Kaden Tau (28 October 1908 - 23 May 1962) was the eldest son of Emperor Aran and Empress Consort Anna. Despite being the Crown Prince of the Antares Imperium between his father’s ascension in 1927 and the abolition of the Imperium in 1961, he never ascended to the throne in his own right, and thus does not have a regnal name.
Early Life[]
Kaden in 1924
Kaden was born in a hospital in Ananteria. As the first son of then-Crown Prince Aran, he was automatically third-in-line to the throne. The newborn was healthy, albeit average in size and weight at birth. Emperor Kalvin declared a celebration throughout the Imperium, pleased to see the succession secured.
Kaden was considered precocious and well-spoken from a young age, along with being an avid reader. He carried a love of fiction throughout his life, something that would help him bond with both his future wife, Vanessa, and his brother-in-law, Vincent. He enjoyed history and admired the military greatly. His father often allowed him to attend meetings in the Imperial Army Direktorate, where older officers would regale him with stories.
A formative incident in the young prince’s life was the 1912 Aeminiva-Ananteria Express attack. Cetan insurgents who had infiltrated Antares sought to assassinate Crown Prince Aran and his family as they returned to Ananteria from their summer home by Lake Spekulum. However, due to a change in plans by the family, the Cetans attacked a train carrying only Anna Tau and her sons. Although physically unharmed, Kaden witnessed the violent deaths of several people, permanently scarring him and reshaping his view of war.
Kaden struggled to emotionally connect with his father after the attack, with Aran unable to grasp the magnitude of what Kaden had experienced. The Crown Prince believed the trauma of the incident would subside over time, and guided Kaden towards typical pursuits for their time, such as hunting. However, Kaden showed a strong aversion to the sport, even panicking at the sound of gunfire. He sought comfort from his grandfather, who understood how awful what his grandson had experienced was and provided a sympathetic ear. The Emperor subsequently tried his best to block Aran’s attempts to steer Kaden towards any military pursuits.
After the completion of his schooling in 1926, Kaden was reluctant to follow his older sister’s footsteps to attend a service academy. His uncle Andrew, aware of his nephew’s plight, offered to have Kaden accompany him and his family on a grand tour of the nation to raise the morale of the populace and assess the state of the Imperium. His grandfather, Kalvin, disliking the idea of Kaden fighting in war as he did, gave his approval, preventing Aran from denying his son the opportunity. Kaden greatly enjoyed the tour and also developed a stronger relationship with his uncle’s family.
However, upon his return home nine months later, his father presented him with a signed nomination to the Royal Ananteria Military Akademy. His grandfather, too ill at that point to stand up on Kaden’s behalf, was unable to overrule his son. Andrew’s protests proved ineffective as well. Thus, in the spring of 1928, at the age of 19, Kaden began attending the RAMA. He concentrated on classical literature and was considered an average cadet, skilled in academics but lacking in military affairs. He graduated in the middle of the pack among the class of 1931.
Service in the Centauran War[]
Kaden during the Centauran Wars
As a newly commissioned Lieutenant-II, Kaden was given a role as an aide-de-camp to his battalion commander, Kolonel Minor Adrian Waller. Waller was a demanding superior tasked with training Kaden in leadership. However, as per his father’s concerns, Kaden was kept away from direct frontline combat. This resulted in him having an awkward relationship with the men in his unit, as he commanded them without sharing in their risks and burdens. To compensate for this, Kaden made an effort to hold himself to a high standard of military bearing and assist the men with their non-combat duties, such as sanitation. However, Waller personally banned him from working in the latrines, calling it beneath his station.
Kaden was promoted at the typical pace for someone who wasn’t involved in combat, an oddity among infantry officers. He was promoted to Lieutenant-I in 1933, then Kaptain in 1937. He was shortly after given command of a company around the time that the NCA’s counteroffensive was reaching its apex. Consequently, Kaden’s company was forced into battle out of necessity. He struggled to find his footing initially, relying heavily on his NCOs and subordinates. Gunfire still caused him to panic, and it was a difficult adjustment. Some men in his unit began to mock him, saying he’d acquired shock syndrome without experiencing a single shock. To those around him, 1912 was an eternity ago, and what he’d experienced then had no business affecting him now.
Kaden in Riaa
Lieutenant-I Tau was seen as an utterly inadequate combat officer by those around him. Although he engaged the enemy a handful of times, he showed no particular initiative or bravery. He was also never injured, unlike several of the men in his unit. By the time the Ursans joined the war and the NCA counteroffensive had worn itself out, he still had no respect from his unit.
