Thousands gathered in Amarr this week to witness the coronation of Catiz Tash-Murkon as she ascended to her place upon the Golden Throne of Holy Amarr, officially assuming sole leadership of all Amarrians, and the sovereign title of Empress Catiz I of the Holy Amarr Empire.
While The Amarrian Golden Fleet hung in watchful silence above the Amarrian homeworld of Amarr Prime on the 27th of September, Catiz Tash-Murkon took her place on the golden dias inside of the temple dedicated to the Amarrian first prophet, the Basillica of St. Gheinok. For miles surrounding the temple, which sits in the center of the Imperial City of Dam-Torsad, the streets were choked with well-wishers, supporters, and protesters alike as the entire planet’s eyes turned to the events unfolding on the coronation stage.
Dam-Torsad, The Imperial City
Sanmatar Maleatu Shakor
Inside the temple, luminaries and leaders from all corners of New Eden were present in support of the controversial new empress, including representatives from several of the largest Caldari megacorporations and the Caldari Navy, Gallente President Jacus Roden, and over fifty representatives from the Gallente Senate.
Additionally, in a development that took many (if not all) attendees and reporters by great surprise, Sanmatar Maleatu Shakor, the imposing head of the Matari state, arrived for the golden coronation as well, surrounded by a joint phalanx of Imperial and Republic guards, marking the first time in the long history of the Amarr Empire that a Matari Supreme leader has set foot on the Amarrian Homeworld.
Although initial concerns regarding possible terrorist attacks from what the Amarr Empire has declared a heretical order, Purity Of The Throne, were high in the days before the coronation, the recent bounties placed on all members of the extremist group appeared to have had the desired effect. Weeks of relentless assaults from capsuleers on the majority of their infrastructure and facilities sent Purity forces into full retreat, effectively negating their ability to impede the coronation ceremonies.
Once the ceremony drew to a close, and with her coronation complete, the newly-crowned Empress Catiz I was ferried into orbit to take her place on the bridge of the flagship of The Imperial Guard Throne Worlds Fleet, the Avatar class Titan TES Purity. From the massive gold-plated flagship, the Empress again broke with tradition as she addressed the masses assembled on Amarr Prime below, and in the thousands of ships that had come from all regions of New Eden to bear witness to her ascension.
In a concise speech from TES Purity, the Empress thanked all that had supported her bid for the Golden Throne, taking special care to offer her thanks to the many independent capsuleers that assisted the empire in beating back the Purity Of The Throne fundamentalists, as well as to the brave combatants that fought under the Tash-Murkon banner in the Succession Trials and secured her place on the throne. Furthermore, under the new empress’s rule, there promises to be more opportunities than ever before for capsuleers to lend their strength and cunning to the defense of the Amarr Empire. The newly crowned Empress promised that a grand expansion of capsuleer military training will be available in the very near future, possibly as soon as quarter four of YC118.
The Empress went on to vow that a new era of strength and prosperity would begin under her rule, with a greater emphasis on foreign trade and cooperation than has previously been seen from The Amarr Holy Empire.
The might and the honor of the Imperial Armed Forces will be restored, and with it we will usher in a new generation of capsuleers to support the Golden Fleet.
Tens of thousands more capsuleers will graduate from the Imperial Academy to join our already established and prized loyalist forces, in the largest expansion to our pod pilot training program ever conceived.
To support this growth, our administration will work to make the Imperial economy a powerhouse of activity, with new foreign policy and trade legislation that opens up our markets to the cluster like never before.
The future of this glorious Empire is in our hands. In your hands, and with the Empire’s might at your backs, this will be a defining moment in the history of Holy Amarr, and the legacy of the capsuleer.
This will be your Ascension!
Amarr Victor!
- Empress Catiz I – Coronation Day Speech
After the conclusion of her speech, the Empress took a moment to recognize those that had fought for the empire in recent factional warfare contests, as well some of the more notable capsuleers in attendance, the most prominent of which being the that well known, and much-loved capsuleer, Chribba.
The Amarr Throne World Fleet
Although the events of the day mostly proceeded without issue or interruption, there were a number of exceptions that threatened to disrupt the solemnity and celebration of the event. First, while the assembled ships waited for the Empress to appear in what they assumed was the relative safety provided by the assembled might of the entire Amarrian Navy’s Throne World Fleet, several outlaws from the PIRAT alliance landed on-grid with the assembled capsuleers ships and proceeded to pick off several small frigates, as well as one or two un-armored tech 1 battleships before they were quickly and decisively dealt with by the assembled ships, as well as CONCORD itself. The ill-advised assault on the whole of the Amarrian Navy resulted in the loss of 4 of PIRAT’s Nestor Battleships worth more than 6 billion ISK in total.
Next, during the brief post-coronation speech, two members of the corporation Rote Works (part of the Rote Kapelle alliance) endeavored to derail the proceedings by intentionally destroying a pair of explosives-laden Providence-class freighters next to the Empress’ flagship, the TES Purity. Although the flagship sustained a moderate amount of superficial and outer-structural damage due to the terrorist attack, Empress Catiz I quickly resumed her speech, and the minor terrorist event was quickly overshadowed by the gravity of the Empress’s words.
Lastly, angered by the blasphemous interruptions and numerous heretical comments transmitted by Articio Kor-Azor’s champion, Lysys, during her speech to the assembled mass of ships in the Amarr System, the Empress used her newly-aquired power to order the immediate execution of the Succession Trials veteran on the spot. Once the empress had pronounced her sentence, the assembled ships of Amarr loyalists opened fire, obliterating his Palandin-class Marauder in a blaze of deadly laser fire.
Lysus meets a just end
The day ended with fireworks of a different kind lighting up the night skies of Amarr Prime in celebration as the masses assembled on the Amarr Prime surface reveled in the crowning of their new Empress. Meanwhile, the rest of New Eden turns their gaze towards Amarr space and waits to see what changes the new regime will bring to the Amarr Empire, and to New Eden as a whole.
