered a call to arms, ready to unite the people of Ireland under one banner and drive back the English, or die trying.

It took at least four weeks to muster an additional three thousand soldiers for the war effort, but King Cathal's army was soon ready for war, the war that would be recorded as the Irish War of Unification by many historians.

Before Cathal's army set out, he had previously sent orders for shipyards to construct an additional three barques and two transport cogs, strengthening his navy to five barques and three transports to prepare for the possibility of a naval battle that could end his war of unification as soon as it began.

He also sent diplomats to both Scotland and France, knowing that both were not friends of England and eager to see Henry III's power knocked down a few pegs, to improve relations and secure aid for the war against England, with Cathal marrying off his daughter, Mary, to the current King of France, Phillip II, to cement the alliance.

He also sent a diplomat to the Papal State, with the hopes of garnering favour from the Papacy to grant Cathal's plans legitimacy later on.

His hopes were that when France or Scotland sent a request for an alliance, his potential newfound allies could help drive back the English long enough for him to unite the Irish Kingdoms, and truly establish Irish Independence.

With both tasks done, Cathal split his army into two groups; one he would lead to take Connacht, the other led by one of his trusted generals to conquer Leinster.

Upon declaring war on Leinster and Connacht though, Leinster had unexpectedly allied itself with the Connacht, despite the two sides having a history of hostile rivalry.

Where most would see it as trouble, Cathal saw an opportunity; if he could simultaneously defeat the armies of both kingdoms in one fell swoop, he could immediately siege both kingdoms and conquer them in short order, hopefully buying time for a favourable response from Scotland and France.

Leading his armies to battle in the middle of February, his army had proved its valour and might, as the men of Tyrone managed to defeat the armies of Connacht and Leinster at the Battle of Connacht, leaving their lands vulnerable to siege.

Just as he began sieging said provinces, an Italian engineer from the Republic of Venice presented himself before King Cathal, promising him knowledge on shortening sieges if he were to employ his service.

Whilst his visit was unexpected, King Cathal nevertheless accepted his service, and the engineer's expertise proved vital in Tyrone's eventual annexation of Leinster and Connacht into his growing Kingdom.

His fortunes would soon be tested, however, when the Scottish Navy betrayed King Cathal by attacking his Navy just off the coast of Ulster. Though the battle ended in a stalemate, the war would soon prove to be hard won, as Irish blood stained the seas of the Britannian Isles.

Hope soon came to Cathal, though, when France sent an official request for an alliance with him; this he gladly accepted, and together, the forces of France and Tyrone drove back the Scottish Navy and deterred the English navy from interferring with Cathal's unification war.

The sieges still lasted all the way until September, but with the Italian engineer's expertise, the Castles of Leinster and Connacht were taken with few casualties, completing the first step to Irish unification.

Soon, another problem presented itself before Cathal; Scotland still believed it could cling to the dying friendship between the Irish and Scottish, when they sent a letter asking for an alliance between his Kingdom and Scotland.

Though he disliked the betrayal the Scottish had shown him, and worried about the reaction of his people should he agree to it, he eventually accepted, though he explicitly warned the King of Scotland that should such a thing happen again, the Highlands would burn in the fires of retribution.

Having settled that, he began to again grow used to the reign of a peacetime king, and sent his army to Ulster to heal in preperation for the future wars to cone, and ordered his navy to be strengthened by another three barques and three transport cogs to sharpen his navy's edge.

The province west of Ulster still remained under English control, while the Kingdom of Munster southwest was not Cathal's ally or enemy as of yet, but given the choice between antagonising the English over his fellow Irishmen, he decided to promote relations with Munster instead, sending his second daughter to marry the crown prince of Munster.

This was the story of King Cathal, of how he tried to unite all Irishmen under his banner and drive back the English, and eventually lay the groundwork for the rise of the Kingdom of Ireland.