Marriage[]
While stationed in Columba in early 1937, Kaden’s unit stopped by their supply depot for replenishment after a clash with NCA forces. It was here that Kaden encountered Vanessa Persei, a supply officer who regularly replenished Kaden’s unit. Kaden was drawn to Vanessa for the normalcy she provided, coming from a working-class background and having none of the excess and ulterior motives of nobility. He felt he could be honest around her, and despite their circumstances at war, the two found time to bond and develop a relationship over a shared love of literature.
Not knowing if his father would approve of Vanessa, Kaden did not discuss his relationship with her in any correspondence home. However, after Kaden had seen her for a few weeks, his battalion commander informed the Emperor of his son’s relationship with the supply officer. Kolonel Waller believed such a relationship inhibited his ability to command and set a bad example for the rest of the men. He was also annoyed that the Prince was engaged in such activities when he was so lacking as an officer.
Aran, sorely disappointed by his son’s actions, condemned the relationship in his letters to Kaden. He said that although he accepted marriage for love, a commoner was a step too far, along with harsh reminders that he had a duty to his men. However, Kaden insisted on continuing the relationship, declaring he was willing to embrace any of the consequences for it. He was tired of the life that being a Crown Prince had forced him into. Aran retaliated with plans to have Vanessa removed from the theater, or worse, court-martialled on nigh-fabricated charges. Kaden responded by bringing her with him on leave to the palace.
It was Andrew Tau’s intervention that prevented what may have become an irreparable rift between father and son. Andrew discussed the positive aspects of Vanessa’s family, mentioning her father and grandfather’s service records in fighting against Aquila and how inspiring it would be for their subjects to see that even a commoner could reach great heights through service. Aran relented after much consideration, including a personal meeting with Vanessa. However, he decided that any wedding, while celebrated publicly, would be a private affair. He also ordered Vanessa discharged from the AIA, which was accepted.
Kaden and Vanessa were married by Lake Spekulum on December 3rd, 1937. Their wedding was attended by their families and a small number of prominent nobles handpicked for invitation. Vanessa was somewhat upset at the presence of her family, but was able to remain cordial throughout the ceremony.
Luka, the couple’s first and only child, was born on November 5th, 1938.
Interwar Life[]
Kaden and Vanessa settled down with their son in a small estate near Ananteria. With Andrew’s help, the two were also able to procure a modest townhome in the city for most of their royal duties. They attempted to lead as quiet a life as possible, although Kaden’s role as Crown Prince effectively forced him to keep a constant presence at court.
Outside of court, Kaden tried his best to be an attentive and loving father. He was keenly involved in Luka’s interests and was overjoyed to see him develop the same love of reading as he did. However, he was unable to spend much time with his son in the end due to the constant stream of work levied upon him.
Along with his immediate family, Kaden’s interest in literature helped him cultivate a positive relationship with his brother-in-law Vincent, who served as his intermediary for communication with his sister. Kaden rarely had the opportunity to speak to Julian, who was busy with his work in Riaa. He would always feel a sense of regret at not having a stronger relationship with his youngest sibling.
Forman War[]
Portrait of Kaden
With the outbreak of the Forman War, Kaden was called back into service. He expected to serve in the Imperial Army Direktorate as his father once had. However, Aran unexpectedly informed him that he would be sent to Riaa instead, claiming that the presence of a Crown Prince would bolster morale in the region and help maintain order. His efforts to bring his family along were rebuffed, and all of his furlough requests were set aside due to what were allegedly pressing matters. He found most correspondence from Vanessa was heavily censored as well.
Eventually, however, uncensored letters began to arrive through a courier. Kaden learned that the Emperor wanted to keep him far away from Luka so that he could mold his grandson into the perfect successor. Kaden’s reputation and personality had made him a disappointing heir. Aran’s hope, it seemed, was to keep Kaden in Riaa away from a base of power until Luka was ready, then have him renounce his status as heir in favor of his son. Vanessa, with no wealth or influence of her own, was powerless to stand up to the Emperor. Kaden made the grim realization that this was why his father had allowed their relationship to occur, so that he could hold leverage over an heir.
Kaden’s time in Riaa was largely spent clashing with General Cervantes over the sheer brutality of existing counterinsurgency tactics, with the latter pointing out it was Kaden’s own brother, Julian, who helped establish these measures. In late 1951, with both men’s patience exhausted, Cervantes had Kaden shipped off to a remote, quiet part of what was formerly the territory of Tucana. Aran Tau was too preoccupied with the war effort to bother intervening with what was a relatively safe posting. There, Kaden became an aide-de-camp to a Kolonel in charge of a peacekeeping regiment.
Defection[]
Kaden’s superior officer, Kolonel Bernard “Bernie” Dodd, had been discreetly in contact with agents of the Hydrusite ISA for years. Dodd had grown disillusioned with Antares, believing it had not only failed to live up to Kalvin Tau’s ambitions of creating a new, peaceful world order, but actively hindered it instead. After spending time working with Kaden and subtly discussing their views on the war, Dodd reported Kaden to the ISA as a potential weak link. ISA agents began to contact him covertly, suggesting that Kaden could defect to the Compact and instead help bring down the Imperium he so detested at this point. Kaden was highly skeptical of the possibility, believing Antares was still in a strong position and not wanting to outright betray his country. He also feared for his family’s safety. With these in mind, the ISA set out to work.
With the Bear’s Blunder in 1954, Antarean military focus shifted dramatically northward to fight Ursan forces from Skorpii Riaa. Kaden realized that the tide of war had decisively shifted against Antares. He also learned from Vanessa’s letters that Aran Tau was pushing for Luka to enlist as the ultimate symbol of the family’s devotion to the war effort. These factors led him to agree to defect.
In 1955, as the Compact invaded the Ursan Federation and brought about its military collapse, Kaden and the ISA formalized the plan. He, Kolonel Dodd, and several other disillusioned Antarean personnel were picked up by a submersible from the shores of western Skorpii Riaa before being transferred to a larger vessel at sea. Days later, Kaden arrived in Compact-occupied Ursa, where he began forming a unit of Antareans from deserters and disillusioned POWs.
As a part of his deal, Kaden requested his family’s simultaneous evacuation from Antares over concerns that they would be executed by his father as a means of punishment. To keep up their end of the deal, the Orion Army’s Special Detachment meticulously planned out a mission to extract Vanessa and Luka from the mainland Antares. The entire process was estimated to take up to two weeks, with almost no room for error. Knowing how important the safety of Kaden’s family would be in securing his cooperation, the operation, codenamed Venom, was given one of the highest priorities amongst the war effort.
After verifying the Compact had kept its end of the deal, Kaden committed himself to galvanizing as many POWs and deserters into joining the war effort against their homeland. His unit, nicknamed the Mongoose Brigade after a species of scorpion-eating small mammals in southern Hydra, participated in the 1956 landings by the Compact in Riaa. He encouraged the demoralized Antarean units in the region to desert, which many did, having been exhausted by the Bear’s Blunder. He further participated in battles through southern Riaa and Columba in 1957, during which he was nearly killed by an Antarean sniper but was saved when Kolonel Dodd sacrificed himself.
In 1958, as the Compact finally breached the Macer Range, Kaden was recognized and shot by an old NCA holdout who did not realize he had defected. Although he survived, the recovery from the injury took him out of action for several months, causing him to miss much of the Grusan liberation campaign. He took part in the liberation of Aquila, with his unit almost being the first one to enter the city of Talona before high command ordered them to stop, not wanting the optics of a unit of Antareans liberating the city.
Kaden’s presence proved polarizing during the campaign for Antares proper. The closer they got to Ananteria, the stiffer the resistance against him became. The most loyal Antarean units saw him as an archtraitor, and Aran, in a final rebuke, placed a bounty on his own son’s life. At the very end, Aran, in what some describe as a fit of madness, declared that whoever killed Kaden would become his heir. In any case, Kaden lived to see the end of the war, although he was not allowed to enter Ananteria itself. Kaden’s unit treated the armistice prior to formal surrender with great sorrow. Pleased that the war was over, but deeply dismayed that they had to defeat their own homeland to achieve peace.
Kaden was not present for the signing of the Antarean Instrument of Surrender on September 17th, 1961, the Compact’s representatives believing he may be a prime target for any unsavory characters. He was instead sent to Kharon, where he met his father one last time as the once-proud Emperor sat unkempt and glassy-eyed in a cell. Aran Tau was the first to speak, asking his son if it was worth it, if the fall of their once-proud Imperium, the destruction of dozens of their cities, and the inevitable occupation and changing of their culture was everything he’d hoped for.
Post-War as President[]
Kaden as President of Scorpius
Kaden’s agreements with the Compact shielded him from any prosecution at the Kharon Trials. The agreements also guaranteed him an appointment as the head of the transitional government for the Antarean successor state of Scorpius. His former properties in Ananteria were written off, with the proceeds being used to help fund the reconstruction of Kharon, the designated capital of Scorpius. The city was comparatively undamaged following the war, and culturally, the Tau name still carried weight as their traditional rulers. War had also imposed considerable economic and political strain on the region as well, with rampant conscription and censorship leaving behind a husk of what was once the bustling jewel of the west coast.
As the Acting President of Scorpius, Kaden was beset with factionalism and doubters in the newly established state. Staunch republicans and liberal dissenters from before the war distrusted a former Crown Prince in charge of their institutions. Constitutional monarchists demanded he formalize a new monarchy. Staunch monarchists who managed to survive the purges from the Kharon Trials treated him as an archtraitor. Kaden recognized that Orion had made him the head of state in a deliberate effort to cripple the establishment of a strong government in Scorpius, but embraced his role all the same. Vanessa and Luka returned from the Commonwealth at this time, standing by him in Kharon as he navigated the chaos of the new state.
Kaden made it clear to the public that he would leave office after the first successful elections, and spent his time appointing officials to ensure a smooth establishment of institutions. Kaden worked closely with the republican faction while using personal loyalties among sympathetic monarchists to pass some legislation, though he had no actual intentions of implementing their desires. Although he had been lacking as a military leader, his political lessons as the former Crown Prince had not been wasted. A few months later, in early 1962, a new constitution was prepared for Scorpius. The constitution would establish a parliamentary republic, with a weak president as head of state and a strong, independent judiciary. Another stipulation was that the armed forces, designed to be purely defensive, would remain strictly under civilian control.
The last element of the planned constitution resulted in a brief conspiracy by former Antarean officers to force Kaden to grant further independence from civilian oversight. This conspiracy, dubbed the Winery Plot after the conspirators’ meeting place in a countryside vineyard, was exposed by workers who had no interest in allowing their bosses to establish another military dictatorship. The Winery Plot and its aftermath jolted the population of Scorpius, with millions calling for a swift implementation of the constitution and elections by the end of the year. Kaden agreed with the protesters in spirit and made several public addresses condemning the Winery Plot and encouraging the defense of republicanism and democracy.
On March 3rd, 1962, the first Saturday of the month, the new constitution was overwhelmingly approved in a referendum. Elections were scheduled on the last Sunday of October. Much to Kaden’s shock, he found himself as the most preferred candidate for President, with a movement forming around him. Although he refused to endorse or run for any political party, it was clear that there were very few alternatives. The fear of a cult of personality forming around him drove Kaden into despair.
Death[]
On May 23rd, 1962, a group of presidential office staffers enjoying a late-night poker game was interrupted by the sound of a gunshot. They immediately alerted the security service, who stormed the president’s study to find Kaden Tau slumped over with a bullet hole in his right temple and a smoking gun thrown to the side. The subsequent investigation concluded that the death was a suicide. Kaden also left a note behind, written in what detectives concluded was his own handwriting, as well as signing it.
The note detailed his belief that he had let himself and humanity down, and that peace would always end in vain. Along with the note, Kaden also left behind a series of typed letters to his family members. In his letter to Vanessa, he thanked her for always standing by him, apologizing for not being able to give her a life of happiness. In his letter to Luka, he requested his son avoid politics and war at all costs. In a letter to Maya, he told her that he forgave her for any old grudges and hoped she would do the same, stating that they were both victims of their grandfather’s delusions and their father’s ambitions. He wrote similar letters expressing support and remorse to his other surviving relatives, such as Kaitlyn.
Kaden Tau’s funeral was a small, private affair, despite demands by the public for a state funeral. Luka eulogized his father in a heartfelt speech, having traveled from Hydrus to do so. Maya Tau was also seen in attendance, signing to her brother’s coffin that she understood and forgave him. Kaden’s burial plot was next to one reserved for his wife. Their shared headstone read Husband and Wife, with neither surname being displayed.
Following Kaden’s death, Vanessa, inconsolable, forsook the Centauran continent, calling it a curse on her. She returned to Solevar. Luka, meanwhile, chose to remain in Kharon.
Trivia[]
- Unlike the other Tau family members in the Tau family update, Kaden was the only one to have what was essentially a full story, ranging from his childhood to his end. The new Tau family lore also did not change much for Kaden, as his story remained much the same, with only minor changes.
- Previously, Kaden was bullied by Maya Tau in their childhood. Kaden would become a commanding officer for the Riaan campaign, in which he would see his company suffer devastating casualties, the original source of his trauma. The new lore has changed the source of his trauma and aversion to combat to the assassination attempt in the 1912 Aeminiva-Ananteria Express attack as a child.